CATA News

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When

Tuesday, May 24, 2023

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Location

Chicago Automobile Trade Association, 18W200 Butterfield Rd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

New-car dealers are being asked by OEMs to build the most EV dense parking lots in the country. Many dealers are moving forward based on the minimum OEM requirements, but they may not be considering the future.

On May 24, CATA will be hosting an EV charging lunch and learn with Autel Energy’s COO John Thomas at our headquarters in Oakbrook Terrace. Designed to give dealers peace of mind and intelligence on understanding what it takes to install scalable, reliable, and high-quality hardware with an eye toward serving the dealership’s needs today and tomorrow. At the same time, making use of that infrastructure to engage with the public and cultivate new customers.

Autel Energy, an EV charging OEM, will talk about its unique approach to help new-car dealers meet the challenges of electrifying dealerships. Autel recently held a similar event in Detroit with the Southeastern Michigan Ford Dealers. After the event, more than 20 metro Detroit dealers selected Autel as their hardware provider of choice. Autel’s products are built to automotive quality standards and the company has two decades of Automotive Service and Repair experience; meaning, Autel understands the importance of operational excellence and uptime in a dealership, while providing the highest quality equipment at the most affordable pricing. 

“Unlike other EV charging companies Autel understands the challenges this EV transformation brings for an auto dealership,” said Autel COO John Thomas. “As a 30-year auto-industry insider I understand the car business. In the next five years, dealerships will have the most EV-dense parking lots in the country, and together with the CATA, Autel is here to help CATA dealers successfully navigate this challenge.” 

Autel has been taking the EV charging industry by storm, and we are excited to have them as a partner with the CATA. Most recently Autel sponsored the Chicago Auto Show’s Chicago Drives Electric EV Track.

Bring your mayor or local city manager …

Additionally, the federal government recently announced a grant program for cities, municipalities, and under severed & rural communities which will equate to $2.5 Billion for EV charging deployment. CATA dealers should consider bringing along their mayor or city manager to learn about this program and expand EV charging in local communities. More chargers in your town means more EV customers at your dealership.

John Thomas will be available to answer any questions during and after the seminar. Lunch will be provided.

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The NADA helps break down the complexities and nuances of the clean vehicle tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The following key areas are covered:

Search Google and you’ll find story after story of criminals trying and often succeeding in stealing vehicles from dealerships by using a fake ID and pretending to be someone else. In the last year according to an eLend study, 79% of dealers had an identity fraud-related loss and 60% lost at least three vehicles due to identity fraud.

“I would say just before the pandemic, it (identity fraud) started to explode, and it continues to be a bigger and bigger challenge for dealers,” said Doug Fusco, founder of Informativ’s Dealer Safeguard Solutions. “I think fraudsters are getting better and they’re getting smarter. The IDs they’re generating are very authentic looking and they’re also not coming in on a Monday morning, they’re coming in when the dealerships are at their busiest hoping that they can get through the hoops and the distractions and not get caught.”

Add to that fraudsters have unlimited time to work on this and when they win, they win big. All that has made preventing fraud a big challenge for dealerships. But beyond implementing tech to identify and prevent fraud, there are things dealers can look for to avoid getting ripped off.

Money is no object: If the car buyer isn’t putting any money down, doesn’t care what the payments or terms are, you may want to take a closer look at that customer. “If it’s ‘yes, yes, yes, check the box and just get me through the process’, that’s the first thing we see pretty consistently,” said Fusco. “They’re not putting any money down. They don’t care what the payments are, they don’t care what the terms are.”

“Yes” to everything on the menu: This goes together with “money is no object”. Besides not even trying to negotiate the price, the fraudsters also say yes to every “add–on” you offer – – on the sales floor and in F&I. They’re saying “yes” because they have no intention of paying for it. The salesperson may be thrilled by a fast, high gross deal, but you could be paying for it.

Remote delivery: Covid prompted dealerships to offer this great service and benefit. Fraudsters are taking advantage of it. Especially be aware if the delivery location is an office building or retail location, like a Starbucks. How can you verify that the address on the driver’s license is the buyer’s residence?

“They say ‘Hey, I want to meet at my work, my office. I’ll meet you in front of the building’, or they choose a Walmart or somewhere,” says Fusco. “That’s strange, right? But because it’s always a healthy financial deal, sometimes that gets overlooked.”

Once the vehicle is stolen, dealers have to do a lot of work to get it back–and may never get it back.

Sometimes vehicle tracking systems like Onstar can pinpoint the location–but that’s only if the theft is detected very soon after the vehicle is stolen and before it’s been shipped overseas or dismantled in a chop shop.

While the naked eye may be able to detect fake IDs, criminals are getting more sophisticated, so technology needs to keep up, and employees need to use the technology.

“There are clearly lots of different tools to identify fraud and lots of different ways to identify fake driver’s licenses,” said Fusco. “For the tools to be successfully used and stick in the showroom just about like everything else that salespeople want, it has to be simple. It’s got to be fast, and it has to be accurate. If it doesn’t do those three things, they’re going to use it when they feel like it. So, the consistency is the main part of that.”

The challenge at many large dealerships is that they may have one device to scan a driver’s license that all salespeople have to use and when a salesperson has a buyer impatiently waiting for a test drive, the step of verifying an ID can easily be skipped increasing exponentially a dealership’s risk.

The tech also must work both in-store and remotely because since the pandemic many more customers are doing transactions remotely and dealers still need a way to verify their driver’s license.

“Unfortunately, we see driver’s licenses being texted to cell phones, sent to Gmail accounts and those are compliance violations that are directly against a dealership’s privacy statement,” said Fusco. “We built a tool that’s simple, it’s fast, it’s accurate, and it works on in–store and remote sales.”

The tech also protects other rooftops in a dealership group. If a driver’s license is scanned in one store an alert is immediately sent to other dealerships in the group. “Talk about broadcasting it out! We’re going to let everybody in our family know that’s within a close geographic proximity that we just had a fraudster walk into our showroom,” said Fusco.

In another case, over a six–month period, a large Texas dealership used the ID fraud technology to detect 19 fake IDs, protecting the dealership from $1.2 million dollars in losses from stolen vehicles.

“We have a tool that validates the driver’s license,” said Fusco. “We go a step further though and also have a synthetic fraud platform that comes along with their credit report that we’ll look at identities that have been created by taking one person’s social, another person’s address, another person’s piece of information and over a period of time sewing together and creating a false identity with information on the front end.”

Click here to learn more about our fraud detection and prevention.

Credit card processing fees are going up every year, twice a year. Most dealers feel like credit card processing is just a cost of doing business. However, due to recent legal changes, dealers can now pass along those fees to their customers and give them choices in how to pay. Credit card companies and states are very specific on how to roll this out.

NADA is hosting a webinar by Dealer Merchant Services to discuss the legal, compliance and best practices to ensure the process is rolled out correctly. Dealers may register to attend here.

Everyone can agree that Service Advisors are the backbone of any automotive dealership or repair shop. They are responsible for communicating with customers, diagnosing issues, and recommending the appropriate services to ensure their satisfaction. However, providing service advisors with proper training to perform their duties effectively is an overlooked aspect of running most Fixed Ops departments.

A well-crafted playbook can serve as an essential training tool to provide Service Advisors with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in their role outside of the typical initial training period.

These 6 steps can be used to create your own playbook for Service Advisor training!

Recruit the Right Personnel

The foundation of any winning team is its people. The right people for your team require skill, the ability to learn, a “do what it takes” attitude, and a willingness to be a team player. Skill is arguably the least important because you can always coach the right person to do the job.

Your recruiting process will be the key factor in getting the right people in the door to join your team. As the industry changes, the candidate you may have been looking for 3 years ago can look vastly different now. Mapping out “must have” qualifications going into the hiring process saves time when combing through applications and avoids getting the wrong candidate through the door.

Having the right employees in your service drive sets you up for success as you follow the remaining 5 steps!

Develop the Right Playbook

If you think about successful sports teams, they each have their own playbook containing “plays” or step-by-step instructions to success. In your Fixed Ops department, the same idea applies. Your playbook should consist of your processes!

The content of your playbook should be modified to incorporate improvements in your personnel and your tools. It is an extension of your initial training period and should include “real life” situations and examples as continued education.

As new questions and the need for updates arise, continue to add to your playbook and modify its existing content. This ongoing process will ensure your playbook is always up to date and relevant to your business processes.

Teach the Playbook

The best way to teach your playbook is to utilize the Wooden Method. This method includes the following steps:

Following these steps helps to create good habits that can be executed reflexively and without hesitation. The teaching is most successful when it is done outside of “game conditions”, so setting aside meeting times when technicians are not with clients to review the playbook and answer questions will set them up for success.

It is extremely important to dedicate practice time. Typically, most service departments don’t dedicate enough time to practicing and training, but when we take a look back at the sports comparison, its apparent how critical it is. When the proper amount of time is invested, you'll see better performance in the long run.

Coach the Playbook

Sports teams spend a significant amount of time, effort, and expense associated with enhancing the performance of their teams through coaching. Successful teams even spend time doing specialized training to fix specific problems select individuals may have. Going along with the analogy in your Fixed Ops department, you should be constantly training using these methods:

Understand the Key Performance Indicators that Lead to Winning

Data is a key asset to developing winning teams. The use of data and data analytics as a decision enhancement tool has become standard practice in sports across areas like recruiting, play calling, and more. When it comes to Fixed Ops management, the same idea applies for performance enhancement opportunities.

Repeat

Persistence is key. In this case, remember the “Seven Times Rule”: People will not truly understand what you are saying until you explain it seven times.

Before fully implementing the playbook, review and revise it to ensure it is comprehensive and effective. Get feedback from your service advisors and make necessary adjustments to improve its quality.

Creating a playbook for service advisor training can significantly enhance the performance and customer satisfaction of your service department. Remember to dedicate time for training, incorporate feedback, and revise it regularly to ensure its relevance and effectiveness. Dynatron Software can help your Fixed Ops department turn goals into action and action into results! For more information call 866-888-3962.

We’re thrilled to reintroduce CATA’s Learning University, professional training for retail sales, service and management dealership personnel.

Professional Automotive Selling – CLICK TO REGISTER

When: Tuesday, April 18, CATA HQ

Led by experienced performance coach Lee Eddy, the first course “Selling Vehicles in a Digital Retail Age” will focus on the core selling principles and framework while connecting the digital retail experience to achieve results. As inventory levels steadily increase, this convenient one-day course offers strategies and solutions to help automotive sales teams sharpen their skills after years of taking orders.  

Who should attend?

Professional Service Consulting – CLICK TO REGISTER

When: Tuesday, April 24, CATA HQ

Led by experienced performance coach Lee Eddy, the next course "Professional Service Consulting" will focus on the core processes, skills and behaviors that ensure an outstanding Service Experience, Service Retention and improved Service and Parts sales! As automotive professionals, we all know ongoing and long-term customer retention at our stores is a result of the Service Experience!

Who should attend?

Don’t hesitate…CATA Learning University courses are limited to 20 registrants for an intimate educational group setting.

If you have any questions, contact Lee Eddy at 630-215-3634 or leeeddy@comcast.net. 

When: Tuesday, June 13

Where: Cog Hill Golf & Country Club | Lemont, IL

Join us for the annual golf outing to network with fellow dealer and allied members, hear association updates at the annual membership meeting, and enjoy a beautiful summer day on the course.

As in the past, the outing will include several contests throughout the course for the chance to win cash prizes. Contests include straightest drive, longest putt, closest to the pin, hole-in-one and more. One lucky golfer even has the chance to win the $10,000 putting contest!

We will kick off the day with a coffee and networking reception, followed by the annual meeting and lunch. After golfing concludes, we will gather back together for a 19th hole Happy Hour.

Schedule of Events

New this year is a golf outing raffle. Your registration will include two raffle tickets to enterto win a variety of raffle prizes donated by our sponsors. Additional raffle tickets will be available for purchase onsite.

Registration

Dealer registration is $100 per golfer. Allied registration is $130 per golfer. There is an additional $30 charge if you wish to golf on the Ravines course.

Lunch-only tickets are also available for $40.

Registration is open now through May 24. Don't wait - register now!

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the USO BBQ for the Troops fundraiser, a grassroots initiative directly supporting the USO Illinois. Each July, approximately 100 Chicagoland new-car dealers fire up their grills and raise money for a great cause. Since 2013, dealers have raised over $1M for local troops and their families.

Mark your calendars and save the date for this year’s region-wide BBQ: Saturday, July 15.

Click here to sign up and look for more information coming out soon.

As the Biden administration works to strike a balance between two objectives — accelerating electric vehicle adoption and securing a domestic supply chain — forthcoming guidance that further constricts battery material and component sourcing rules could tip the scale.

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, buyers who meet certain income thresholds can get a tax credit of up to $7,500 for North American-assembled new EVs that also meet sticker price restrictions.

Starting April 18, the credit will be split in two, with $3,750 for EVs that have at least 40 percent of the value of the battery's critical minerals extracted or processed in the U.S. or in a country where the U.S. has a free-trade agreement, or from materials that were recycled in North America. Another $3,750 is available if at least half of the value of the EV's battery components are made or assembled in North America.

Those percentages ramp up over time, maxing out at 80 percent in 2027 for minerals and 100 percent in 2029 for battery components.

An updated list of eligible vehicles, including the amount of the available credit, is expected to be available April 18 at fueleconomy.gov. Automakers will report monthly to the IRS — under penalty of perjury — on which vehicles qualify.

Source: Automotive News

Automotive News is looking for candidates for its best practices feature – a series of stories about dealerships doing something innovative that is delivering proven benefits to operations.

This survey asks dealers to briefly describe an established practice that is working well at your franchised store or dealership group. This can be in any department in the store – new-car sales, used-car sales, finance and insurance, parts and service, accessories, etc. It also could be something that applies to other aspects of operation — customer service and loyalty, employee satisfaction, employee benefits, marketing, expense oversight, etc. They’re also looking for innovative practices that are working well for dealerships as they navigate the shift to electric vehicles.

 They will review submissions, and we may contact you for a possible story. Please make sure to leave your contact information at the end of the survey.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY