CBT Automotive Network Podcast

Evaluating Your Dealership's Marketing Team and Ad Spend | Servicing the Newest Automotive Technology Increases Profits for Automotive Service Centers | Driving More Traffic to Your Dealership

Today on CBTNews.com - Tuesday, March 12th, 2019:

The Importance of Evaluating Your Dealership's Marketing Team and Advertising Spend - Glenn Pasch, PCG Digital

Jim recently caught up with Glenn Pasch, auto marketing expert, and CEO of PCG Digital. They discussed the importance of re-evaluating your dealership's marketing team and spend. They tackle questions like 'who should make up the marketing team?' and 'what should I try to accomplish with every campaign?'. You won't want to miss this interview.

Servicing the Newest Automotive Technology Increases Profits for Automotive Service Centers

Previously, automotive service centers only had to worry about the basic functions of a vehicle, like engine work, tire changes, and routine maintenance. The idea that mechanics in the automotive industry need to be savvy with high-tech computer systems is a relatively new one, and the prospect of learning to work on advanced technology in vehicles is daunting. However, automotive service centers will reap huge rewards from being able to perform repairs on the various types of advanced technology, like driver assistance, alternative fuel vehicles, and connectivity technology available on vehicles today.

Top Selling Holiday's In Automotive and How to Market Them to Drive Traffic

As a dealer, you’ve probably tried all of the popular car sale promotion ideas out there. But it can be hard to determine which ones actually help to increase traffic to your dealership. Generally, automotive dealerships often advertising sales surrounding holidays related to change of seasons, long weekend, veterans, or presidents. Though you might not celebrate one (or more) of the holidays, there are tons of opportunities for consumers to take advantage of sales. It’s also a great way for dealerships to get new faces to walk into your dealership.

Jim recently caught up with Glenn Pasch, auto marketing expert, and CEO of PCG Digital. They discussed the importance of re-evaluating your dealership's marketing team and spend. They tackle questions like 'who should make up the marketing team?' and 'what should I try to accomplish with every campaign?'. You won't want to miss this interview.

How the Integration Between Lyft and Xtime Can Benefit Your Dealership | Grow Your Service Sales Business by Having a Strong Q1 and Year-End Plan | Jeep to Join the Ranks of Plug-In-Hybrids

Today on CBTNews.com - Monday, March 11th, 2019:

How the Integration Between Lyft and Xtime Can Benefit Your Dealership - Matt Schwartz, Sr. Director of Strategy for Cox Automotive

Cox Automotive just announced plans to integrate Lyft’s ride-sharing service with their service experience platform, Xtime. This partnership will elevate an area of business becoming increasingly important to dealers as service revenue now accounts for 49 percent of dealership profits, according to NADA researchers. Here to tell us what this integration means for dealers and consumers is Matt Schwartz, senior director of strategy and managed services at Cox Automotive.

Grow Your Service Sales Business by Having a Strong Q1 and Year-End Plan

What can we do to finish out this quarter and the entire year off strong? By this time in the year most dealer leaders, managers and business owners have a good feel for what their first quarter brings and what their year-end numbers will look like throughout the year for service! So far, the service market has been a good one for many, but I believe there is even more available when we understand how to maximize facility utilization, performance and profitability.

Jeep to Join the Ranks of Plug-In-Hybrids

The brand whose mission is to “go anywhere, do anything,” is indeed going and doing. This year the company has already generated a buzz at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show. At the event, which starts on the 7th and will continue through the 17th of March, Jeep will be displaying its plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) models of the Renegade and Compass. These models are categorized as previews, so no release date has been set yet, but that hasn’t stopped the excitement over the new designs and speculation that they’ll be put out in 2020.

Cox Automotive just announced plans to integrate Lyft’s ride-sharing service with their service experience platform, Xtime. This partnership will elevate an area of business becoming increasingly important to dealers as service revenue now accounts for 49 percent of dealership profits, according to NADA researchers. Here to tell us what this integration means for dealers and consumers is Matt Schwartz, senior director of strategy and managed services at Cox Automotive.

Week In Review: How to Make Up For Lost Profits in Your Service Department as Consumers Shift to EVs | Auto Industry Hits Some Headwinds in February | The Latest Digital Marketing Trends in Retail Automotive

CBT Week In Review for Friday, March 8th, 2019:

Never Miss the Opportunity to Make a Bid on a Used Car - Zach Hallowell, Manheim

Zach Hallowell, Vice President of Manheim Digital Marketplace, and RMS Automotive, joins CBT Automotive to discuss how Manheim is introducing a new way to reduce or even eliminate the stress that comes along with buying used car units.

How to Make Up For Lost Profits in Your Service Department as Consumers Shift to EVs - Steve Finlay, WardsAuto

When electric vehicles become more popular and mainstream, dealers worry that their fixed-ops departments will be the ones to suffer. With simpler propulsion systems and 40 percent fewer parts, EVs are on track to disrupt the service drive in a big way. On today’s show, we welcome back Steve Finlay, editor at Ward’s Auto Magazine. Steve discusses the pressure EVs will put on the service drive, and what dealers can do about it.

Auto Industry Hits Some Headwinds in February with 2.8% Decrease in Sales - Karl Brauer, Autotrader & KBB

Top auto industry analysts have cited rising interest rates, import tariff costs, and cold weather as some of the reasons for February’s slow down in new vehicle sales. Here to talk to us more about February’s numbers is Karl Brauer, executive publisher for AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. Karl shares with us, his insight about this month’s winners, losers, and what dealers can expect as we head into March.

The Latest Digital Marketing Trends in Retail Automotive - Mark Sokal, CEO of SOKAL

On today’s show, we welcome Mark Sokal, CEO of SOKAL, a powerful marketing agency with over 100 employees and well over 350 clients around the nation. Sokal’s marketing background is rooted in dealership operations. Mark is a 20-year automotive veteran having moved up in the automotive ranks from Sales Manager to owning several dealerships.

On today’s show, we welcome back Mark Sokal, CEO of Sokal Digital Advertising, a powerful marketing agency with over 100 employees and well over 350 clients around the nation. Sokal’s marketing background is rooted in dealership operations. Mark is a 20-year automotive veteran having moved up in the automotive ranks from Sales Manager to owning several dealerships.

The Latest Digital Marketing Trends in Retail Automotive – Mark Sokal | How to Help Women in Retail Advance Into Management | A Constructive Approach to Missed Sales Goals

Today on CBTNews.com – Thursday, March 7th, 2019:

The Latest Digital Marketing Trends in Retail Automotive – Mark Sokal, CEO of SOKAL

On today’s show, we welcome Mark Sokal, CEO of SOKAL, a powerful marketing agency with over 100 employees and well over 350 clients around the nation. Sokal’s marketing background is rooted in dealership operations. Mark is a 20-year automotive veteran having moved up in the automotive ranks from Sales Manager to owning several dealerships.

How to Help Women in Retail Advance Into Management

There is no question that gender roles have evolved tremendously throughout the past couple of centuries. For example, in 2017, Ancestry.com pointed out some huge shifts in the gender gap, such as the rising prominence of women in occupations such as bank tellers and nurses. Women used to play a minor role in the workforce, but women’s’ presence in fields like finance and STEM have also boomed. Industrialization throughout the years also didn’t hurt, as it brought many new jobs for women who would have otherwise stayed at home.

A Constructive Approach to Missed Sales Goals

There’s no way of getting around it: as a manager, there will be unpleasant situations that you personally have to deal with. As much as everyone wants to be the boss that’s the buddy, the boss that’s cool and the boss who’s a friend, at the end of the day the manager is where the buck stops and so needs to take responsibility for what’s going on if there are team members not meeting their goals.

Auto Industry Hits Some Headwinds in February with 2.8% Decrease in Sales - Karl Brauer | Leading Women In Automotive In 2019 | Hyundai’s 5-year, 40 Billion Dollar Plan

Today on CBTNews.com - Wednesday, March 6th, 2019:

Auto Industry Hits Some Headwinds in February with 2.8% Decrease in Sales - Karl Brauer, Autotrader & KBB

Top auto industry analysts have cited rising interest rates, import tariff costs, and cold weather as some of the reasons for February’s slow down in new vehicle sales. Here to talk to us more about February’s numbers is Karl Brauer, executive publisher for AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. Karl shares with us, his insight about this month’s winners, losers, and what dealers can expect as we head into March.

Hyundai’s 5-year, 40 Billion Dollar Plan

This week, Hyundai Motor announced that it’s planning on allocating 45 trillion won ($40 billion USD) within the next five years to make significant technological advances, which includes about 20 trillion won ($17.7 billion USD) to research and development and 14 trillion won ($12.4 billion USD) to other upgrades. Part of the plan is to dedicate at least 3.3 trillion won ($2.95 billion) to electric vehicles and 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) to advances like self-driving cars and connection technology.

Leading Women In Automotive In 2019

With International Women’s Day approaching on March 8th, it’s only fitting that we look at how far we’ve come in the automotive industry with women in leadership roles. Though we are nowhere near where we should be, the industry is slowly modernizing their management styles.

Top auto industry analysts have cited rising interest rates, import tariff costs, and cold weather as some of the reasons for February’s slow down in new vehicle sales. Here to talk to us more about February’s numbers is Karl Brauer, executive publisher for AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. Karl shares with us, his insight about this month’s winners, losers, and what dealers can expect as we head into March.

When electric vehicles become more popular and mainstream, dealers worry that their fixed-ops departments will be the ones to suffer. With simpler propulsion systems and 40 percent fewer parts, EVs are on track to disrupt the service drive in a big way. On today’s show, we welcome back Steve Finlay, editor at Ward’s Auto Magazine. Steve discusses the pressure EVs will put on the service drive, and what dealers can do about it.