All ADM Blog Posts Tagged 'cars' (271)

On November 19, 2005, a day after having surgery, I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma cancer. I would compare receiving the news to going to the dentist and being numbed. However, this numbed my whole body. For 20 minutes I rushed through all kinds of thoughts and emotions – shock, anger, “why me?” questions, sadness.

After the 20 minutes, I made a big decision. I decided to live. I decided that all of the emotions and thoughts I was experiencing were not supporting…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports that the average monthly payment for a car lease on the road today is $572.42, down from an average of $590.38 back in August. Monthly payments on leases have continued to decline stemming from aggressive lease deals and increased incentives offered on leases since 2012.



Compared with year-ago payments, the Chevrolet Cruze has declined the most among the most popular lease vehicles. The average monthly payment for…

I buy most of the stuff I wear from a Canadian clothier called Frank and Oak, a company that lets me choose three new items each month and send back the ones I don’t need, free of shipping costs. It is subscription fashion, offering style for the lazy. The clothes are inexpensive but well-made, and usually the hard part is picking only three things. But…

When you have a first encounter with a customer, they are usually wondering one simple question. Can I trust you?

There are three stages of buying:

1. Character and Trust

2. Emotion

3. Logic

I don’t know that one stage is more important than the other but I do know that the trust stage usually happens first. When you build a house and the foundation is weak, no matter how nice a house you build it comes…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, says its customers are escaping their car leases at a new record pace. According to data from December 2013 listings, the average months remaining on cars listed during the month was 22.1, a new record for the 14-year-old marketplace. The previous record was 21.8 months remaining, set back in August 2006 and prior to the recession.



With average lease terms still set at 36 months,…

Here is the latest Used Car Market Report from Ricky Beggs and Black Book. I knew it was going to be a great week when a couple of dealers from Ohio, that were on the same flight and whom I did not know, but who watch this video market blog every week, had one of the flight attendants come to my seat and start asking questions about Black Book. I thought this a little strange but like I tell…

2013 was dubbed the "Year Of The Lease", which means 2014 might be known for the "Year Of The Lease Pull Ahead". What is a lease pull ahead program and how might it impact the automotive industry?

Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com, offers the following insight.



Lease pull ahead programs are used by manufacturers and dealers to entice lease drivers into turning in their leases early in order to “re-lease” another vehicle. It’s a forgiveness opportunity on…

Here is the latest used car market valuation report from Ricky Beggs and Black Book. The New Year is now in full swing. A non-SEC team has finally been named college football’s national champion. Now we are just a couple of…

If you are like me you spend a sizable portion of your day starring at analytics data. Admit it, you do. You want to know where you are effective. I can’t blame you. Recently I noticed a trend where the reach on my…

According to Black Book data, used vehicles model years 2008-2012 overall depreciated -1.4% in December, slightly better retention compared to the -1.7% rate in November. Domestic cars depreciated -1.6%; import cars were -1.3%; domestic trucks were -2.0%; and import trucks were -1.0%. Average pre-recession depreciation is historically between -1% and -2% monthly.



For all…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports lease credit approvals were up slightly in December (73.3%) compared with November levels (70%). The overall approvals rate on the year finished at 72.7%, compared with a 2012 rate of 65.3%.



Holiday lease shopping from a higher population of well-qualified…

Hello and welcome to this week’s Beggs on the Used Car Market Report from Ricky Beggs of Black Book. Although this is the second Monday of 2014, this is the first current market focused report for 2014. For those of you who tuned…

A Win for Engaged Dealers

Earlier this year, JD Power reported that more than one third of buyers are using car dealer review sites to help them determine where to purchase their next vehicle. Buyers no longer want to go from dealership to dealership; they value their time. According to Pew Research, an estimated 80 percent of Americans will have smart phones by the end of 2014; it won’t be long until that “one-third” becomes 50 percent. No wonder there are so many dealer review…

Welcome to 2014! This is the first of twelve editions of the monthly …

Do you want to be more successful? You can achieve greater success if you begin to follow certain secrets that blow open the doors that are closed for you now. I am comfortable in saying that all people have some closed doors that limit their achievement. What are the doors that I am talking about and how can you open them?

The doors are a metaphor for the gateways to successful achievement. The keys are the secrets that unlock them and allow you move forward faster and with…

Following is the Used Car Market Report this week from the editors of Black Book. It is hard to believe another year has come and gone. It is exciting to think about what’s ahead within the used market as volumes continue to…

When you read the title to this article, did it make you wince? Did it make you a little angry? For most of you, you have already let your resolutions go to the wayside with empty promises. The good news is that you can achieve most, if not all, of your resolutions.

First of all, words are cheap. You must truly decide. You are who you decide to be at any given moment. When you truly decide to achieve something, you begin to walk, talk and act more like that person who…

In my 30 years in the business, I have never seen such a lack of civility, leadership and professionalism in the automotive industry. You can find managers anywhere, but developing leaders is a much more challenging task. Managers are integral, but leaders are essential. It does not take character, guts or vision to manage things, but it takes all three to lead people.

Here are common characteristics I see quite often from managers in dealerships…

The last quarter of the year rolls around and you begin to hear some common refrains:

• "We are waiting until the first of the year"
• "Starting in January I am going to..."
• "We have to wait until spring when business picks up"
• "The first of the year I am really going to get into it."

Here's the reality for most people who make these statements: The calendar is the only thing that changes.

If you are waiting for the calendar to change…

There is a startling way for most dealers to double their business – fire their advertising agencies. Dealerships spend an enormous amount of money on advertising for new customers. Unfortunately, often that money is wasted. The money is wasted because the agencies are strictly placing ad dollars in media and doing production. Often, the ad dollars are spent without any knowledge and use of direct response marketing, and the game plan that will be used towards keeping those…