ROYAL OAK – Alfa Romeo has returned to the United States, but before they did, they wanted to make sure the car they sold in the mass market would be the perfect vehicle for the picky American car buyer. The result: the mid-sized Giulia and the high-powered Giulia Quadrifoglio, both truly Italian works of art, said Vinnie Nowaczyk, general sales manager for Zeigler Auto Group in Grandville.
Nowaczyk sells FIATs, Alfa Romeo and Maseratis. In February, he took M2 TechCast co-host Mike Brennan and TalkingCarz.Com co-founder Steve Tomaszewski for test drives in both. “What an exhilarating ride,” Brennan said.
Nowaczyk also discussed the differences in selling vehicles in Michigan, where somebody somehow somewhere works for the Big Three and qualifies for manufacturers’ discounts. Since the pricing is the same, the dealership with the best customer services closes the deal, he said.
Another big change from a decade ago is Internet car sales, he said. 90 percent of the folks who come to one of Zeigler’s 34 dealerships (serving 59 franchises) in five states (Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and New York) have already found the cars they want, with the features they want, online. A decade ago, everyone came to dealerships, took test drives and haggled with dealers to get the deal done.
Even the value of trade-ins is online based. Dealers today look at what trade-ins fetch at wholesale auctions. Variables that can nickel and dime the value is what shape is the vehicle in? he said. What’s the paint like? How about the tires. Is there visible rust and much more. Kelly Blue Book prices don’t tell the true story.
The Internet also has changed customer expectations in many ways. Nowaczyk said premium vehicle buyers expect everything. Failure to deliver on those expectations is the kiss of death.
What’s more, car buyers need to seriously check out turbos. The Alpha Romeo Giulia, for instance, a four-cylinder turbo, delivers 280 horse power. Plus you can use mid-grade fuel instead of premium, like in the past.
To check out all the Zeigler dealerships, offering both new and used vehicles, click on www.zeigler.com.
To hear some more car buying tips, listen to this podcast at https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit/m2techcast-episode-71-vinnie-nowaczyk-general-sales-manager-zeigler-auto-group
