Come for the Ride…

I just read an interesting article on another blog that talks about the recent NADA meeting and the state of advertising in the autos industry. One particular section caught my eye:

So went the conversations on the Moscone Convention Center floor with various industry execs. AutoTrader CEO Chip Perry, for instance, says that the one thing that dealers want to know from him is “why do you raise your rates 20 percent every year?” But, they seem to get the value of a medium that is used “seven times more than newspapers,” he says – even if their spending doesn’t nearly reflect it.

Cheaper solutions, of course, are available for dealers. But they don’t approach the traffic levels of “the auto industry’s search engine,” as Perry likes to think of AutoTrader.

It’s funny… the dealers are obviously asking for help and showing dissatisfaction but due to old business models that can’t bend, nothing changes. It would appear the need for a service such as ours is obvious; the trick is to create real value by getting the same level of traffic as the big sites and doing things better to help the sellers.

I’ve said this before… the cost of distribution has gone down a lot especially with the presence of the web. If dealers used to pay thousands to help get a magazine published with their inventory inside, they certainly don’t need to pay the same amount to get cars listed on the web. Digital storage is virtually free, dedicated hosting is cheap compared to a decade ago… a successful service that is also free is only a blink away.

Whatever the industry may be… if similar events are happening in your neck of the woods where your customers are becoming antsy, your best bet would be to show some flexibility in your business model instead of waiting for other startups to fill that niche. Believe me, they will.

Hopefully some of you reading this blog will be interested in cars as much as we are. If you are, then you’ll love the picture I’ve attached to this post.

This past weekend was the Atlanta SCCA’s first driving event. It took place at the local Six Flags parking lot. For those of you who have never heard of it, autocrossing is an event where people compete in timed event where you must navigate a course of of cones while knocking as few down as you can. The speeds get up to 50-60 miles per hour and the runs take between 45-75 seconds.

This is the reason I love cars. Competition. Getting together with friends and seeing who has the best prepared car and the best skills to navigate a course with really amazing machines. In the picture is my 1995 BMW M3. I’m driving and Wei is in the passenger seat. He was a great passenger. What a heck of a ride! This is the reason I’m working on EasyAutoSales.com. I’m passionate about cars. I love the look, the sound and the feel of them. I love the people they attract and see this as a way to help me in my personal car endevours as well as my entrepreneurial spirit.

I think I’m in Love… Well, maybe after a test drive first. I changed the picture on our blog today from the theme’s default Porsche to the new Tesla Roadster. I don’t think anyone actually looks at the pictures on our blog, but I feel the change was necessary because the Porsche really doesn’t fit our style. I didn’t want to alienate the two or three people that may actually look at the pictures and judge the blog by its cover; I know you’re out there.

Of all the cool cars out there, I picked the Tesla because they represented change and smart design. While many other companies are building bigger and louder engines, Tesla’s building a sexy car without the noise and the dependency on gasoline. Is EV better than Hybrids? I really don’t know… but what this company is willing to do to invoke change and shake things up is what I love about them. If they ever want to send me a demo vehicle so I can show them off in Atlanta, I would love them that much more! *hint* *hint*

Anyway, if you like what you see, click the link above to learn more on their website.  They’ve recently been approved for safety so they are now in the clear for U.S. sales.  The company even has a blog! Way to go guys… maybe one day I’ll get to own one.  They do look pretty hot.

GM unveiled a new, smaller Hummer at the Detroit Auto Show this year dubbed the HX. Despite it being a Hummer, it may just have what it takes to convert me from being a Jeep owner to a Hummer owner if this thing ever comes out.

Now, I drive a pretty kick ass Wrangler TJ from 2004 with a lift and 33″ tires. As far as I’m concerned, the TJ was the last real model of Jeeps before everything got weird. The newer models seem to cater more to families with longer bases, four doors and an mix of comfort, complex consoles and well, un-comfort. Overall it’s an odd mix of two audiences that resulted in a vehicle that can’t really go off-road w/o heavy mods and at the same time, a vehicle that’s not really all that comfortable when compared to other off-road vehicles like Land Rovers.

Now I gotta admit, being in the Jeep camp, I’m not really a fan of Hummers. In fact, as Hummers released the H2’s and H3’s, I’ve always found it funny that it started looking more and more like Jeeps. However, with the comparison of the HX’s to Halo’s Warthogs; sadly a sudden wave of interest has now hit me.

However, I guess the most important thing mentioned in the article would be the flex-fuel compatibility option. Seriously, my Jeep is a brick on wheels and if my in-town commute wasn’t so short, I probably would have traded it awhile ago. However, if they can make these things accept alternate forms of oil or soy-sauce, I’d be all set.

For more info on the HX, check out the link above.

Pay attention Big 3, take this and run with it!

Picture this future… you show up to a fancy restaurant in your nice air car. As part of the valet service, they refill your tank for you while you eat. It sure sounds nice and peaceful…