Automotive News - June 2, 2008 - (Page 4)

4 • JUNE 2, 2008 Dealership marketers take to text messaging Mary Connelly mconnelly@crain.com Who’s calling? Dealers cite these features of cell-phone marketing. Consumers can get vehicleinventory listings with photos and prices. TV, radio and print ads can direct customers to digital shopping. Young buyers are especially likely to opt for digital dialogue. Who’s sending that text message to your cell phone? It could be your neighborhood auto dealer. Dealers are joining other auto advertisers in marketing on mobile phones. Consumers now can gain access to many dealerships’ listings of new and used vehicles — complete with photos, prices, condition reports, contact information and directions to the showroom — on their phones. Consumers rather than dealers activate the text messages. Dealers, meanwhile, are using traditional print and broadcast ads to alert cell phone users to the new venue. “If you are walking out of the house in the morning, what do you take with you?” said Mikhail Melomed, Internet director at Honda Mall of Georgia in the Atlanta suburb of Buford. “The cell phone. It is the most direct way to market. It is just like a Web site. It creates walk-in traffic and inquiries.” talking to a salesperson, he added. Mobile marketing helps dealers track results of traditional advertising and interest in particular vehicles, Melomed said. “I know who is looking at a specific car today,” he said. This month, the dealership is offering a special incentive: a $100 gasoline card for buyers of new vehicles who conduct their searches on their cell phones. ‘Great and surprising results’ Customers can get information about Melomed’s dealership by entering a keyword and a five-digit code on their cell phones, just as if they were voting on “American Idol.” that code attached,” Melomed said. “If someone sees a vehicle on the lot after hours, they can dial that specific car. Or if a customer calls, a salesperson texts the vehicle to the cell phone with all the information.” The dealership has used mobile marketing since January, Melomed said. The service appeals especially to consumers between the ages of 18 and 40, he said. Some customers want information about a vehicle without Sage Automotive Group has seen “great and surprising results” from mobile marketing at its Nissan dealership, partner Michael Sage said. The group operates seven dealerships in the Los Angeles area. “We are able to connect to the young generation of car buyers in the way they want to be communicated to,” Sage told Automotive News. “We are happy with that.” Universal City Nissan has boosted sales by using mobile codes in news- Ads contain codes The dealership uses numerical codes in its outdoor, print and online advertising. Newspaper ads provide code numbers for specific vehicles. “Every sticker on the used cars has paper and radio ads over the past four months, Sage said. “We get as many as 20 to 30 text inquiries when we run the radio spot,” he said. Cell-phone ads typically appeal most to consumers who seek prices or information about a specific vehicle, said Richard Abronson, cofounder of Gumiyo. The suburban Los Angeles company provides mobile marketing services to “hundreds” of dealers, he said. Mobile marketing “creates entirely new opportunities for consumers to respond to advertising at the moment they see it,” Abronson said. It especially benefits customers near the end of the purchase cycle, he said. Consumers don’t mind getting text messages from dealerships even though they have to pay to receive the ads, Abronson said. Said Abronson: “The consumers who are going to do this already know what their text messaging and data plan is.” c Senate to hear personal pleas on roof crush rule Harry Stoffer hstoffer@crain.com WASHINGTON — A Republican senator may seek to impose tougher standards for vehicle roof strength with a law rather than an updated rule from the Bush administration. Automakers prefer the regulatory approach over new legislation. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told activists who are pressing for stiffer mandates to spell out what they would want in a new law, Automotive News has learned. Martin Updike, an aide to Coburn, confirmed last week that the senator considers congressional action an option. But more likely, Updike added, Coburn will aim to ensure that administration rule writers do an adequate job. Advocacy groups that have made roof strength a top safety issue are increasing pressure on federal regulators. A Senate hearing on roof strength, requested by Coburn, is set for Wednesday, June 4. Coburn, a medical doctor, is responding in part to personal lobby- ing by Kevin Moody, a constituent. Moody’s son Tyler, 18, was killed in a rollover crash in January 2003. Moody is working with a group called People Safe in Rollovers Foundation. The foundation, of suburban San Diego, contends that regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are doing too little to improve the roof strength standard that has been in effect since 1971. NHTSA faces a congressionally mandated deadline of July 1 for upgrading the standard. In 2005, NHTSA proposed that a vehicle roof be required to maintain space over the driver when pressed with as much as 2.5 times the vehicle’s weight. The current standard is 1.5 times. This year, the agency solicited comment on whether a vehicle roof should be tested with pressure over both the driver and front-seat passenger. Safety groups say the NHTSA proposal is not nearly tough enough. They want roofs to support even more weight in the pressure test and additional dynamic tests with moving vehicles. Some critics, including consumer advocate Ralph Nader, also object to a provision of the NHTSA plan that would curb lawsuits against automakers if their vehicles meet the new standard. Automakers contend that rollovers are violent events with many variables that are hard to duplicate in testing. They warn that extreme roof strength requirements could make vehicles more topheavy and increase rollover risks. Witnesses at this week’s hearing before a Senate Commerce Committee panel are scheduled to include representatives of NHTSA, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and advocacy groups. Also testifying will be David Garcia of Endicott, N.Y., a literary scholar who became a quadriplegic in a 1996 rollover crash. c Safety groups pushing for stronger vehicle roofs will have their say in the Senate this week. From left, Veronica, Michelle and Kevin Moody stand near the Capitol with a tablet Kevin Moody had made about his son, Tyler, an 18-year-old who was killed in a rollover crash in January 2003. Prestige Automotive sells stores but keeps Black Enterprise top spot Detroit retailer heads list for 5th straight year Arlena Sawyers asawyers@crain.com Prestige Automotive Group remains the largest black-owned U.S. auto retailer even though it has shed four dealerships in two years, a new ranking by Black Enterprise magazine says. In its June issue, the magazine says Prestige Automotive posted $828.7 million in gross revenue in 2007, down 46.2 percent from $1.54 billion in 2006. Even so, the suburban Detroit retailer held on to the top spot on Black Enterprise’s annual list of the 100 biggest black-owned U.S. dealership groups for the fifth straight year. Prestige CEO Gregory Jackson said he sold two Ford dealerships, a Lincoln-Mercury store and a ChevroletPontiac dealership over the past two years because they didn’t fit the company’s long-term business plan. He said he wants to own more import luxury-brand dealerships. Just one of the dealerships he sold, a Ford store, was unprofitable, Jackson told Automotive News. He said he sold the others at “great prices.” “I’m not trying to get out of the do- Big 5 The 5 largest black-owned dealership groups in the United States, ranked by 2007 gross revenue in millions GROUP ADDRESS 2007 REVENUE 1. Prestige Automotive Group 2. March/Hodge Automotive 3. Boyland Auto Group 4. Martin Management Group 5. Harrell Cos. Source: Black Enterprise St. Clair Shores, Mich. Wesley Chapel, Fla. Orlando, Fla. Bowling Green, Ky. Atlanta $828.7 $485.9 $439.6 $435.4 $368.8 mestic business,” Jackson said. “I’m just looking for a better mix.” Prestige operates seven dealerships in Michigan and Florida. Those stores sell Chevrolet, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Ford and Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The company ranks No. 45 on this year’s Automotive News list of the top 125 U.S. dealership groups. Unlike Black Enterprise, which ranks groups by revenue, Automotive News ranks groups by prior-year new-vehicle retail sales units. Prestige sold an estimated 14,881 new cars and trucks at retail in 2007. No. 2 on this year’s Black Enterprise list is March/Hodge Automotive Group of suburban Tampa, Fla. Boyland Auto Group of Orlando, Fla., is No. 3. Last year, the top 100 black-owned dealership groups had collective revenue of more than $8.93 billion, about a 6 percent decline from 2006, Black Enterprise reports. The companies had 11,471 employees in 2007, down 2.5 percent from the previous year. c

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - June 2, 2008

Automotive News - June 2, 2008 Gas prices fuel industry's new era Chrysler faces tricky dealer mergers Honda may crank out more Civics in N.A. Mercedes will move into Chrysler Pacifica studio Ford to offer hatchback version of Fiesta Prestige Automotive sells stores but keeps Black Enterprise top spot Dealership marketers take to text messaging Senate to hear personal pleas on roof crush rule Magazine: Chrysler, Fiat are talking Former Fla. dealer gets jail for bilking bank That guy Alfred had possibilities Ford will make next Mustang look smaller Pontiac subcompact may come to U.S. GM: Battery glitch cuts hybrid sales Porsche exec: CAFE 'will not change our nature' Japanese rivals race for lithium batteries Jatco boosts CVT capacity in Mexico for N.A. vehicles Mercury deserves a better chance Rising gas prices have changed the U.S. market Marketing and sales: Context and content Mexico's Nemak grows beyond North America Buyers didn't quit GM; GM quit on its buyers Brand perceptions change slowly Bloggers are journalists, too Nice HQ, Nissan, but where's Nobe? Chrysler's Chernoby: Growing up gearhead Picture this Mitsubishi hopes new gearbox widens Evo's appeal Openlane gets funds Obituaries Survey: Going green can get your auto ad noticed Inrix: Router can reduce traffic delays Mazda6 gets own platform for U.S. ... sort of Mazda6 set to take on mid-sized sedan heavyweights Troubled or not, the United States still beckons What's next? More transplant models headed this way Exports help as Mitsubishi sorts things out Irma Elder: 'This is one of the toughest times we have had' Fitzgerald: Dealers, consumers need alliance Can Bertone design a comeback? Family-owned business struggles for survival Some design houses fall on tough times Hughes: Not a subscriber? No problem American Axle lines up new non-U.S. business GM think tank works to boost service business Toyota offers gas card as tire incentive VW turns to common software to develop products Continental's Calif. office targets Asian carmakers ZF sees chassis, axle opportunities in N.A. Flex: A new Ford image ... or just over the top? Ford targeted Flex interior quiet, ride Ex-dealership managers say firings were over religion Dealers Genesis in Toledo: It's a long story Back woes sideline Nardelli GM: 19,000 take buyouts Panama to head Nissan Mexicana Wilhite jumps to Jumpstart Dauch sons move up, out Kozyra leaves Continental Ford to lay off salaried staff More small cars to arrive in 2009-10 Even on used market, big trucks go begging Auto advertisers adopt mpg mantra Industry to motorists: We're here to help Diesel prices hit suppliers' Mexico sites Can Camry catch F series? Leno's words of wisdom for automakers Nissan's carbon credits ease global warming guilt Automotive CEOs' pay pales next to peers' Year of the Small Car can't come too soon Foreign suppliers adding capacity in Southeast From cows to kimchi: Making Alabama sweet home for Koreans After light-truck push, cars are king again Mexican suppliers expect sales record in '08

Automotive News - June 2, 2008

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