Trade News – Page 887

Chicago’s class of fresh lines and touch-ups

CHICAGO — The 2020 Chicago Auto Show did not premiere a single new global concept vehicle, or present a completely new or redesigned model this month. But Chicago did give the industry a new wave of refreshed models, most of them cornerstone nameplates for their brands.

That means there will be a class of new faces arriving at dealership lots — some of them only subtly different from the outgoing models, but all of them giving retail sales associates something new to point out to shoppers.

From minivan to crossover to sports car to sedan, here's a look at the refreshed models that broke cover in Chicago.

2021 Volkswagen Atlas

A refresh just three years into the Atlas' life cycle rounds out the blocky face that Volkswagen's large crossover previously presented.

2021 Chevrolet Equinox

The Equinox crossover, GM's second-bestselling vehicle overall, gets some new headlights that bring it closer to the look of its Blazer sibling.

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Ford plans Bronco reveal in March; dealers learn details

LAS VEGAS — The wait for the Bronco is nearly over.

Ford Motor Co. plans to introduce the off-road SUV next month, dealers were told at the brand's annual make meeting at the NADA Show here. The introduction of a smaller off-road crossover, called the Bronco Sport, will follow in April, likely at the New York auto show.

Executives told dealers Sunday that they expect sales of the Bronco family of vehicles — which will initially include two-door and four-door versions of the Bronco as well as the Bronco Sport — will hit at least 200,000 in 2021 as the seek volume to challenge Jeep.

The Bronco Sport will go on sale late this year, while the Bronco won't be available until early 2021.

Ford is planning an aggressive rollout of hundreds of Bronco accessories to help boost profitability. The automaker has made changes to its accessories business following the launch of the Ranger midsize pickup in 2019 to ensure parts will be available at launch, deale…

NADA party time

Infiniti Americas Group Vice President Jeff Pope, second from left, chats with Mario Murgado, CEO, Miami Automotive Group, second from right; Ali Khan, Glendale Infiniti in California, left; and Gail Faulkner of Faulkner Automotive Group in Pennsylvania on Saturday at the Park MGM Resort.

National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers President Fernando Varela, right, chats with 2019 NADA Chairman Charlie Gilchrist at the NAMAD reception at the Encore Resort on Saturday.

Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan vice president of marketing, communications and media; David Marvin, dealer principal of Metro Nissan of Texas and California; and Scott Shirley, Nissan vice president and chief marketing manager; at the brand's reception at the Wynn Resort on Friday.

Members and guests enjoy the NAMAD reception Saturday.

A glimpse into Lexus’ dealer edge

Las Vegas, 2016. Las Vegas, 2018. Las Vegas, here again in 2020.

About the only thing as reliable as this city's place on the NADA Show schedule is Lexus' dominance in NADA's twice-a-year Dealer Attitude Survey.

Lexus picked up another No. 1 ranking in the latest study, released to Automotive News this month. It was the luxury brand's 12th in the last decade.

How does Lexus keep its edge with dealers? An unpublicized program, called Elevate Lexus, may provide a clue.

Paul Clark, a Toyota veteran who heads Lexus College, says the effort was inspired by dealers. They sought the factory's help in guiding their employees through an expected era of profound change.

The series of three-day seminars, 11 in total, began last fall. The program combines leadership training and a deep-steeping in what Clark calls the brand experience. It's aimed at dealership managers, not principals — the folks who don't normally get to rub elbows with Toyota bosses.…

AutoNation focuses on retailing and future

Seven months into her job leading the nation's top new-vehicle retailer, Cheryl Miller said she is focused on growing AutoNation Inc.'s core auto retail business, while also keeping a foot in the future.

Miller told the audience at Automotive News Retail Forum: NADA that AutoNation struck a balance with its new-vehicle volume vs. profitability model toward the end of last year.

"Last year, we started out the year with a little bit of a lag in units, but we caught up and delivered profit there," she said.

AutoNation last year opted to pivot toward improving new-vehicle margins over volume, and same-store sales fell by double-digit percentages.

But that strategy was altered mid-year to more of a balanced approach. And this week, AutoNation posted higher fourth-quarter net income in which same-store new-vehicle sales fell 3.1 percent, but same-store gross profit per new vehicle rose 4.5 percent.

Heading into…

Loyalty rules, but not without conquest

Brand loyalty remains the magic ingredient for automakers as they fight for position in 2020.

But that's not enough, a panel of industry trackers told an audience at the annual Franchise Assessment Review here Friday at the J.D. Power Auto Summit.

Brand loyalty must be coupled with an automaker's ability to reel in new customers if the brand expects to grow, said Tyson Jominy, vice president for data and analytics at J.D. Power.

"Customer loyalty illustrates how well a brand is doing," Jominy said. "But if it's not also conquesting new customers, the business won't be sustainable in the long run."

Retaining customers lowers business costs by taking the pressure off of marketing and incentive spending, Jominy said outside the assessment review, which is an off-the-record discussion of brand specifics for a mostly dealer audience.

The factors driving loyalty in the market are product quality, residual value…

Automakers act to simplify incentives

When a dealership lot has two identical vehicles — down to the trim level, color and even sticker price — they can still end up with a significant price difference that leaves customers perplexed.

Why is one vehicle $1,000 less than the one next to it? It may have been on the lot 100 days longer, for example, but such details aren't apparent to customers, said Brad Korner, general manager of Cox Automotive Rates & Incentives.

Some dealers and automakers are on a mission to eliminate this situation.

Automaker incentives can create a wall between the customer and the dealership. Incentives going directly to consumers can create confusion and mistrust, dealers say, and need to be dramatically simplified.

"Overly complex incentives, incentives that aren't available to every customer, every dealer or even every vehicle in the vehicle line — they destroy customer confidence in dealers and destroy our profitability," sai…

Winner’s circle

Natasha del Barrio, CEO of Bert Ogden Auto Group, second from left, celebrates being named one of Automotive News' 40 Under 40 honorees with dealership employees at the Retail Forum: NADA. Del Barrio began working for Bert Ogden, in McAllen, Texas, as a teenager and was appointed CEO in 2017 at age 35.

Quick question

What do you consider the main focus of the auto finance industry in 2020?

Laurie Foster, founder, Foster Growth Strategies: "This length-of-the-loan thing is going to be something that they have to answer because everybody's underwater on their cars. And so that's going to slow down the pace of people buying their next car."

Shawn Allgood, head of Chrysler Capital and auto relationships, Santander Consumer USA Holdings: "This is the year where e-contracting will likely become more and more common for dealers. I think dealers are going to force lenders to get involved in that, and technology that includes early fraud detection."

Alex Yurchenko, vice president of data science and analytics, Black Book: "Managing risk. Their own risk. The amount of loans is increasing, the length of the loan is increasing. Lease rates are at a record height. So they have a lot of exposure."

Kyle Birch, president of North American operati…

Colorado bill would allow direct EV sales

LAS VEGAS — A bipartisan group of Colorado lawmakers, in a move that sparked swift pushback from the state's new-car dealers, has introduced a bill that would allow automakers to sell electric vehicles directly to consumers.

The measure, introduced Thursday in the state assembly, would create an exception to Colorado law that would allow automakers to directly own, operate or control dealerships that sell their own electric vehicles. A Senate hearing on the issue is scheduled for Tuesday.

"We believe the franchise [model is] better for the industry, better for the factory and better for the consumer," Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, told Automotive News, adding that he anticipates franchised dealers will oppose the measure. "The dealer is in the middle of that process to take care of the customer locally."

State Sens. Chris Hansen, a Democrat, and Kevin Priola, a Republican, along with Democratic state House Speake…

Cars.com debuts digital video marketing strategy

Cars.com is unveiling a digital video marketing strategy to help dealerships more efficiently target would-be car buyers.

The Chicago dealership technology company unveiled Fuel In-Market Video this week and will introduce it to dealers during the NADA Show.

Cars.com envisions Fuel as a smarter marketing option than TV advertising, which it says casts too wide a net. Fuel will draw on Cars.com's audience data to target shoppers it senses are in the market.

"The dealer's ad will appear where we think is most appropriate," Dean Evans told Automotive News. The former Hyundai and Subaru marketing chief was hired last fall to lead Cars.com's digital marketing initiative. He added that the multichannel approach could include such modes as cellphone or the Hulu streaming service.

Dealerships will be able to access advertising that can be customized to fit their brand and offers, Cars.com said.

Fuel has been pilo…

VW dealers to hear about EV aid

Volkswagen dealers will learn Sunday what assistance the brand will offer to help convert their facilities to begin selling at least three new battery-electric vehicles starting this year.

Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh and sales head Duncan Movassaghi will lay out the assistance plan at the VW make meeting.

Full details weren't available before press time, but John Luciano, chairman of the Volkswagen National Dealer Advisory Council, said plans he's seen should mean the vast majority of Volkswagen's 650 U.S. dealers will participate.

"It's got heavy, heavy support with co-op, so dealers will be able to use those funds for what they need to do," said Luciano, who is also general manager of Street Volkswagen of Amarillo in Texas.

Volkswagen Group, which is spending about $66 billion globally in an effort to become the world's largest manufacturer of BEVs across its brands, will bring a Tiguan-sized electric cros…