Chucks Article in DealersEdge

[Gerry Laughlin]

Chuck,
Just wanted to compliment you on your excellent article in February's issue. It really summed up a lot of what I have been feeling over the past year. This business is changing so rapidly, yet the people I serve expect the way I do business with them to remain unchanged and I do not know how to do pull that off. Your article at least lets me know I am not alone, and maybe will give me some ammunition while making some of the needed changes.

Sincerely,
Gerry Laughlin

[Chuck Hartle]

Gerry,

Thanks! I will have some more "in depth" articles on the Five Principles. I literally could have wrote a short novel on the issue, but we had to edit it down quite a bit already.

I heard this week that a high ranking Mopar manager told a group of manager's that they had better be able to live on 18% gross profit margins?$%#&@? I am wondering what they are smoking back there?

In the past two weeks, we have had four of our 26 DaimlerChrysler clients admit they are getting out of the Collision business and another 6 are reviewing it. It is rumored that Mopar's business was down 120 million in 2002 and the cancelation of the 60 day return privledges is a direct reflection of that.

As you mentioned Gerry, this issue is really confusing for the Owner, GM, and Fixed Ops directors. They really are having a hard time seeing where this will significantly impact forced stock. I have been quite shocked by some of the responses about this major cost-shift. I guess in 12 months it will hit home when idle capital doubles in the average store and they have not prepared earlier to attack it. We shall see....

Thanks for the comments. What are you looking at doing to combat it?

Chuck Hartle'