Tag: John Stephens

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Industry Trends

Your 2018 To Dos

Contributing Author: John Stephens Executive Vice President EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
John Stephens
Executive Vice President
EFG Companies

It’s that time of year again when everyone evaluates their yearly accomplishments, both personally and professionally, and begins making their 2018 resolutions. So, what were the automotive industry’s accomplishments?

Despite a string of severe natural disasters, unit sales volume is roughly on par with last year’s volume. Both 2017 and 2016 represent some of the strongest sales numbers in over a decade. That’s a win in my book.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is beginning to be reined in by Congress. After years of lobbying for more oversight over the CFPB, dealer and auto lending initiatives are finally making headway on the Hill. Talk about another reason to celebrate!

Going into 2018, pre-owned inventories are finally right-sized for consumer demand. There’s no longer too much or too little inventory. We’re now at “just right”. Because of this, pre-owned vehicles are holding their value, and dealers have a better opportunity to increase profitability through CPO programs.

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Industry Trends Training

Preparing for a Car-Buying Surge

Contributing Author: John Stephens Executive Vice President EFG Companies
Contributing Author:
John Stephens
Executive Vice President
EFG Companies

As a native Houstonian and an automotive industry executive, I am closely following the news coverage of both the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Houston area itself, and on the automotive industry within the area. A recent article from Wards Auto caught my eye, with the headline, “Expect Post-Hurricane Car-Buying Surge”. The article details how auto demand will increase in the extended aftermath of the hurricane as people evaluate the damage to their homes and vehicles, and begin receiving insurance payouts.

This is good news for those dealers who are able to quickly replace their damaged inventory with new vehicles. With an estimated 500 dealerships affected by the storm, it can be expected that while it will be a race to update inventory, there will be a period of “downtime” while both dealers and consumers survey their homes and businesses to understand the full scope of the damage.

When a large scaled natural disaster occurs, dealers can typically expect an upsurge in unit sales. However, this means that in addition to addressing inventory concerns, dealers need to prepare their teams to better manage an increase in foot traffic. In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, dealers have the time to undergo these preparations, and it’s important that they use that time effectively.

One of the biggest challenges during a car-buying surge is simply servicing the increased traffic. This could mean extending dealership hours, scheduling to have more employees cover the showroom floor for longer hours, and even hiring more sales and F&I team members to help spread the load. In addition to ensuring coverage, it’s important that your sales and F&I teams manage each customer’s time effectively.

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Featured

EFG Companies 1st Administrator of Size to Provide Dealers with Automatic Claims Approvals through Self-Adjudication Technology

EFG Express Claims Automates Entire Claims Process with Instant Submissions and Approvals

EFG Companies, the innovator behind the award-winning Hyundai Assurance program, announced today the launch of EFG Express Claims, one of the industry’s first claims automation systems enabling dealerships to self-adjudicate claims and receive automatic approvals. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/EFGClaims.

EFG Express Claims automates the claims adjudication process using self-service features within DRIVE, EFG’s client portal. Using EFG Express Claims, dealership service managers have the ability to:

  • search for open contracts on behalf of their customers and see exact coverage levels;
  • open and submit claims;
  • automatically adjudicate and approve claims meeting certain parameters set by dealership management and EFG; and,
  • receive automatic payment by corporate credit card within one hour of claim approval.
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