Automotive News NADA Show Daily - February 10, 2013 - 8

8 • FEBRUARY 10, 2013

SUNDAY NADA DAILY
Are dealers excited?
There’s so much enthusiasm
around the next-generation Mustang. We’re a big Mustang dealer. In
some cases it’s the heart and soul of
the brand. The car is going to be
fantastic. We’re ready for a small
change in the design of that segment. It’s going to be a fun launch.

FORD from Page 6

to get the posted mpg. Although it
hasn’t affected sales for those vehicles, our industry needs to look at
what we’re telling consumers and
how we’re educating them on estimated posted mpg.
Ford has diversified from being
predominantly a maker of gasguzzling trucks to offering a
wider mix that includes some
smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. How well have they handled that transition?
I think they’ve handled it well.
The consistency of the message is
more important than the urgency of
the message. We are in the super
segment [Focus-Escape-Fusion-Fiesta] with fuel economy, the utility
segment with fuel economy and the
full-sized F-150 with fuel economy.
We know that fuel economy is critically important to customers. It’s a
focus of the company. I think you’re
going to see them continue to market EcoBoost as a good fuel-efficiency brand.
Competition is red hot in the fullsized pickup segment. Are you
happy with Ford holding the line
on incentives, or would you like
to see more?
I’m pleased with the F-series sales
pace. Any time you talk about a vehicle purchase in a segment like the F
series, the quality of your vehicle and
the perception of quality has to
match the price. The sales results
would tell you the incentive plan was
pretty good in 2012. I know Ford will
watch it closely to make sure customers see the value in our product.
What did you think of the Atlas
Concept pickup Ford unveiled at
the Detroit show?
I loved it. It just keeps us out in
front of the competition. The truck
team does such a phenomenal job.
There’s some wow factor there.
Are there vehicles dealers would
like to see added to the Ford
lineup?
Dealers are worried about losing
sales in that small truck segment.
Ford and dealers will have to work
on a strategy to make sure we provide the consumers an option. It’s a

Beau Smith says Ford must work to regain the market share it has lost but adds: “Share is important, but it
doesn’t pay the bills. You can’t take the share to the grocery store and buy groceries.”
fair dealer concern. There are consumers who just want a smaller
truck. But size is only a piece to that
equation. I really think it’s the affordability of the truck. We need to
see how the segment is playing out
and make sure we don’t leave any
throughput on the table.
Have you seen the global Ranger?
I’ve seen them traveling in other
countries. They’re going to have to
make a decision if that works in
North America. Dealer feedback
would be that we want one. Whatever Ford decides, we do need to
have a new truck for that price sensitive customer.
How do dealers like Ford’s digital marketing and prelaunch activities?
With Jim Farley [executive vice
president of global marketing, sales
and service], there has been transparency. We’re talking about launches at the council and the marketing
dealer advisory board 15 months before the vehicle is in the showroom
- as it moves to digital and customers start to find out about our
launches online. That’s where a large
percent of our customers do their research. You can get a lot of knowledge you can’t get in a 30-second ad.
Do you feel Ford has been at the
forefront of digital marketing?

It feels like we were willing to take
those risks first. You look at a car
like the C-Max, and that launch was
largely delivered through social
media and the Internet. That success story is why we’re using digital
so much.
What are the top issues for the
council in 2013?
To work closely with the company
to make sure the quality indexes are
back where they were in 2009-2010.
Quality is a top priority for us at
council. We need to continue to
work with the company to take care
of our customers in the service department and make sure their experience after purchasing is industry-leading.

off to be there for dealers when
things got tough. As Ford has
reached investment grade, there’s
an opportunity to make the mathematics of that relationship make
more sense. They’ve worked to give
us every competitive advantage.
They’ve been able to deliver not only on the wholesale side but the retail side to help us get an advantage
over the competition.

So there have been too many
communiqués?
It can be confusing when you’re a
vehicle owner and you get multiple
service messages in your inbox.

Would you like to see more leasing penetration?
That’s a 2013 initiative for them
and us. If we’re going to be competitive and reach market share goals in
the super segment particularly
— Fiesta-Focus-Fusion-Escape —
we’ll have to have competitive leases. One of the best things about the
credit company is we have the opportunity to do that. Bernard [Silverstone, Ford Motor Credit CEO] is a
real dealer guy, for a banker. He understands the retail side of the business. It’s a re-education top to bottom — working together to raise the
lease percentage number. If you look
at lease percentages and lease renewals, they all came up in 2012 and
will continue to do that in 2013. The
competitiveness of leasing in the super segment will increase in 2013.

How is the relationship with
Ford Motor Credit?
Ford Credit had to work their tails

There’s a new Mustang on the
way that’s going to be sold
more widely around the world.

Any specifics on service?
You want to make sure you’re not
overcommunicating to customers
about when customers should service their vehicles. We need to communicate with them but not flood
them with the wrong messages.

MD Johnson, Inc. Advises Gresham
Toyota On Sale to Summit Auto Group,
A Sumitomo Company.

Mark D. Johnson
President
MD Johnson Inc.

Gresham Oregon. MD Johnson Inc has
completed the sale of Gresham Toyota
located outside of the Portland Oregon
Metro to Summit Auto Group, a division
of Sumitomo Corp. MD Johnson Inc
represented the Peterson/Chaney families
in the transaction, which has been in their
family for around 40 years. The dealership
will continue to be called Gresham Toyota.

Under the ownership, the dealership will undergo a major
upgrade and remodel to the building which is scheduled to be
completed later this year or early next year. MD Johnson Inc
previously advised Steve Harrell and Ron Swatty on the sale of
Lexus of South Atlanta to Summit Auto Group. Dave Peterson

of Gresham Toyota commented that “the sale ﬁt into our long
term plans”
.
MD Johnson, Inc. is the premier US provider of automotive
dealership buy sell ﬁnancial advisory services. The ﬁrm
advises dealers, both public and private on the purchase, sale,
analysis, succession and valuation of automobile dealerships,
dealership platforms as well as dealership real estate through
their wholly owned real estate entity, MDJ Realty Inc. The
ﬁrm represents clients nationwide supporting their buy sell
activities and has advised on more than 2 billion dollars in
transactions. Mark Johnson’s columns can be found in
numerous automotive publications as well as published on the
company’s newsletter. MD Johnson Inc restricts their practice
to just representing dealers buying and selling stores and do
not manage funds as part of their business.
Contact Mark Johnson, Mark Topping or Fred O’Halloran at
360-825-1756, or at info@mdjohnsoninc.com, or visit us at
www.mdjohnsoninc.com.

Ford market share has been slipping. Are dealers concerned?
We need to increase market share.
The challenge for 2012 was production. We didn’t have enough. If we
had had enough we would have
sold more. As we get that capacity
back in the second half of 2013, we
need to be more aggressive and try
to gain the share back.
At the end of the day, share is important, but it doesn’t pay the bills.
You can’t take the share to the grocery store and buy groceries.
Ford has talked a lot about the
“super segment,” including Fiesta, Focus, Escape and Fusion.
What does this mean to dealers?
I think as Ford dealers it’s important that we study the segmentation more thoroughly than we have
in the past because of the growth
in what we call the super segment.
Where Honda and Toyota and
our competition have been operating at high volumes there, we were
historically reliant on the F series
and large utilities.
As we got the new product, we really had to put science and math
into our business plan so that we
use enough resources to get the
throughput that the product deserves. That’s what our competition is doing.
How do Ford dealers like the
new advertising — for example,
the spots showing the engineer
who developed the hands-free
liftgate on the Escape?
I like product and brand advertising that is realistic to a consumer. I
like it because it really stands for
what Ford is doing, why it is doing it
and the whole “Go Further”
promise. You don’t do that
overnight. It takes years. The attempt to get that across with an engineer about why we built the seat
belt the way we did or why we had
the “Open Sesame” liftgate, that’s
important to customers. It doesn’t
just scream “deal.”
Do the Mike Rowe ads still work
for the brand?
Consumers see Mike as exceptionally believable. It still cuts
through the clutter because he can
state our successes and go after our
competition without coming across
as arrogant. His messaging hasn’t
worn off with consumers.
What will be the biggest challenge for Ford dealers in 2013?
We will have a chance to grow
share quicker than the industry in
2013. To do that, we’re going to
have to really be better than the
competition at retail. We just came
through a couple of years where the
production didn’t allow us to do
that.
We’ve got to go to work and beat
the competition at retail. I’m planning my business to grow greater
than the industry in 2013, and we’ll
have to be better than the competition at retail to do that. That’s our
challenge and opportunity. c

http://www.mdjohnsoninc.com

Automotive News NADA Show Daily - February 10, 2013

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