CARDEALS2ME has recently launched an app in Australia that will make it easier for consumers to connect directly to dealerships and collect ‘drive away’ quotes for their new car of choice - all within two business hours

1. 1 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | MARCH 2017
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 8 MARCH 2017THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE
T
he ACCC determination has de-
clared that capping of commis-
sions serves the best interests of
the insurance companies, rather than
car dealerships, and provided minimal
benefit to consumers.
The news came as a welcome sur-
prise to the dealership sector group
the Australian Automotive Dealer
Association (AADA).
“AADA welcomes the ACCC’s draft
to disallow the proposal from the
insurance cartel,” AADA chief executive
David Blackhall told AutoTalk.
“Slashing dealer commissions is not
a panacea for the solution of issues
around the sale of these products. The
products need redesign. That is the
province of the insurers.”
When asked how the resolution fa-
vours dealerships, Blackhall says: “The
ACCC draft ruling recognises that
the 20% proposal from the insurance
cartel would be nothing more than a
diversion of revenue from the dealer
network to the insurers”.
“The ACCC draft ruling therefore
seeks to prevent this land-grab.”
The Austral-
ian Securities
and Investment
Commission
(ASIC) released a
report in Sep-
tember 2016 that
found “consum-
ers are being sold
expensive, poor
value products -
such as tyre and
rim insurance
and loan termi-
nation insurance
- that provide
consumers very little to no benefit”
in a sales environment with “pressure
selling, very high commissions and
conflict of interest”.
ASIC said at the time that the market
needed to be “immediately and compre-
hensively addressed by insurers”.
The report covered a three-year
review period during which consum-
ers paid $1.6 billion in premiums but
received only $144 million in success-
ful insurance claims. That represent-
ed a claims payout
of just 9%. In
contrast, car deal-
ers earned $602
million in commis-
sions, with rates as
high as 79%.
Following the
report, 16 insur-
ance companies
banded together
to cap commis-
sions paid to
dealers who sell
their products.
The factors
identified in ASIC’s report showed con-
sumers are, for the most part, unable
to make well-informed choices about
buying add-on insurance products
when buying a car from a dealer.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims says: “A
cap on commissions does not address
these issues and will not remove the
opportunity and incentive for insur-
ers and dealerships to sell consumers
expensive, poor-value products.”
The ACCC also believes the ar-
rangements, if implemented, could
significantly delay the development
of more effective solutions to the
problems ASIC identified, he says.
INSIDE
TomTom Telematics sets sights firmly on Australia 4
Audi, Tesla the top car brands in 2016 6
Dolphin, Maltacourt join forces on Japanese imports 7
CARDEALS2ME simplifies car leads process 17 174
Competition watchdog
sides with dealers and
buyers as axe falls on
commission caps
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is set to deny 16 insurance companies the ability to place
a 20% cap on commissions paid to car dealers who sell their add-on insurance products in its latest draft decision.
BY MAX PICHON
AADA CEO-David-Blackhall
Continued on page 3

2. AUTOTALK.COM.AU | MARCH 2017 | 17
NEWSTALK
C
reated by the founders of 2Me
Corporation, who have exten-
sive experience as dealership
owners and digital automotive consul-
tants, CARDEALS2ME is the result of
recognising two main frustrations. The
first is consumers travelling
from yard to yard, seek-
ing quotes for a car they
are ready to purchase; and
the second, non-metro or
quieter dealers in search of
more prospects.
In an increasingly com-
petitive environment, car
dealerships can benefit
from the platform’s lead
generation opportunities,
with direct access to consumers who
might typically fall outside their de-
mographic and location catchment.
To ensure transparency, CARD-
EALS2ME is not affiliated with any
manufacturer or dealership groups and
is open to any franchised dealer.
Consumers use the app by swiping
through to select manufacturer, model,
colour, transmission and state, and indi-
cate if a trade-in or finance is required.
Once submitted, requests are sent
to dealers within their state to respond
within two business hours. ‘Drivea-
way’ quotes are valid for 24 hours and
consumers can select the deal that
best suits their needs and buy the car
immediately at the dealership.
Unlike typical quotation services,
consumers remain completely anony-
mous, with no personal details, emails
or telephone numbers required.
Another bonus is that the service is
free – no brokerage, quotation or suc-
cess fees are charged.
CARDEALS2ME is available to service
users Australia-wide. Dealer onboarding
has already started in New Zealand and
plans are also in place to launch the
app into other international markets.
AutoTalk asked Erroll Quitoriano at
CARDEALS2ME about the key benefits
for dealerships that other similar com-
petitors don’t offer.
“Our platform’s goal is to bring in-
market consumers back into
the dealerships to go ahead
with the deal they have
received via the app, or to
continue the sales process
with their selected dealer
should they require finance
and/or have a trade in,” Qui-
toriano says.
“You could liken us to a
matchmaking service where
in-market consumers know
what they want, they just need to know
who can offer them the best deal -
availability, location, inclusions, value
adds, competitive pricing etc.”
The company’s expectations going
forward are based on three key metrics
which include quote requests.
“Firstly, incremental growth in re-
quests being submitted daily is a good
thing, however we are prioritising our
efforts on having quality requests rather
than just pure volume,” Quitoriano says.
“Secondly, dealer response time,
ideally a 100% response rate, but once
again, quality individual responses to
the customer instead of a high number
of poor replies.
“And thirdly, vehicles sold, through
dealer/consumer reporting - as well as
our network of referrals - now all be-
ing fed exclusively via the app instead
of our usual phone calls.”
For example, CARDEALS2ME had
one customer who ran a seven-day
trade business and had no time to
visit dealerships. Using the app, she
received a response within two busi-
ness hours from a dealer outside her
PMA, answering her query as well as
providing
alternate
options.
“The
dealer
would
never
have had
a chance
to meet, let alone engage and have
an opportunity with this consumer as
she would have no time to go out that
way,” Quitoriano says.
“Through our many years of con-
sulting experience, every dealer has
said that any prospect is a potential
customer, no matter where they are
located. We have plenty of non-metro
dealers who are very proactive in trying
to grow their customer base and will
not rely on chance that a customer will
walk in randomly to their showroom.”
The company’s short-term plans aim
to ensure coverage of the major brands
in every state and not just the eastern
seaboard, with the eventual goal of
100% representation of all makes.
“Later this year we are releasing
another vertical, possibly two, that will
help another department of the deal-
ership,” Quitoriano says.
“A New Zealand launch is on track
for the next five to six weeks as we have
already been contacted by a few of the
groups there to find out if/when we are
launching there and if they can be one
of the pilot dealers for their brand.
“It always come back to the age-
old example of ‘If I had a bus with 50
people who wanted a quote on your
cars, how much would you pay for me
to drop them off here?’. But we’re not
capping the amount of people nor are
we charging for each one.”
CARDEALS2ME is available to
download for free from the iOS Apple
Store and Google Play Store.
App a perfect match for
consumers and dealers
CARDEALS2ME has recently launched an app in Australia that will make it easier for consumers to connect directly to
dealerships and collect ‘driveaway’ quotes for their new car of choice - all within two business hours.
CARDEALS2ME Erroll
Quitoriano