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November 14, 2012
14 Nov 2012

Time To End Analysis Paralysis

“Is analysis paralysis contagious?”

We like data around here, and we think should you, too. All too often I hear people say, “Don’t get analysis paralysis.” Personally, I think that type of philosophy is a bit short-sighted. You need to know when to take action. That’s the goal of looking at data: use it, and take action. But sometimes people have a tendency to “admire the problem”… and that wastes everyone’s time.

At CarsDirect, we survey our customers constantly. We also conduct a large volume of lead verification, so we’d like to share some of that data with you this month. Of course what you chose to do with this data is up to you…

If you’re interested in custom data and analysis, please pick up the phone and let us know. We’re happy to work with your dealership to find ways to continuously improve by taking action. I’m also conducting a session at Digital Dealer 13 in October if you’d like to learn more about what’s happening right now with the online consumer. We’ll also share best practices and refined processes for closing more sales, so this time you can actually share what happened in Vegas! Well, some of it anyway…

Todd Dearborn
VP Sales, CarsDirect
310.280.4282
todd.dearborn@carsdirect.com

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October 25, 2012
25 Oct 2012

Consolidating Our Way To the Bottom

“Wow, that’s a lot of eggs in one basket!”

That was my first thought after seeing an article last week about the vAuto integration getting tighter with the Auto Trader side of the business.

I never purposely poke at our competition, but I think dealers should be asking themselves how much control they want a vendor to have in setting their market prices and margin. The Cox companies are working hard to complete the ownership of the entire vehicle lifecycle. They’ve got Manheim on the wholesale side owning auctions, condition reports, remarketing. Then you have vAuto setting the market values on what “you should pay” to make sure that you’re competitive on the retail side, depending on how much margin you want to make. (We know if you follow their buying guidelines 100% of the time you’d watch your entire used stock disappear.)

There’s also HomeNet, which controls inventory distribution to the online channels. We then cross the great divide to retail, with KBB driving retail values, Trader as the marketing channel, and now vAuto showing comparative retail market pricing to the consumer (so you can make sure you’re priced in the upper quartile for most competitive pricing).

Holy cow – talk about driving a race to the bottom! This has gone beyond visibility, data, and analytics and crossed into what seems to be an uncomfortable level of control over a dealer’s inventory, the price at which it’s acquired, and how much it’s sold for in the retail space. What’s happening with the level of control Cox now wields over a dealer’s supply and demand should make any business owner consider whether or not this is healthy for the industry, and for the market as a whole.

Todd Dearborn
VP Sales, CarsDirect
310.280.4282
todd.dearborn@carsdirect.com

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