Digital Retailing: Let’s Talk About F&I

Conversations about digital retailing in the automotive industry tend to center around two things: customer experience and an increase in sales volume. But some dealers feel that it just leads to decreased margins on the front-end in the “race to t
Jul 18, 2019

Shifting to a Razor and Razor Blade Business Model

In the last seven years, new vehicle gross margins have declined from four percent to two percent. If that pace continues, profit margins will be wiped out by 2025. It appears that the front-end grosses dealers enjoyed 10 or 15 years ago are never co
Jul 12, 2019

Selling F&I Products On Alternate Fuel Vehicles? Here’s What To Know

Current estimates put roughly one million electric vehicles on the road in the U.S. today. According to media reports, this milestone was achieved just a few months ago. Proponents of the technology agree that this is a small number, compared to the
Jun 3, 2019

Latest Equifax Auto Credit Trends Illustrate Rising Subprime Activity

A few notes on subprime loan origination and balance activity per Equifax: Subprime auto loan originations have a corresponding total balance of $7.07 billion, a 5.3% increase year-over-year. The average subprime loan amount was $18,934. This is a 5.
May 16, 2019

Three Steps to Create an F&I Culture

If your F&I team operates on all cylinders, chances are they have created an F&I culture within your store. This type of culture is one where  salespeople and sales managers are supportive of their efforts and customers see great value in F&
Apr 30, 2019

The 4 Laws of Influential Conversations –Part 2

It’s our conversations that shape our results. We live in the Age of the Consumer, and it takes more than a just good price and a good product to win. Today, it’s the way you treat each customer, and the way you communicate your value, that matte
Apr 30, 2019

Digital Dealer 26 Recap

DD26 could have been subtitled, The Marketeers Strike Back. I believe I counted 104 sessions, 62 of which (60%) were dedicated to marketing and/or advertising of some sort. Out of the 148 vendors who supported the event, 85 self-identified as compani
Apr 26, 2019