Thomas Ieracitano

The Best End of Year Incentives December 23, 2010   The end of year is a great time to buy a new car - especially a leftover model (as long as you don't plan on selling it within 5 years). Here's a sampling of what each car maker has to offer as part of their year-end sales event. Acura - "Season of Reason" offers 0.9% APR for 24-36 months or 1.9% APR for 37-60 months, as well as $0 down payment, $0 security deposit, $0 first month's payment, and $0 due at lease signing on select models. BMW - Joy Sales Event: Holiday Credit of $1,500 on the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series (including the Gran Turismo), and Z4. $2,500 Holiday Credit on the X5, X6, and 7 Series (excluding the 760Li and Alpina). Financing rates as low as 0.9% or no down payment. Dodge - Cash rebates from $750 to $1500 and low-APR incentives on many models based on region. Ford - Year End Celebration sales event: $199/36-month lease on the 2011 Fiesta SE four-door, and a $305/36-month lease on the

Best and Worst Cars to Negotiate a Good Deal December 23, 2010   Last month was a strong sales month overall, especially for SUVs - 16 of the top 20 fastest sellers were SUVs or crossovers, and the Honda Odyssey brings the total non-car group up to 17.  The only three cars on the list were all luxury models. The fastest-selling non-luxury car was the Chevy Cruze, sitting on lots for only 16 days before being sold. The faster a car sells, the less negotiating room you have on the price. Dealers can't keep the cars on the lot, so why would they sell it at a low price? However brisk some sales of new models were, the lingering 2010s have slowed the average time it takes to sell a new car to 83 days. That's up from 69 days in October and is the slowest of the year. Fastest Sellers (Hard to Negotiate Price) + 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe + 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport + 2011 BMW 535i xDrive + 2011 Nissan Juke + 2011 VW Touareg + 2011 Subaru Forester + 2011 Mercedes-Benz S550 +

Auto Dealership CRM Systems Work, When Used By Steve Finlay            LAS VEGAS  The head of an 88-store dealership group regularly checks to see if his sales people make follow-up phone calls to prospects, not just send them emails.   One day, while checking his electronic activities log, he noticed one store' s Internet department was skipping the calls. He phoned the manager and identified himself. At first thinking it was a prank call, the manager said, 'Yeah, right.'   When the manager realized who it was, he started making excuses, telling his boss that many customers prefer emails to phone calls.   'Baloney' said the dealer principal, who then got in his car and drove to the dealership for a face-to-face talk.   I said, 'Did you fire him?' Jonathan Ord, CEO of the customer-relationship management firm, Dea lerSocket, says in relating the story.   The dealer replied: ' Heck no, I didn't fire him, but he won't be doing that aga