I currently have 3 dealership Web 2.0 / UGC digital marketing projects in progress... At this point in time, it is fairly easy to swap various User Generated Content (UGC) and interaction modules, gadgets, widgets, applets, applications, etc. in and out of a Web 2.0 site using a variety of platforms... However... What I have come to realize from a fairly short time into the project is that UGC/Web 2.0 engagement tools and features are only 25% of the formula for success that will be required... What hasn't changed about using the Internet for automotive marketing and sales via client/consumer/shopper/customer interaction during the past 15 years is that ALL digital marketing plans require a balanced approach and consistent tactical execution in 4 distinct key areas... And, site content and features are only 1 of those 4. The digital marketing strategy I am referring to has been understood for so long, it is almost a cliche, but these requirements are still as true today as they were when dealers first started launching web sites in the mid 90's. All automotive digital marketing strategies require a plan that successfully deploys tactical execution in a manner that produces adequate results in the 4 following areas:

1. TRAFFIC to the site -

In the case of Web 2.0 this may require a data collection and mining approach similar to CRM implementations, email marketing or monthly eNewsletters. My own personal spice in this concoction would be to include employees, suppliers, financial services providers and OEM associates of the dealership.

2. INTERACTIVE content and features -

This is what most digital marketing professionals spend far too much time dealing with... I am not going to repeat what we all know, all you have to do is go into the admin features section of a premium Ning site, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube or any other Web 2.0 / UGC success story and you can see what is rapidly becoming the "must haves", along with the many other bells and whistles that are optional and can be combined to help create the flavor and texture of a dealer's Web 2.0 site. The key to this part of the recipe for success will be to identify the widgets that successfully engage the site's participating members, while clearing the way of clutter that creates unnecessary confusion... Something that ADM is often criticized for.

3. PROCESSES that respond to engagement output

created by a successful execution of #1 and #2 above. This means PEOPLE who will be allocated the time, responsibility tools and training to administer the site, moderate user generated conent when necessary, keep the Russian Internet Brides from overrunning the site, respond to questions, jumpstart discussions and generally manage the noise created by a successful Web 2.0 deployment... That's why companies like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Ning and others have THOUSANDS of employees... #3 is really what Elvis would describe as TCB.

4. ONLINE TO OFFLINE TRANSITION -

This is what we used to refer to as "Sales" or "Showroom" processes in the old TIPS model... Ultimately the goal is to sell cars, parts, accessories and service business... So, there will need to be a balanced approach to managing sales and business opportunities without driving away the customers willing to engage who own your dealership's products and won't be ready to buy for another year. Ultimately, I see dealership communities as the most successful iteration of Web 2.0 deployment in automotive retail. When done really well, it is easy to conceive a strategy that results in what CRM software has promised for so long, but not really delivered to the level of the early expectations. I see UGS / Web 2.0 as an extension of a sound CRM strategy to engage both prospective and existing dealership customers who are way up at the top of the old marketing and sales funnel, in a way that increases the percentage of them retained as customers by the dealership at the bottom of the funnel, whether that be 3 months, 6 months, a year or more later.

You can take a look at the 3 dealership Web 2.0 / UGC projects I mentioned at the beginning of the post by visiting the following "Dealership Communities":

1. Sanderson Ford Lincoln Mercury Community serving Ford owners, Sanderson employees, Suppliers and OEM associates - www.SandersonCommunity.com

2. Ford of Kirkland Online Community - www.Ford-Community.com

3. San Tan Ford Online Community - www.San-Tan-Ford.com

One of the nice aspects to trying to make this work for Ford and/or Lincoln Mercury is that the OEM provides dozens of data feeds in the form of RSS feeds and embeddable content. This allows Ford and LM dealers to create UGC sites that have a steady stream of photos, videos, articles, news reports and other great content that is updated daily, weekly and monthly by Ford without the dealer needing to tend to it. This translates into Ford and LM dealers having a head start over other brands in trying to unlock the secrets to success for automotive tier 3 marketing using a Web 2.0 site deployment... Thank you, Ford! Here's a few items that showcase how Ford is providing digital assets for Web 2.0 / UGC / Social Networking site creators. You can click on the header image below to open a new browser window that loads the actual Ford website that provides these very cool and useful assets:

Welcome to ford.digitalsnippets.com - an online newsroom hosting the Social Media Press Releases (SMPR) of the Ford Motor Company.

By subscribing to the RSS feeds for individual SMPRs, you will be instantly updated with the latest digital snippets related to that story. A Digital Snippet may take the form of copy, photos, video or audio that is optimized for the Internet and easily reposted on any website.

All Digital Snippets and SMPRs are subject to Creative Commons Licensing. You are free to use all of our content and multimedia files in your online news articles, blogs, enthusiast websites, and social networks. We only ask that you assign credit by linking back to the SMPR where you found the original content.

To get you started, explore the following Social Media Press Releases (SMPR):

Ford Mustang RSS icon Released 2008-07-11

Lincoln RSS icon Released 2008-04-08

Ford Trucks RSS icon Released 2008-01-13

Ford Flex RSS icon Released 2008-03-19

Ford Focus RSS icon Released 2007-10-10

Ford Fiesta RSS icon Released 2008-01-13

Ford Technology RSS icon Released 2008-05-05

Ford and the Environment RSS icon Released 2008-01-05

Ford Safety RSS icon Released 2008-11-07

The Ford Plan RSS icon  Released 2008-12-13

2008 Year in Review RSS icon Released 2008-11-25

Ford Quality RSS icon Released 2008-02-28

Ford on TV and Film RSS icon Released 2007-11-9

There are several automotive industry technology suppliers offering various automotive sales Internet Lead Scoring solutions for deployment and implementation in a variety of ways at Tiers 1, 2 and 3. They are:

1. R. L. Polk (see Jeremy Hambly's blog post)
2. Urban Science
3. Trilogy
4. ????????

After having had lengthy discussions with each of the above, and participating in numerous presentations, then speaking with dealers, enterprises and car companies who have implemented some form of using Lead Scoring, I am convinced more than ever that Lead SCORING is a strategy with several major flaws.

Do customers lie in their lead forms? Of course, but that is not the worst problem...

Are some leads distributed to more than one dealer, diluting each dealer's probability of selling that customer a vehicle, regardless of any arbitrary score a software system assigns? Of course they are...

If I send 10 leads to any dealership in America that have been automatically assessed by a software system and then assigned a rating number that indicates which lead is most likely to result in a sale...
How will each dealership assign resources?
How will each ISM allocate the most valuable resource a salesperson has, their time and effort?

Lead scoring is now, and will forever be prone to the self-fulfilling prophecy effect... I think I can, so I will and then do... I think I can't, so I won't and I don't.

The fact is that Lead Scoring has existed ever since 1995 when the first dealerships to receive 3rd party Internet leads went active with AutoByTel... When any ISM receives 150 leads in one month, he or she will decide by looking at the lead details which leads they will allocate their time and greatest efforts to, and which ones are probably a waste of time... Lead SCORING is nothing more than scientifically based CHERRY PICKING! Now, if you have accepted all the reductions in total sales that Cherry Picking implies, and you are going to Cherry Pick regardless of the net reduced sales that result, then putting some logic into the decision making process as to which leads will get time and attention required to sell a car is probably better than most ISM's gut instincts... But why would anyone want to?

In 1999 I watched Tom Vann, the owner of Team Hillsdale Dodge in MI use his own Lead Scoring system... Only it helped sell more cars because he did not "score" the lead as much as he "categorized" it and then assigned a specific Salesperson based on which ISM would be the best match for that lead. In other words, Tom used what others would mistakenly re-invent as a Lead Scoring system 6 years later to, instead, raise the likelihood of each lead becoming an appointment and then a sale by prescribing a certain level of customization in how each lead would be handled by assessing the lead based on the characteristics that could be determined by the limited data within each lead. By assigning specific ISM's to each lead based on assessing each lead, Tom knew which people would handle any lead assigned to them in a specific manner reflecting their individual differences. Therein lies the best and most productive use of the technology created to generate Lead SCORING...

Take out the Scoring bullshit and insert logic that predicts and prescribes what manner a lead should be handled in to maximize the probability of selling a vehicle to that customer... Lead SCORING should die... RIGHT NOW... It is a Frankenstein monster that should never have seen the light of day...

Lead SEGMENTATION that places each lead into a category that corresponds with the type of lead response and handling most likely to create a sales opportunity, either this week, next week, next month, or next year is what our industry needs... NOT a glorified Cherry Picker!!!!

Here is what Lead SCORING looks like:

Here is what Lead SEGMENTATION looks like:

Of course, how each dealer implements their use of Lead Scoring will vary and so will either the positive or negative impact. The point I am trying to make in this article about Lead Scoring and the dangers it presents in the most common current iterations is that Lead Scoring systems need to be modifiied. Their programming technology must be changed so that rather than a score, a predictive case scenario model is developed that places each lead into a category or segment that correlates to predefined variations on lead management processes.

These variations in lead response attributes would include such dealership driven tasks as phone and email follow-up and how or who the lead is routed to... Some leads go to an ISS, others go to special finance, some are sent to a BDC (inhouse or outsourced), others are sent to the used car department because despite coming in as a new vehicle lead the system tells us we have an 80%+ probability that this prospect will buy a used vehicle, if they buy anything. There would be at least 5 and maybe a dozen or more lead management and response attributes that are assigned to each lead by the system based on maximizing and optimizing the outcome.

In other words, don't put a number on the lead, tell us what the best way to handle it REALLY is!!!

As Google continues to glean display advertising expertise through their acquisition of DoubleClick, the hits just keep on coming... Google has added several MORE new features to the Google AdWords display ad builder recently launched in September 2008. Dealers and their Managers can use these new capabilities to easily create and self-administer their website targeted display advertising placements... Google says that there most recent upgrades to the Adwords display ad creator application are based on user feedback, but I personally suspect some of the DoubleClick gang at work. Google has increased functionality in a way that provides greater dealer customization capabilities and even makes building website display ads easier.

For example, the new image picker feature lets dealers choose from a library of previously uploaded images, such as dealership and brand logos, when creating new ads. I especially like the real-time editing display that lets users see ad copy and text, along with any other custom edits without having to repeatedly click the "update preview" button.

The Google Adwords display ad builder updates give dealers a quicker way of seeing the various sizes the ad can run in each ad template without having to complete the ad creation process. There is a preview mode that provides a view of how customization choices affect each size. The tool also offers additional website display advertising templates. Dealers can get started right away with website and geotargeted local display advertising by entering their offer or promotional text, uploading vehicle images, brand badges and dealership logos. Dealers can then select their favorite ad format from more than 40 professionally designed display advertising templates.

In fact, these new Google Adwords display advertising capabilities make it exceptionally easy to quickly create ads with different offers and then run A-B testing to see which offer has more appeal to car buyers by simply comparing click-through rates from the same websites. One of the more enlightening insights I was able to see in a matter of one week was that some offers that work better on certain types of websites, actually underperform on other sites. For example, special lease offers seem to work well on financial news sites, whereas an offer for free upgrade to 22" Wheels and low profile tires out-pulled the lease payment offer on enthusiast sites.

All of this brings to the forefront another advantage of digital advertising versus offline advertising... The ability to target the right message to the right audience at the right time in their online research process.

You can see Google's own step-by-step process for creating, distributing and tracking online display advertisements at the following site: http://www.google.com/adwords/displayadbuilder/

Since this is my first blog posting to be published on DrivingSales.com, please let me introduce myself...

My name is Ralph Paglia and I joined the ADP Dealer Services Division, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, IL as their corporate  “Director – Digital Marketing” responsible for business development with OEM and National Accounts in April, 2007.  Prior to joining ADP, I was the Director of CRM and eBusiness Operations at Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix, AZ.  Courtesy Chevrolet’s Phoenix dealership is the largest total sales volume Chevrolet dealership in America… For the first 6 months after leaving Courtesy, I maintained an ongoing consulting relationship with Bill Gruwell, the owner of Courtesy Chevrolet and his sons Mark and Scott Gruwell.

I first became familiar with AskPatty.com while working for Courtesy Chevrolet in the Spring of 2006.  Since most of the people reading this blog posting have probably heard about AskPatty.com, I would like to have this posting reflect Courtesy Chevrolet’s experience with AskPatty.com while I was employed at Courtesy Chevrolet.  I would also like to comment on the lessons we learned and the ways we were able to get value from our participation in the AskPatty.com program.

When we initially signed up with Askpatty.com our motivation was to receive leads from women we anticipated would enquire about new and used vehicles through the AskPatty.com web site that was constructed for us at www.askpatty.com. Since we were the first dealer in a relatively large metropolitan area (Phoenix) to sign up for the program, we had several Internet Sales Specialists chomping at the bit to receive these leads.  Of course, we did not know then what we know today…

First of all, we were amazed that the people at AskPatty.com insisted that we train our staff and assign specific people to the AskPatty.com program.  We were initially put off by that whole approach as we were at that time a bunch of guys who thought “hey, we gives you da' money and you gives us da' car buyers… right?”. Well, we were initially mistaken as the program turns out to be a genuine and legitimate example of a group of people who mean what they say.  So, I went back to square one and hired a couple of women to be our AskPatty.com Internet Sales Specialists.  Now, I don’t have enough time in this posting to share all the stories around the women we hired and the trials and tribulations we went through as an organization that was traditionally dominated by testosterone fueled, mega-ego, high pressure car salesmen, but let it be known that for the first time in over 20 years of my automotive career, I turned to my wife for advice on what to do at work. 

My lovely bride happens to be a professor within the Women’s Studies program at Arizona State University (ASU), and is an accomplished feminist author… Her name is Dr. Elizabeth Archuleta.  Based on her guidance, I set up a separate area just off the showroom floor and then configured it with office cubicles and workstations for our AskPatty.com team of Internet Sales Specialists.  After taking the AskPatty.com required training, passing the tests, then setting up the “About Us” page at www.askpatty.com we were ready to get started… Katie, bar the doors!

What we soon learned is that AskPatty.com is not a third party lead provider, nor do they say that they are… What they are is an endorsement and certification provider.  Think of them as the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for a dealership that wants to serve the automotive needs of the female consumer.  Until we realized this value, we were under whelmed by the volume of leads we received directly from AskPatty.com, and we suspect that other dealers expecting them to be a lead source would discover the same thing.  Eventually, we figured it out… AskPatty.com is a franchise, a brand that we could use to market Courtesy Chevrolet as a “Female Friendly Dealership”.  But wait, there’s more…

Like many dealerships, we had traditionally not done a great job of hiring and retaining female sales professionals.  We discovered that the AskPatty.com program is a great way to attract, recruit, hire and train women sales professionals.  We did this within our Internet Sales Teams, but there is no reason why it would not work for the showroom sales teams as well.  And, to our delight we discovered that when we hire AskPatty.com Internet Sales Specialists, and then market this role using the internet, we started selling more cars to women car buyers than we had in the past.  Think about it, a whole new category of sales professionals selling new and used cars to customers who we previously missed because of the way we treated them… Sound like incremental business? 

Working with the truly exceptional management team at Courtesy Chevrolet, we were able to implement the use of AskPatty.com as a marketing campaign that was tied to a unique sales process executed by a dedicated team of women who truly believed in the concept of a female friendly car buying experience. Their passionate enthusiasm shows through to the customers.  Under Scott Gruwell’s leadership, the AskPatty.com Internet Sales Specialists helped us grow by over 30% during the second half of 2006 and going into 2007, becoming a key part of the store’s focus on maximizing sales volume through the use of niche marketing campaigns..  In 2006 Courtesy Chevrolet sold over 7,700 new Chevrolet cars and trucks, which was over 1,000 units ahead of the next closest Chevrolet dealer. Courtesy’s success in using the AskPatty.com franchise as part of their Digital Marketing strategy to grow sales worked exceptionally well for increasing used vehicle sales.  Courtesy’s total sales, not including wholesale, went over 11,000 vehicles in 2006.  Of those 11,000 sales, over 3,000 were used retail sales and over 4,000 of the 11,000+ total sales originated from Courtesy’s BDC and Internet Sales Teams, including our AskPatty.com female friendly sales professionals. 

The development of interactive marketing campaigns that make use of a dealership’s participation within the AskPatty.com female friendly car buying program combined with the implementation of multi-channel marketing strategies using a blend of new technologies and traditional media is a great way for dealers to capitalize on the AskPatty.com franchise.  Using the highly competitive and fast paced Phoenix market as a backdrop, we developed Digital Marketing practices around the AskPatty.com certification and branding that were successful and contributed to our overall success. Recognizing this, I was selected to receive the “Hardest Working Internet Sales Professional” award by the non-profit Association of Automotive Internet Sales Professionals (AAISP) for 2007.  

Ralph Paglia\
Director – Digital Marketing
ADP Dealer Services
Corporate Email: Ralph_Paglia@adp.com
Personal Email: RPaglia@GMail.com
Cell: (505) 301-6369

Video has become the new Eye Candy of the web... Car buyers are attracted to it and many dealers have leveraged low cost or free video distribution sites to their business advantage... Let's take a look at how some of these sites stack up.

Many Automotive Digital Marketing professionals have asked me "How do I get started with using Video to attract customers?"... There are a lot of ways to leverage the car buying public's seemingly insatiable appetite for online video clips. Certainly the whole industry has by now been pitched on using video clips created by vendors like Unity Works Media and SiSTer Technology from your used vehicle images sent in by DealerSpecialties or CDM Data or any one of several used and new vehicle photo taking services... However, what about the kinds of videos that the Jeff Wyler Family of Dealerships uses to enhance communications with customers? Or, how about what Alvin Newton does with his team at Courtesy Chevrolet in San Diego?

Both of those innovative dealership teams have used fairly low cost technology in the form of a video recorder, which can be bought from as low as $199 plus tax. Now, I am not saying that everyone can become the Francis Ford Coppolla of dealership videos, but it does not take graduating from UCLA Film School to record a compelling message that connects with car buyers on a much more emotional and heartfelt level than the terse unemotional use of text in an email. What many of these dealers have discovered is that when car buyers watch your homemade video clip where you are personally addressing them and their needs, the development of a relationship between the people working in the dealership and the person shopping for a car online is greatly accelerated... And, as most of us know, when your relationship with a prospective car buyer grows... Kapoweee! You just sold a car!!!

So... How do you get started. Well, first of all, get yourself a video recorder and start having some fun with it. Make some videos that you can use to start building your library of video assets. I personally love the way that Kevin Frye and his team at the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, and a few other dealers, have used videos that address issues like:
- We've been trying to reach you by phone, please give us a call
- Thank you for buying a car from us, and we would like to get some referrals
- Thank you for sending us your inquiry, we are working on getting your information right now
- There's nothing quite like taking an actual test drive to really learn if the vehicle is right for you
- Are you still in the market for a new vehicle?

Once you have some video clips stored on your PC, you are ready to put them online... But, where do you put them? There are dozens of video hosting and file sharing sites to choose from. YouTube is probably the most famous, and is one of the best for people to just come across your video and find it by accident. But, if you are going to be proactively pushing your video clips out to customers, then you should take a look at a few other video sites and their potential for making it real easy to email video clips and plug them into blogs, social networks and your own dealership websites as well. When I was researching all these video hosting sites, I came across an evaluation of them from a purely user perspective. How well do they work? Are they easy to use? Do they let me email videos to my clients and customers? All these and many, many other qualities were evaluated and the list below was created to showcase the ten best video hosting sites at the time. This list makes a great place to start, and all things being equal, the more sites you upload your video clips to, the greater the liklihood of them being discovered and becoming a "viral marketing" phenomeno! Who knows, maybe YOU really are the Francis Ford Coppolla of dealership video clips, and you just need to be discovered!

Video-Sharing Sites Comparison based on technical competence, video resolution quality, storage capacity, ability to distribute and share, as well as other features related to the service and not related to how popular they are...

1. Blip.tv - http://www.blip.tv/
2. DivX Stage6 Beta - http://stage6.divx.com/
3. Brightcove (Personal) - http://www.brightcove.com/
4. Revver - http://www.revver.com/
5. Veoh - http://www.veoh.com/
6. MSN Video - http://soapbox.msn.com/
7. YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/
8. Vimeo - http://www.vimeo.com/
9. Jumpcut Beta - http://www.jumpcut.com/
10. MySpaceTV Beta - http://vids.myspace.com/

Listed below are evaluation rating summaries and a few notes on highlights of the features offered by each of these 10 video hosting sites used to determine the above rankings... Each image of their logos is linked to the video hosting site and opens their home pages up in a new browser window for you. I wanted this blog posting to be something you might want to bookmark because it gives you single click access to 10 of the most popular video sites. This could be used to quickly upload a dealership veido to all 10 hosting services from a single jump page, this one!

1. Blip.tv

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Superior/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Very Good

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

Web video connoisseurs will like Blip.tv?s superior video feed quality and optional revenue sharing.

2. DivX Stage6 Beta

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Very Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Good

• Embedded player design: Superior

• File size/length limits: 2GB/none

Though its use involves a few extra steps, Stage6 supports high-def video and has a well-designed Web video player.

3. Brightcove (Personal)

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Superior

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

Brightcove provides professional video management tools and a variety of revenue-sharing programs beyond opt-in advertising.

4. Revver

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Superior

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

Using Revver is one of the easiest ways to make money from your video content. Its compact QuickTime files look better than its Flash conversions.

5. Veoh

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Very Good

• File size/length limits: none

Veoh impressed with a large and easy-to-use embedded player and its useful VeohTV desktop software.

6. Microsoft Soapbox on MSN Video

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Very Good

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

Well designed and syncs with MSN Messenger. Unlike rival embedded video players, it has no full-screen mode.

7. YouTube

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Fair/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Good

• File size/length limits: 100MB/10 min.

Its video quality isn?t the greatest, but YouTube can't be beat for drawing the widest possible audience.

8. Vimeo

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good /Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Very Good

• File size/length limits: 250MB/none

Easy-to-use Vimeo lets you make your original file--sized up to 250MB--available for download along with a streaming Flash version. Unfortunately, 250MB is also your weekly upload limit.

9. Jumpcut

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Good

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

Uniquely remix- oriented, Jumpcut makes it fun to mash up videos, music, and photos from yourself or others.

10. MySpaceTV

• Price when rated: Free

• Video/Audio quality: Good/Very Good

• Ease of upload: Very Good

• Embedded player design: Good

• File size/length limits: 100MB/none

Best for those seeking video uploads to their MySpace blog or profile without the need for other sites. Others are better served elsewhere.

Dealers can enhance their Digital Marketing activities, build a better connection with their customers and sell more cars without spending more money!

NADA Supports Tax Break for Auto Buyers, Offers Dealer Hotline November 13, 2008 - Sen. Mikulski Introduces Tax Deduction Bill to Put Economy ‘Back on its Wheels’

WASHINGTON (Nov. 12, 2008) – The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) supports proposed legislation announced today by U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., which seeks to stimulate the struggling economy by boosting retail automobile sales.

Today at a suburban Maryland dealership, Sen. Mikulski proposed granting a tax incentive for consumers who purchase a new car or truck. New vehicle owners would be able to temporarily deduct sales and excise taxes as well as interest on auto loans from their income taxes. (View the arguments in favor of tax incentives for car buyers from Sen. Mikulski).

“Credit is available again but lagging consumer confidence is still depressing new car and truck sales 25-30 percent,” NADA Chairman Annette Sykora said. “Now is the time for Congress and the White House to implement a stimulus package that is focused on ‘Main Street.’”

Sykora, a dealer from Lubbock, Texas, noted that since auto sales make up almost one-fifth of the nation’s retail economy, a boost in new vehicle sales would create a wave of economic activity, which would be felt through every level of the economy, from Main Street to the factory floor. (Read Sykora's full remarks here.)

"Congress and the President must consider leveraging the incredible economic engine of the automobile industry to jump-start our shaky economy," added Sykora.

The "Auto Ownership Tax Assistance Amendment" would make interest payments on car loans temporarily tax deductible for the remainder of 2008 through the end of 2009. Congressional leaders have indicated that consideration of a post-election stimulus package is possible to provide emergency assistance to the struggling auto industry. Prior to the 1986 tax reforms, taxpayers were able to deduct auto, credit card and other types of debt from their annual tax bill.

Additionally, NADA suggested a "cash for clunkers" program to create an economic and environmental benefit by getting older model vehicles off the road permanently. Up and successfully running in several states, the initiative offers cash incentives for people to trade in older vehicles and purchase new cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks.

"With great deals and incentives on vehicles, credit is available for consumers through a network of local banks and with some of the highest quality and fuel-efficient vehicles available ever, we just need to give the consumer the motivation and the confidence to visit their local dealership to see that a new car purchase is in reach," Sykora added.

NADA, founded in 1917 and based in McLean, Va., represents about 20,000 new-car and -truck dealers, with nearly 43,000 separate franchises, domestic and import.

Contacts:

David Hyatt
Vice President
NADA Public Affairs
(703) 821-7120

Bailey Wood
NADA Legislative Affairs
(202) 547-5500
(202) 557-1674 (mobile)