CBT Automotive Network Podcast

January Sales Numbers Defy Automotive Industry Expectations - Karl Brauer | The Race Towards Electric | Groups Applying T2L Metrics Bring Accountability, Cost Control and Speed to Recon

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

January Sales Numbers Defy Automotive Industry Expectations - Karl Brauer, Autotrader & KBB

Despite winter storms and a long government shutdown, January sales numbers ended up better than most people expected. We explored these findings further with Karl Brauer, executive publisher for AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. Karl shared his insight about this month’s winners, losers, and what dealers can expect for the rest of 2019.

The Race Towards Electric

It’s becoming clearer and clearer that we’re at the start of an electric revolution. Fluctuating fuel prices increased environmental protection efforts, and new technology are all pointing toward a bright future for electric cars. It feels like every day there is yet another announcement from a leading brand about their expansion into electric vehicles. Among the loudest competitors are Volkswagen, Tesla, and General Motors. All three are making names for themselves in the electric market, working hard to edge out the opposition.

Groups Applying T2L Metrics Bring Accountability, Cost Control and Speed to Recon

Whether it operates three rooftops or 300, a dealership group is a unique animal. Each store within the group presents its own distinctive management and performance challenges as does the collective group itself. Managing for higher performance in crucial profit areas is always a challenge but technology providers, fortunately, now provide easy-to-use tools for variable and fixed operations to help them improve individual store and group performance.

Despite winter storms and a long government shutdown, January sales numbers ended up better than most people expected. We explored these findings further with Karl Brauer, executive publisher for AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book. Karl shared his insight about this month’s winners, losers, and what dealers can expect for the rest of 2019.

Wes Lutz Reflects on a Successful Year | 2019 NADA Chairman Charlie Gilchrist on Threats to the Industry and His Plan for the Year Ahead | The Most Effective Way to Reduce Margin Compression - Dale Pollak

CBT News Week In Review for Friday, February 8th, 2019:

2018 NADA Chairman Wes Lutz Reflects on a Successful Year

The 2019 NADA Convention is officially in the history books, but before it ended we had a chance to catch up with Wes Lutz, the 2018 NADA chairman just before he turned over the gavel to incoming chairman, Charlie Gilchrist. We talked to Wes about his time as chairman, the high points of his tenure, and some of the challenges NADA faced over the last year.

Charlie Gilchrist, 2019 NADA Chairman on Vehicle Affordability, Threats to the Industry, and His Plan for the Year Ahead

Thousands of franchise dealers descended on San Francisco for the 2019 NADA Convention. One of the high points of the event is the installation of the Association's new Chairman; Texas dealer Charlie Gilchrist. We had the chance to sit down with Charlie just before taking the reigns as the new Chairman of the NADA for 2019. We asked Charlie about the future of the industry, the year ahead for NADA and what he wants to get accomplished.

The Most Effective Way to Reduce Margin Compression at Your Dealership - Dale Pollak, vAuto

At this year’s NADA Show in San Francisco, CBT News had the pleasure of sitting down with several prolific dealers, vendors, and industry specialists. One of those specialists was Dale Pollak, executive vice president at Cox Automotive and founder of vAuto. In today’s segment, Jim and Dale discussed how dealers can minimize margin compression by better managing and marketing their used car inventory.

CDK Global and ELEADONE: The Integration of Companies and Exciting Product Releases Ahead - Scott Mathews and Bill Wittenmyer

The retail auto industry saw some big vendor mergers and acquisitions last year that took center stage at this year’s NADA show in San Francisco. Scott Mathews, executive vice president of sales and marketing for CDK Global, and Bill Wittenmyer, vice president of sales and operations at ELEADONE, stopped by the CBT stage to discuss the integration of their two companies, and the exciting products ahead.

The retail auto industry saw some big vendor mergers and acquisitions last year that took center stage at this year’s NADA show in San Francisco. Scott Mathews, executive vice president of sales and marketing for CDK Global, and Bill Wittenmyer, vice president of sales and operations at ELEADONE, stopped by the CBT stage to discuss the integration of their two companies, and the exciting products ahead.

The Integration of Companies and Exciting Product Releases Ahead - Scott Mathews and Bill Wittenmyer | How to Sell to Millennials in 2019 | Best Practices to Remember During the Hiring Process

Today on CBTNews.com - Thursday, February 7th, 2019:

CDK Global and ELEADONE: The Integration of Companies and Exciting Product Releases Ahead - Scott Mathews and Bill Wittenmyer

The retail auto industry saw some big vendor mergers and acquisitions last year that took center stage at this year’s NADA show in San Francisco. Scott Mathews, executive vice president of sales and marketing for CDK Global, and Bill Wittenmyer, vice president of sales and operations at ELEADONE, stopped by the CBT stage to discuss the integration of their two companies, and the exciting products ahead.

How to Sell to Millennials in 2019

With over 75 million potential customers in North America in the Millennial demographic today, it is worth the effort to learn how to sell them successfully.  You may find they will become loyal customers for future purchases and will refer you and your dealership to their family and friends as the place to go when they are in the market for a new vehicle.

Best Practices to Remember During the Hiring Process for Your Dealership

Those looking for jobs today want to know that your dealership cares about them as individuals. Shake things up and shine by including at least one question in each interview that indicates you’ve paid attention to their resumes. Try as much as possible to convey that you’ve given them actual time and thought as individuals and you’ll find fewer ghosts going forward.

The Most Effective Way to Reduce Margin Compression at Your Dealership - Dale Pollak | January Sales Rise in Spite of Intense Weather and Government Shutdown | Enhancing the Customer Experience with Automated Marketing Strategies

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

The Most Effective Way to Reduce Margin Compression at Your Dealership - Dale Pollak, vAuto

At this year’s NADA Show in San Francisco, CBT News had the pleasure of sitting down with several prolific dealers, vendors, and industry specialists. One of those specialists was Dale Pollak, executive vice president at Cox Automotive and founder of vAuto. In today’s segment, Jim and Dale discussed how dealers can minimize margin compression by better managing and marketing their used car inventory.

Enhance Customer Experience with These Automated Marketing Strategies - Guy Super, Outsell

At this year’s NADA Show in San Francisco, CBT News caught up with Guy Super, vice president of sales at Outsell. Jim and Guy discussed the automated marketing strategies that your dealership needs.

January Sales Rise in Spite of Intense Weather and Government Shutdown

In spite of the many obstacles facing car buyers, January is estimated to be a month of gains. Analysts at Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book recorded estimated sales increases of 1.3 and 0.2 percent respectively when compared to the previous year. While this was a bit of a slow start to 2019, it is clear that car buyers still feel optimistic. Read on for some of the trends that defined January’s car sales.

Update on the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards

In 1975 the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards were passed as part of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Despite being modified a bit, these standards are still in place today and their main goal is to reduce the use of gasoline while by making improvements in fuel efficiency. President Trump and his administration have until March 31 to submit a formal proposal to change CAFE standards, which is what they are calling the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) standards.

At this year’s NADA Show in San Francisco, CBT News had the pleasure of sitting down with several prolific dealers, vendors, and industry specialists. One of those specialists was Dale Pollak, executive vice president at Cox Automotive and founder of vAuto. In today’s segment, Jim and Dale discussed how dealers can minimize margin compression by better managing and marketing their used car inventory.

Charlie Gilchrist, 2019 NADA Chairman on Vehicle Affordability, Threats to the Industry, and His Plan for the Year Ahead | Digital Deals: Coming to a Dealership Near You | Driving Into the Future

Today on CBTNews.com - Tuesday, February 5th, 2019:

Charlie Gilchrist, 2019 NADA Chairman on Vehicle Affordability, Threats to the Industry, and His Plan for the Year Ahead

Thousands of franchise dealers descended on San Francisco for the 2019 NADA Convention. One of the high points of the event is the installation of the Association's new Chairman; Texas dealer Charlie Gilchrist. We had the chance to sit down with Charlie just before taking the reigns as the new Chairman of the NADA for 2019. We asked Charlie about the future of the industry, the year ahead for NADA and what he wants to get accomplished.

Make Day-to-Day Operations More Efficient at Your Dealership with the Help of a Virtual Assistant - David Marod, Conversica

CBT News spoke with David Marod, senior vice president of sales at Conversica on the stage at NADA this year and discussed artificial intelligence in the dealership, and employing a virtual assistant in the day-to-day operations that can alleviate the tedious tasks. Watch Now

Digital Deals: Coming to a Dealership Near You

Most dealerships use scanning solutions to create digital documents, but there are several reasons why scanning is not the ideal solution for digitizing documents. No matter how fast your scanner is, it still takes time. Scanned documents are created and managed by humans, which means there is always room for human error that makes retrieval of documents difficult.

Driving Into the Future

In the six years since the multimedia platform CBT (Car Biz Today) was launched by Jim and Bridget Fitzpatrick, the American car industry has undergone far-reaching change and faced an array of new challenges. During this time, CBT has championed the automobile dealer community by providing important and timely news coupled with a host of tools to enable them to not only understand the forces and trends in their business, but also profit from them.

Thousands of franchise dealers descended on San Francisco for the 2019 NADA Convention. One of the high points of the event is the installation of the Association's new Chairman; Texas dealer Charlie Gilchrist. We had the chance to sit down with Charlie just before taking the reigns as the new Chairman of the NADA for 2019. We asked Charlie about the future of the industry, the year ahead for NADA and what he wants to get accomplished.

Today on CBTNews.com - Monday, February 4th, 2019:

2018 NADA Chairman Wes Lutz Reflects on a Successful Year

The 2019 NADA Convention is officially in the history books, but before it ended we had a chance to catch up with Wes Lutz, the 2018 NADA chairman just before he turned over the gavel to incoming chairman, Charlie Gilchrist. We talked to Wes about his time as chairman, the high points of his tenure, and some of the challenges NADA faced over the last year.

Digital Air Strike Makes Bold Moves in Auto Marketing - Alexi Venneri, Co-Founder & CEO

During this year's NADA Show, CBT News spoke with Alexi Venneri, co-founder, and CEO of Digital Air Strike. Alexi and Jim discussed the origins of Digital Air Strike, social media marketing, and the importance of online engagement between dealers and their consumers. Check out this interview to find out more.

NADA Sets Out to Develop Next Generation of Dealership and Diesel Service Technicians

It’s a simple matter of math. Every year, approximately 76,000 service technician jobs open up in the auto industry as workers retire and new jobs develop. At the same time, roughly 37,000 new technicians graduate from US training programs and colleges. This translates into an annual deficit of 39,000 technicians, give or take a few. To fill spots and thrive, the automotive sector is sorely in need of a solution that will balance the numbers.

Does the Title of Your F&I Manager Matter?

When people go through the process of buying a car and then agree to make the purchase, they move into a non-defensive state of mind.  However, when they go into the F&I or Business Office they can become extremely defensive and start preparing to resist every attempt to sell them additional products other than the vehicle itself. The reason this happens is that everybody knows what an F&I or Business Manager is all about and their anxieties rise when it is time to go and meet with them.