F&I and Showroom, October 2015

Developments 8 F I and Showroom October 2015 Calif DMV Looking Into Teslas Referral Program THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR Vehicles confirmed in late September that it is looking into Tesla Motors referral program almost a month after the state dealer association called on the agency to investigate the electric carmaker for alleged violations of Californias ban on bird dogging In an email to F I and Showroom the state agency said it is currently looking into this matter but offered no other details Tesla launched the referral program on July 29 promising to give new buyers a 1000 discount on a new car service or accessory if they were referred by a current owner who would also receive a 1000 discount on his or her next vehicle or service visit The program which Tesla has since modified runs through the end of October While many other licensed dealers would like to offer similar referral fees for existing customers California law flatly prohibits the practice announced by Tesla based on several statutes wrote Brian Mass president of the California New Car Dealers Association CNCDA in a letter to the DMV dated Aug 26 Under the California Vehicle Code Maas explained Tesla customers would be acting as illegal salespeople when they accept the bird dog fee of 1000 The automakers referral program faced similar opposition in Virginia where the Virginia Motor Vehicle Board contacted the automaker within 10 days of its launch In response Tesla altered the program in the state by directing the whole 2000 incentive to the vehicle buyer But in other states Tesla has expanded the program In a letter Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent to Model S owners the executive announced the company was removing the 10 referral limit and adding a bonus The customer who makes the most referrals by the end of October will be invited to swap his or her current Model S for a fully loaded Ludicrous P90D Model S free of charge F ord Motor Co began syndicating its dealers Ford and Lincoln new vehicle inventory to CarGurus com in September a move that was announced in a dealer memo obtained by F I and Showroom magazine Inventory listings will be fed to the car shopping site through FordDirect which will also deliver CarGurus referrals to participating dealers through its New Vehicle Marketing Service According to the memo the goal of the new syndication is to drive additional high quality VINspecific leads for Ford and Lincoln dealerships CarGurus is one of the largest and fastest growing automotive shopping websites in the United States with 15 million unique monthly visitors read the memo in part According to CarGurus data 80 of CarGurus visitors are in the market to buy and the website saw a 71 growth of unique monthly visits in 2014 Industry pundits like F I and Showroom columnist Jim Ziegler have been critical of CarGurus and its business practices In a June 2013 column published in F I and Showroom Ziegler wrote I personally view Car Gurus as the most hostile antidealer website yet At issue is the way CarGurus rates dealers and their deals Labels from my understanding include Great Good Fair or Bad dealers Ziegler wrote What gives the site the right to do this And what standard is it using to rate these deals Fords memo did contain an opt out link for dealers enrolled in FordDirects New Vehicle Marketing Service CarGurus com syndication was added because it is a popular consumer auto shopping website with more than 650000 daily visitors Ford Direct said in a statement issued to F I and Showroom Dealers have the option to opt out Based in Cambridge Mass CarGurus reported in March that its dealer network grew by 300 on a year over year basis to more than 6000 U S based dealers The companys press release also noted that it uses proprietary algorithms to analyze and compare millions of car listings daily and ranks shoppers search results according to which listings offer the best deals from top rated local dealers According to a company spokesperson CarGurus does not have similar relationships with other vehicle OEMs At CarGurus we are always working to improve the shopping experience for our users and this includes having the most comprehensive and accurate inventory of cars on our site With new cars this is especially important since our new car search is VIN based said Martha Blue vice president of business development and marketing for CarGurus in an emailed statement By providing a better shopping experience we are able to drive more leads and deliver greater value for our dealer partners Ford Syndicating Dealer Inventory to CarGurus com