Centre Club Tampa’s Post

5 key takeaways from April U.S. sales reports: U.S. light-vehicle sales slipped 3.9 percent to 1.32 million last month compared with April 2023; Toyota led among the brands. #cars #auto #car

You Can't Sell Scout Motors! NADA Dealers Fight Consumer Direct Sales. 💥 Dealers plan to fight Scout Motors. (That's some happy news.) NADA dealers plot state-by-state challenge to Scout Motors Inc. direct sales. (How dare they sell Scout Motors!) 👀 The NADA and state dealer associations across the country plan to leave no stone unturned as they push back against Scout Motors' nasty decision to bypass Volkswagen stores. (In the vast majority of states, the OEMs are not permitted to sell direct or compete with their dealers with products aimed specifically at U.S. consumers.) 🚗 Its corporate structure and formal attachment to VW Group could be a challenge in its quest to sell direct to a consumer. You can't sell direct to a consumer!! ⚡ NADA CEO Mike Stanton declined to share details about the association's strategy to block Scout from its direct sales, but bluntly said 'everything's on the table right now'. 💼 The association said it's prepared to challenge Scout in 'courthouses and state houses across this country'! 🚀 Get Your Auto News Unfiltered. Follow ATI Auto Business. https://lnkd.in/guaSsFWJ #automotive #news #VW #ScoutMotors #NADA #OEM #dealer #sales #auto #retail

Do Stellantis dealers have a point? OF COURSE THEY DO. Did CEO Tavares push production, wholesale as many cars as possible, and leave the dealers holding the bag (inventory) to pad his compensation? Hope not but the problems remain. Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram brands are experiencing sharp declines in market share, with WAY too many past model cars in stock. So much for learning from the pandemic and chip crisis a few years back. There are two sides to every story....This is one side. "The new letter said the “bill has come due” for the decisions the company made in 2023 to “engineer” its profits. The dealers told Tavares in the letter that the company’s “attempt at a soft landing on the backs of your employees, your dealers, and your suppliers is frankly just wrong.” Let's hear from Mr. Tavares. What really "irks" us is a recent press release stating Mr. Tavares was taking time away from his summer vacation, flying back to the U.S. and deal with the issues at hand. Thanks for stepping up Carlos? We have 39.5 Million reasons ($$$) why cutting short a vacation was the right thing to do :) PLEASE NOTE: We are currently soliciting for OEM, DEALER GROUP, SUPPLIER, SaaS contracts/other projects. Feel free to reach out to me directly. 416.993.9356 colin@omniautosolutions.com #automotive #automotiveindustry #innovation #branding #technology #business #leadership #dealership #CEO #accountability

Being in the automotive industry for over a decade I have met some of the most stellar human beings. Legends on both the vendor & car dealer sides. They have inspired me, taught me ways to be better, supported & encouraged me, & above all given me many laughs in the mix.   I know many hold stereotypes about car dealers. Even car dealers can be guilty of this when they think of vendors (I got called a “vermin” by a dealer back in the day). But those in the industry know – there are so many incredibly hard working, high integrity & strong businesspeople that own, run & work at car dealerships & on the vendor side. There are too many to list, but 11 years in & contemplating my next move, I wanted to shout out some of these awesome folks. Danny Muckley, Sales Director at Autotrader who took me on w/out any automotive industry experience & got me into the business. Mehdi Chitgari – amazing businessman & ran the #1 independent dealership in San Diego. He taught me so much about the business. A huge-hearted & generous member of the community. GLEN Friedman – killer car guy who also befriended me as a new person to the biz. Week 1 as his rep: “Sorel let me tell you one thing about car dealers – don’t ever bullshit them. They will smell it a mile away & chew you up & spit you out”. Glen gave me a ton of straight talk about the biz! Todd Kostrzewa – after countless hours with me as his Autotrader rep “discussing” (or more like heated arguing) on every aspect of advertising, digital marketing & more..he hired me on the spot to work at his dealership when I left Autotrader. Lewis Singleterry III – I was 2 weeks out of training w/ Autotrader, he was 3 weeks in a new promotion to GM to turn around Quality Chevrolet. He threw me out of the dealership after our 1st meeting saying he didn’t want a “green pea” & to get him a different rep. A rocky start, but two & a half years working together & Lewis became an incredible mentor to me & I learned so much from him! Andrew Harper who called me up out of the blue one day & asked “Do you want to sell vAuto Conquest?” and gave me a shot to work w/ one of the best companies & sales teams in the business. Will forever be grateful to Andrew for that opportunity! Kevin Keaveney & Shannon Beseth – vAuto sales team coworkers that gave me incredible inspiration & shined the light for me on how to crush it at sales. Two absolute legends of human beings – professionally & personally. Jason Eyraud, Aaron Benavides, Michelle Pfeifer, Destiny Culmer (& more!) – Superstars I got to work w/ at CarNow. Dedicated, smart as all get out, & have the dealers’ best interests programmed down to their DNA. Olivia Lane – what can I say? I love you. You are an absolute dynamo. You light me up every time we talk – not to mention make me laugh my ass off! I have connected w/ many of you in recent weeks so you were all just on my mind. Shout to out to ALL the car dealers & peeps on the vendor side honestly.  Go crush it in 2025!

If I walked into a Toyota dealership and asked how much a Corolla costs and the sales person said, "Well first, let me evaluate your needs, and then I will connect you with an account executive," I would walk out of the car dealership. So, if you are in sales I am begging you to please tell me what your product does and how much it costs before we set up an initial call. Or at least say these things at the beginning of our initial call. I do not want you to evaluate my needs. I do not want to spend a half hour on Zoom with you and schedule a follow-up call with an account executive to find out what your platform does and how much it costs.

■ Time for motor trade to move past agency model ‘false dawn’! - Cox Automotive says it’s time for the automotive industry to move past the agency sales - Latest Insight Quarterly report described model as a ‘false dawn’ for the motor trade - Study finds approach is ‘failing to live up to expectations’ #agencymodel #automotive https://lnkd.in/ea-Xt5za

Imagine being a rural Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, RAM dealership outside the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, and just six months later, ranking as a TOP 3 dealership in your district. So, how did Waxahachie Dodge achieve such explosive growth in new sales? At the end of 2023, Waxahachie CDJR faced declining leads and struggled with ineffective third-party providers, leaving them with little online presence. But in March 2024, everything changed with the launch of the Automotive Accelerator. This new media mix focused on driving high-quality leads, reducing reliance on third-party providers, and prioritizing conversions. Six months later, Waxahachie CDJR is pulling customers from the DFW metro and taking market share. Over the last three months, the dealership has: - Increased new sales by 56% - Increased website leads by 105.17% - Increased market share by 74.11% - Decreased budget by 2.6% The store’s aggressive pricing strategy, paired with the Automotive Accelerator, and a strong team at the store, has made Waxahachie CDJR a dominant force in one of the most competitive metropolitan markets in the United States. Want to learn more about this success case? Visit our website www.fountainforward.com, and make sure you book yourself a free strategy call with us today! #automotiveaccelerator #analytics #growingdealerships #digitalbranding #acceleratingdealerships #increasesales #maximizecarsales #successcase #fountainforward

Yesterday, I watched a video on YouTube by Simon Squibb about sales. It’s truly one of the best videos I’ve watched on the topic, and it reminded me of an experience I had while working as a sales consultant for Chevrolet and GMC. I had a client who was hesitant about buying a GMC Yukon or a Ford Expedition. He was drawn to the Yukon and liked it, but he was a lifelong Ford Expedition driver, as was his father. He told me he was more comfortable with Ford and had never owned a GMC. He was uncertain and didn’t know which to buy. After talking with him for a while, I told him to go with the Ford. I even mentioned that I could get fired for this, but I believed he should buy the car that made him comfortable. I gave him my friend’s number, who works at a Ford dealership, and I texted my friend to help him. I did what felt right and honest to me. He ended up buying the Ford and called me to thank me after his new car was delivered. While it felt bad to lose the deal, I was comfortable knowing I did the right thing. Months later, he called me again, this time because his colleague wanted to buy a GMC. He told his colleague to buy only from me. His colleague already knew everything about the car and was ready to close. It was one of the easiest deals ever. Over the next two years, I closed three more deals through that initial client. I lost one deal, but in the long run, I closed four by doing the right thing with a client. Honesty in sales is more effective in the long run and builds lasting relationships. I hope salespeople use this approach more often and see how it affects their results in the long run. #honesty #sales

The worst day in Pontiac history came on April 27th, 2009, the day General Motors announced Pontiac Motor Division would be eliminated. Just over a month later, on May 30th, 2009, this photo was taken of a Pontiac salesman having a bad day. Then things went from bad to worse. Just a couple days later, on June 1st, 2009, General Motors filed for bankruptcy, leaving millions of GM shareholders out in the cold and throwing dealership owners into a panic. Pontiac Motor Division began in 1926. Their sales remained steady for decades and Pontiac remained mid-pack in sales most of the time. Then in 1956 Pontiac was re-energized when Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen took over the division. In 1962 Pontiac moved into 3rd place in sales behind just Chevrolet and Ford. They remained 3rd to 5th in sales for the next several decades. In 1996, the unthinkable happened when Pontiac moved into 2nd place, surpassing Chevrolet, and became GM's best selling division for one year (they repeated this feat again in 2000). Sales remained steady until 2007, then a rather steep decline occurred across all divisions as GM struggled for market share. Right up until 2009, Pontiac had outsold Buick around 2-to-1, but when the decision to eliminate a division occurred, GM chose to shut down Pontiac. This seemed like a strange decision considering Buick had just 3 models in their 2009 lineup (Enclave, LaCrosse, Lucerne) and Buick sales totaled just 102,306 vehicles. But the decision to cancel Pontiac instead of Buick was based on the fact that Buicks were selling well in China (they had been producing Buicks there since 1999) while Pontiac had zero sales to China. The Pontiac brand was virtually unknown there. Do you think it was a good desition to eliminate Pontiac instead of Buick?

You Can't Sell Scout Motors! NADA Dealers Fight Consumer Direct Sales. 💥 Dealers plan to fight Scout Motors. (That's some happy news.) NADA dealers plot state-by-state challenge to Scout Motors Inc. direct sales. (How dare they sell Scout Motors!) 👀 The NADA and state dealer associations across the country plan to leave no stone unturned as they push back against Scout Motors' nasty decision to bypass Volkswagen stores. (In the vast majority of states, the OEMs are not permitted to sell direct or compete with their dealers with products aimed specifically at U.S. consumers.) 🚗 Its corporate structure and formal attachment to VW Group could be a challenge in its quest to sell direct to a consumer. You can't sell direct to a consumer!! ⚡ NADA CEO Mike Stanton declined to share details about the association's strategy to block Scout from its direct sales, but bluntly said 'everything's on the table right now'. 💼 The association said it's prepared to challenge Scout in 'courthouses and state houses across this country'! 🚀 Get Your Auto News Unfiltered. Follow ATI Auto Business. https://lnkd.in/guaSsFWJ #automotive #news #VW #ScoutMotors #NADA #OEM #dealer #sales #auto #retail