New Media, New Marketing

Jack Poor, Guest Post

Which media most affects consumer behavior in the Automobile purchase cycle?

With the explosion of new and different media options today, it is timely to consider which media platforms consumers are crediting with influencing their automotive buying patterns. In conjunction with The Futures Company (formerly the famed Yankelovich Research company), the TVB’s proprietary consumer research analyzes media performance not as a consumable (what’s platform X’s share of total media usage?) but rather as an impacter – In other words, how do different media affect consumers as they move through the purchase process?

Sparks from Orlando

David Ruggles - Ward's Dealer Business

One of the more interesting occurrences taking place in Orlando during NADA convention week actually happened at the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) conference held at the Peabody Hotel earlier in the week. The conference preceded the J.D. Power conference and the NADA convention. One of the most anticipated presentations was to be given by industry forward thinker and innovator, Dale Pollak. Many of the attendees were curious to see what Dale would have to say to a room full of bankers.

Rate Markup, the CFPB, and Common Sense

David Ruggles, first published in Auto Finance News

Auto industry finance experts agree that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will eventually turn its focus to rate markup on dealer arranged finance contracts. Consumer advocates bring up anecdotes of what they refer to as “rate gouging” as proof regulation is needed. David Robertson, President of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals, points out, “There is no empirical evidence that consumers who use auto dealer arranged financing pay higher interest rates than other auto loan borrowers.” But Dodd Frank has already imposed similar legislation on the mortgage business capping rate markup and broker compensation.

JDPA Quality: Interpreting Correctly

...be it 71 or 149 defects per car, purchasers' experience is identical: 1 defect...

In terms of quality, we are fortunately decades away from 1980, when I bought my first new car. My Toyota had problems almost from day one. The paint peeled, the transmission broke, and over time other things went wrong. But at least I made it all the way home from the dealership, which was not the experience of my best friend in high school, who had purchased a Detroit 3 product. We've seen big, important improvements in average quality and less variation among brands, thanks in part to the light Dave Powers helped shed on the industry.

Click on the logo for information on the Automotive News PACE "Supplier of the Year" Award

The Award Ceremoney will be Monday, April 15th at the Fisher Theater in Detroit, on the evening of the first day of the Society of Automotive Engineers. The focus of the competition is innovation among automotive suppliers to the global motor vehicle industry. Award winners have included firms from Australia, East Asia, Europe, NAFTA and South America. Over the years this included software suppliers, machine tool and other process suppliers, materials innovations, and parts suppliers to other suppliers, to passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers and the (repair) aftermarket.

Each finalist, selected from the pool of applicants in early fall, is visited in the November-January period by a team of 2 independent judges, who include individuals from a wide array of backgrounds, from OEM assembly plant managers to engineers to a race car driver and even (gasp!) a couple economists and a banker. The 20-plus judges meet in a closed door session in February to select winners. This past year I visited:

• BorgWarner with its compact brushless actuator for emissions control
• Brose with its kick-to-open hands-free rear lift gate opener
• Continental with its LocSync tire pressure monitor system that uses software rather than additional sensors to associate the correct tire gauge with the correct location
• Visteon with its MSF zero-leak HVAC connector

If you're not one of the roughly 300 attending the award ceremony, look for a late evening flash story on the Automotive News web site and corporate PR releases for the winners.

...mike smitka...