Jennifer Murphy - The year 2009 has certainly earned a place among the pages of history books for several reasons; one of the most startling was two domestic auto manufacturers filing bankruptcy back to back.
Read More →Mark O'Neil - The past year has unequivocally been a challenging one for our industry, yet as the economy slowly recovers and consumer confidence increases, we can look forward to a brighter future.
Read More →Thomas B. Hudson - I’ve done a bit of sailboating on the Chesapeake Bay, and the current mess in Washington brought back a memory from those sailing days.
Read More →Jennifer Murphy - Twelve years ago, Tom Strickland came out of retirement to become an independent auto dealer. For most of his life, he was an investment banker, so to learn about the business, he worked at a friend’s buy here pay here (BHPH) dealership before starting a BHPH operation in Palatka, Fla.
Read More →Getting deals financed over the past 18 months has been tougher than ever due to much tighter lending restrictions of finance companies across the country.
Read More →Kirk Manzo - Mastering the skills needed to perform at the highest level of anything requires time and effort. When was the last time you actually worked on your business rather than just in it?
Read More →Ben Donnarumma - What do you do when your buy here pay here customer stops paying for their vehicle? The first thing to do is expect it to happen. BHPH is a high-risk business where we actually loan money (through financing a vehicle) to people with terrible credit.
Read More →Erin Skinner - Using only traditional forms of advertising can be like driving through a downpour without your windshield wipers on, or cruising at night without your headlights on. Your view is clouded. You can’t see where you are or how to stay on track. You just hope everything turns out alright. It’s time to turn on your high beams and allow yourself to see the whole picture. ???
Read More →Greg Goebel - The past 18 months have proven to be historic times in the automobile industry, and that certainly holds true for the special finance segment of the market. The three “Cs” – capital, collections and collateral – all experienced significant if not total deterioration during some or all of the past year.
Read More →Jennifer Murphy - The town of Lake City, S.C., is home to fewer than 7,000 people, and just one year ago, the city was also home to three franchise dealerships. The local Ford dealer closed at the end of 2008, and the local GM and Chrysler franchises were victims of the automakers’ recent bankruptcies.
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