Car Ownership Has Peaked—or Maybe It Hasn’t, from Money Magazine. After a strong January for the auto industry, forecasts call for rising car sales in 2015—followed by more increases in the years ahead. So what’s this business about alrea

If dealers compare their current front-end gross profit averages in new and used vehicles to similar data five years ago, you’d likely notice a troubling trend. I’ve conducted this exercise with dealers recently as part of conversations about mar

Does Negotiating Cost Dealers Too Much?, from Wards Auto. Although people often say they disdain negotiating, the reality is they readily partake in it, often initiating it. Surveys indicate most car buyers dislike dealership price negotiations, but

November Sales Pace at 17.20 Million-Unit Annual Rate, from F&I Magazine. November new-vehicle sales increased 4.6% to 1,302,043 units. On a year-to-date basis, sales increased 5.4% to more than 15 million units sold through during the first 11

F&I, sales managers see paychecks converge, from Automotive News. The days of fat paychecks for finance and insurance managers may be ending. Many F&I managers are earning compensation more in line with their dealership management peers, ac

Why your data scientists need to be storytellers, according to Marketing Profs. You’ve probably heard or read this stanza from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”: “Water, water, everywhere, / And

How do you persuade a customer to come into your dealership and buy a vehicle? It’s one of the most basic questions any dealer can ask, and yet finding an answer that works is a tall order. Hundreds and more strategies have been created and impleme

There are two kinds of customers who come in for automotive shop repairs. The first is no stranger to turning a wrench. She would do the job herself if she had a lift at home. In years past, plenty of customers fit that bill. As engines and the neces

I am really enjoying being back on the 20 group speaking circuit. Some of these groups I spoke to 20 years ago and recently it has really opened my eyes to the basic philosophy of where we have come in our industry based on our own performance. The o