Comments on: A Commentary from the NYC Google Automotive Summit

By: ET Used Cars

ET Used Cars — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:03:53 +0000

I do agree that a large portion of the problem was constantly pulling people back into the buying cycle too soon. Sooner or later that bubble has to pop.

On the advertising front, making that change to digital advertising is tough. For most of us that have been in the car business for a long time we tend to rely on what has worked in the past. Now when we go to those old wells we find a lot of them are dry. I love that you can track digital marketing alot better than offline but its still very tough to implement effectively.

By: Jeff Kershner

Jeff Kershner — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:46:24 +0000

Chris, thanks for your post! Truly appreciate you sharing this with everyone.

Love how you put it Kevin “We are working to change the historical selling culture and steer our dealerships in the correct direction of transparent selling.”

Thanks for the link Alex.

By: Alex Snyder

Alex Snyder — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:09:04 +0000

Very interesting Chris – makes tons of sense! I may have not been reading the article close enough, but there is another reason why GM (Government Motors) got into this predicament….and I’m pointing this out so other OEM’s don’t continue doing this practice either:

When sales slump, a quick way for an automotive manufacturer to gain some easy sales is to add another dealership to a market. It creates volume competition, new advertisements, and more buzz. It is a win-win for the OEM, but a lose-lose for dealers. This is why there are so many GM dealerships.

And to follow-up on that mess, check out Dale Pollak’s article on how GM will diminish their dealer-base:

http://www.dalepollak.com/2009/04/29/how-does-gm-rid-itself-of-1000s-of-dealers/

By: Kevin Frye

Kevin Frye — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:37:21 +0000

Interesting piece. I especially like the comment: “The dealers that do weather the current storm and adopt modern sales and marketing practices will do very well over a 5 year horizon.” as this is a direct reflection of what so many of us are trying to do within our own dealerships. We are working to change the historical selling culture and steer our dealerships in the correct direction of transparent selling.