Auto dealers are facing unprecedented pressure to invest in their facilities and want to quantify the return on that investment, Stephen Wade, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.

The NADA has commissioned an independent study to gather data on what dealers get for the millions they spend when automakers demand cookie-cutter dealerships across the country, reported The Detroit News.

The study, by independent consultant Glen Mercer, former partner of McKinsey and Co., started a few months ago. Results are expected in December.

“There is a real need for less financial pressure, not more,” Wade said at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit.

“And the timing is bad with the most pressure to invest at a time when dealers are least able to afford it,” he said.

A big concern is factory-mandated “image” programs, he said, that set dealership standards, usually by brand, that dealers must meet.

It can cost millions to incorporate specific colors and materials for showrooms, display areas, lounges and service bays, as well as signs and overall appearance.

Wade said the demands often are “enough to convince people to leave the business, rather than make the investment.”

Ford Motor Co., for example, has implemented new standards to denote Lincoln as a premium brand that may drive some rural dealerships, especially those which lost their Mercury franchises, out of business.

Chrysler Group LLC, in deciding which franchises to terminate during its corporate restructuring, included in the evaluation whether dealers offered all brands in a single facility with arches and a specific look for each marque. Chrysler also demanded standalone facilities for the Fiat brand.

Wade said many of these dealers feel they are acting on blind faith, investing now on promises of new vehicles down the road.

General Motors Co. began a major push in late 2009 to work with its dealers on revamping their stores to redefine each GM brand with a distinctive look.

Many automakers help dealers offset the cost with quarterly payouts for hitting sales, service and technology targets.

But dealers want economic data on whether the investment improves sales and customer satisfaction, Wade said, adding the findings will be of value to dealers and automakers alike.

Wade said NADA recognizes the need for standards, “but they should be realistic.”

Dealers say financing for upgrades is tough to secure, and automakers can’t guarantee a single additional sale because the new floor is a darker shade of gray, Wade said.

ORANGE COUNTY – Sales and management training expert and renowned author, Joe Verde, was asked to speak at the 2012 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Expo in Las Vegas in February. This year’s convention will mark the 25th time that a member of Joe Verde Sales & Management Training, Inc., has spoken at NADA since 1991.

Verde’s workshop “A Business Plan to Guarantee More Traffic and Sales,” is designed to help dealers find the right mix of e-leads, phone leads, walk-ins, advertising and repeat business to guarantee their dealerships more sales.

“Customers have changed – they are more sophisticated,” said Verde, president at Joe Verde Sales & Management Training, Inc. “One of the biggest challenges for dealerships today is generating more floor traffic to protect themselves in this market. I’ll show dealers how to establish goals, based on their market, and how to structure a step-by-step business plan.”

Two types of customers have evolved over the past five years, according to Verde. His workshop will cover these two customer groups and how they’ve changed the market, so dealers can focus on maximizing the potential of floor traffic in 2012.

“Today’s market is more volatile than ever and dealers have to learn to generate more floor traffic each month without breaking the bank,” he said. “I’ll show attendees how to flood their showroom with buyers.”

WASHINGTON – The board of directors of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) has elected William P. Underriner as chairman and David W. Westcott as vice chairman for 2012.

Underriner, 59, president and co-owner of Underriner Motors in Billings, Mont., operates Honda, Hyundai, Buick and Volvo franchises. Underriner, NADA’s current vice chairman, has served three terms as NADA treasurer and represents Montana’s new-car dealers on the association’s board of directors.

“I’m honored that my peers have elected me for this position,” said Underriner, who’s been in the automobile business since 1984. “I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead and the unknown because you never know what can happen in the auto industry.”

Westcott, 64, president of David Westcott Buick GMC Suzuki in Burlington, N.C., has been a new-car dealer since 1981. He currently represents North Carolina’s new-car dealers on NADA’s board of directors.

The election was held Sept. 20 at an NADA conference in Washington, D.C. Underriner and Westcott will take office at the 2012 NADA-ATD Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, which runs Feb. 3-6.

Underriner is a past member of the association’s Executive, Industry Relations, Dealership Operations and Membership committees. He’s also served as chairman of NADA’s Finance and Convention committees.

Westcott currently serves as chairman of the association’s Dealership Operations Committee. He’s also a member of the Industry Relations Committee and the Dealers Election Action Committee (DEAC) board of trustees. He’s past chairman of NADA’s Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs committees and DEAC.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will examine whether dealerships try to exploit military personnel and their families in the second of a series of public roundtables on dealer practices.

The roundtable will take place Aug. 2-3 in San Antonio, the FTC said in a statement on its Web site.

Roundtable topics include “motor vehicle sales and financing issues pertaining to military consumers, fair lending and financial literacy,” the statement said.

The FTC was given streamlined authority to adopt standards for dealer-assisted financing under financial reform legislation enacted last year, reported Automotive News.

The agency has said it plans to convene as many as five roundtables this year to determine “what consumer-protection issues, if any, exist that could be addressed through a possible rule-making or other initiatives.”

During the congressional battle last year over whether dealerships should be overseen by the new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Pentagon weighed in on behalf of military families.

Undersecretary of Defense Clifford Stanley argued unsuccessfully that dealers should fall under the new agency’s oversight.

“There are still documented cases of service members falling victim to predatory practices and prohibitively expensive products,” Stanley said in a Feb. 2010 letter to the Treasury Department.

A Pentagon survey found 72 percent of 659 counselors and attorneys on military installations had counseled service members in the previous six months on deceptive auto-financing practices, the letter said.

Among these practices were falsification of loan applications, failure to pay off liens on trade-ins, and packing loans with items at inflated prices, Stanley said.

The National Automobile Dealers Association has been invited to participate at the upcoming roundtable.

“We will clearly demonstrate that optional dealer-assisted financing expands access and reduces the cost of credit for all car buyers — including those who serve our country in uniform,” NADA spokesman Bailey Wood said.

At the first FTC roundtable in April, NADA argued that current state and federal rules already prohibit dealerships from practices being reviewed by the commission.

The dealer group said a review of customer complaints showed “no systemic concerns with dealer-assisted financing.”

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is to be up and running July 21, oversees the financial institutions that provide loans to auto consumers.

An office within the new agency was created to educate military families about financial issues and protect them from unscrupulous lenders.

The office is to be headed by Holly Petraeus, wife of Gen. David Petraeus, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate today to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

ATLANTA — It’s no secret that F&I departments have been heavily relied upon to fill dealerships’ profit gaps. With the current pressures in the industry and more restrictions on rate, getting $1,000 per vehicle retail requires a solid strategy.

While many look to higher-cost products like vehicle service contracts, maintaining a two-plus product index can be the key to getting $1,000 per vehicle.

Luis Garcia, Safe-Guard’s director of training and development, will present concrete ways to improve profits in F&I every hour on the hour in booth 3637N during the 2011 NADA Convention & Expo from February 5-7 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, reported F&I and Showroom.

Garcia will demonstrate a menu presentation based on five core products, discuss a solid interview process and review the qualities of a provider that can help make every deal a two-plus product deal.

“Safe-Guard has always believed that the delivery is just as important as the products themselves,” Safe-Guard CEO Doug Duncan said. “We lead the industry in providing the training and tools that give our partners the strongest backing for serious profits.”

Orange County - Joe Verde will debut his new book for automotive salespeople, Earn Over $100,000 Selling Cars – Every Year, at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention and expo in San Francisco, Feb. 5-7. Attendees can pick up a free copy of the book at the company’s booth #3629N.

Verde is the top sales trainer in the car business and he wrote this book to help new and experienced salespeople earn six figures selling cars. The book will be free throughout the month of February as a way of giving back to the industry he’s been involved with since the early 1970s.

The new book is a companion piece to the book Verde published in 2009 for dealers and managers, A Dealer’s Guide To Recovery & Growth In Today’s Market. “I wrote ‘Recovery & Growth’ in 2009 as a way to help dealers and managers plan for long term, continuous growth in the wake of the recession,” he said. “With my new book, I switched my focus to salespeople – 80% of which never receive any training before they hit the lot. I wanted to help them develop their daily selling activities so that they can sell more units each month and start earning big pay checks.”

In addition to the free book, NADA attendees will have the opportunity to win a free Apple iPad tablet computer at the company’s booth #3629N. The iPad comes pre-loaded with a variety of Joe Verde training content, including E-book versions of “Recovery And Growth,” and “Earn Over $100,000 Selling Cars – Every Year”, along with easy desktop access to JVTN.com, the industry’s first virtual sales training network.

Beginning Feb. 1, 2011, visitors to www.joeverde.com can preorder a free copy (shipping cost not included) directly from the home page. Shipments will begin after the NADA show.