UCD Magazine • August 2020 • Frontline

NIADA’s Annual Membership Meeting, traditionally held each year during the NIADA|NABD Convention and Expo, will be held virtually in 2020.

The meeting is scheduled for Sept. 21 – the day before the 2020 NIADA|NABD Virtual Convention and Expo Series opens.

All independent dealers and associates of NIADA are invited to attend the virtual membership meeting, during which NIADA members will elect the association’s 2020-21 Board of Directors and conduct other association business.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NIADA moved its Convention, originally scheduled for June, to an online platform, to be held on three consecutive Tuesdays – Sept. 22, Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. See page 16 or visit www.niadaconvention.com for more information.

That decision made it necessary to reschedule the Annual Membership Meeting as well, and due to the coronavirus, the Board of Directors elected to hold the meeting online.

NIADA members will receive information about how to participate in this important meeting via e-mail and in the September issue of UCD.

The Bootcamps will be held via online platform Sept. 1-3, offering the military-grade training that has made them among NIADA’s most popular dealer training offerings.

NIADA’s BHPH Accounting Training is still on as an in-person class, but it has been rescheduled from its original August dates. It will now be held Sept. 23-24 in Sarasota, Fla.

Both sessions will be led by NIADA Dealer 20 Groups moderator and consultant David Brotherton.

The bootcamps include full-day workshops in three critical areas of your Buy Here-Pay Here operation– sales, management and collections.

The sales bootcamp will train sales associates, sales managers, general managers and dealers how to maximize sales and minimize risk at the lowest possible cost. The management session will show you, your sales manager and your GM how to design and implement effective policies and procedures so you can sell more cars, sell them the right way, manage expenses and create collectible loans/leases.

The collections bootcamp teaches collections managers, collectors, underwriters, finance directors and dealers the key drivers to effective collections results.

The accounting class is an in-depth course that goes beyond the basics, diving into areas such as accounting for reconditioning and inventory, inventory write-downs, related finance company accounting, account reconciliation, consolidated statements, payroll and much more.

Wholesale values of used cars reached a record high in June, according to the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index.

The index ended June at 149.3, an all-time high for wholesale used vehicle values according to Cox Automotive, Manheim’s parent company. That represented an 8.95 percent increase over May and a 6.3 percent increase over June 2019.

Manheim’s figures showed that trend continued into July, which reached its midpoint on pace to break the freshly minted record.

Through the first 15 days of July, wholesale prices had risen another 4.4 percent to 155.9 – an 11 percent increase from July 2019.

Still, Cox Automotive chief economist Jonathan Smoke warned the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the used vehicle market are not over.

"We have enjoyed a dramatic and rapid recovery in the auto market," he said. "However, the next three to six months could see some reversing trends as COVID-19 case growth threatens to stall the job recovery. Credit conditions could deteriorate rapidly with the expiration of stimulus benefits and additional waves of supply will hit the used vehicle market later this summer when demand is usually softer."

Perry, who earned his reputation in the industry by building Autotrader from a startup to a billion-dollar operation, announced his return as president and CEO of software and dealer-services company A2Z Sync in July – a year after he retired as president and CEO of TrueCar.

“I joined A2Z Sync because I’m a big believer in its mission to help dealers fundamentally transform how they sell cars by having a single salesperson handle the entire transaction from start to finish without the usual back and forth and waiting for F&I,” Perry said. “I’m excited to help bring this breakthrough technology to dealers all across America.”

A2Z Sync, founded in 2017, currently serves 25 dealers, with more than 250,000 sales having been processed through its platform. Founder Aaron Wallace said he expects Perry to “rapidly scale” the company.

Cheryl Miller resigned as CEO of AutoNation in July, less than a year after she became the first woman to serve as CEO of a publicly traded auto retailer.

Her departure is the third change at the top of the nation’s largest auto retailer in little more than a year. Carl Leibert, who took over on the retirement of longtime CEO Mike Jackson in February 2019, lasted four months before stepping down and being replaced by Miller.

Jackson, who had been filling in for Miller during her leave, will remain as the full-time CEO. AutoNation’s board extended his contract through April 12, 2022.

Cars have been prominent in the movies almost as long as there have been movies.

Well, Toppcasinobonus.com did some digging into the film and television archives to find out.

At the top is the Ford Crown Victoria, Hollywood’s car of choice to play the role of a police cruiser or taxi, with 6,572 movie and TV appearances. The Men in Black prowled the streets in a Crown Vic – black, of course.

Second is the Mustang (3,504 appearances), arguably the quintessential American sports car, which hit the screen alongside James Bond in Goldfinger and wowed moviegoers with Steve McQueen behind the wheel in Bullitt’s famous chase through San Francisco.

Mercedes-Benz hits the list at number 3 with the S-Class with 3,401 appearances, including Kill Bill and Miami Vice.

Among brands, Ford is the clear winner, with 61,683 appearances – almost twice as many as runner-up Mercedes-Benz (34,675) and third-place Chevrolet (34,178).

Ford’s Hollywood history is filled with showstoppers such as the 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe and ‘56 T-Bird in American Graffiti, the ’66 Thunderbird driven off a cliff by Thelma and Louise, Starsky and Hutch’s Gran Torino, the supercharged 1973 Falcon XB GT Coupe driven by Mad Max and Greased Lightning, the 1948 Ford De Luxe convertible in Grease.

More than they love their coffee. And their alcohol. And in some cases, even more than sex.

The Great American Truck Survey, commissioned by Ford and conducted by Penn Schoen Berland, recently asked 2,000 truck owners some questions about how much their truck means to them.

For example, asked what they would give up for a year rather than give up their truck, 82 percent said their streaming service, 79 percent said coffee and 71 percent said they would do without alcohol for a year.

And that’s not all – 47 percent said they’d give up using their phone, while 44 percent said meat and 38 percent they’d rather go without sex for a year than give up their truck.

The study also found 25 percent of the truck owners surveyed have a name for their truck – Betty, Big Bertha and Cognito were among those mentioned – and 15 percent said they have a tattoo of or related to their truck on their body.

And because everyone has a friend with a truck who helps them move, 94 percent of the respondents said they’ve used their truck to help others, while 34 percent said they do so on a weekly basis.

When auto sales were sagging in the early days of the COVID crisis, vehicle service contracts were soaring.

Sales of vehicle service contracts post-sale spiked in March and again in April and May, according to data from Automotive Product Consultants, at a time when auto sales dropped and dealers slashed marketing budgets and shifted their focus to existing customers.

APC said sales of its second-chance service contracts improved by 64 percent in March, the largest year-over-year gain since its program was launched in 2006. Sales were up 39 percent YOY in April and 31 percent in May.

“The moment the pandemic hit, we saw response rates and close rates go up as customers were sitting at home, reading and responding to marketing from their dealers,” APC President Kyle McEvoy said.

“In addition, we’ve seen F&I agents – many of whom had their windshield time taken away – now urging dealers to adopt the program to pick up incremental post-sale revenue at a time when it’s sorely needed.”

Dodge and Kia tied for the top spot in J.D. Power’s latest study of new car quality – but the big story is all about the tech.

In its 34th year, the J.D. Power 2020 Initial Quality Study was redesigned to take into account the biggest area of consumer complaints about new cars – vehicle technology, including infotainment systems, which accounted for almost one-fourth of all problems cited.

“The higher problem levels we see in this year's study don't mean vehicle quality has worsened,” J.D. Power vice president of automotive quality Dave Sargent said. “Rather, the redesigned study asks additional questions that allow owners to cite more of the problems that they are experiencing.”

Dodge became the first domestic brand in the study's history to rank number 1, tying Kia, which was the top mass-market brand for the sixth consecutive year, at 136 problems reported per 100 vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership. Chevrolet and Ram tied for third with 141.

Tesla was included for the first time, even though it did not give J.D. Power permission to survey its owners in 15 states. Based on the other 35 states, it did not fare well, recording 250 problems per 100 vehicles.

The Chevrolet Sonic had the best score of any model at 103. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia and Genesis, had seven models with the best score in their segment, while General Motors won six model awards.

NIADA.TV is now offering video production services to automotive dealers across the country.

Creating a greater online presence has never been easier or more affordable. The NIADA.TV crew can film on location at your dealership, or from our headquarters in front of a green screen.

Dealers can provide background on their company history or promote an exclusive sale or rebate program.

If you need help developing your video concept, we can help with that, too. NIADA.TV has partnered with some of the best vendors in the industry to expand their video offerings.