Fiat-Chrysler creates Dutch holding, sets tax domicile in UK



January 29, 2014 - 8:12 am ET

MILAN (Reuters) -- Fiat said it would register the holding of its newly created Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV group in the Netherlands and set its tax domicile in Britain, cementing a politically sensitive shift away from its home base in Italy.…

I visit a lot of dealerships in the course of a week.  One complaint that I am hearing is they "can't get salespeople".

Here is a decades old fact: 87% of people, that attempt car sales, are out of the industry in a year.  That was published by NADA thirty years ago and I doubt that it has changed.  



I am amused to hear managers complaining that they can't hire salespeople.  I was talking to the new car manager at a Lexus store.…

Edmunds launches price guarantee for online car shoppers 

Automotive News.

The article states that 600 dealers have already signed up. 

Here is another third party, that is going to dictate what price dealers should sell their product.  These dealers are going to pay…

I revisited the Dataium study that was commissioned by Cars.com:

"Despite an average of 55 percent of dealerships’ online advertising budgets being devoted to paid search engine marketing, just 6 percent of dealership website traffic on average is referred by paid search keywords. Furthermore, less than 1 percent of this traffic resulted in email form leads submitted on dealership websites."

Add all of a dealerships internet related expenses:…

Initially, I was totally against Cars.com sending emails to customers showing the competition's vehicles especially on the timetable they were using.  I didn't appreciate the fact that they "sneaked" it out without discussing it with their dealers or even their field reps. I was even less thrilled that they sending inventory feeds to TrueCar, Cargurus and God know where else.  

As far as the email program, with the proper timetable, I can see how dealerships, that know how to market…

I like to shop at Nordstrom. They have nice clothes and great customer service. I will go through periods where I am there fairly often. I definately don't have a negative view of the clothing business. People don't buy cars every month, every couple of months or every year. They don't like car dealerships and car people. They tolerate us. Their only concern is that you have a vehicle and what you are willing to sell it for.

I want someone to show me the ROI. Not for a few cars a…

I was amazed to learn that, during the research phase, customers spend 17 to 19 hours, on the internet, before visiting a dealership.  Much of that involves vehicle comparisons but anyone is naive if they don't think that price is a chief consideration.  A recent Cobalt study stated that the average consumer visited eight dealership websites.  These customers tend to be at the bottom of the sales funnel.  At this point, they should have narrowed it down to a…

I’m a diehard internet guy.  If anyone ever wondered where my prejudices lie this should clear it up.

I was the Internet Director at a metro import store.  The department was responsible for 70% of the new and used car sales utilizing 30% of the sales force and 20% of the budget. 

Looking at NADA Data from 2011, the percentage of our advertising budget was actually pretty low:…

I was visiting a dealership, yesterday, and observed the interaction between a young internet salesman and one of the New Car Managers.  The young ISM had received a request for quote, on a new vehicle, and had approached the desk for help.  The Manager's response was, "Just get 'em in".   When the young ISM started to speak, he was cut off with another chorus of "Just get em in".  With nothing but an email address, I'm sure he responded with something like, "price…