Archive for the ‘Automobile Manufacturers’ Category

Dodge Franchise Opens in West LA – It’s Been a Long Time!

Posted: October 4, 2011 in Chrysler, Dealers, Dodge, Jeep, Ram
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For many years now, the domestic auto manufacturers have had a hard time in Metro Los Angeles. That corridor from Santa Monica to Silver Lake, along Santa Monica, Sunset and Wilshire Boulevards, was particularly underserved by the domestic brands, mostly due to lack of demand but also due to the high cost of real estate.

There are some notable holdouts: Santa Monica Ford, Buerge Ford and Buerge Chrysler-Jeep survived on the West Side, Vermont Ford in East Hollywood.  Martin Cadillac GMC  is still standing at Olympic and Bundy, but it’s looking tired.  There is a Chevrolet (and Buick, but I don’t believe it) dealer in Santa Monica; however, it is the smallest Chevrolet dealer I’ve ever seen anywhere.  It occupies a tiny corner of a small lot that that used to be a Chevy dealer but is now flagged as an Infiniti dealership. [More on this pathetic location in a future post.]

Dealerships on the R.I.P. list:  Beverly Hills Ford,  Hillcrest Cadillac – Beverly Hills, Albertson Chevrolet – Culver City, La Brea Chevrolet – Los Angeles, La Brea Chrysler-Jeep – Los Angeles, Lou Ehler’s Cadillac – Mid-Wilshire,  Los Feliz Ford – East Hollywood-SilverLake-Los Feliz. There never was a Dodge dealer in the LA Metro Corridor (at least not in recent memory).

Chrysler Group Brands

When the Great Recession hit and domestics shrunk their dealer franchises, several dealerships in the San Fernando Valley closed, including Big Valley Dodge in Van Nuys.  I always thought Chrysler would keep at least ONE Dodge dealership west of Downtown LA, but when Big Valley closed, the closest dealer for most customers in Metro LA was Glendale Dodge (which now includes the Chrysler and Jeep brands).

At the beginning of this year, Chrysler opened a company-owned multi-brand [Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep and Fiat] flagship store called Motor Village LA. It was also the location of the first Fiat Studio in the United States.  I attended the Fiat Studio opening and was impressed with the beauty and coolness factor of the new digs.  It’s a great old historic brick and stucco multi-story building with a display tower visible from the 110 freeway.  Not so great was the location on Figueroa near USC.  If I don’t work downtown or go to USC, I don’t want to go to this dealer for sales or service.

Chrysler ran afoul of California’s dealer franchise laws by owning the store within 10 miles of other Chrysler brand franchises, and last month, it was announced that Motor Village was being sold to New Century Automotive Group, known for its BMW and MINI franchises in North Hollywood adjacent to Universal Studios and its VW dealership in Glendale.

Motor Village LA

Up until just recently, Motor Village LA was the only Dodge franchise in Metro LA.

Big Valley Dodge has been replaced by California Superstores Chrysler Dodge Ram Jeep in Van Nuys and Buerge Chrysler Jeep added Dodge and Ram at its West LA location. So we replaced one in the Valley and gained one west of the 405.

I’ve always wondered how Buerge Chrysler-Jeep (and now Dodge and Ram) survived. I’ve been there a couple times in the past year and both times business seemed very slow – as in non-existent. Now let’s be clear, I usually go to dealerships on slow days so that the sales staff has time to kill and won’t mind me checking out a car without buying it.   But I can generally wander around the lot without being noticed by a salesperson and the showroom is usually empty. I checked the service bays in back, and there is some service life, but the bays definitely aren’t filled.

One time, I went to look at the all-new 2011 Grand Cherokee.  It had just come out to great reviews and Buerge had several on the lot. I looked in windows, walked around and kicked some tires.  Finally, a salesperson from the Ford dealer trotted across the side street and asked if I had any questions.  I said I was there to see the new GC. We chatted a bit, but I wasn’t offered a test drive. He told that Chrysler didn’t have any lease deals, so they were going to be too expensive to buy or lease.  Fair enough. I guess I should just take my business to Mercedes or Lexus and shop for lease deals there. I know they have deals and Jeep doesn’t!

A few years ago, I went into the same dealer to check out the Chrysler Crossfire convertible. That time, I got a test drive; but the salesman was sort of laissez-faire about the car or selling it. It had so little tech (or quality) for so much money.  He thought it was a better deal for me to just buy the Crossfire’s sister, the Mercedes-Benz SLK.  At least on the first-generation SLK (Mercedes just introduced the third-generation SLK), you got a retractable hardtop (not a soft top) and decent, if not great, dash controls and mechanicals.  How did they stay in business?

Buerge Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram. Time for new signage?

This week, I was interested in the addition of the Dodge franchise. The lot still looked the same: Jeep on one side, Chrysler on the other. The only difference was the banner sign that had been up on the building for a few weeks.   This was a Monday afternoon, so I expected sales to be slow. I walked through the lot and into the showroom. No one.   I then heard some movement in the back, but it wasn’t forward movement.  There was a 2011 Chrysler 300 in the showroom, so I hopped in that.  Nice place to kill time, but where is the 2012 model?

Eventually, a salesman wandered in and spoke to me.  He didn’t introduce himself. I told him I was interested in the 2012 Dodge Charger with the 8-speed automatic transmission. He said that they did have a couple dozen Dodge vehicles on the lot, but no 2012 Chargers.  He pointed to one Ram truck at the end of the Chrysler lot.  Wow.   Apparently, the dealer has ordered a bunch of 2012 Chargers and they should arrive in about 3 weeks, if I believe him. He also told me to go online and check the dealer’s inventory. It would show the vehicles in inventory even if they were only in transit. I did. It didn’t.

Since he never introduced himself, I didn’t bother to either. No communication = no contact information.  I volunteered that I’d come back in a few weeks when they had some inventory and I left.  I’m pretty sure he didn’t care if I came back or not.

Buerge signage from the west side. I see lots of Jeeps. Where are the Dodges?

I kept wondering if  it was just me that had an uneasy feeling about this dealer. I checked Yelp and found ten reviews. Most were negative with one star while a few were positive with five stars.  The average of the ten was two stars.  Not great, but with Yelp, it’s hard to really evaluate a business without more comments.  I did find one comment that echoed my experience.  On August 1, 2011, Dmitriy B. from Tarzana says:

Don’t waste any time shopping for a car here. Ken from the sales staff will just tell you to buy the car somewhere else.

I’m going to go back in a few weeks to Buerge Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, now the only Dodge dealer on the West Side, to see if there are any new Chargers. I wonder if I’ll find a responsive salesperson. I doubt it.

I have some free advice for auto dealerships:  Social media is important. If you don’t have a Facebook  or Twitter account, I suggest you do both and engage customers and potential customers in your area.  Reach out to the people who have posted negative reviews about your business and see if you can fix it. When I read Yelp, I want to see higher ratings and many more positive comments. Ask existing customers to rate you on Yelp and/or participate with you on Twitter or Facebook.

Open a YouTube channel and post videos about your business and its employees. Also post videos from Chrysler corporate and other channels (Car & Driver, Autoweek, etc.) that give great reviews to the products you sell. Personalize the experience for your customers. It’s what you should  do and its a good way to burnish your image.  Your competition is already doing it and you don’t want to be left behind sucking the tailpipe.

Also, when I go to your website (I’m talking to you Buerge), I’m looking for a neat, organized corporate look, but not the dreary obligatory storefront I see. You should also change you name to reflect the addition of Dodge and Ram. I want you invite me to follow you on Twitter or join your Facebook page.  Post a video.  Add some color. Use pictures from your dealership, not stock photos.  If you want customers, just existing in a good location is no longer enough. You have to constantly work on and polish your image. Right now, it’s on life support.

MINI’s Dirty (Large) Secret

Posted: September 11, 2011 in MINI
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It’s party time at BMW’s diminutive MINI division. Year-to-date sales are up over 26% and all is wonderful, right? However, August 2011 year-to-date sales data tell a different narrative from the spin put out by BMW PR. Most of the business is really stuck in neutral.

When you look at U.S. Light-Vehicles Sales by Nameplate, it’s always been hard to know how well any particular MINI variant has sold. That’s because all MINI sales data has been reported as one line item: Mini Cooper S car (I). (“I” is for imported as opposed to domestic production.)

Since MINI returned to the US, the official sales statistics have lumped together every variant of the MINI Cooper, including base and S-Models of the Hardtop, Convertible and Clubman. The cars with the John Cooper Works (JCW) option packages were similarly included. The public never got a breakdown as to how many convertibles were sold or how many picked the S variant over the standard Cooper.

Year-to-date, MINI has sold 27,565 cars – that’s behind 2010 year-to-date of 29,704 cars. The 7.2% decrease isn’t a good thing in a market that is seeing most manufacturers post healthy sales gains. So what’s up with the back-slapping and champagne at MINI? One word: Countryman.

2011 MINI Cooper S Countryman ALL4 with the John Cooper Works (JCW) option package.

When the Countryman was introduced, it was classified as a “truck” by the EPA and that’s how it’s reported for official sales statistics. Cars and light trucks are broken out separately as are domestically-produced models from imported ones. For example, I can tell you how many Toyota Corollas were produced in the US versus Japan, but I can’t tell you the breakdown between the sedan or the Matrix wagon. So this is the first opportunity we have to evaluate how well a single model is selling within the MINI universe.

Americans seem to be unnaturally attracted to SUVs (or is it crossovers?). We won’t buy a cool sports wagon such as the BMW 328i Touring; but we will buy one if it’s jacked up a few inches, saddled with 4-wheel drive, given some faux off-road creds (like it’s ever going to be driven off pavement) and marketed as an SUV.

2011 BMW 328ix Sports Wagon. It's a lovely car, but the X3 SUV creams it in sales.

We no longer live in the Wild West and 99%+ of the time an SUV will never drive off-road. Yet we cling to this myth that we are going to ford streams or blow through the Mohave sand dunes in the same vehicle we use to take the kids to school and fetch groceries. There is also this mistaken belief that the bigger and taller the vehicle, the safer you are in an accident. SUVs have a higher center of gravity and are much more likely to roll over in an accident. You’d be better off in a mid-sized sedan with lots of air bags.

The 2011 Countryman (base MSRP $22,350) rides on an all-new platform. Its body is welded to the chassis, so it would be best described as a crossover or CUV. It has 7 air bags and an air curtain system. And its selling like the iPad. Year-to-date sales of the Countryman are nothing short of spectacular at 10,071 units.

Although MINI’s August sales were down 30% from 2010, overall sales are up 26.7% year-to-date. The entire increase – 100% – is due to the Countryman which now accounts for more than 30% of MINI’s total sales. Apparently all it took for MINI to expand its appeal was to inject a small wagon with steroids and sprout 4 door. Suddenly Americans take notice.

The front of the Countryman looks like an English Bulldog

I can attest to seeing many new Countrymans running all over Los Angeles. Frankly, I wish it had been around before I leased my MINI Cooper Clubman S (MCCS) in 2009. I could have used four real doors and the large rear tailgate would have made it easier to load junk, not to mention carrying my dog in his crate. In short, the Clubman was just too small and uncomfortable for my lifestyle.

That's quite a cavern for a MINI

Is Countryman handsome? Well, that’s in the eye of the beholder. I think it’s loveable like a fat, wheezing bulldog. It’s so big and cartoonish that it’s almost endearing. The interior is much the same as any other MINI except for the cool utility rail that runs from front to back. If you like MINI’s quirky interiors, then you will love the Countryman. The verdict is that it sells and that’s all that matters.

It kind of looks like an English Bulldog, no?

The Countryman's dashboard and center console is very similar to other MINI models

The back seats look like seats! Note the center rail that runs from the front seats to the rear seats. MINI offers several add-ons like cup holders, coin holders, etc. for the rack. You can slide them back and forth between front and back.

The Countryman is also the first MINI to offer all-wheel drive – dubbed “All4” in MINI-speak. Most LA drivers don’t need a car equipped with all-wheel drive. The system adds unwarranted cost, complexity and weight that ends up costing more to operate and maintain on a long-term basis. The front-drive Countryman (30/25/27 mpg with the 6-speed automatic) is more than sufficient for daily duties. Yet it’s somehow comforting to think that in some natural disaster – like rain – you car can save you and shepherd you home.

My MCCS was plagued with a bad case of torque steer. In hard driving, you had to really hold on to the wheel or risk losing control. The ALL4 system in the new Countryman would have directed some of that wild torque to the rear wheels making it an easier car to control. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that the MINI Cooper S Countryman ALL4’s extra heft (232 lbs), cost (base MSRP $27,650), reduced mpg (30/23/26 with the 6-speed automatic) and higher center of gravity would negate the All4’s superior torque management capabilities.

The next new MINI to go on sale will be the MINI Coupe. The base Coupe ($22,000) costs $1,900 more than the Hardtop and while it sports one slick backward baseball cap roof, it also loses two rear seats, rear visibility and has less cargo capacity. Early reviewers don’t think it gained any additional sporting characteristics over the base MINI Hardtop. You pay more and get less.  Ah, the cost of fashion!

The 2012 MINI Cooper S Coupe with the JCW option. You can see the backward baseball cap. Style over substance.

The front of the Coupe is the same as other MINIs; but from the A pillar back it gets unique sheet metal and a steeply-raked windshield.

There's still space for some groceries and flat boxes. Nothing tall is going to fit in the Coupe's boot.

Unfortunately, we won’t know exactly how well the new Coupe is selling because its sales will be lumped into that catch-all single line item for “MINI Cooper S car (I).” My guess is that the Countryman will continue to be the growth engine at MINI. It’s the same thing for Porsche. If you look at its sales, the sports car numbers are dead flat (a new 911 is coming in March) while the sales of the Cayenne SUV have doubled in 2011. The American love affair with SUVs continues…

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