Emich VW earns the Golden Pin Award

Emich VW was just presented with the Golden Pin Award from Volkswagen AG. This award recognizes excellence across customer satisfaction, sales quotas, parts quotas, and overall dealership operations. We are one of 4 dealers in the Western Region to receive this award and one of 16 dealers nationally to be recognized.

Top Ranking Sales Month

Congratulations to the new vehicle department for selling 58 new Volkswagens in October. The great sales month ranks us as one of the top 6% of VW dealerships in the nation in terms of new VW sales. This is our highest ranking sales month since we purchased the dealership in 2006. Keep up the great work and continue to out sell most of the other Denver dealers by nearly 3 to 1.

Western Region VW Dealer Council

I will be representing Area 49 as a Dealer Council member this week in Las Vegas. Please let me know if there are any topics that need to be presented to VWoA. Both from a consumer level and dealership level.

New Fall TV Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr8Qu5_Y5Nk

Turbo R32 gets a little faster

Our turbo R32 turbo kit has been updated to Stage III however we ran slower than expected in our recent 1/4 race. Unfortunately we think we are running less than 10 PSI in turbo boost. Hopefully if we change the wastegate spring we will be able to run 15 PSI boost and get our 1/4 mile time down to 12 seconds.

New Jetta Sportwagen!

Check out the beautiful new Jetta Sportwagen. I like the aggressive front-end.

Awesome August!

Congratulations to the new vehicle department for our best sales month ever. Thanks to Cash for Clunkers we sold 89 new Volkswagens plus 79 used vehicles. We nearly tripled the other dealers in the metro area in new sales and we finished in the top 25% of the nation in customer satisfaction and the top 10% in sales.

Our Parts Department was also 5th in the nation in parts purchases. Great job teams! Keep it up.

Dealers: Prices in used-vehicle guides often outdated - Automotive News

Dealers: Prices in used-vehicle guides often outdated - Automotive News

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Cash for Clunkers...Blessing or Curse???

No doubt the Cash for Clunkers or CARS program has been successful at driving customers to our dealerships. It has been great to see increased traffic and particularly increased sales. In fact at our current pace we would have our largest new vehicle sales month by almost 200% and would be close to out of inventory by the end of the month.

Despite the great success of the program I am not sure if it is a blessing or a curse. Currently we have not been paid on a single Cash for Clunker voucher that we have submitted. Not only is the process to get our money time consuming and at certain points absurdly inefficient but the payment process has been worse. Just today it took over an hour holding on the phone to learn that some of our submissions were rejected due to a government computer error and they would have to be resubmitted and put back at the end of the line for payment. Despite not being paid by the government and having over $100,000 in receivables we continue to give customers what the government says is their money in hopes that we the dealer will be reimbursed in the future. I guess at this point all I can do is cross my fingers and hope the Obama administration holds true to their word.

NPR interviews Emich for Cash for Clunkers story

Click below to hear the NPR interview with Fred Emich IV on the new Cash for Clunkers or CARS incentive that the Federal Government is running.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106936163

Facebook page and crazy commercial launch

Come see our new facebook page at:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Denver-CO/Emich-Volkswagen-VW/108224100619?ref=ts


Current TV Commercial:

Great June!

Congratulations to all departments for exceeding their forecasts for the month of June. Special thanks goes out to Service for being in the top 25% in the nation for Customer Satisfaction. Parts was the 14th largest purchaser of VW Parts in the Nation last month! Currently we are ranked as the 17th largest Certified Pre-Loved VW dealership in the nation, and we were once again 1st in new VW sales in the tri-state region. Thanks for the all the hard work and dedication. You all are greatly appreciated!

Cash for Clunkers

Cash for Clunkers or CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) as the government calls it started July 1st, however the government has until July 24th to create all the rules. With that said Emich VW has chosen to honor CARS rebates as long as the trade-in vehicles qualify under the current rules and have all the supporting documentation.

Basic rules to qualify for a CARS rebate

1) Current vehicle has a combined fuel rating of 18 MPG or less. Go to www.fueleconomy.gov to find out what your vehicle gets.
2) Vehicle is in drivable condition.
3) The vehicle has been owned for at least 1 year
4) The vehicle has been insured for at least 1 year
5) To get a $3500 rebate you must improve your gas mileage by at least 4 MPG if you purchase a car and at least 2 MPG if you purchase a light truck or SUV.
6) To get a $4500 rebate you must improve your gas mileage by at least 10 MPG if you purchase a car and at least 5 MPG if you purchase a light truck or SUV.

What that means if you are buying a VW:

All Volkswagen cars qualify under the program except CC's with the 3.6L V6 engine.

For SUV's the Tiguan, Routan with 4.0L engine, and TDI Touareg qualify (Unsure if all TDI Touaregs will qualify based on $45,000 Max MSRP)

Best cars to buy under the program:

All qualifying trade-in vehicles qualify for the $4500 rebate if you purchase a new Jetta or Jetta Sportwagen TDI, plus you are eligible for a $1,300 tax rebate.

If your current vehicle gets 16 MPG or less it may qualify for the $4500 rebate if you purchase a Tiguan.

Great May!

Thanks teams for making May our most profitable month ever. It shows you want can be accomplished if you keep your head down and ignore this so-called economic crisis.

I would like to particularly congratulate the Parts Department for being the 3rd largest purchaser of parts in the Western Region. I would also like to congratulate the the Sales Department for being the 5th largest Certified Pre-Loved VW store in the Western Region.

VW continues to weather the storm thru May

In May Volkwagens was down only 12.4% versus last year. YTD they have only declined 15.5% year over year. VW has outperformed the industry which was down 33.7% in May and is down 36.5% YTD.

With all the uncertainty in the market place along with the new models VW is offering such as the CC and Tiguan now is a great time to considering owning a VW.

My father on Fox News

Click on the link below to see Fred Emich III on Fox News. His interview is about 30 minutes in for about 10 minutes. We should know next week what is in store for GM. Stay posted.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=5421709&referralPlaylistId=1292d14d0e3afdcf0b31500afefb92724c08f046

Shockwaves hit Chrysler dealers

On Thursday 789 Chrysler Dealers learned their fate. By UPS mail Chrysler dealers were notified if their dealer agreement was terminated. Those 789 dealers that learned that Chrysler was closing them got news that their operations would be shut down my June 9th. This leaves them with less than four weeks to get rid of vehicle and parts inventory that Chrysler will not be buying back.

This rapid liquidation of dealership is going to send shockwaves through the economy and vehicle markets. Our dealership employees about 70 people and is considered mid sized. I think it is safe to say that 40,000 people lost their jobs on Thursday. I would imagine Chrysler's news coupled with GM's closure announcements mean that the US will see double digit unemployment. I don't see how this is a good scenario in our current economy.

I am predicting that Chrysler vehicle values will fall drastically in the coming months. Why? Because 789 dealerships need to liquidate their inventory in a very, very short period. Those who are not well capitalized will fail early and the creditors will liquidate these vehicles at auctions in masses. By not retailing these new and used vehicles the wholesale market will be flooded with inventory and hence values will drop dramatically.

Buyer beware if you think you are going to get a great deal from a closing Chrysler dealer. The deal might look good now, but the value of these vehicles can only dramatically drop going forward.

Link to list of Chrysler Terminations:

http://wlox.images.worldnow.com/images/incoming/DealershipsExhibitA.pdf

Emich Chevy Continues...

I am proud to announce that Emich Chevrolet did not receive a letter from General Motors yesterday terminating their dealer agreement. Our store will continue servicing Denver!!!

Great Job Team!

Emich VW had another great month in April. We finished 1st in new vehicle sales for VW. Currently we are ranked 89th out of over 600 VW dealers in the USA. We have sold from 60%-100+% more new vehicles than our competition in Colorado. Accolades go out to our outstanding sales staff.

We are also currently the 13th largest Certified Pre-Owned VW Dealer YTD. We continue to hang with the monster VW stores in the sun belt and California regions in pre-loved sales.

The parts department was also a top purchaser in the western region in April. Hats off to their great strides in their wholesale parts business.

Most importantly we had great customer service marks in April. We continue to strive to be in the 25% in the nation for customer satisfaction.

Emich continues to be #1 in Colorado

Congrats to all departments for a very strong March. The new vehicle department was once again first in the state. We were once again in the top 10 for Certified Pre-Loved sales in the nation. The parts department was ranked third in wholesale dollars per installer for the entire US. Both sales and service had great customer satisfaction ratings as well. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication teams!

It looks like the economic storm is starting to settle as we are seeing increasing activity on the retail front. That should be a good sign for all of us.

Thanks Denver Daily News

Thank you to the Denver Daily News for a very nice article about our dealership.

http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=3763

Still #1 in Denver

Emich VW finished #1 in Denver and Colorado in new VW sales for the 13th straight month. Congratulations to the hard work from the New Car Team. We are currently ranked 55th in the Nation for new Volkswagen sales which is a tremendous improvement over last year.

New Cars and the Stimulus Bill

The recently enacted Federal Stimulus Bill will give tax incentives for the purchase of new vehicles. These tax credits can still be combined with the previously existing $1,300 tax deduction for any 2009 Jetta TDI or Sportwagen TDI. Here's how it works:

Effective 2/17/09-12/31/09

Deductible taxes: State or local motor vehicle sales (use tax) or excise taxes imposed on the purchase of a NEW motor vehicle.

Who qualifies? Individuals with modified adjusted gross income of less than $125,000 or joint-filers making less than $250,000 in 2009. The deduction is allowable for the alternative minimum tax.

What New vehicles qualify? Any new vehicle under 8,500 lbs GVW of any model year. Only the first $49,500 qualifies for the full deduction.

For example:

A person purchasing a 2009 VW Touareg for $45,000 would pay $3,474 in taxes if they lived in the city limits of Denver. Hypothetically if they were in a 30% tax bracket they would save $1042 in federal taxes and additionally more on their Colorado state income taxes.

Emich up in down market

Despite the troubling economic times Emich VW triumphed in January. In a new vehicle market that was down 37% to the lowest figures in 27 years Emich VW was up 56% year over year. We were also able to increase used vehicle sales and parts sales by over 17%. The service department was flat year over year which is truly a testament to their execptional level of service creating loyal customers.

Great January!

Congrats to John Morse and the Parts Department for being one of the top 10 performing VW parts departments in the nation. Dave Guttenberg and the used car department should also be recognized for finishing 9th in the nation for Certified Pre-Owned VW sales. Chris Kelley and the new car department was once again number one in the region for new Volkswagen sales.

To a successful 2008

Emich VW finished as the 20th largest Certified Pre-Owned VW dealer in the nation. We also completed the year as one of Generation VW's Best. Actually finishing 7th in the nation as a Dealership. We are also sending three employees to the VW Guild event in Las Vegas. Congratulations Dave Guttenberg (Sales Manager), John Morse (Parts Manager), and Karl Riedell-Reynolds (Parts Associate). Dave Guttenberg has also won a trip for two to Cabo San Lucas for being the 4th ranked Sales Manager in the country for 2008. Congrats!

Parts #30 in USA for 2008

Congratulations to the parts team for being ranked 30th in the nation by selling just short of $2,000,000 parts in 2008. This was a huge increase from the previous year.

State of the Automobile Industry

I predict that 2009 will be even harder for the auto industry than 2008. The reason I think this is the major changes we are seeing in the credit markets. In previous years creditors loaned customers thousands of dollars more than vehicles were worth. With great credit it was possible to borrow almost twice the vehicles value or easily 140%. Now these creditors have began to realize serious loses with the contracting economy and staggering job losses. They are also having a hard time borrowing at decent rates based on their increased lose ratios. Within the last month we have seen rates jump several points and advances shrivel to below 100% of the vehicles value. This has made it difficult to finance anybody with a trade-in which they owe money on. In previous years lenders extended loan terms to 84 plus months and allowed for large advances in terms of loan to value. Therefore these customers have paid more interest and less principle during the first years of the loans. This coupled with the lowest used car values in recent history has created greater inequity for customers who have not paid off their current vehicles. Now if they want a new vehicle banks have reduced allowed terms, increased rates, and decreased the amount they will finance in terms of loan to value (LTV). Literally overnight some banks have gone from a 130% LTV advance policy to 100%. That is the difference between a customer being able to finance $6000 in inequity or $0 on a $20,000 vehicle. Some banks are now even charging up to 3% to finance up to 120% LTV which was a minimal amount a year ago. In the long term these policies are not bad because they will put customers in a better equity position than what was allowed previously. However this year many people who are used to financing vehicles with trade-ins for $0 down might have to fork over more down payment than expected. With swelling new vehicle inventories the manufactures are going to have to figure out a way to loosen credit with their captive finance sources. Just wait a week and this will probably all change....

Luckly VW has a large customer base that lease vehicles. They will be insulated from this phenomenon because the lease company assumed the risk of the future value of their vehicle. Therefore they will not have inequity at a time when used vehicle values are at their lowest and lenders are tightening up.

#1 for 2008

Hats off to the Sales Department for being the top new VW dealer in CO, NM, and UT for 2008. They also finished within the top 25% in the nation for Customer Satisfaction. I am still waiting for the final parts and service numbers, but those departments also had a tremendous 2008. Keep up the hard work!