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City Auto Sales Netting No. 3
City Auto Sales goes 'extra mile' to rank among leaders
By Carla Underwood
Contact
July 18, 2005
If you wonder how a Covington Pike dealership earned a national No. 3 ranking from an industry magazine for Internet used auto sales, just read the sign over the City Auto Sales' front door: "We Built This City By Going The Extra Mile."
For owner David Andrews, that means treating everyone like family.
"I personally sign a thank-you letter to every person who buys a car," said David Andrews. "From the minute they walk through that door, we want (customers) to feel at home."
City Auto is one of only two dealerships in Tennessee to make the top 50 on the national magazine's list. Antioch's Bill Heard Chevrolet is ranked No. 15.
"Since most of our customers find us through the Internet, they already know what car they're after when they get here," Andrews says. "Our job is to match them up with that vehicle as quickly as possible and keep them comfortable in the process."
Last year alone, the dealership booked about $125 million in sales from as far away as Russia, Italy and Germany. Andrews said they have sold more than 190,000 vehicles since 1996.
About all City Auto customers make the trip to pick up their vehicles. An integrated online loan pre-approval process helps expedite sales. "I've literally had customers land at the airport, come in, take the car around the block, sign the paperwork and be out of the door in a matter of minutes," Andrews said.
That strategy -- coupled with a carefully orchestrated Internet campaign -- has taken the dealership from Auto Dealer Monthly's No. 13 to No. 3 Internet used sales spot in just one year.
City Auto staffs a full-time Internet manager, John Camacho, who drives Internet sales, which constitutes about half of overall revenue.
"It's the primary focus, the backbone of our company," said Camacho. "(O)ther dealerships will see their Web site as just a way to have some sort of presence on the Web. Here, it's the main thing."
The dealership's inventory of more than 1,000 vehicles can all be found online, showcased from seven different angles to "give ... as much information as possible," Andrews says. Every day, Camacho rotates about 15 to 20 of them, deleting what's sold and replacing them with fresh pickings.
"We got into the Internet business a long time before anyone else did," says Andrews, who adopted the practice in 2000. "At first we thought it would only be good for selling new cars, but we realized that while people knew where to go to get a new Ford or a new Toyota, they didn't know where to find a 2002 Explorer."
Andrews began the dealership in 1986 as strictly wholesale. Today, City Auto also includes individual sales at three locations, two auctions, fleet sales and, of course, the Internet. The Covington Pike headquarters has 10 acres of everything from a 1964 Chevy wagon to a 2005 canary yellow Corvette.
Another key to City Auto's success is its employees' collective skills and sincere camaraderie, Andrews said.
A framed American flag that hangs in the hallway shows the cameraderie. Before an employee was deployed with his Marine reserve unit in 2003 to Al-Kut, Iraq, the company gathered to pray for his safe return. He came back safe and presented his boss with the flag that flew during his invasion of Al-Sawayrah, autographed by his entire platoon. They all came home.
"I could hang anything here, but I'd rather have this in the hallway so that people can see the fabric that this company is made of," he said.
-- Carla Underwood: 529-2481
CITY AUTO SALES
Owner: David Andrews
Employees: 100
Inventory: $10 million
Sales: $125 million in 2004
Address: 4932 Elmore, off Covington Pike
Web: cityauto.com