Apparently Mercedes-Benz Financial has been talking about enhancing their lease turn-in process, with the head of Mercedes-Benz Financial talking about completely reworking the way that the lease system operates. Currently lease penetration is 50% of retail sales, and is also stating that three of four retail transactions in the United States occur at Mercedes-Benz dealers. This is a huge benefit to dealers, especially those with ties to nationwide auto shippers. Mercedes-Benz Financial recently upgraded their First Class Finish lease program’s turn-in process, giving dealers new software for PDA’s as well as computers. Dealers can … [Read more...]
CRM Daily Says It’s Time to Upgrade Systems
March 21, 2010 By
Traditional CRM systems are not delivering the desired customer experience transformation, according to CRM-Daily, and most organizations are seeing the customer’s experience improvement as highly desirable. 74% of customers are likely to buy more as a result of service excellence, and a survey of international businesses across the United States and Europe has been undertaken by Pegasystems, an independent organization. Many dealers, especially those who have nationwide auto shippers at their disposal, are eager to please their customers, because that typically means repeat business and more money as a result. However, many businesses … [Read more...]
Experian Reports New Trends in Financing
March 19, 2010 By
According to Subprime News, captive finance companies have lost a huge share of outstanding loan balances in the third quarter of 2009, down 5.4% - or $12 billion – when compared to 2008 numbers. Outstanding balances in finance and other categories fell a whopping 22.7%, or $23 billion, in the same time frame. This trend is due mainly to troubled capital markets, and non-prime loans dropped by 12.8% while subprime numbers are down by 21%. So what exactly does this mean for you, the consumer? To be frank, not much in the long run. In the short term, financing numbers and APR rates have increased, putting increased pressure on current … [Read more...]
Toyota Gaining More Consumers?
March 17, 2010 By
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GM Reinstating Over 660 Dealers To Help Jumpstart Sales
March 15, 2010 By
General Motors is currently sending out letters to 661 dealers who have bitten the dust, asking them to reinstate their stores so they can start selling again. There is a catch, however – dealers have to comply with standards for facilities, capitalization and inventory financing, but these are things that they should have been doing in the first place, right? The Detroit-based company is looking to have a balance of 1,160 dealers who have appealed so far and is continuing toward arbitration. Dealers currently have ten days to sign the letters and return them, though a full two months to fulfill the requirements that the letters said … [Read more...]
Toyota Market Share Drops in Wake of Recall
March 13, 2010 By
Edmunds.com has adjusted their automotive sales forecast for 2010, mainly because of Toyota’s huge recall problems. In other words, they’re going back on what they said before because Toyota is currently tanking faster than the Exxon-Valdez in 1989. They are also adjusting the true market value prices for the affected Toyota models, and Ford is forecasted to overtake Toyota as the second largest automobile maker in the United States market. The auto transport industry saw this coming, that’s for sure. Edmunds.com is not reporting anything that no one else saw, but their numbers are something that other people didn’t see. New … [Read more...]
US Vehicle Decline Still Declining Through 2020
March 12, 2010 By
Well doesn’t this just feel like rain on your wedding day? According to www.aftermarketbusiness.com, the Earth Policy Institute has said that cars scrapped are exceeding new car sales in 2009, which is the first shrinkage since World War II and that the US Vehicle fleet decreased from an all-time high 250 million vehicles to a much-lower 246 million vehicles. The United States currently has five vehicles for every four registered drivers, and four of every five residents in the United States live in cities where public transportation is expanding. In other words, cars aren’t selling and people don’t want them anymore. This shrinkage … [Read more...]
NHTSA Now Under Fire For Being Nice to Automakers
March 11, 2010 By
According to the New York Times the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has failed to subpoena Toyota’s records in the six years that the company has been suspected of withholding critical information. Now, the NHTSA is under as much pressure to perform as Toyota. But what concerns people the most is the fact that the NHTSA has opened six safety inquiries on Toyota since 2003 and closed each and every one of them with a pat on the back and a slap on the wrist. And now look what happened. This is just more proof that something is going on with the whole thing with Toyota, and the auto transport industry has seen something fishy … [Read more...]
Nissan to Start Filling Leaf Orders in April
March 8, 2010 By
According to the Detroit Bureau the 2011 Nissan Leaf will go on sale in April 2011, with Nissan already taking $100 reservation deposits on the new electric vehicle. The Leaf is Nissan’s first attempt at a full electric vehicle – it’s battery powered and the company has just finished a 24-city promotion tour. The deposit that customers put down ensure that they will be the first for formal orders when the vehicle debuts, and Nissan also received government aid to modify their Tennessee assembly plant for the company. The company is planning on a phased rollout starting in December of 2010 for select markets, though no final price has … [Read more...]
Toyota Gets Defense from State Officials
March 6, 2010 By
Right now, the current total of recalled Toyota vehicles stands at over 8.5 million, while the company itself operates seven production plants and 1,400 dealerships in the United States alone. It employs hundreds of thousands of workers in the United States, and now they’re getting some backing from states where Toyota plants and Toyota workers reside. Many governors in states that Toyota has plants and workers in are concerned about unemployment should those plants fail in the wake of the recalls. Other governors are suggesting that the United States government and its officials should think twice before criticizing the company, though … [Read more...]
