Market Research

TRG also excels in market research. We apply our extensive industry contacts and market research capabilities to develop our own proprietary products as well as to support manufacturers, vendors and associations. Research projects and services have included:

For Vendors/Associations:
  • Autotrader.com (manage their dealer advisory board; pilot products; poll dealers for product improvement)
  • AYES (business model improvement opportunities)
  • Proquest (developed roll-out strategy of a new accessories tool)
  • KPA (conducted due-diligence for their acquisition of Hotlink HR)

An Example - Dealer Development Market Research:
  • Project Overview: To determine why a major OEM sponsoring 30 new dealer development candidates was experiencing failures among a third of these candidates (and losing $6 million in investment capital)
  • Approach
    • Interviews with Dealer Development Team
    • Interviews with Regional Management
    • On-Site personal interviews with current dealer candidates with 4 to 12 months experience in their new dealerships
    • Data Collection and Documentation
  • Monthly Financial Statements
  • Customer Sales and Service Satisfaction Data
  • Existing Regional Operations and/or Investment Manager Evaluations
  • Existing Dealer Development Consultant Evaluations
  • OEM Support and Consulting Activities
  • Deliverables
  • Identify primary causes of the financial issues experienced by dealer development candidates
  • Develop a set of actionable recommendations enabling the OEM to reduce the overall cost of its dealer candidate preparation and installation activities

Proprietary Study: Lender Impact of Changing Finance Regulations
View the Lender Impact Study (PDF Viewer Required)
  • Project Overview: To describe automobile dealer opinions on and perceived obstacles to replacing dealer rate markups and related finance reserves with a flat fee compensation approach. The research is intended for automotive captive finance organizations, other lenders, large dealer groups and vendor organizations involved in helping retailers effectively manage their variable operations
  • Approach
    • Twenty-five new vehicle retailers and twelve Finance Managers were interviewed by telephone
    • Results were then reviewed by The Rikess Group and several retail managers currently working in automobile dealerships
    • A draft report was then developed, and further reviews completed prior to report publication
    • In all, more than 40 contributors spent three months assembling, analyzing, and reporting on this key change in the automotive finance economic model
  • Deliverables
    • 86-page white paper
  • Executive Summary
  • Retail Financing History
  • Perspectives from Automotive Retail Leaders
  • Lender Transition Recommendations
  • Lender Challenges
  • Conclusions