independent dealerships - Dealership Corridor

Northwood University and EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced today a national partnership to drive greater opportunity and development of tomorrow’s retail automotive leaders.

Under this new agreement, EFG and Northwood University will pave the way for future generations to leverage the hard-fought learnings of today and evolve business practices to successfully navigate the changing dealership landscape of tomorrow. These two award-winning organizations will host thought leadership forums, develop specialized continuing education programs, conduct joint industry research, and cross-publish content. Northwood University has also granted EFG Companies a seat on its National Automotive Marketing Advisory Board to represent the Finance & Insurance sector of the automotive industry.

“During this time of increased compliance oversight and economic recovery, it is imperative that we provide the auto retail industry with individuals equipped with leadership capabilities, and who can analyze current market trends to evolve their business for future success,” said Keith Pretty, President and CEO of Northwood University. “Our partnership with EFG Companies adds to Northwood University’s ability to prepare our students for a career in this critical U.S. industry.”

This partnership will allow both organizations to leverage the experience and knowledge of Northwood University’s dealer alumni, and EFG’s national dealer network for the benefit of the university’s student base. As the industry continues to rapidly evolve, this essential think tank will help drive innovation and cultivate adept leaders to challenge the retail auto industry to new levels of growth and profitability.

“Since 2008, the industry has gone through rapid, and, at times, painful change,” said John Pappanastos, President and CEO of EFG Companies. “The Great Recession forced dealers to significantly improve their operations, adopt new technologies and become much more analytical. There is no question that dealers today face an entirely different level of complexity than previous generations. Our partnership with Northwood will help our future industry leaders tackle growing issues like the evolving sales processes, the optimal management of digital assets, the increasing role of consumer protection products in the dealership profit model, and heightened regulation.”

Both the EFG leadership team and the Northwood University faculty will provide input and guidance to ensure that Northwood students experience the continued benefit of the most relevant and thought-provoking retail automotive curriculum available in the U.S. In addition, EFG will provide internship and employment opportunities within its franchise dealer base as students seek to apply their classroom experience to the real world.

Specialized VSC Provides New Avenue into Under-Served Consumer Market

EFG Companies, the innovators behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced today the launch of a new product designed to increase avenues of finance income into a severely under-served consumer market – Best ReGuards.

Best ReGuards is an extensive vehicle service contract from EFG, designed specifically for independent dealers, many of whom have a very loyal and referral-centric customer base, but often don’t have a deep bench of F&I products. This program sets the stage for independent dealers to capture a greater share of wallet by meeting their customer’s economic and vehicle protection needs.

EFG custom-developed Best ReGuards according to the needs of the independent dealership’s customer base by focusing on the most critical components of a used vehicle that are often the most costly to repair:

Transmission
A/C
Engine
Electrical
Seals/Gaskets

According to “FORBES”, many consumers are spending as their incomes rise, but are unwilling to borrow more money than absolutely necessary. When weighing the pros and cons of purchasing a used car with more years and higher miles, customers of independent dealers are concerned with not only price, but what the dealership can offer them at a reasonable price that others don’t, such as consumer protection products. These consumers may not be able to afford a traditional vehicle service contract, but they are still very interested in purchasing mechanical breakdown protection for their vehicle.

Independent dealerships are well positioned to tap into this growing consumer market. NADA predicts 2014 used car sales to top 42 million units nationwide, setting the stage for more intense competition.

“The independent dealership segment provides EFG a strategic opportunity to take what we’ve done extremely well for 37 years and immediately answer a rapidly-growing demand in the market,” said John Pappanastos, President and CEO of EFG Companies. “Our products give independent dealers a more valuable toolkit to address each customer’s specific need when it comes to taking care of their vehicle and protecting their pocketbook. We also act as a very strong extension of the dealer’s customer service through our in-house claims administration group that operates according to above-industry standard target SLAs. This translates to enhanced customer retention and loyalty.”

Bill Gusa, Managing Partner of Olympic Dealer Marketing, worked closely with EFG on the development of Best ReGuards. “As supply is expected to outpace demand in 2014, our independent dealership partners needed to expand their product portfolio,” Gusa said. “Considering how few independent dealers have the access to provide F&I products, our desire was to give our clients the opportunity to increase their product portfolio and generate greater profits by providing a quality consumer protection product.”

EFG plans to launch a Best ReGuards limited powertrain warranty companion product in the second half of 2014.