Automotive Accountants Network Forum
ConferenceHealesville Country Club20th - 21st February 2011
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This presentation has been prepared by Colledge’s for the general information of its clients and forum attendees. While the information herein has been prepared with all reasonable care and derived from sources believed to be accurate, no responsibility or liability is accepted by Colledge’s or any of its affiliations, for any errors or omissions, including liability to any person of negligence or otherwise.
Recommendations may not be appropriate in all circumstances and clients must consider their own personal objectives and financial advice before acting on recommendations in this presentation.
Colledge’s (ABN 52 439 950 641)
For more information, contact Angelo Sirianni on 03 9851 6500 or email [email protected]
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Show respect for presenters and colleagues
One discussion at a time
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Enjoy the forum!
For more information, contact Angelo Sirianni on 03 9851 6500 or email [email protected]
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House Rules
Quote for the day...
“The future depends on what we do in the
present”
Mahatma Gandhi (Spiritual/Political Leader and Politician)
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Agenda Introduction
- Whiteboard Items 2011 Year Ahead Key Issues Facing Dealerships Automotive Industry Social Media Marketing Presentation Veda Auto Presentation Whiteboard Items
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Introduction
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Whiteboard Items
1. Vehicle preparation/yard staff measurement of cleaners to retail units
2. NCCP. Does anyone have a licence?3. Feasibility of Chinese franchises 4. Does anyone use Facebook/Twitter?
-Is it effective?5. Scanning documents6. Customer deposits
- How are people dealing with them?7. How to keep staff motivated8. What is considered a benchmark for internal
warranties?Founding member of
2011 Year Ahead
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Issues for 2011
Planning Considerations for 2011
Issues for 2011
Market forecasts between 1,030,000 to
1,050,000
Some Manufacturers forecast 1,200,000 in 2015
Competitive and crowded market place:
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Australia US
Makes 44 47
Models 278 321
Market 1 million 16 million*
* biggest ever market
Issues for 2011
New Models by Manufacturers- Ford Ranger Platform- VW Pick-up- Toyota FJ Cruiser
New Manufacturers – Chinese & European Brands- Chery- Geely- Foton- Opel
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Issues for 2011
Strong Performers for 2011- Toyota - Mazda- Holden - Great Wall Motors- Hyundai
Steady Performers for 2011- Ford - Mitsubishi
- Kia - Nissan
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Issues for 2011
Improvement needed for 2011- Honda- Peugeot
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Planning Considerations for 2011
Full Employment- Technicians- Sales Consultants- Service Advisors
Mining Industry
Baggage Handlers
- AirportsFounding member of
Planning Considerations for 2011
Parity $AUD- Imports- Exports
Information Technology- Big decisions in 2011 → In-house services → Off-site services → Cloud computing- Cost/Benefit analysis- Security issues
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Planning Considerations for 2011
Social Media- How does it work?- Is it effective?- Link to website
National Broadband Network- Speed - Timing- Costs
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Planning Considerations for 2011
Environmental Concerns- Price of carbon- Alternative fuels technology
Ongoing Cost Pressures- Utilities- Wages pressure
Inflationary- $AUD- Food prices- Summer of Natural Disasters
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Regulations
- Australian Consumer Law
- NCCPA
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Wages Pressures
- Remuneration
- Recognition
- Retention
- Career paths
- Training programmes
- QualificationsFounding member of
Dealership Issues for 2011
Remuneration
- Competitive salary levels
- Motivational
- Realistic
- Productive
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Recognition
- Job description
- Performance reviews
- KPI’s
- Promotions
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Retention
- Career Path
- Training programme
- Qualifications
- On the job training
- Off the job training
- Meaningful workFounding member of
Dealership Issues for 2011
Career Path
- Real defined career paths
- Promotion prospects
- Interesting work
- Skill attainment
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Training Programmes
- Are these part of the dealership culture
- On the job training → rotations
→ different roles
→ mentoring
- Off the job training → TAFE & Colledges
→ factory programmes
→ industry or third party
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Qualifications
- Are these sought or rewarded
- Encouraged and recognised
- As part of an ongoing HR programme
- How critical
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Dealership Growth
- Customer retention
- Differentiation
- Service Intervals
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Dealership Issues for 2011
Service department → Key to customer retention
- Fix the vehicle
- Early detection
- Care for customer
- Trust
- Loyalty programmes
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Auto Industry
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Auto Industry
Automotive News
- Toyota pays customers to tweet
- NADA report
- NADA top factors for 2011
- Australia/USA comparison
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Auto Industry
Chinese Overview- The Country- The Automotive- Geely Holding Group- Foton- Great Wall Motors- Chery- BYD Automotive
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Auto Industry
The Hybrid Story
- What is hybrid?
- The Manufacturers
- Dealer education
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Auto Industry
Management & Staffing
- Developing a career path environment
- Super efficient dealership staffing model
elements
→ proper recruitment
→ effective on the job training
→ retention & measurementFounding member of
Auto Industry
Management & Staffing
- Dealerships to conduct their own HR research→ review existing staff profiles→ right profile – right job→ incentives→ review existing training→ costs→ training & educational budget→ career path ?→ expectations→ review before final policy approved
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Morning Tea
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Social Media Presentation
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Guest speaker: Hamish Jones
What the Hell is Social Media?
And Why Should I Care?-Hamish Jones
21/2/2011
Who am I?
• MA (Public Relations)– Research thesis was about Facebook
• Head of Marketing, Digital Strategy & Implementation at Altitude Communications
• Social Media Consultant at White Echo• Founder of Greenlight Communications- full
service PR Agency
So What is Social Media?
• Social media platforms allow for businesses to interact with consumers, and friends to interact with friends and so on. It is a one to one platform as well as a one to many platform.
• Social Media provides real-time research and invaluable feedback from existing and potential clients.
Some Interesting Statistics
• Compared to traditional media, social media has grown at an unparalleled rate, interestingly, to reach 50 million users:– It took Radio 38 years – TV took 13 years– Internet took 4 years– iPod only 3 years– Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months– Apple Apps – 1 Billion downloads in 9 months
• Latest figures show that Facebook has over 500 million users, Twitter over 200 million and MySpace has over 110 million users.
• As of July 2010, Facebook has more than 500 million active users worldwide
– 50 % of active users log onto Facebook in any given day– The average user has 130 friends– People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook– 70% of Facebook users are outside the USA– More than 150 million active users currently access Facebook via a
mobile device– Two-thirds of comScore’s U.S. Top 100 websites and half of
comScore’s Global Top 100 websites have integrated with Facebook
• Twitter has over 106 million users with 300,000 new accounts being registered each day
• Twitter gets 3 billion requests each day generated by over 180 million users
• Users are sending over 55 million tweets per day, or around 640 tweets per second
• Australia is represented in the top 10 countries for twitter users
So Why Do I Need Social Media?
• Your customers are already talking about you online, whether you are online or not.
• Mainstream Advertising- TV, Radio and Newspaper, is not as effective as it used to be.
• Nearly half the Australian population is on Facebook!
• 40% of those with a Facebook profile connect with their favourite brands.
How Could You Use Social Media?
• Many Options and Many Platforms. Need to be active on main platforms- at least Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• Should also consider YouTube and Foursquare
• Which ones are most effective?
Give your fans advanced previews!
• If you are getting a new car in stock, let your social media fans know first.
• If you get some accessories or clothing in, let your social media fans know first.
• Make them feel special and give them an incentive to follow you.
Share your expertise?
• Basic maintenance
• Interior Care
• Getting a longer life out or your tires
• Offer driving tips online. Just because someone has a licence doesn’t mean they know what they are doing.
Show what your company does
• If you have your own service centre take some videos of the mechanics caring for a car. Ask them about what they are doing.
• You can get a suitable camera for about $200
• Interview your sales team about what there favourite car is.
• Make your people ‘real’ instead of cogs in a machine
• Build trust.
Deal with a Crisis
• If something happens for example a recall, you can quickly get on the front foot.
• Let your fans know that you still love them and you want to help resolve their problem.
• You can also see whether someone has had a negative experience and respond in a timely manner.
• People are talking about you. It’s up to you to listen!
Reward Customer Loyalty
• Have Facebook or Twitter only competitions
• Give away promo material or discounts on servicing.
See what people are saying about you
• Deal with negative comments and experiences
• Rebroadcast positive feedback
• Don’t get defensive about negative feedback in an open forum- if it can’t be fixed online, take it offline.
Keep Customers in the loop
• New car models
• Changes in processes- e.g. servicing
• General Car news
• Racing News- Formula 1, Rally etc
Find potential customers.
• Directly, and personally, contact people who:
– Talk about buying a car– Ask their own followers about car advice– Complain about their current car
Widen Your Market
• Twitter and Facebook are bigger than the local paper and the radio– Broadcast sales online to your followers– Give them incentives to retweet or post to their
own Facebook profiles (maybe a competition)
Targeted Online Advertising
• Facebook allows businesses to run ads that attract specific groups of users based on what information they include in their profiles.
See where your customers visit
• Foursquare- people check in at various locations
• Businesses can track other places their visitors check in at
• You can offer specials to visitors that check in at your business
Let customers talk to each other
• Let your passionate car fans connect with other passionate car fans to share tips and advice.
• Help your fans create a positive brand message for your business.
• Customers can also share advice about car care etc- but make sure you don’t let people publish stuff that may actually damage someone’s car.
Publish Customer Content
• Fan Videos (as long as they are not being hoons.)
• Testimonials
• Pictures
• Stories
Help others promote your business
• If there is a passionate blogger about your car brand look at ways that you can support them in return for positive messages about your business
Cultivate Relationships
• Purchasing a car is a long process
• Connect with prospective purchasers early, provide ongoing valuable information, and come purchase time you are at a huge advantage compared with your competitors.
Find Staff Online
• Advertise on your social networks that you are looking for staff and suggest that passionate fans consider applying or passing on the job opportunity to their friends.
So Should You Cancel Your Offline Advertising?
• Of course not!
• But maybe you should look at offline opportunities to drive people to your social media profiles.
What you shouldn’t do.
• Don’t be overly promotional– Social media is not an advertising platform.
• Don’t get in to a fight with someone, even if you are wrong– You are never going to win online.
White Echo Services
• Social Media Management– If you know you should be involved with Social Media but
don’t have the time, let us manage your social media• Social Media Tips and Advice subscription
– A monthly subscription service where we offer advice on how you can better manage your own social media
• Social Media Stats and Interpretation– Let us analyse your Social Media stats and provide you a
monthly report on what is working and what is not working.• For more information, email
Lunch
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Guest speaker: Sharon Sheather
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Veda Auto Presentation
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Written-Off Vehicles
Impact to Victoria Motor Dealerships
Presented by
Sharon SheatherNational Sales Manager- Veda Auto
Veda Advantage
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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The Australian automotive market is changingIn the next 12 months alone, your dealership will be impacted by:
Written-off Vehicle Reforms in NSW as 31 January 2011
REVS will be replaced with the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR)
National Consumer Credit Protection Act (NCCP) introduced in Australia
Consumers are becoming more informed and better at assessing the quality of a used vehicle
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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The Impact to Victoria Motor Dealers
Written Off Legislation in NSW
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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Written-off vehicle reforms 2011- Changes from 31 January 2011 in NSW All NSW vehicles recorded on the Written-off Vehicle Register (WOVR) on or after 31 January 2011 will be classified as statutory (non-repairable) write-offs
This means they cannot be registered and can only be used for parts or scrap metal. The laws will apply to NSW light vehicles including trailers, caravans and motor bikes. A light vehicle is a registrable vehicle 4.5 tonnes or less gross vehicle mass (GVM)
Vehicles recorded as a repairable write-off before 31 January 2011 will continue to be so classified on the WOVR
There will be exceptions to the Legislation** Written material supplied
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Written-off Laws – Impact to Victoria
Attempts may be made to move some written-off vehicles out of NSW to avoid the new statutory written-off classification in an attempt to on-sell them as repairable write-offs for higher returns than as statutory write-offs in NSW
The ban is unlikely to significantly reduce crime in NSW while criminal networks could steal vehicles in NSW and launder them elsewhere
NSW vehicles that would have been deemed repairable write-offs will pass the other states’ repairable write-off requirements, despite
appearing on the national database as statutory write-offs.
40 per cent of repairable write-offs presenting for registration do so other than the state they were written off in*
*Statistics from NMVTRC
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Written-off Laws: Victoria Motor Car Trader Obligations for Used Cars As of 1 May 2002, Vic Roads has a register of written-off vehicles to prevent re-registration of unsafe vehicles and illegal "rebirthing" of cars
If it is registered as a "repairable write-off", it can be re-registered if sufficient work is done to repair it
A "statutory write-off" cannot be re-registered. (See: ss.16A–16F RSA (Road Safety Act) and regs.87–100 RSV Regulations.)
Both classes of vehicle are listed on the Written Off Vehicle Register (WOVR), however Repairable Write-Offs are removed from the register once they have been cleared by a WOVI.
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How to Identify Suspect Cars Conduct a Vehicle History Check for:
vehicle registration (current, expired, suspended or cancelled)
if the vehicle has been recorded as stolen
details of if the vehicle has been written off
details of any registered security interests recorded on the vehicle
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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How to Identify Suspect Cars
Where to find this Information:
Individual State Road and Transport Authorities
Veda Auto
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
73 COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCEValuations Solution© Veda Advantage August 2008
Why Veda Auto
Our Data Veda Auto is unique in its ability to aggregate multiple State
Government registers and industry data into one national database:
REVS and PPSR
Vcheck
Valuation Guide
The National Vehicle Information System (NVIS)
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries
Veda Auto has comprehensive data on millions of vehicles in Australia
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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How to Identify Suspect Cars Veda can assist in the validation of VINs against:
■ Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries■ NEVDIS ■ Veda's National Vehicle Information System
Data Returned:■ Valid VIN■ Make■ Model■ Variant
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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Minimise Risk and Fraud 160,000+ vehicles registered on the Written-off Vehicle Register yearly.
40,000+ vehicle thefts in Australia per year
Motor Dealers need to trade the right cars at the right price to make
profitable transactions.
To satisfy legal and compliance obligations, Motor Dealers must provide
clear title – this can be difficult with State based encumbrance registers
and regulations that are changing.
Each vehicle transaction has an element of risk – it could be a repairable
write-off or have money owing on it.
It is important to have the correct information to accurately assess the
value of a vehicle.
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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The Veda Auto Dealer Report Australia’s most comprehensive report on the history of a used
vehicle.
By entering the VIN, the Veda Auto Dealer Report can provide: Vehicle identification and description (make, model, variant and year of manufacturer)
Registration details
REVs/PPSR Enquiry – financial encumbrance details
Written off vehicle check**
Stolen vehicle check**
Odometer check
Insurance Claim check ( as of March 2011)
First sale and use data (fleet, demonstrator, private)
Vehicle sales listings
Current market valuation
Pollution and emissions ratings
Safety Information including ANCAP Rating
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
** Include a Standard Vcheck Report
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PPSR ( Personal Properties Security Registry)
October 2011
■Single, national register for security interests – replaces numerous Commonwealth, State and Territory registers
■ Will be used to determine priority for secured creditors in the case of debtor default or liquidation
■ Comes into effect 10 October 2011
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Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
PPSR ( Personal Properties Security Registry)
The Benefits of Veda:
■ Entity & VIN Validation
■ No need to open / manage payment account with AGD
■ No need to maintain own B2G interface
80 COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCEValuations Solution© Veda Advantage August 2008
Carhistory.com.au is our consumer research site Leverage Australia’s #1 website for used car history reports -
www.carhistory.com.au.
Carhistory offers the report of choice for Australian consumers buying
cars on portals such as carsguide, drive.com.au, ebay.com.au,
countrycars.com.au and others.
The VCN can be attached to an online car listing along with the
Veda Auto Dealer Report, providing a powerful way to build trust
between a potential customer and a vehicle seller.
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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Buyers already use this data Veda Auto’s Carhistory.com.au services are already integrated into
major portals allowing buyers to gain access to important data
Now dealers can make themselves aware of the same information
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
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What our customers say
“With Vedaauto.com we have had the benefit of immediate cost savings, require the use of only one access point which simplifies the checks, and have reduced exposure to fraud and loss of profitability. Vedaauto.com is now entrenched across all our dealerships and used for each and every trade-in or purchased used vehicle”.Tony HilligerFinancial ControllerCol Crawford Lifestyle Cars
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What our customers say
“With Veda Auto we have found that we are able to easily identity adverse information, and therefore reduce our risk profile, and at the same time save money…We have now embedded these checks into our used car buying process across all our franchises.”John Vander JagtCorporate Financial ControllerSuttons Group of Companies
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Questions
Veda Auto – Overview © Veda Advantage 2009
** Include a Standard Vcheck Report
Afternoon Tea
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Whiteboard Items
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Whiteboard Items
1. Vehicle preparation/yard staff
measurement of cleaners to retail
units
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Whiteboard Items
2. NCCP. Does anyone have a licence?
3. Feasibility of Chinese franchises
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Whiteboard Items
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4. Does anyone use Facebook/Twitter?
Is it effective?
Whiteboard Items
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5. Scanning documents
6. Customer deposits - How are people dealing with
them?
Whiteboard Items
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7. How to keep staff motivated
8. What is considered a benchmark for internal warranties?
Questions
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Surveys Please
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Thank-youFounding member of