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Kia.com rates highest in J.D. Power web site survey
Westlake Village, California - Kia.com is the most useful
U.S. manufacturer's Web site for new-vehicle shopping, according
to a survey by J.D. Power and Associates. The semi-annual
study evaluates Web sites for their appearance, speed, navigation
and information/content. Kia ranked highest with an index
score of 868 on a 1,000-point scale, a four-point improvement
from the previous study released in June 2006. Hummer, Mazda,
Honda and Toyota followed Kia in the ratings; Hummer ranked
highest in the previous study. Both Hummer and Kia have ranked
among the top ten Web sites five consecutive times. Across
all sites, the industry average of 834 was down four points
from the previous study, ending a positive increasing trend
in usability since 2004. The average was affected mostly
by sites incorporating advanced technology to the detriment
of site speed. Seven of the nine sites that were redesigned
since the previous study fell significantly in speed measure,
which identifies shopper perceptions of a site's speed. These
seven sites have incorporated more Flash technology on their
home pages or throughout their sites than in the previous
wave of the study. "Clearly, some manufacturer Web sites
appear to have gotten ahead of their shoppers' capabilities,
forcing technology onto shoppers who just aren't ready for
it yet," says Steve Witten, executive director of marketing/media
research at J.D. Power and Associates. "Knowing your
shoppers and their technological capabilities and expectations
should be one of the first steps in site design. The incorporation
of Flash and videos into a site can negatively impact a shopper's
experience if the site gets ahead of their capability curve
or improperly implements the technology." J.D. Power
says that the study demonstrates that the more useful a manufacturer's
Web site is, the more traffic it is likely to drive to dealerships.
The study is based on evaluations by 11,280 new-vehicle shoppers
who indicated they would be in the market for a new vehicle
within the next 24 months.
Jim Hallett makes a return to ADESA
Jim Hallett, who guided ADESA for nearly 10 years as its
president and chief executive officer before being terminated
nearly two years ago by a new management team, is coming
back as president and chief executive officer of the country's
second largest auto auction, it was announced today. An announcement
of the new management team was made in a news release from
the private equity group that is purchasing ADESA. The purchase
announcement was made late last month and is expected to
close in the first half of this year. Hallett will assume
his new duties as president and CEO at closing. He confirmed
that he is an investor in the new management team purchasing
the company. In addition to Hallett, the announcement named
Brian Clingen, who has served as an investor and board member
of Insurance Auto Auctions, as chairman of the combined company,
and Tom O'Brien, who has served as president and CEO of IAAI,
as president of IAAI. IAAI is a salvage services company
already owned by Kelso & Company. IAAI will be combined
with ADESA's salvage services. Moreover, John Nordin, vice
president and chief information officer of IAAI, will become
executive vice president and chief information officer of
the combined company. "I was affiliated with ADESA for
a long time, and I am very pleased to serve once again in
a leadership role," Hallett said. "The restructuring
taking place bodes well for our future opportunities. I look
forward to again working with the great team we have with
ADESA. ADESA, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock
Exchange under the KAR symbol, is being taken private by
an investment group consisting of Kelso & Company, GS
Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, ValueAct
Capital and Parthenon Capital. The group is paying $27.85
per share of outstanding stock.
‘Beaver’ Cleaver sells a car a day
in Florida
Jimmy Cleaver has averaged selling 25 cars a month for 34
years. As children of the 1950s, we couldn’t resist
this story from the Midland Reporter - Telegram about Beaver
Cleaver selling cars for a Ford store in Jacksonville, Florida.
One month he sold 52 cars. He works at the Ford dealership
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. six days a week and averages selling
a car a day. “I got the nickname in high school. I
looked just like Beaver Cleaver, a character on the No. 1
TV show at the time. Everybody in school started calling
me Beaver Cleaver and the name stuck. People come in to the
dealership and say, ‘I was talking to a guy named Beaver
Cleaver. Is he around somewhere?’ Sure enough, I am.
It just kinda helps when they remember your name. This is
just a country dealership, no gimmicks, no games, if you
want to buy a car, I’ll sell you one.” As you
can imagine, he has some stories. “I had this one man
come in and he actually had a bull in his trailer. He said, ‘I
want a car you’ve got out there but the only thing
I’ve got to trade is that bull.’ I told him to
carry it down to the auction barn, give me a bid and that’s
what I’ll show as your trade-in. Sure enough, I did.
He bought it.” Once a woman bought a stick-shift car
from Jimmy, then told him she couldn’t drive a stick-shift.
He gave her a lesson. Another time an older man came in the
dealership in his overalls. “He didn’t have a
shirt on and had kind of a worn out truck. All the other
employees said, ‘Cleaver, you take him.’ So I
went out there and sure enough he had $30,000 he had kept
in his freezer for about 30 years. He bought two new cars
that day. I got the last laugh on that one.”
Dissatisfied customer gets 36 months probation,
$5K fine for hacking into dealer’s computers
An unhappy customer wreaked havoc on close
to 200 dealership Web sites. Matthew Tatem of Palm
Beach Garden, Fla., has been sentenced to three years
probation and three months home detention, 300 hundred
hours of community service and $5,000 restitution for
a felony violation of intentionally damaging a computer
used in interstate commerce, according to a report
in the North Country Gazette. According to the plea
agreement, Mr. Tatem bought a car on Feb. 26, 2005
from Northlake Chrysler in Lake Park, Fla. Dealer ultimately
was unable to get Mr. Tatem’s purchase financed.
So Mr. Tatem and his wife went to the dealership and
paid cash for the car. Later that afternoon, Mr. Tatem
reportedly accessed the dealership's web site and deleted
files that were necessary for the web site to function
properly. The web site was hosted and maintained by
a computer server owned and operated by eDealertools.
eDealertools became aware of this problem about 10
minutes after the intrusion and was able to restore
the web site approximately three hours later. That
same evening Mr. Tatem changed the home page for the
car dealership's web site and posted a new message
onto the web site that read "DON'T BUY A CAR FROM
THIS COMPANY THEY ARE SCUMBAGS." The message was
also posted to 170 additional car dealership web pages
that were hosted by eDealertools. Mr. Tatem acknowledged
to FBI agents that he was upset with Northlake Chrysler
after the vehicle purchase.
Honda quarterly profit rose 8.8 percent, earnings
forecast raised
Profit at Honda climbed
8.8 percent for the most
recent quarter on strong
sales in North America, Europe
and Asia, prompting Japan's
No. 2 automaker on Wednesday
to raise its full-year profit
forecast slightly. Honda
Motor Co., which makes Accord
and Civic cars, reported
group net profit of $1.2
billion for October-December,
up from 133.1 billion yen
the same period a year earlier.
It was the first time in
three years that earnings
in the fiscal third quarter
rose year-on-year. Quarterly
sales jumped 12 percent to
$22.8 billion, marking the
seventh straight year of
record sales for the fiscal
third quarter. Rising gas
prices have generally worked
as a plus for Japanese automakers
like Honda and Toyota Motor
Corp. because they have a
reputation for good mileage.
Honda said auto sales were
healthy around the world,
but especially in North America,
where the Accord compact
car and CR-V sport-utility
vehicle sold briskly, as
well as in China, where the
auto market is growing. Honda
surpassed Nissan Motor Co.
to regain the No. 2 spot
among Japanese auto makers
last year as measured by
global vehicle production.
The last time Honda was No.
2 in Japan was 2003. For
the year through March, Honda
boosted its profit forecast
to $4.6 billion up from its
earlier forecast of $4.56
billion. However, that's
down from the previous fiscal
year's net profit of 597
billion yen. Honda kept its
sales forecast for the full
year unchanged at $91 billion,
up 12 percent from the previous
year. Honda sold 915,000
vehicles during the latest
quarter, up 12.1 percent
from the same period a year
earlier. Although vehicle
sales were flat in Japan,
they surged 22 percent in
Europe, 32.5 percent in Asia
and 8.5 percent in North
America, the company said.
A weak yen also boosted Honda's
earnings, adding $87 million
during the quarter. For the
first nine months of the
fiscal year, Honda earned
a $3.4 billion profit, up
10.2 percent from 2005, on
$65.8 billion sales, up 13.1
percent. Healthy overseas
sales, cost cuts and a weak
yen, which boosts the value
of overseas earnings, offset
soaring material costs, discounts
called incentives in North
America and other expenses.
Honda sold 2.69 million automobiles
during the nine months, up
8.2 percent from 2005. It
expects to sell 3.39 million
vehicles for the year ending
March 31, up 8.1 percent
from the previous fiscal
year. Toyota, which is closing
in on General Motors of the
United States as the world's
No. 1 automaker in global
vehicle production and sales,
reports earnings next week,
while Nissan reports earnings
Friday. Honda shares, which
have gained nearly two-thirds
in value over the past year,
closed down 1.3 percent at
$39.
Real answers for Big 3 sting
ABC's Charlie Gibson asks tough questions of auto industry,
but solutions are far from pat. Charlie Gibson came
to town this week to see whether Detroit still has
a pulse and, if nothing else, left knowing it can still
manufacture lots of excuses. In his Automotive Town
Hall, broadcast Monday on WXYZ (Channel 7), he asked
whether America needs an American auto industry, a
fair question considering nearly 50 percent of the
cars and trucks sold here come from Detroit's foreign
rivals. Instead, Canadian Auto Workers President Buzz
Hargrove filibustered with a trade-deal rant. Gibson,
anchor of ABC's "World News Tonight," wanted
to know if United Auto Workers members might need to
pay more for their health care given the financial
straits of their employers. Instead, the union's legislative
director, Alan Reuther, reminded everyone that his
members already gave at the plant -- which more than
a few salaried employees might find amusing if it wasn't
so infuriating. Gibson wanted to know why Detroit metal
still has such a bad rep among Americans, as if the
reasons are among the great mysteries of the automotive
world. Instead, he got quibbles from Ford's guy about
the premise of the question, hyperventilation from
GM's chief economist about currency manipulation and
hand-wringing from Sen. Debbie "Our-Way-of-Life" Stabenow
about Chinese wages. There are, of course, sensible
answers to Gibson's questions, however impolitic they
may sound to this town's politically correct ears.
Yes, America needs an American-owned auto industry
because this country, the planet's richest automotive
market for the foreseeable future, needs the capability,
the independence, the technological innovation and
even the pride. Yes, UAW members should pay more for
their health care, just like most of the rest of us
in private-sector America. Yes, Detroit's products
have a bad rep because GM, Ford and Chrysler built
a lot of bad products, and the best way out of that
jam is to build more of the good ones. |
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