Dealernews - November 2009 - (Page 16) SPEED READ POLARIS LAUNCHES ELECTRIC RANGER Offers clean-running engine, workhorse attributes Rumors swirled early in the year about Polaris Industries preparing to launch an electric side-by-side. Then came the Breeze, the “neighborhood” vehicle that was more golf cart than powersports entry, and hope for an electro side-by-side deflated. However, the recent introduction of the Polaris Ranger EV proves the rumors were true. The Ranger EV features the attributes of Polaris’ other Ranger vehicles — a 500 lb. cargo box with 1,250 lb. towing and 1,000 lb. total payload — and mates them to a 48-volt, AC Induction motor and 11.5-kilowatt battery pack that offer a 50-mile range, two hours of riding time between charges and a 25 mph top speed. The unit also features three modes: High for speed, Low for towing and hauling, and Max for maximum range. On-Demand True All-Wheel Drive tackles harsh terrain and one-wheel, rear-wheel drive prevents damage to sensitive terrains like golf courses. The Ranger EV retails for $10,699. CUT COSTS IN YOUR SALES DEPARTMENT According to ADP Lightspeed’s Hal Ethington, most dealers could cut costs in their sales department. The following are points brought up during a “Find Hidden Cash” webinar hosted by Ethington. Use actual cash value (ACV) for trade-ins and sales commissions. When customers demand an unrealistic amount of money for their trade-in, dealers often comply, recouping the loss by inflating the price of the unit they’re selling. Problem is, some dealers do this but don’t account for it. Salespeople are paid their commissions based on a margin calculated using the inflated sales price. Ethington said he once discovered a dealer paying $60,000 extra per year in commissions. LightspeedNXT users can avoid this problem by entering into the system both the trade-in allowance and the ACV. When calculating ACVs, take into account repair costs, price-book values, auction values and what’s going on in your local market. Ethington said another mistake dealers make is trying to recoup an unfair trade-in allowance by passing on the cost when pricing the unit to resell. This often just leads to units that are priced out of the market. Make sure that all costs are in the deal prior to finalizing. Only parts employees, not technicians, should pull parts for units, and they must ensure that the costs are added to the deal. Repair order amounts should also usually be added before finalizing, though Lightspeed recently changed its software so that deals could be finalized DEALERNEWS NOVEMBER 2009 with an outstanding R.O. Dealers can then go back, build a report, and add in the laborand-parts costs to calculate margins and commissions. But to save time, this should be done sparingly. Dealers that allow customers to prepay for parts by adding a “Parts Paid in Deal” line to the deal sometimes don’t track when the customers reach their limit. Ethington once learned of a store that just lumped all such receivable accounts together. In doing so it didn’t realize that customers had gotten away with $100,000 in free parts. Each customer should have a monitored account. Ethington said dealers must have multiple people auditing their end-of-day reports, sales journals and sales-by-category summaries. Staff occasionally enter absurd numbers. Pay trade liens off within time limits. Besides the penalties for not paying off trade-in liens on time, the big cost is the bad publicity brought about by customers angered when they get a call because of a late payment. Do not float on flooring. Pay off sold units promptly. If you’re short on money, instead of possibly angering your most important creditor, try to obtain a loan from another lender. Also, turn to a more affordable lender as soon as interest kicks in on flooring. Sell F&I. Ethington conceded that some products like credit life have been taken over by the lenders, but there are still things like tire-and-wheel coverage and extended war- ranties. He particularly likes prepaid maintenance programs, saying that dealers need to take action instead of just talking about it. Dealers need to figure out the cost of maintenance on each unit, give a substantial discount, and then offer it with every deal. Ethington shared statistics pertaining to LightspeedNXT users, which are typically large and franchised. The average F&I per metric unit sold in August 2009 was $357, down from $423 during August 2008. For the same time periods, the average F&I per Harley unit sold was $876, down from $903. Maximize your gross margin percentage on unit sales. Ethington said dealers must do what they can to keep their average margin reasonable. He noted that just an increase of 0.25 percent to 2 percent can lead to large increases in yearly profit. He then shared averages for LightspeedNXT users: The average gross margin at metric stores in August 2009 was just 9.4 percent, down from 11.3 percent during August 2008. For the same time periods, the average gross margin at Harley stores was 15.8 percent, down from 17.0 percent. Ethington wasn’t sure whether these figures took into account holdbacks. Work the credit applications. Know your lenders. Interview your customer. Dealers must learn the scoring system of each of its lenders, said Ethington, who presented a credit-risk scorecard used by a real lender. Precise answers for things like time on the job (each month sometimes counts) can make or break a deal. — Arlo Redwine DEALERNEWS.COM http://www.dealernews.com Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dealernews - November 2009 Dealernews - November 2009 Contents From the Editors InBox Speed Read Joe Delmont COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here Dealer Lab Distributor Report Card State-by-Statement ATV/Dirt-by-State DJB Composite Index Eric Anderson Fuel for Thought - Dave Koshollek Vintage Directory Todd Shafer Marketing Update Merchandising Update Holiday Gift Guide New Products Advertiser Index/Customer Service Mike Vaughan Dealernews - November 2009 Dealernews - November 2009 - Dealernews - November 2009 (Page Cover1) Dealernews - November 2009 - Dealernews - November 2009 (Page Cover2) Dealernews - November 2009 - Dealernews - November 2009 (Page 1) Dealernews - November 2009 - Contents (Page 2) Dealernews - November 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Dealernews - November 2009 - Contents (Page 4) Dealernews - November 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Dealernews - November 2009 - From the Editors (Page 6) Dealernews - November 2009 - From the Editors (Page 7) Dealernews - November 2009 - InBox (Page 8) Dealernews - November 2009 - InBox (Page 9) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 10) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 11) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 12) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 13) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 14) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 15) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 16) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 17) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 18) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 19) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20a) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20b) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20c) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20d) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20e) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20f) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20g) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20h) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20i) Dealernews - November 2009 - Speed Read (Page 20j) Dealernews - November 2009 - Joe Delmont (Page 21) Dealernews - November 2009 - COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here (Page 22) Dealernews - November 2009 - COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here (Page 23) Dealernews - November 2009 - COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here (Page 24) Dealernews - November 2009 - COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here (Page 25) Dealernews - November 2009 - COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here (Page 26) Dealernews - November 2009 - COVER STORY — The Fun Starts Here (Page 27) Dealernews - November 2009 - Dealer Lab (Page 28) Dealernews - November 2009 - Dealer Lab (Page 29) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 30) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 31) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 32) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 33) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 34) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 35) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 36) Dealernews - November 2009 - Distributor Report Card (Page 37) Dealernews - November 2009 - State-by-Statement (Page 38) Dealernews - November 2009 - State-by-Statement (Page 39) Dealernews - November 2009 - ATV/Dirt-by-State (Page 40) Dealernews - November 2009 - ATV/Dirt-by-State (Page 41) Dealernews - November 2009 - DJB Composite Index (Page 42) Dealernews - November 2009 - DJB Composite Index (Page 43) Dealernews - November 2009 - Eric Anderson (Page 44) Dealernews - November 2009 - Eric Anderson (Page 45) Dealernews - November 2009 - Fuel for Thought - Dave Koshollek (Page 46) Dealernews - November 2009 - Fuel for Thought - Dave Koshollek (Page 47) Dealernews - November 2009 - Vintage Directory (Page 48) Dealernews - November 2009 - Vintage Directory (Page 49) Dealernews - November 2009 - Vintage Directory (Page 50) Dealernews - November 2009 - Vintage Directory (Page 51) Dealernews - November 2009 - Vintage Directory (Page 52) Dealernews - November 2009 - Vintage Directory (Page 53) Dealernews - November 2009 - Todd Shafer (Page 54) Dealernews - November 2009 - Todd Shafer (Page 55) Dealernews - November 2009 - Marketing Update (Page 56) Dealernews - November 2009 - Marketing Update (Page 57) Dealernews - November 2009 - Merchandising Update (Page 58) Dealernews - November 2009 - Merchandising Update (Page 59) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 60) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 61) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 62) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 63) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 64) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65a) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65b) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65c) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65d) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65e) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65f) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65g) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65h) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65i) Dealernews - November 2009 - Holiday Gift Guide (Page 65j) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 66) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 67) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 68) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 69) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 70) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 71) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 72) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 73) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 74) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 75) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 76) Dealernews - November 2009 - New Products (Page 77) Dealernews - November 2009 - Advertiser Index/Customer Service (Page 78) Dealernews - November 2009 - Advertiser Index/Customer Service (Page 79) Dealernews - November 2009 - Mike Vaughan (Page 80) Dealernews - November 2009 - Mike Vaughan (Page Cover3) Dealernews - November 2009 - Mike Vaughan (Page Cover4) http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0910 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0810 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0710 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0610 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0510 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0410 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0310 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0210 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0110 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1209 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1109 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1009 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn_gear2009 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0909 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0809 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0709 http://digital.dealernews.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0609 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0509 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0409 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0309 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0209 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0109 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn121508 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1208 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1108 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/intlmotorcycleshows_seriesguide0809 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0908 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn_gear2008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0808 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0708 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0608 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0508 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0408 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0308 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0208 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0108 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1207 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1107 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn1007 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0907 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0807 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0707 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0607 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0507 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0407 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/advanstar/dn0107 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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