Used Car News 8/4/14

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August 4, 2014

ON THE WEB: CU Direct Connect Adds Market Share, Volume

CU Direct Connect announced that June year-to-date application volume is up 31.6 percent and funding volume is up 27.5 percent. CUDC financial results are even better, with net income up 88.5 percent and book value rising 11.6 percent year-to-date, which is on pace for a 23.2 percent full year gain. CUDC collective market share also continues to grow.

Convenience, Selection Tops for Shoppers

When researching online to buy a car, the majority of men prefer KBB.com (72.2 percent), while women prefer Craigslist. org (66.1 percent), a recent survey finds. The majority of respondents say convenience, access to inventory, and comparison shopping are the largest benefits to online shopping. The majority of respondents say the true price, car offered and the need to still speak with a dealer in person are the biggest drawbacks to online shopping.

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Consumers Prefer Dentist to Dealership Consumers feel less stress going on a first date than buying a car. And they would rather visit the dentist than the service department. That’s the findings of a pair of recent surveys on consumer attitudes. Car shopping site Edmunds.com conducted a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults and learned that consumers claim purchasing a car or truck is more stressful than getting married, going on a first date or watching their team in a close championship game. Having more trust in the purchase price would relieve a lot of stress for car shoppers. American car shoppers loathe haggling over price; in fact, 83 percent of respondents prefer to avoid it. Having more trust in the purchase price would relieve a lot of stress for car shoppers. The survey found that nine out of 10 car shoppers would be more excited to purchase a vehicle if it had a set price they felt good about, rather than having to haggle Among Millennial respondents, this number jumps to

91 percent, compared to 78 percent of Boomers. How much do shoppers hate the haggle? One in five consumers would rather say sayonara to sex for a month than haggle over the price of a car; 44 percent would give up Facebook for one month and 29 percent would turn over their Smartphone for a weekend if it meant avoiding the haggle. One in three consumers would rather go to the DMV or Secretary of State, do their taxes or sit in the middle airplane seat than go through the process of buying a car through haggling. Between the Generational Divide and Mars versus Venus, consumers disagree on who to trust when it comes to car buying advice. Little gets better after consumers buy their cars. Most consumers continue to feel overcharged in the auto repair process and rank the experience of going to the repair shop/dealership to get their car repaired on a par with going to the dentist (with women preferring the dentist), according to a survey from AutoMD.com.

Illustration by Joe Schlaud

While women have a more negative view of the repair shop/service center experience than men, across the board consumers say a more transparent process would improve the experience. Consumers say that not knowing what a repair should cost is the biggest challenge in the process

and that they want real apples-to-apples repair job quotes. The survey was conducted online among more than 2,400 car owners. The survey included self-identified Do-It-For-Me - DIFMers (46 percent) and Do-ItYourself - DIYers (54 percent) who shared consistent and similar views.

Sonic Sets Pre-Owned Sales Record in Second Quarter It seems the decision of Sonic Automotive Inc. to launch a chain of standalone used-car stores was a good one. The Charlotte, N.C.-based dealership group set a record for used-car sales in the second quarter. Sonic dealerships retailed 28,514 used units in the second quarter. Pre-owned unit sales per store per month reached 100 units in May and 93 units for the second quarter. The company also set records for fixed operations gross profit ($159.9 million) and total gross profit ($346.9 million). The previous pre-owned record of 27,657 units sold was

set in the first quarter of this year. In the month of May, Sonic stores retailed 100 pre-owned vehicles per store per month. “This was a goal we set for ourselves over three years ago and we know we can continue to build on this accomplishment,” said Jeff Dyke, Sonic’s executive vice president of operations Sonic president B. Scott Smith said the company’s preowned store initiative “is one of the cornerstones which will enable Sonic to rapidly grow in the future.” The first store is expected to to open in Denver during the fourth quarter.

OUR MISSION IS TO BE A PART OF YOUR SUCCESS. Read more inside. ©2014 Ally Financial. All rights reserved. SmartAuction is a registered service mark of Ally Financial Inc.

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