For decades, the automotive retail industry operated on a simple, unspoken rule: a great month on the sales floor could hide the sins of the rest of the dealership. If variable operations were pumping out high volumes, Owners and General Managers could afford to overlook inefficiencies in the service drive, bloated inventory in the parts department, or sloppy cash flow management in the accounting office.
The automotive retail industry is standing at a historic crossroads. The business models that generated massive profits for the last forty years are rapidly becoming obsolete. Between the aggressive rise of Electric Vehicles (EVs), the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into daily operations, the constant threat of digital retail disruptors, and the ongoing wave of dealership consolidation, the future belongs to those who adapt.
Training your team is one of the most important factors for success in any business. Employees need to know their product, know the industry, and stay up to date with changes to the market. This is as true for car dealerships as it is true for any business...
With just two months left in 2018, dealership owners and managers should already be thinking carefully about 2019 strategy. The auto retail business is changing fast and in order to remain competitive dealerships must always be planning for the future and adopting new trends...
With the economy continuing to thrive and car sales doing well, many dealerships are riding high and focusing on moving cars. Unfortunately, many dealership managers have an overfocus on simply selling cars, and are missing important opportunities to maximize revenue per vehicle and generate real competitive advantage with advanced selling, bundling, and positioning...
As the American economy continues to perform well, dealerships see growth as more consumers walk through their doors looking to buy a new car. Good economic times of course are great for the car business, but there is one downside to growth that dealerships can face: attracting and retaining talented employees...
More and more dealerships now provide loaner vehicles to service customers. This is a major factor in improving customer service and satisfaction - the customer can easily bring their car in to be serviced, but still have a car to get around during the service process...
By now, everyone in the auto retail business has heard of the car subscription concepts offered by brands like Porsche and others. Visit porschepassport.com and you’ll see this concept in action. Something like “Netflix for cars”, the new car subscription model allows customers to pay a monthly fee to access the entire Porsche lineup, change cars as...
Car dealerships today cannot rely solely on selling cars to be profitable and competitive in the increasingly pressured auto retail industry. Effective dealership owners and managers know that pursuing other paths to profit is key to overall success. One of the most important additional business units that needs to be optimized aggressively is your service...
Recruiting and retaining a talented team is one of the biggest challenges in automotive retail today. Today’s younger employees often show little employer loyalty, and with margins shrinking dealerships often struggle to offer competitive compensation. To manage your team effectively you must have strong and structured on boarding process...
The automotive retail industry is getting more competitive every year. There’s no doubt that as we move deeper into 2018, dealerships will continue to face pressure from all sides. However, 2018 has also seen strong overall economic growth and the industry is filled with opportunity for dealerships that embrace change and keep working aggressively to improve...
Today’s car shoppers want an automotive retail experience that mirrors the convenience and transparency of shopping on Amazon. That’s the message author and automotive management expert Max Zanan explained in his latest article featured on Ward’s Auto, a message that the auto industry has been slow to adopt...
The internet has changed the way consumers shop across all industries. In the past, businesses could rely on being better informed than their customers, and could assume that shoppers often didn’t have much choice in where to buy. Today, with limitless product information available online and the convenience of online shopping available 24/7, businesses must cater to an informed and empowered consumer...
Max Zanan is an automotive management professional with more than 20 years of experience working in the auto retail industry. Max is the author of a new book Perfect Dealership, a guide for dealership managers and owners to running a more profitable auto business. Today, Max sat down with marketing consultant Alex Swerdlow to talk more about the book and his vision for the automotive industry...