After an unprecedented period of sales volume growth, the prediction for a flat Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in the coming years has significant implications for dealerships. As competition for new vehicles heats up, front-end margins will

Reading into any automotive trade publication or journal, the first thing we see is that it’s getting harder and harder to be profitable in the new car side of business. With vanishing profits and a slumping U.S. market, some say a period of disrup

Growing your own technicians in service or the body shop has become a necessity, greater than ever before many managers are affirming. Government stats state that some 125,000 additional auto technicians per year will be needed now and in the near fu

Every year the number of higher mileage older vehicles increases. And every year dealership service departments lose more market share. Vehicle owners almost always defect to the aftermarket as their vehicles get older and accumulate more miles. What

In this video blog, Affinitiv CEO & Executive Chairman Scot Eisenfelder shares his opinion on why consumers choose franchise dealers for service over independents.

I think it’s fair to say that automotive technicians are getting harder to find. These days, less people are choosing a career in automotive repair, even though technicians make great money and many need little or no formal college education or pre

In a time of declining vehicle sales where there’s a growing need to identify new profit centers in the dealership, it’s worth taking a fresh look at your operation to see if you’re maximizing customer wallet share on every single transaction.

“Ask Jim” is an ongoing question-and-answer series with Jim Roche, Xtime’s vice president of marketing and managed services, on the pressing topics and issues within the fixed operations world. Question: How much should I be investing in my ser

In the last few years, a war between dealerships and independent service centers over consumers has fueled a competitive fire.  At stake is millions spent by consumers on retail service and, perhaps, the survival of many dealerships.  The marketing