GM training dealers in effort to help boost sales of add-on accessories
 

GM training dealers in effort to help boost sales of add-on accessories
GAIL KACHADOURIAN | Automotive News
Posted Date: 8/23/05
DETROIT -- As General Motors moves to value pricing, it is training its dealers to boost sales of add-on accessories.

Retail sales of accessories are an estimated $30 billion a year business in the United States. The business grew by two-thirds between 1998 and 2004. GM dealers sold about $1 billion in accessories last year, says Nancy Philippart, executive director of General Motors Accessories.

"Customers have more flexibility and choice at the point of sale," Philippart says. "They get what they want, and that increases our odds of making the (vehicle) sale."

With value pricing, GM wants to curb incentives and move transaction prices closer to sticker prices. At the same time, the automaker wants its dealers to sell more accessories, such as customized wheels and electronic products.

A pilot training program assigns consultants to help GM dealers and dealership managers develop techniques for selling accessories. About 40 dealerships have participated in the program, which began last year. Those stores have increased sales of accessories by an average 134 percent, Philippart says.

Local GM dealer marketing groups are bundling accessories into packages for specific vehicles, Philippart says. For example, a promotion in Florida for the GMC Sierra Z85 offered buyers chrome accents and 20-inch wheels.

This year, 98.7 percent of GM's U.S. dealers have bought GM accessories, Philippart says. That figure is up from 70 percent in 2002, she adds.

GM operates a nationwide network of 82 Accessories Distribution Installers. The distribution installers warehouse GM accessories and sell them to GM dealers.

"The implementing of the ADIs has been a big step toward getting rid of some of the roadblocks" in selling accessories, says Mark Lynch, parts manager at Jerry Chambers Chevrolet-Cadillac in Bellingham, Wash.

GM accessories are generally available within a day of when they are ordered, Lynch says.

In February, GM opened an accessories design studio in Auburn Hills, Mich. It is operated by supplier Plastech Engineered Products Inc. The studio is jointly managed by a GM Accessories team member, a GM design staff representative and Plastech employees, Philippart says.

She adds: "The ultimate design decision-making still resides with the (vehicle) designer."

source:http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=103027

sorry mikey....GM is going down in a big way. selling sunroof deflectors ain't gonna keep them going!

I hope they don't go down. I keep wishing they would make a great product again.
This coming from a guy who can actually remember the good old days.
My last American-made car was a 1974 Chevy Nova. With all the new emissions equipment a the time, it was slow as hell but you could not break that car.

gm makes a good powertrain but the glory days are gone.....look at their new line...the HHR, the aveo line, the re-badging of daewoo, the de-crowing of the montecarlo/impalla....a fwd V6?? are you serious?>? The new bel air is supposed to be a turbo5cyl??? wth? GM get with the program or just let Opel handle your US production.

GM only makes 200 to 600 $ on a sale of an automobile, Foreign car makers make as much as $12,000 (lexus) per car they sell !!!

actually as a former Ford salesman I can vouch that american vehicles like trucks (especially) have HIGH mark up in them. I know for a fact when I worked for Ford a F-150 sold at sticker price would have $3250 profit in it...give or take for options. $12K markup in a lexus?? not in this economy.

Yeah dude, since the introduction of rebates and all that crap, the bottom line is that GM makes almost nothing...

i'm sure there's less profit but as a former employee there's a LOT of hidden money that goes into their pockets....dealer holdback, advertising bonus, volume pricing, back end FI deals, etc...

making $500-$600 on the front end alone is a great deal for the dealership.

p.s. sales are up but profits are way down....you're 100% right. Gm's sales went up 41% over last July but their profits are down... all they're doing now is cleaning out their leftovers but what they're doing is creating a lot of leftovers ion the 06 line up...

The local Chevy dealer has a pro shop that sells everything from GM perfromance parts to aftermarket parts from RKSport and SLP.