GNYADA August 2016 Newsletter

Automotive News Announces 40-Under-40 List Three area dealership professionals honored 12

For the past five years, Automotive News has published its 40-Under-40 list, recognizing the most impactful players in the U.S. automotive indus- try, who also represent the top minds and highest achievers of the up-and- coming generation. We’re proud to report three honorees are representatives of the GNYADA dealership family. They are: Allison's rise through the automotive industry started on the ground floor, when she was a receptionist at a Lincoln-Mercury dealership in 2002. Automotive News lauds her 2015 ini- tiative to direct Smithtown Acura's entire (modest) ad budget toward dig- ital advertising and targeted market- ing, rather than TV and newspapers, which lead to a 22% increase in A recent study conducted by Total Dealer Compliance (TDC) — a NYC firm that conducts security audits — found that data breaches at dealer- ships cause stark decreases in cus- tomer confidence. Based on the sur- vey, covering some 200 dealerships, roughly 84% of consumers reported that they would not revisit a dealer- ship at which their data had previous- ly been hacked. An even more sobering statistic from the TDC study shows that 33% of all consumers polled have concerns regarding the security of their person- al and financial data at a dealership, regardless of whether that dealership Allison Musante General Manager, Smithtown Acura in St. James 13

sales. They also spotlight her active efforts to attract and retain women in the automotive industry.

doubled sales in that time. Central to this accomplishment has been his use of research and market-tracking soft- ware to monitor and beat competi- tors' pricing. With an overall goal of increasing transaction volume for his dealership, Jim also implemented a strategy to sell pre-owned cars after no more than 60 days on the lot. The Association congratulates Rich, Jim and Allison on securing their well-deserved spots on this important list. To read more about Automotive News ’ 2016 40-Under-40 honorees visit http://www.autonews.com/sec- tion/underforty02 .

Richard DeAngelo New-Vehicle Sales Manager, Rallye BMW in Westbury

Richard has been in his current posi- tion at Rallye since 2012. Automotive News calls out his focus on reputation-management in estab- lishing him as an industry influencer. Specifically, he incentivizes his sales- people to ask every customer to sub- mit online reviews of their experi- ence, which contributed to an overall rating of 4.9 out of 5, up from 4.0 prior to Rich’s push for reviews. Jim Gallagher General Sales Manager, Mount Kisco Honda in Bedford Hills Jim has worked at Mount Kisco Honda for less than a year and has has suffered a breach. So, even deal- ers with immaculate security proce- dures face an “uphill battle” to obtain public confidence. The study also found that the finan- cial involvement of a vehicle transac- tion requires dealerships to store more information on consumers than banks do. In addition, the study revealed that it often takes dealer- ships a relatively long time to discov- er that a breach has occurred, and that they would therefore benefit from keeping a network engineer, with computer security certifications, on staff.

Allison Musante

Richard DeAngelo

Jim Gallagher

Dealerships Pay a High Toll for Cybercrime

For some specific tips on steps you can take in order to ramp up security at your dealership, consult our Hackers are a Major Concern for Dealerships article, featured in our November GNYADA Newsletter.

Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association • www.gnyada.com

The Newsletter • August 2016 9