Napa's Auto Row goes online to rev up sales

Vince Compagno takes the car sales business personally. “When I see someone driving a car from out of town I ask myself, "What did we do wrong?” said the owner of Napa Nissan. He’s not the only one asking such questions. In what could be their most collaborative effort yet, a group of local auto dealers have banded together to encourage locals to shop locally, especially for used cars.

This month Jenson Motor Center, Napa Ford Lincoln Mercury, Jimmy Vasser Chevrolet-Toyota and Napa Nissan launched napacarlot.com, a site that lists hundreds of used cars for sale, from any of the four participating dealers. The Web site also features portals to each dealer’s individual Web site, which details new cars for sale. Customer convenience was the goal, said Napa Ford dealer owner Kevin Massie, who initiated the joint effort. Fighting the perception that locals can get a better deal outside the county, and hoping buyers will spend their tax dollars locally, and joining the trend for auto shopping online, Massie wants buyers to see there is a “convenient, effective way to look for a vehicle in our city or county.” Visitors to the site find used cars searchable by price, make, year and model. On one recent day, 218 used cars were listed for sale. At one end of the price spectrum, a 1990 Ford Aerostar was priced at $3,990. At the other, a Dodge Viper was listed at $53,900. Massie said he had always wanted to launch such an effort with other dealers.“ We had talked about this for a few years. We finally got it together.” “We work well together,” said Massie. “We’re not trying to outdo each other. We just said let’s work together to provide a service to the community. It’s good for all of us. It’s a cooperative.” “In the auto business everyone works individually,” said Compagno. But when city statistics show only 27 percent of county residents shop locally for new autos, “Now we are willing to work as a group.” “We thought if we could provide more information to Napa car buyers they would shop with us first,” said Scott Jenson of Jenson Motor Center. “I’m excited about it,” said Bob Kleis of Jimmy Vasser Chevrolet-Toyota. “I think it’s a good collaborative effort. For people that want to shop in Napa, this is a good way to search the vehicles that are here and look at the inventory right here on Soscol rather than going to (other) Web sites or going out of town. This brings (us) together.” The dealers are also exploring other ways to bring business to Napa, including new signs on outlying roads, more Internet marketing, ad campaigns and branding the Soscol corridor as an “auto mall.” Meanwhile, change is coming to Soscol Avenue, albeit slowly. The new Jimmy Vasser dealership, now under construction on the east side of the road, is scheduled to open in mid-November. Compagno expects the rest of the dealers to eventually join in the new Web site. For now, Kastner Pontiac-Olds-GMC-Honda and Napa Chrysler Jeep Dodge Volvo Kia are the only two new car dealers not participating at napacardealers.com. Bill Kastner said his dealership was asked to join the collaboration but instead chose to focus efforts on its own Web site, napaautos.com. Calls to Napa Chrysler Jeep Dodge Volvo Kia were not returned by press time. In a time of economic uncertainty and high fuel prices, dealers are looking for new ways to show off what they’ve got. “A lot of different cities’ auto dealers are working as groups and trying to keep business in their city, and that’s what we are doing,” said Compagno.

From Napa Register by By JENNIFER HUFFMAN Register Business Writer
Sunday, September 23, 2007