Pub. 12 2014-2015 Issue 3

N E W J E R S E Y C O A L I T I O N O F A U T O M O T I V E R E T A I L E R S I S S U E N O . 4 , 2 0 1 4 4 new jersey auto retailer Chairman’s MESSAGE | BY JOHN MANGANELLI When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade Recalls, particularly the historically high number of recalls in 2014, present both opportunities and challenges for the dealership community. 52 MILLION vehicles have been recalled this year, which represents about 1 of every 5 vehicles on the road. While there have been several high-profile recalls that have drawn the majority of headlines over the past 12 months, there were also dozens of other smaller recalls. Virtually every brand was impacted by at least one recall this year. The recalls provide 52 million chances for dealers to meet or exceed customer expectations. For better or worse, dealerships are the face of the brand(s) they sell because they have direct contact with every potential customer that visits their showroom. Every time a recall is announced, it serves as a powerful illustration of just how important the franchise system, and its extensive network of independent dealers and their service facilities, are to consumers. The dealership’s service department can serve as an early warning system for manufacturers that a potentially widespread problem ex- ists, particularly if a specific problem is detected in an unusually high percentage of vehicles. Often times, it is the dealers who uncover the problems that lead to recalls being announced. When a manufacturer faces a recall or warranty claim, they see ex- pense. Every recall or warranty repair that is ignored by a consumer is a windfall for the manufacturers. They will try to limit what they are required to pay because every recall or warranty repair is a hit to a manufacturer’s bottom line. Every recall or warranty repair that is ignored by a consumer is a lost opportunity for dealers and can negatively impact vehicle safety for everyone on the road.When a recall orwarranty claimenters a dealer- ship’s service department, the dealership sees potential revenue and the opportunity to improve vehicle safety. The dealer will fight tooth and nail for the consumer, since they are paidby themanufacturer to repair any vehicle defects covered by a recall or the warranty for the vehicle. While the 52million recalls this year provide dealers withmany posi- tive opportunities to serve current and potential future customers, the recalls also represent 52millionconsumerswhohave alreadyhada less than optimal experience with their purchase due to a manufacturing defect. While the recall issue may have been born on the assembly line, the dealership is often the one that bears the brunt of a consumer’s anger or impatience, if the issue is not handled efficiently. When a recall makes headlines, the credibility of an entire brand can be at stake. Inmany cases, issuesmay be out of the dealership’s control. (I.E. Amanufacturer may delay issuing an official recall or suppliers may be slow in producing and shipping replacement parts to dealer- ships.) All the while, customers arrive at the dealership demanding answers and wanting their vehicle to be “fixed.” It is up to the dealers to do everything in our power to make sure each customer’s concern is heard and addressed. We need to communicate with our customers and make them aware of any recalls and keep theminformedduring the recall repair process, particularly if there are delays to finalizing a repair. We need tomake sure we have loaner vehicles for those customers that have vehicles that could potentially be unsafe to drive. And, as I said earlier in this column,wemust showthe consumer thatwewill fight for themineach and every instance, when it comes to any issueswith themanufacturer involving a recall or warranty repair. Just a fewmonths ago theNational HighwayTraffic&SafetyAdmin- istration (NHTSA) launched anonline tool atwww.safercar.gov. This tool allows consumers AND dealers to search all outstanding recalls by VIN for individual vehicles sold new since 1999. Every single dealer should be utilizing this tool for every vehicle that enters their shop. Imagine being able to educate your customer about an outstanding recall of which they may not have been aware. The historically high number of recalls are not a positive for the auto-driving public or manufacturers. But the recalls provide mil- lions of opportunities for each and every dealership to earn customer service praise and to increase customer loyalty. Like the old saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Let’s take full advantage of the opportunities that are right at our fingertips.