As little as five years ago, you may have snorted at the suggestion that social media would be important for your business. “Facespace…bah! What moron spends his days on that nonsense?” Today, many of your employees regularly use social media during work hours, probably at your urging. With the benefits of social media come pitfalls. As the law
The “Curse of the Cat People” and other Franchisor Folderol
Has your dealership ever had the curse of the cat people put on it by your franchisor? You have if you have ever made this phone call to your lawyer or to VADA: “Help! The manufacturer has only given me a one year term franchise agreement. What have I done to deserve this? I can’t let them put me
Employment Law: A Wage & Hours Checklist
The year 2010 saw the acceleration of a disturbing trend in employment law for dealers and employers. The increase in lawsuits challenging employers on wage and hour law compliance continued. The U.S. Labor Department has increased its budget for enforcement in this area. Even more alarming, entire law firms of plaintiffs’ lawyers now specialize in wage and hour
Risk Based Pricing Rule Compliance Program
By January 1, 2011, a dealer must have in place a program for compliance with the FTC’s Risk Based Pricing Rule. The Rule was adopted based on a provision in the 2003 FACT Act which requires delivery of a notice by a creditor that extends credit to a consumer based on a credit report “on material
Inventory Management Best Practices
Every dealership should have an organized plan for ordering and managing vehicle inventory. This includes ordering, receiving units, delayed billing, and relieving units from floor plan accounts. In this article we will address some best practices with regard to inventory analysis and ordering. Inventory Analysis Require your sales manager to complete a monthly sales history and
Dealer Certified Pre-Owened Cars
A leading industry publication recently published an article lauding the success of “certified pre-owned” programs of some large dealer groups. While some dealers may have great success with CPO programs, there are dangers inherent in any dealer-sponsored CPO plan. Consumers view a “certified” pre-owned vehicle as something more than just a run of the mill used
Lisence Plate Frames
This is a reminder that Virginia law states that all information must be clearly visible on mounted license plates. License plate frames, such as those with dealership information, cannot obscure or cover any portion of the license plate. Unfortunately, within the past few months, a number of legislators have reported being stopped by law enforcement because
A Truth-In-Lending Act Primer
During 2011, you will be hearing a lot about the Dodd-Frank Act. Even though dealers are exempt from the direct jurisdiction of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that is created by the Act, it still completely revamps federal regulation of the country’s financial system. As the Act’s provisions go into effect, dealers will regularly learn of the
11 for ’11
We all hope that 2011 will be a year of solid recovery. Many dealers saw the 2009 expense cuts kick in fully in 2010, leading to a better profit year. 2011 can be even better as sales increase, but you should give attention to holding on to what you earn by protecting against losses. Here is a list
What the government doesn’t know…
The last five years have seen an onslaught of federal laws and regulations affecting your business. The trend does not appear to be slowing. In prescribing these laws and regulations, the government makes assumptions about your dealership and the people that work for it. As we would expect from government folks with little or no business experience, these