Automotive News - September 28, 2009 - 4

4 • SEPTEMBER 28, 2009 At dealers’ urging, GM reinstates a truck sale Jamie LaReau Jlareau@crain.com DETROIT — Pressed by its dealers, Chevrolet and GMC are holding fall truck sales after all, despite an earlier plan to rely on image-building advertising. The event started Friday, Sept. 25, and will end Nov. 2. In an interview this month, marketing chief Bob Lutz said General Motors Co. had decided to drop its annual September Chevrolet truck Lutz: He had dropped the truck sale, he said, to concentrate on image and product advertising. sale even though Ford Motor Co. is holding one. Instead, GM planned to focus on its “May the Best Car Win” image and product campaign. But dealers have been clamoring for advertising to drive sales. Ford has been running its annual truck month sale since Sept. 10, with rebates up to $5,000 on pickups. Spokesman John McDonald said GM is offering 0 percent financing for 60 months for all pickups, making it an official “truck month” but mostly for advertising purposes. “This is not a corporatewide truck month like you saw a year ago,” said McDonald. “You’ll see some adver- tising. The ads will use the words ‘truck month,’ but it’s more of a competitive response.” GM is continuing rebates and leases on various models of all four of its brands, along with the 60-day return offer. “This is good,” said Tommy Brasher, owner of Brasher Motor Co. in Weimar, Texas. He sells Chevrolet and Buick. “The money on the 2010 models is a nonevent because there aren’t any of them in stock,” Brasher said. “The incentives are good advertising to get people in the door. Then we can sell them whatever we have in stock.” In the interview this month, Lutz, vice chairman of marketing, said GM was forgoing the traditional September Chevrolet truck sale to concentrate on image and product advertising. Said Lutz: “We didn’t want an onsale event to blur the message of ‘May the Best Car Win.’” c Meals with wheels In his fancy car store, Mercedes dealer puts a swanky restaurant Mark Rechtin mrechtin@crain.com Long service plans Consumers are keeping vehicles longer, so factory service contracts are getting longer. Toyota Honda Chrysler Ford GM SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A car dealership that offers snacks while customers wait for an oil change? These days, that’s pretty standard fare. But how about a dealership that doubles as an elegant restaurant, serving Kobe beef sliders and grilled asparagus along with lube jobs? George Grinzewitsch Jr. is giving the idea a shot at his new MercedesBenz dealership in the Sacramento suburb of Rocklin. His in-store restaurant is much more than Starbucks and sandwiches or burgers and fries. Grinzewitsch wants the restaurant to become a destination unto itself. He came up with the idea two years ago as he pondered how to make his fourth Mercedes point in the region stand out. At first he thought of opening a simple sandwich bar. But when Grinzewitsch’s architects told him he had some extra room to play with, he had bigger thoughts. His Mercedes dealership in nearby El Dorado Hills already had done several events with local restaurant magnates Matt and Fred Haines, owners of the upscale Bistro 33 in Sacramento. He liked their style, so Grinzewitsch pitched the idea of Bistro 33 opening its eighth restaurant inside the new dealership, Mercedes-Benz of Rocklin. The Haines brothers jumped at the chance. “I’ve been going to their restaurants for 15 years and always had a good experience,” said Grinzewitsch. “The wait staff is friendly, the drinks aren’t overpriced, the food is always consistent. It’s what we want to provide our customers and the brand.” 8 years/125,000 miles 8 years/120,000 miles 7 years/100,000 miles 7 years/100,000 miles 7 years/84,000 miles Source: Companies Toyota lengthens service plan Donna Harris dharris@crain.com George Grinzewitsch Jr. wants customers to visit his restaurant because of the food, not because it’s inside a dealership. Shrimp is savory, Caesar is crunchy: Bistro 33 offers Mercedes of dinners Automotive News’ first-ever restaurant review Mark Rechtin mrechtin@crain.com A new store, with more The new dealership in Rocklin, which opened this year, is a gleaming two-story steel and glass Taj Majal. The showroom covers 62,500 square feet and holds 20 vehicles on two stories. The service center covers 9,000 square feet, with four automated parts pickers. The store cost Grinzewitsch $22 million to construct, plus $3 million to buy the four acres of land. Mercedes-Benz Financial backed the loans. The restaurant, which opened this month, accounted for about $1 million of the cost. The liquor license alone cost $200,000. see MEALS, Page 21 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Diners enter Bistro 33 Rocklin through the service drive of the Mercedes dealership where it is located. But there’s no sign of greasy overalls. The restaurant is an oasis, bathed in cobalt blue lighting. Persimmon-colored chairs and chrome tables are spaced so a couple discussing their potential E350 lease won’t ★★★★ invite eavesdropping. An 8-by-8-foot wall-mounted steel fixture houses more than 300 air plants that require no dirt or water — a cool, modern touch. A long aquarium above the bar allows diners to look at the gleaming sheet metal in the Mercedes showroom beyond. Flat-screen TVs quietly show ESPN highlights. Then there is the food. This is not bar fare. Bistro 33 Rocklin’s modern American menu includes Kobe sliders, salmon Nicoise salads and panroasted half chickens. We anonymously sampled a selec- tion of appetizers, salads and entrees. Although the kitchen is still in “soft opening” mode, the flavors were in full bloom, and presentation and service were spot-on. The pancetta-wrapped shrimp were savory and peppery, with al dente white beans and crisp greens that actually tasted green. The carnitas street tacos weren’t quite up to L.A. gourmet taco-truck standards, falling a little flat. But there was no denying the freshness of the tomatoes, onions and limes, tasting just-cut. A Caesar salad is a restaurant’s acid test, and Bistro 33’s was crunchy, with a lemony zest to the dressing. Perhaps for those who want to bargain after lunch, the Caesar went a little too easy on the garlic. The side of bread was delicate and thin, with soft, salted butter. But the entree ravioli was a bit high-octane. The cayenne-tomato Mamou sauce overwhelmed rather than complemented the shrimp and andouille sausage filling. The dessert menu spells the end of many a diet pledge, featuring vanilla creme brulee, caramel-salted cheesecake and piping-hot donut holes served with strawberry jam, honey butter and triple-sec chocolate sauces. The wine list would meet with any oenophile’s approval, including a shimmering Groth Sauvignon Blanc, an earthy Provenance Merlot and a thundering Scott Harvey Zinfandel. No evidence of price gouging at the bar. Our server was courteous and bright, efficient without hovering, and knew how to pair wines with food. The kitchen was in full view, gleaming, clean and organized. The stemware was elegant, the flatware well-weighted, the dinnerware a classic bistro white. One drawback might be the location of the Rocklin restaurant. Bistro 33 may be a minifranchise in the Sacramento area, but this place is a bit off the beaten path. Still, it could become a cool neutral location for a power lunch. Drawing customers who aren’t coming in for an oil change is the marketing challenge. c Toyota Financial Services is rolling out an 8-year/125,000-mile extended service plan at Toyota and Lexus dealerships. Toyota Financial’s previous plan covered 7 years/100,000 miles. The new plan is one of the industry’s longest new-vehicle service contracts. Most automakers have coverage that goes up to 7 years/100,000 miles. American Honda Finance Corp. offers service contracts up to 8 years/120,000 miles. “Mileage and terms are creeping up,” said David Robertson, executive director of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals. The reason? Customers are keeping their vehicles longer, said Jim Miller, Toyota Financial’s business development manager. Miller said Toyota Financial expects the longer contracts to account for 10 to 20 percent of the Toyota vehicle service agreements sold. A contract is transferable if the original owner sells the vehicle. “Dealers and customers have asked for longer contracts,” Miller said. He refused to disclose prices for the contracts. Edgar Temores, finance and insurance manager for Longo Toyota in El Monte, Calif., says an 8-year/125,000mile contract would retail at his store for $2,150 on a Toyota Camry and for $1,700 on a Toyota Corolla. “People like the eight-year contract because it gives them peace of mind,” said Temores, adding that about 35 percent of Longo’s new-vehicle buyers purchase extended service plans and at least half of them are opting for the eight-year term. The average age of a passenger car last year was 10.4 years, the highest average age since World War II, according to Lang Marketing Resources Inc. The average age for light vehicles overall was 9.9 years. c

Automotive News - September 28, 2009

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