EmichVW Blog

Emich VW To Race World Challenge

2012-01-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

Emich VW is currently in the process of building a Mk 6 GLI into a World Challenge racecar. Emich plans on running most of the 2012 SCCA Pro World Challenge schedule. Currently the vehicle is being completed with the help of Two Create LLC and 3zero3 Motorsports. Our previous sponsorship of a GTI that raced in the 2010 World Challenge series has aided us in the current GLI build and we have high hopes that we will have a fast car. The vehicle will be raced by Fred Emich in his rookie season. Stay tuned for happenings and updates on the upcoming racing season. Follow us on NBC Sports or http://www.worldchangetv.com/.

VW #2 in the World

2012-01-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately VW learned yesterday that they had not accomplished their goal to be the #1 car manufacture in the world for 2011. GM won the title despite exiting bankruptcy just two years ago. Toyota the perennial #1 finished #3 due to tsunami caused production restraints. Rumor is that VW could have challenged GM for the #1 spot this year however their acquisition of Man Trucks was not counted in the 2011 numbers, however will be included in their 2012 numbers. Despite finishing #2 in 2011 VW is still on track to accomplish their goal of being the number one manufacture earlier than their 2018 prediction.

In the US Volkswagen has forecasted an incredible sales increase of 45% over their 2011 sales which were the best they had seen in decades. I think with their new found focus on customer satisfaction/experience that VW will succeed with their loafty goals this year.

VW #1 in Quality?!

2011-07-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

Yes, VW is a brand on the rise with greatly improved quality. It is not only myself that believes this, but Motor Trend agrees whole heartedly. With these great improvements experts predict that VW will surpass Toyota as the world's largest car manufacture by the end of the decade.

http://wot.motortrend.com/strategic-vision-survey-says-ford-volkswagen-tops-in-quality-95763.html

What is next for the Car Salesmen?

2011-07-11T14:47:00.000-07:00

Interesting article on how both technology and people's expectations (especially gen Y) could possibly change what a car salesperson is and does in the future. We are certainly seeing it here on the front lines and I think are adapting accordingly.

http://www.automotivedigest.com/AutomotiveDigestibles/index.php/2011/07/possible-death-of-the-auto-salesman-still-signs-of-life/

The new Passat and the rebirth of VW in America

2011-06-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

The new 2012 Passat is nearly upon us and VW AG in Germany waits with great anticipation. It has been since the 1970's that VW has had a solid stake in the American automotive market with yearly sales of over 600,000 units and great market share driven by the old air cooled Beetles. It was not until 1998 that VW came back on the American automotive map with the release of the New Beetle. Sales grew solidly for several years, but quality issues and lack of renewed product stifled the brand once again. Now we sit pacing to sell 325,000 units this year with growth nearly twice the market and we are poised to take off and challenge the Toyotas, Hondas, Hyundai’s, Fords, Chryslers, and GM’s of the world with the release of the new Passat.

I can tell you that VW has learned a lot about the American automotive market over the past 15 years and they are finally positioned to compete in the largest and most competitive auto market in the world. Why do I say this now? Well, I just got back from the grand opening of the factory in Chattanooga and experienced the $1 Billion commitment to the American market that the Germans have made and experienced their undaunting will to succeed here. The factory is truly state of the art with a laser focus around quality which has been VW’s Achilles heel in the US market. The Passat has been designed for this market to take on the Camry’s and Accords of the world and in my mind wins handily while being priced similarly. The mid-sized sedan segment is the largest and most competitive in the US market and 6 or 7 of the top 10 models sold come out of this segment. I am eager for the challenges ahead of us in this segment, but know after seeing the car that we will succeed and VW will once again be a major part of the American landscape.

Oh, and don't forget the product behind the Passat. The new 2012 Beetle is a complete 180 from the current car and truly resembles a Porsche throwback. That coupled with the Tiguan redesign and bringing the Golf R to America shows VW is still true to their roots but with mainstream products that will position VW with a little help from "The Force" as the only German volume brand in world.

We did it!

2011-05-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to everybody involved in the sales department and thanks to all the loyal customers for helping us to sell over 200 cars in a month. We finished the month selling 205 vehicles in total which ranked us 33rd in the USA for new VW sales and 3rd for Certified Pre-Owned sales out of over 600 dealerships. This was a tremendous accomplishment and hopefully a testament of months to come.

Quest for 200

2011-04-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

We are closing in on the final weekend of April with an opportunity to sell 200 new and pre-owned vehicles in a single month which has been our goal for nearly a year. We need to have a big weekend that includes selling 26 vehicles Friday and Saturday. For anybody looking to purchase a vehicle we are pushing hard to make deals and finally hit our goal.

What a month!

2011-04-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to all departments for a fantastic March. This was our best month ever with some notable accomplishments in many departments. The new car sales team finished 1st in the state with 85 new VW's sold which put us 26 cars ahead of the next dealer. The used car department finished 5th in the nation in Certified Pre-Owned Volkswagen sales more than doubling the local competition. Our service department had our largest sales month ever and our parts department continues to make great strides. We sold 192 vehicles in total which left us 8 short of our dealership wide goal of 200 which we have been working towards for nearly a year.

Fox31 New Story

2011-03-03T17:25:00.001-08:00

Click link below to see the Fox31 news story about Emich going green with LED lighting.

http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-local-car-dealership-first-to-switch-to-allled-lighting-20110301,0,115802.story

Emich Goes Green

2011-01-21T09:37:00.000-08:00

Below is a link to a nice article about how we teamed up with Qnuru/SoGoGreen to install LED lighting throughout our dealership. The project cost a little over $140,000, but based on the energy savings associated with converting to LED (up to 80% in some cases), tax incentives, City of Denver and Xcel rebates we hope to have a 18 month return on investment while drastically reducing our carbon footprint.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Noribachi/LED_Lighting/prweb8073768.htm

Great 2010!

2011-01-17T13:22:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the sales team for a great 2010. We finished up over 20% year over year in new and pre-owned sales combined and over 30% up in new VW sales. We were honored to make the top 10 in Certified Pre-Owned sales finishing 10th. We also finished #47 respectively out of over 600 dealerships in new Volkswagen sales for the nation. Great work!

Youtube Videos

2010-12-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

We have uploaded 12 videos to our Youtube channel to help you setup and use the technology in your new VW. We have included tutorial videos that focus on the Premium 8, RNS510, and RNS315 radio/nav units. We have included "how to" videos on accessing your toolkit and changing a spare tire and other uniquely Volkswagen features. http://www.youtube.com/user/emichvw?feature=mhum

Golf R to come to America

2010-12-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

It has been confirmed VW will bring the Golf R otherwise known as the R20 to the US. We expect to start selling the vehicles in early 2012. This is a 270 HP all-wheel drive Golf/GTI that will come in 2 or 4 doors and only in a 6 speed manual transmission. We expect the vehicles to have a $33,000 MSRP and come fully loaded. Here is a glimpse of a Golf R that I saw at the VWoA headquarters a few months ago.

I am excited that VWoA has decided to bring this vehicle into the USA as it brings much excitement to the brand. It has been a battle from the dealers to import this vehicle and to overcome VW's concerns about volumes needed to produce a business case for the Golf R and concerns with the $30,000+ MSRP. Order one today to help promote more unique imports into America like the Scirocco.

The all new 2011 Touaregs have arrived!

2010-10-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

One word "WOW". I am truly impressed what VW has done in redesigning this model. Although I was a fan of the previous Touareg it definitely fell victim to certain critics. From launch in 2004 this vehicle was as a hot a model as possible as it was on the same platform and built in the same factory as the Porsche Cayenne but at a much more attractive price. This blessing of high demand turned to a problem for many VW dealers as the engineers from Germany had not prepared the service technicians in America to work on these highly sophisticated and technologically advanced vehicles. Soon we saw Touaregs with overly sensitive electronics in our service departments frequently without the personnel and training to fix them. This created a perfect storm of unhappy customers, down cars, and frustrated dealers. Post the launch years the reliability of the Touareg greatly increased and for many years this vehicle has been the pinnacle of VW technology and engineering, but has had little customer consideration due to the failed launch in 2004. With this said the old Touareg still had some flaws which needed addressing. One the rear seats were always a bear to fold down to load cargo in the back, two the instrumentation was daunting if you did not have a PHD in car, and three the fuel economy was sub-par. Well the 2011 model has answered with easy fold flat seats and even reclining and sliding rear seats, it has greatly cleaned up the dash and now the vehicle is cleanly and easily controlled by the touch screen navigation screen, and most importantly the new 8 speed transmission coupled with a nearly 500 lbs weight drop has increased the gas mileage by almost 5 mpg. To combat the question in reliability VW has given the Touareg a 10 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty! Well I can't say anymore, but that I can't wait to turn one into my demo. Come lease one today for a spectacular $579/mo Sign then Drive $0 due at signing lease! That is a 1.2% lease which is unheard of in the current automotive climate.

Free Colorado Rapids Tickets!

2010-09-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

We have free tickets to Saturday's Colorado Rapids game versus DC United. Come to the store if you would like some.

2011 Jettas on the way!

2010-09-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

We just go our intial allocation of 2011 Jettas. I was extremely impressed with this vehicle when I saw it a few months ago at the VW Headquarters. We have 20 on the way starting at $17,000 MSRP.

http://www.emichvw.com/AboutSpecials_D?promo=vw_jetta_preLaunch&cs:a:i=vw_jetta_preLaunch&reload=true

Press Release!

2010-07-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

Holland Returns to World Challenge, Emich Volkswagen Joins as Title Sponsor

Touring Car stand out Robb Holland will rejoin the World Challenge Touring Car field this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto Grand Prix, after a one race hiatus. Holland will once again be behind the wheel of the 3Zero3 Motorsports Volkswagen GTI, that set the track record and finished 3rd in Mosport after an epic race long battle with Chip Herr and Robert Stout.

“The race weekend at Mosport went far better than anyone could have reasonably expected. 3R Racing and 3Zero3 Motorsports combined efforts to build our GTI in 27 days!”

“We made it to Mosport with very little testing and with the help of APR Tuning and Irish Mike’s Racing, we were able to get the bugs worked out and be competitive straight out of the box!”

Scott Simpson, Managing Partner of 3Zero3 Motorsports, optimistic for the GTI performance at Toronto with several weeks of time to spend getting the car completely up to spec. “We had a game plan after Mosport, to fix a few of the bugs that we couldn’t deal with at the track in Mosport, and to do several upgrades that we had wanted to incorporate in the original build but ran short of time. I think now that we have had the time to make those improvements we should have a car and driver combination that can challenge for the win at Toronto.”

To help in the quest to bring Volkswagen a manufacturers championship, 3Zero3 Motorsports has brought on one of the top VW dealers in the Rocky Mountain Region, Emich Volkswagen of Denver, CO, on as title sponsor for the remainder of the season.
“Fred Emich is a big fan of performance cars and of motorsports. With the success of our World Challenge GTI, Fred saw the ability to better educate his core consumer market on the superior performance that Volkswagen offers through out their range of products”
notes Holland.

Fred Emich, principle of Emich VW, expands on that, “We are launching several programs that will be tied in with our sponsorship of the 3Zero3 Motorsports World Challenge GTI program, including track days, in store display of the GTI Touring Car, a promotional contest for hot laps in the race car, and an in store tech session with the race mechanics. All of these programs are designed to show our customers that Volkswagen is still the leader in value and performance.”

Snowmass Automobili Exotica

2010-07-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Emich VW will be participating in the Snowmass Automobili Exotica. We will be taking some of our personal vehicles to the track up in Woody Creek as well as inviting some our enthusiast customers. If you are interested in joining us please contact myself at fred4@emichautomotive.com. For more information go to:

http://www.3zero3motorsports.com/blog/2010/05/04/the-snowmass-automobili-exotica/

Emich VW ranked 3rd in the USA for VW Dealerships

2010-06-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

Emich VW recently scored 3rd in the nation in Volkswagen's 360 dealership evaluation. Congratulations to all departments for making our dealership one of the best in the nation.

$10,000 Off Routans!!!

2010-06-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

We are offering an incredible $10,000 off select Routans or $6000 off plus 0% for 66 months.

Latest TV Commercial

2010-05-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

Outlaws Lacrosse

2010-05-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Emich Automotive is the official sponsor for the Denver Outlaws Lacrosse team this summer. Come take a test drive and get free tickets to sit in Emich's Sideline Seats at the game.

http://snipr.com/w6l29-ogo

GenerationBest Award

2010-04-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Emich Volkswagen wins VW's highest disinction for exceptional customer service the 2009 GenerationBest Award.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/crain/an7310056941SRTMG/index.php?startid=4

TDI Blowout!

2010-03-30T12:06:00.001-07:00

We are currently overstocked with TDI (Turbo Diesel Injection) inventory and we need to sell it off by tomorrow to earn additional allocation for the summer selling season. We currently have 24 Jetta TDI sedans, 5 TDI Sportwagens, 5 TDI Golfs, and 4 TDI Touaregs in stock. We are willing to accept offers on these high demand vehicles like never before. If you want to get up to 44 MPG and a $1,700 Federal Tax Rebate now is the time to purchase a Volkswagen TDI.

Reduced Service Pricing!

2010-03-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Great news! After much feedback from our customers stating that they perceived that their Volkswagens were expensive to maintain we are doing something about it at the dealer level.

Effective today we have drastically reduced our prices on maintenance services. You can click the link below to see the prices on most all of our services (page is in the process of being changed so it may not reflect new prices yet). You can contact one of our friendly Service Professionals for the current prices until the website is updated at 888-536-1298. We have reduced both the labor time we charge for these maintenances as well as the labor rate. In many instances we have cut our stated labor rate by 40%.

This is in an effort to keep customers in the Volkswagen product as well as to keep customers servicing their vehicles at our dealership instead of third party shops. We have shopped the competition including small garages and quick lube spots and we are competitive with all and much less than any other dealer in town. We hope to see you in the service drive soon!

Toyota, Toyota, Toyota?

2010-02-08T16:11:00.000-08:00

What to think of these Toyota recalls?

It looks like the manufacturer's reputation for incredible quality has been tarnished as a recent pole shows that consumer purchase consideration for the brand has fallen over 20%. This is the largest decrease of any manufacture ever, and more than the decrease Chrysler and GM felt when they asked for a tax payer bailout.

I am glad to be a part of a manufacture that puts safety first. VW has had a break override system on their vehicles for years. This means even if the gas pedal was to be entrapped that the brake pedal will override the gas causing the vehicle to brake as normal even if there is pressure on the gas pedal.

VW National Dealer Advisory Council

2010-02-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

VW elected me to join their national dealer council. This is great news for our customers and the region. I will now have monthly access to VW's top executives like Stefan Jacoby and Mark Barnes. From both the consumer and dealer side please let me know if their are any issues that should be presented to Volkswagen of America.

Emich VW Closes 2009 with Great Success

2010-01-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to all departments for a great 2009 despite the economic conditions.

The new vehicle department finished the year up over 16% in a market that was down over 30%. We were the #1 VW dealership in Colorado by over 200 units!!! We were also recognized for being in the top 25% in the nation for customer service.

The used vehicle department finished the year 12th in the nation for Certified Pre-Owned sales. We were able to sell 26% more used vehicles in 2009 over 2008.

The service department actually gained customers in a market that saw 3000 customers defect to non-dealership service facilities. We also continued to be a top performer in customer satisfaction.

The parts department grew their business leaps and bounds in 2009. Good job to John Morse and his team for increasing their parts sales year over year by over 20%.

We learned yesterday that Emich VW will be recognized by VW as a "Generation's Best" dealer for our performance in all departments in 2009. Congrats team!

Emich VW earns the Golden Pin Award

2009-11-11T18:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-26T18:38:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-21T16:05:00.000-07:00

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

Turbo R32 gets a little faster

2009-10-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

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

Awesome August!

2009-09-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-12T15:49:00.001-07:00

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

Posted using ShareThis

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

2009-08-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-25T10:17:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-10T17:19:00.001-07:00

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

2009-07-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-29T16:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-16T14:26:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-05-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-23T11:25:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-02-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-27T17:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

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!

Congratulations to the Emich Team!

2008-12-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

November was a tough month in the auto industry, but the Emich VW team proved all the critics wrong. The sales department delivered two more new vehicles than in November of 2007 when the auto industry was down 37% as a whole. They were also the top VW dealership in UT, NM, and CO by over 20%. The parts department was the 23rd largest purchaser in the United States, and the Service Department continued their high customer satisfaction rankings holding strong in the top 25% for the year.

Fox 31 Interview

2008-12-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

Click the link below to see text and video of the Fox 31 interview with Fred Emich IV.

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=A7B38102E2F2CA507D48326C751972EE?contentId=7998790&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

Support Federal Loans to US Automakers

2008-11-29T10:29:00.000-08:00

Please support federal loans to the Big 3 US Automakers. At first I thought that Chapter 11 Bankruptcy was the way to go for the Big 3, but after seeing the possible consequences I have changed my mind. Unless it a perfectly prepackage Bankruptcy there is too much risk if even one of the Big 3 file Ch 11. The job losses would be tremendous, the suppliers would have to file Ch 11 soon after, the Federal Pension Guaranty Corporation would have to cover hundreds of billions of dollars of pensions, billions of dollars of health care benefits would be lost for hundreds of thousands of employees and retirees, and the US could fall into double digit unemployment spirally the economy into a serious depression.

The claims that the Big 3 do not make vehicles that the people want are unfounded. GM is still the most popular manufacturer in the United States. Yes, they sold more cars than Toyota in 2007. Ford has produced the first Hybrid SUV (Ford Escape Hybrid) and Chevy will be the first major manufacture to offer an electric vehicle (Chevy Volt). The problem is that the Big 3 have been handcuffed with major liabilities imposed on them by the United Auto Workers (UAW) for higher wages, pensions, health care, and other benefits. While the Big 3 have been paying out $29/hour for unionized autoworkers plus hefty benefits Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and others have been allowed to bring there production from oversees into southern states with no import taxes and instead hand outs to entice them. These companies do not have unionized workers either. This gives foreign manufactures an unfair advantage to produce vehicles in the USA. The Big 3 are not in trouble because they do not make the right products, but because the US has allowed foreign manufactures to come in and produce vehicles in the US at a much lower cost because they do not have to offer the same pensions, health benefits, or wages that domestic manufactures do.

So please tell Congress to support loans to the Big 3 or we could endure an economic depression not seen since the 1930's. Why should we give hand outs to foreign manufactures and not support the backbone of American industry the Big 3?

State of the Automobile Industry

2008-11-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Currently the automobile industry is experiencing some of the most dire times in decades and maybe ever. It has been a perfect storm of decreased demand, credit crunches, ballooning inventories, and decrease vehicle margins. However despite what the media might lead you to believe financing or leasing a vehicle is still possible. In fact VW has some of the strongest incentives in years and right now customers can experience some of the best deals ever as dealers struggle to liquidate heavy inventories. Although financing has tightened, financing a vehicle is virtually unchanged for people with credit scores above 600. The auto financing industry did not experience the same problems that mortgage companies did because they have always known that cars are hard to find to repossess, and that they always depreciate. Therefore their loan structure never allowed for incredible losses like the mortgages did when houses were viewed as investments that always appreciated.

Over the next months you will probably see many dealers closing their doors. I would predict that most of these dealers will have domestic franchises. The optimist in me sees these days a great chance to expand our dealerships as stuggling dealership go up for sale. Hopefully people will ingnore the gloom and doom media and purchase a vehicle during these times when the best deals can be found.

Parts #32 in the USA!

2008-11-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the parts department for a much improved YTD ranking of 32nd in the country in terms of VW parts purchases. Hopefully we can end the year in the top 25 and be in the top 10 next year.

#1 in Area 49!

2008-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the sales team for selling the most new VW's in the CO, UT, and NM region. It was also great to see that we sold 45% more new vehicles than October of 2007 in a market that was down over 30% year over year. Keep up the good work!

The New Passat CC

2008-10-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

One word: WOW! We just got 10 off the truck.

Congratulations to Sales and Parts!

2008-10-03T18:21:00.001-07:00

The Sales Team was once again #1 in the Tri-State Region for new VW sales. The parts department was ranked #16 in the nation for purchases and #1 in the Tri-State region. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

Congratulations to the Emich VW sales staff

2008-09-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Congrats for being the #1 sales team in the tri-state region again. I appreciate your hard work and dedication.

Turbo R32 runs 13.9 second 1/4 mile at 104 MPH

2008-09-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Click here to see our Turbo R32 beat a stock R32 by 2.42 seconds in a quarter mile race at Bandimere Speedway evelation 5860 ft. The time was a bit slower than expected, but pretty reasonable for running a 2.5 second 60' time. I am curious what time the car would run at sea level????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsGT1DeDTU

Turbo MkV R32 is here!

2008-09-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

This car is amazing! The fully custom turbo built by C2Motorsports produces over 400 hp. They dyno'ed the vehicle and it produced over 300 hp and 300 ft lbs of torque to the all wheel drive wheels. That is over a 50% gain in power over a stock R32. It is the first turbo MkV R32 in the country and possibly the world. Well, I am off for another drive!

Emich VW wins area Parts/Service award for Q2

2008-08-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hats off to Todd Ellis, John Morse, and their teams for winning the Parts and Service trophy for quarter 2. Service has done a great job with customer satisfaction and Parts you are really moving the needle with your wholesale business.

Emich VW #1 Sales in Tri-State area!

2008-08-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the sales team for an outstanding July. They sold the most VW's in CO, NM, and UT despite having half the lot shut down due to construction. I can't wait to see how many we can sell out of our new facility.

Turbo MkV R32

2008-07-21T09:40:00.001-07:00

Here are the latest pictures of the Turbo R32 that will be in our showroom shortly.

Congrats to the sales team!

2008-07-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Sales team for outselling the competition for the 5th month in a row. Thanks for all your hard work despite the tough working conditions. One more month and we will be out of the trailers and selling out of the new facility. Sky's the limit then!!!!

Jetta TDI is here!

2008-06-23T16:18:00.001-07:00

The all new clean diesel has finally arrived. After a year and a half without TDI we finally have our demonstration vehicle. With 140 hp and 236 ft/lbs of torque I am truly impressed with the power and drive of this vehicle. Best of all this vehicle has nearly zero carbon or nitrous emissions. The days of diesels with black smoke, stinky sulfur smells, and noisy engines are over. AMCI rated the fuel economy at 38 city and 44 highway. On second thought that might be the best the part.

Sportwagen is here!

2008-06-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

We just received our first Sportwagen. Looks like an amazing vehicle for the $20,099 MSRP.

Emich VW #1 again!

2008-06-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

Once again I would like to thank our team for a great month in May. We were the #1 volume VW dealer in Colorado for the 5th consecutive month. Our Sales satisfaction was an incredible 99% (Thank you Craig Smith), and our Service satisfaction was once again above all regional and national standards. I appreciate everybody's hard work!

400hp MkV R32

2008-05-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

Emich has teamed up with Avalon Motorsports to put a turbo in a 2008 R32. Hopefully, the project will be unveiled at Dubs Along the Rockies in August.

Emich VW's new "Market Place" Facility is almost done!

2008-04-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Emich VW's new building is almost completed. The long awaited state of the art Emich VW facility at 1260 S Colorado Blvd in Denver CO is so close to the move in date that we can hardly wait. We are expecting to move in sometime in late June. Look to both the blog and the website at http://www.emichvw.com/ to be there for this once in a lifetime (or 50 year) event!

Tiguan is here!

2008-03-16T11:26:00.001-07:00

Come test drive the #1 selling vehicle in Europe!

Well what do you think? Leave your comments below.

Emich Volkswagen Top Seller In the Colorado, New Mexico, Utah area

2008-03-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

The Emich Team has worked very hard and even though we are working out of trailers waiting for our new building to be completed we have been the top sellers in the tri-state region for three months running.
Thats a great accomplishment and I want to thank everyone who is a part of Emich VW.