3 Times More Sales Projected for Used Cars over New Cars
I visited the National Automobile Dealers Association’s Convention in San Francisco last week. The mood was definitely more upbeat for dealers, the manufacturers and the exhibitors. There will be an increase in new vehicles sold this year, maybe to about 12.5 million units and analysts are expecting 35 million or more used vehicles to be sold.
My good friend and fellow director of AutoStar National Dealer Network, Jerry Shroff, for over 20 years has preached to me and whoever else would listen that advertising dollars should be spent by dealers on the bigger market which is the used car market. Even if you are a Ford, Toyota or Honda dealer and you have high market share of new cars, you are hitting less that 3% of the people that will buy when you advertise new cars in your market. Why is that? When you factor in all the used cars that will be sold in your market then 3% of the total vehicles sold in your market will actually be new Fords, Toyotas or Hondas. Why not spend the advertising dollars on the almost 70% who are going to buy a used car in spite of the deal of the day from the new car manufacturer?
EverStar – The Unique Brand
AutoStar National Dealer Network is the perfect solution for the smart dealer who wants to focus on the huge used car market. AutoStar dealers have a uniquely branded car in the AutoStar car with the Lifetime Engine Guarantee, brake pad and wiper blade replacement. Couple that with the StarCard owner’s reward program and AutoStar dealers have vehicles that are exclusive in the marketplace. No other new car or used car dealer has that protection. Customers really love the EverStar Lifetime Engine Guarantee, the safety components and the StarCard program.
In earlier blog posts I talked about CarMax. They do a great job. They had 349,000 sales at 103 locations last year. They have a simple message. We treat you right, offer no haggle pricing and we will buy your trade no matter if you buy from us. All car dealers know that they don’t do it on price. Dealers can beat CarMax prices any day of the week. CarMax pays no attention to service or parts–AutoStar does. Why wouldn’t a customer buy a car from an AutoStar dealer with all that protection and save money versus CarMax? The answer is that they can and do buy the AutoStar car.
Many of you dealers or managers have considered or are presently considering becoming AutoStar dealers. I made numerous presentations to many of you at the convention. Now is the time to make the decision to become an AutoStar dealer before your market is taken by your competitor. Please give me a call at AutoStar headquarters at 877-265-5123 or email me at ken@autostarsuperstore.com
