Innovation in Car Electronics: Commentary

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‘Drop all suppliers who don’t enforce MAP*,’ was a common cry from retailers posting comments to our recent “Car Stereo Down 7 Percent” story.

We agree that there are some unhealthy dynamics facing car electronics so we’ve examined what’s needed to create a better industry. After all, we’d all like to see a headline that says, “Car Stereo Sales Up 17 Percent.”

Can retailers drop all the brands that don’t religiously enforce MAP? Not really, they’d be left with only a few amplifier and speaker brands such as Hertz and German Maestro, said retailers.

Could a head unit supplier innovate and survive selling only through specialists who are MAP abiding? Not really, for a company to recoup development costs, it would require that every independent retailer backed the product and the product was a hit. That leaves little room for error, said suppliers, and we’ve been told only 20 percent of truly new products succeed.

So here’s the problem. Suppliers are not innovating. There are no whiz bang car radios that are better or even comparable to the new MyFordTouch (formerly Sync) system. There are no aftermarket head units that accept a 3G USB dongle. There are no aftermarket head units with built in WiFi or iPod Out that we know of.

Retailers share the blame. A good portion of the 5 to 8,000 specialist outlets don’t even want to innovate. When OEM Integration products came out, most retailers did not want to carry them. The majority of dealers don’t want to sell new complex technologies especially those that are not AV related. Even retailers admit to this.

So when the industry complains about a race to zero in pricing, it’s because both the suppliers and retailers are not embracing new technology. There’s nothing left to sell but price.

Is there a solution? Maybe the car stereo buying groups could team up to import a great head unit. Maybe they could team up with a supplier and share the risk. Wouldn’t it feel good to advertise a “WiFi Radio” or “Android Radio” to drive traffic? How about something like the O’Car?

If not the suppliers, then maybe it will be Best Buy that gets brave and imports a MyFordTouch killer radio under its house brand and maybe it will pave the way for others to follow. What if Walmart wakes up and does it?

Or is it all a kit business now, and the innovation should be in a smartphone or tablet kit?

We invite more comments on this. We’re hoping for constructive criticism and a viable path toward innovation.

*Minimum advertised price. To carry a brand, retailers must sign a contract stating they will not advertise a product below a certain price. If a high profile retailer sells below MAP, then the contract-abiding retailers of that brand all suffer.

Photo: O’Car by Oxygen Audio North America

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21 Comments

  1. JR, 20 Years Running Things, et al…

    JR: Thank you for addressing Steve Z. Roll over and die…? Under his idea all consumers would be purchasing only what they were already familiar with from Coke machines, the way soap and toilet paper are purchased today. I wonder if consumers would have purchased the first micro wave oven in the late 60\’s from a Coke machine? Would they have purchased their key-less entry system from a Coke machine in the 80\’s. Would consumers have purchased remote starters from a Coke machine in the 90\’s. I think not. It takes a specialty retailer to educate consumers, create demand and then fill demand profitably.

    20 Years Running Things: Commitment made. Look up and call German Maestro.

    et, al: Specialty retailing can be done. Even now it is being done successfully by a number of guys around the country. It is not as simple as it once was, BUT what is simple these days? For sure; specialty retailers have a choice… Create demand for services and products that you choose to stock and sell and then fill that demand profitably OR get used to asking the drive thru customers if they \"want frys with that?\"

    Good Hunting!

    Ray Windsor
    President
    German Maestro

  2. First let me say that I am relieved to see all of you participating in this healthy debate. At the factory level we are relieved to see specialists foaming at the mouth to help their businesses prosper for the long haul. Since our humble beginnings as a subwoofer manufacture over a decade ago, we have grown our brand with support from the brick and mortar specialists. This is evident with our summarized mission statement- To form lasting partnerships with owner-operated brick and mortar mobile electronics specialist thru quality manufacturing and protected distribution.
    Let me assure you guys that it doesn’t take hiring an outside firm to police the web and distribution channels to keep distribution clean. My company has had 10 successful years of managing our own brand in-house to hold true to our mission statement. Everyone in our company helps this cause, please let me elaborate. Every day one of our tech guys reports to work at 9am and his first task of the day is to check online auction sites, then later in the day one of our production managers does the same, the CEO is checking for transshipping and online sales for hours each week, I get calls on my cell phone and I investigate immediately. What I’m trying to explain is that a manufacture CAN police and manage this if they want to. It does take a 100% commitment on the manufactures side however but I’m willing to bet any specialist who is spending the time to read this cares about their own businesses the same.
    Ill list just a few of our criteria we follow and hold our reps to and maybe, just maybe a few good manufactures will read this and call meetings in their own companies-
    1. Never sell to any retailer without visiting their physical location(s)
    2. Never sell to any retailer who doesn’t have in house facilities to fabricate a custom enclosure, demonstrate product properly in a showroom AND demo vehicle, and have staff with personality and knowledge to give the walk-in customer a EXPERIENCE and FAVORABLE IMPRESSION of our industry.
    3. Never sell to any distributor…PERIOD. They or somebody in the warehouse will sell to muffler shops,pawn,swap meets, ebay stores, mobile installers who have nothing to lose, or worse…
    4. Walk Harwin Drive, 11th st, Canal st, and swap meets at every opportunity. Purchase your brand if found and trace back serial numbers to dealer sales invoices (easy if you followed bullet point 3) and cut off supply immediately of offending dealer for violation of contractual dealer agreement and reclaim whatever product left.
    5. Visit auction sites and internet whores EVERY DAY, 7 days a week and follow point 4
    6. Have a verbal face to face talk with every dealer in the USA and make sure they understand your company’s principles and see the value in protecting the brand. Make sure they understand what the consequences will be if their business plan goes astray from yours.
    7. Never supply product to insurance replacement fulfillment agencies and explain to your dealer network how sales to these firms steal profit and sales from their counterpart local dealer who did the job originally before the theft happened and how the end user and original dealer will befit by following this rule.
    8. Make sure the dealer programs and incentives are reachable and realistic. Understand how “Pie in the Sky” goals and “loading up” a dealer too heavy promote transshipping and kill the specialist.
    9. Protect the product, quality, brand and trademarks by controlling production in the USA preferably in the same facility that your sales team and technical teams occupy. (I know that sounds foreign to everyone, so sad…)
    10. Don’t use barcodes on gift boxes and packaging. Do you scan a barcode with your smart phone when you buy a piece of jewelry at a retail specialist (a Jeweler) for your loved one?
    11. Don’t set up storefronts that would present geographical problems resulting in downward pricing pressure.
    12. Export with care. While my company does serve 32 countries outside the USA, we are very careful on who our foreign partners are. This is necessary to prevent the brand from coming back across the border(most commonly from Mexico and Canada here in the USA)
    You would be amazed how little distribution and point of sale problems arise when these simple 12 rules for sales and distribution are adhered to. The result is a dealer who is never the “highway robber” when a customer gets home and looks up the SKU’s he proudly purchased. This eliminates “buyer’s remorse” (read- “I found it cheaper online”…) and builds the TRUST that retailers are striving for. I have read your comments on this thread and always have agreed with the strategy that is popular by all successful specialists and it has been stated here many times, that is to BRAND YOURSELF and to build your client list by taking care of customers and giving them what they need. This is all well and good, but when the products that are on the invoice are able to be shopped at lower prices the very trust you are working for is in jeopardy of being broken.
    Power and profit to the 12volt specialist.
    John Henry
    Executive V.P. of Engineering and Design
    TREO ENGINEERING
    [email protected]

  3. NOBODY says it better than Eddy Kay!! – In just your few short paragraphs – you have given me a reason to dig out my “Toolbox” cd’s and give them a relisten. For anyone who is really wanting to MAKE A CHANGE for 2011 – Try 1 – Sadly he will have you laughing about the things in your business that you need to change.

  4. These are some fantastic reads. I hit refresh every few hours.

    So much of what is here is common sense. I have to imagine that most of us still in business have applied most of these common sense things. Those that did not closed their doors in 2008 or 2009 when so many went under.

    Over the past few years we have moved away from lines that over populate ebay and tried to get in lines that there is less of on there. Unfortunately, I can\’t name any well known line that is totally clean.

    What I\’d like to hear from a manufacturer is that they will keep the line clean, including hiring an outside firm to do the job for them and have them put it in writing in our dealer contract!!!!!! We could see the results immediately and I would support them fully. Insofar as that I would take all the other lines out of our display and only have their product in it! Our businesses were built on 40-50 point margins and while many things can be changed to keep the store open, we can\’t exist on 5-10 points. As far as the \"car stereo\" portion of our business, that\’s the only way it will exist. You have to maintain a reasonable margin with reasonable inventory levels. Having 10 point margins w/ $80k in slow moving inventory doesn\’t compute.

    As to some of the other fixes, we have focused on the parts of our business that remain profitable and can\’t easily be taken over by the internet. For us, being in a far northern state means half (or more) of our yearly revenue and more than half of of profit comes from remote car starters. It\’s not an easy business, no where near as easy as car stereo was 15 years ago, but the money is good and the demand remains high, at least for another 5 years. We\’ll see if the oem\’s get around to putting in remote starts customers actually want or not. If they do, then I figure I got a good 10 years left and I\’m out. If they don\’t, we\’ll stay open for a long time.

    I\’m still looking for other business categories to fill in April through Sept. Window tint has helped, but does not have the demand as it would down south. The \"truck\" accessories category is already over populated in our town and not worth going after. I don\’t see a magic bullet on the horizon but I keep looking. I\’d be interested in hearing from others what categories continue to work for them and why.

    AND I WOULD STILL LIKE TO HEAR FROM A MANUFACTURER THAT IS WILLING TO BE THE FIRST TO COMMIT TO AND BACK UP KEEPING A LINE CLEAN. Because they\’ll get my business the next day and I imagine they would get many other brick and mortar retailers also.

  5. I like how much chatter there is here about this issue. I like Eddy’s response that the only reason that we are not growing as individual companies is because we are choosing not to. There are so many different angles on this issue. Now….with all that has been said here not one of you have mentioned the almighty internet. There is your true enemy. Unless you’re the actual manufacturer, you’re ultimately not going to make any margin. The manufacturer doesn’t care who sells it beyond their doors. They make the true margin and we get to hustle for the crumbs.

    For the first time in our industry the aftermarket community is sucking hind tit to the new car manufacturers. When things were rockin and rollin in our industry, the best thing you could get from the factory was a basic cd player that skipped when you sneezed. As all of our companies grew and expanded so did the internet. That was a competitor that couldn’t be combatted. And I don’t want to hear that you have to sell yourself against the internet!! That’s the obvious approach. Anyone that didn’t figure that out 3 years ago shouldn’t be in retail anyway. Our potential customers are not coming into our stores due to the internet. They get a one sided sales approach over text about the product and it all sounds so appealing with a rediculous price……why not?! They can buy 2 and have them go bad before they would have paid the price of buying it from a retailer.

    The fact is if you’re selling an In-dash Nav unit for $1000 and the customer looks on the internet and sees it for $599 free freight……he now thinks the real actual value is $599 and we’re puting $400 in our pockets. That is the real problem here. Yes, new cars come with just enough technology and sound just good enough to tickle the fancy of the average person but our real bread and butter is the enthusiast! Those are the ones that we need in our stores and the internet is gobbling those up by the thousands every month. Trust me, the aftermarket manufacturers are doing just fine for now. Once it leaves their doors they are just fine with wherever it ends up. If they didn’t have the internet they would be looking for the very best retailers with the very best staff just like they did 15 years ago. Remember those days of great support? That was pretty nice.

    I know that things have changed and I have changed some of the things we do around here. However, we are still barely profitable. I read above that someone was saying that we as an industry aren’t embrasing new technology. In some instances that is true. However the largest category of sku’s that I have in our facility is integration. And to tell you the truth, I still don’t have what a customer needs about 50% of the time. And what is really funny about this category, once you install an integration piece, they don’t work. That leaves a bad taste in the retailer’s mouth. Our equipment is 10 times harder to sell these days. We sell a $130 cd player that needs a $150 integration module. 2 weeks later it comes back because the ignition output is bad and now you are dealing with a heat case over a deal that made about $60 net profit.

    Our problem in my opinion is that we are dealing with over distribution in every category of 12 volt. That’s it! I’m in the car business as well. When GM was pumping out huge volumes of SUV’s they weren’t worth anything. You could buy a 1 year old Tahoe for literally half price of a new one…..about $25k. When they shut all of the plants down for 9 months the market stabilized. Now, you will pay the exact same price for that 2007 Tahoe. About $25k. Thing is, now it is 4 year models old. This is not rocket science folks. We are unfortunately in an industry that caters to the end user and the factories just don’t need us like they used to. Yes, there are going to be markets that still do well. If you’re there, don’t be a fool. It will be coming to you too.

    So…..what to do? Hold on. That’s the only thing you can do. Dump any expense that you don’t need and do your very best to stay profitable. Yes, I don’t like going from making tons of profits and buying a vacation home to living like a college student againg but it is what it is. I think that our retailing days are going to be gone in the next 3 to 5 years. AAMP will come up with some plug and play harness for audio outs and a clip-on power connector and that will beat us out of an amp and sub sale/install too. That’s where I see the industry going and it’s going to affect us all. Retailers, rep firms and consultants alike. Good luck to all!!

  6. It is very interesting that we have not seen a response from any vendors other than Ray so far. And for Eddy Kay’s program, it is well worth it. We had him come in early in the 4th quarter and our attachment sales are improving dramatically as are many other aspects of salesmanship on our floors.

    We are sending all of our employees “back to school” starting the first of the year as we have embraced Eddy’s Tool Box and will be studying and testing weekly through each module.

    I did want to comment on one post. Steve Z stated “It’s not that Hertz or Maestro do anything from a policy standpoint to enforce map. They do little to no business in the U.S. and no one is interested in buying it. It’s called supply and demand. Look on ebay, it’s full of product that people want, not crap.” I feel compelled to comment that neither Hertz nor German Maestro are crap, and they don’t have to do much to police the web because they are not selling to the “wrong” people who would put it there. Many retailers want to buy it because of the profitability it provides. It is our job to sell it and I encourage all to do so. Help these companies who have a product that can help you. Together we can build their brand. Much like everyone says sell yourself, your service, the fact that you are experts, etc. is great. We do that and everyone should; however it doesn’t fix the problem, and if you are going to work so hard to build your brand, why not at the same time help a Hertz or German Maestro build their brand. These companies are only selling to those of us who value their commitment to keep it clean. They have grown, and they will grow. Perhaps if we support them well enough, they can grow into the full line supplier who maintains their commitment and provides us with a product line that is “clean”.

    I don’t want to make enemies with the vendors. The very vendors who for so long have been our vendor partners as far as we were concerned. The problem is some of those partners are losing control of their brand, and their distribution. Unfortunately it is starting to feel like some of those partnerships are fading. Perhaps the only way to have our voices heard is for all independent specialists to participate in a buying freeze for 30 days. Only buy what you must to remain in business for 30 days. Live off of the inventory you have in stock, because we probably all have a little too much. It will definitely improve the financial strength of your business and maybe even send a message that is heard to the vendor. Perhaps all independent specialists band together and pick a brand a month and simply don’t buy anything from them. Shift that business to another brand that month so your business doesn’t suffer. Then send the message to a different vendor the next month. Maybe we have to show that we can unite before we will be taken seriously. Maybe all legitimate independent specialists should pick up a Hertz or German Maestro and shift ALL of their speaker business that they possibly can to one of those brands.

    Until we unite and do something to be heard as independent specialists things aren’t going to change.

    Respectfully,
    J. R. Stocks

  7. I agree with you all our industry has changed so much in the 30+ yrs I’ve been in the business, besides store owners not selling at map when things get slow they sell right on the internet their website, Ebay and Craigslist I for one am tired of customers bringing up Google in front of me and undercutting me by over $200.00 or more. The other new thing customers are doing is using our shop as a design studio under the guise of buying a system they have us design one only to have them bring back the same exact stuff they bought on Amazon. The industry has changed and we must change with it, the internet isn’t going anywhere transshipping could be policed better but we must set ourselves apart from the big box stores with customer service, product knowledge and pride in workmanship.

  8. Why won’t the manufacturers help us out? A simple google search shows a number of vendors who can help solve the problem:

    http://www.brandprotectionagency.com
    http://www.Ecomm-rep.com

    I’m exhausted by the number of customers I have walk in my store, ask me a bunch of questions, the actually say that they’ll go buy it online because it’s cheaper. So frustrating!! Makes me want to only carry brands that are actively enforcing MAP…

  9. I always try to look at other industries to see how they are doing and what they are doing. Can a manufacturer protect it’s pricing and brand value? Absolutely, look at Louis Vuitton. Go to ebay and search for some L.V. products… You will find them, but all of them are listed as used. They do not allow internet sales unless you are approved by them. If you are approved, you must list it at their suggested retail and nothing less. Does this mean Alpine or any other company could do the same? I don’t see why not. Should they? I think they should. If you have a product that has demand and you control the supply, you should be able to make some profit.

    We also sell wheels and tires at our location and one thing everyone will agree on is the tire industry only cares about moving units. This industry is a great example of how to have low margins. Let’s hope the mobile electronics industry doesn’t turn in to this. This is one reason I think we should have some protection from our suppliers. However with the internet, you have competition everywhere. So make sure you offer great brands, and even greater service than the competition.

  10. Thank you Amy for this article and inviting commentary.

    It is time for change! When change is as long overdue as it is in our industry it calls for DRASTIC CHANGE!!

    With this industry having seen year after year double digit decreases, we as a retailer had to manage our business to remain profitable. We did so, in 2009 and sales were up 12.2%, and gross profits on sales were up 10.4%. It took a tremendous amount of work to achieve this. It did not simply require changes that would lead to a meager 10% increase over the prior year for us to assure we could continue as a viable business in a declining industry. We not only made changes to assure top line growth, we had to address what was far more important. We had to address what impacts the bottom line so we could remain a viable, profitable business in a declining industry, assuring the stockholders a positive ROI. After drastic changes and much work our efforts resulted in improvement to the bottom line; improvements resulting in a 245% increase in bottom line profits. I couldn’t believe it either when I first did the math but month in and month out the results were adding up.

    Why do I point this out? Not because it is worth bragging about. I was simply doing my job. I bring this up because I often wonder have the vendors in our industry done the same, or are they only focused on driving top line sales in a declining industry, where growth will only come from stealing market share. If there are manufacturers out there that wish to clean up their brand and be the “Hertz, or German Maestro” of the full line category then they will have to go through a major transformation. I doubt that there is a manufacturer out there that without first dramatically increasing their bottom line can afford to take the short term top line declines that will be seen, and we all know top line decreases result in bottom line decreases. If a manufacturer chose to clean up their brand, in the beginning they would have to terminate the trans-shippers, and MAP violators thus resulting in huge top line sales decreases. I don’t think the problem is that the manufacturers don’t want to clean things up, or don’t care to do so. I believe they simply can’t afford to.

    It is much more attainable by the likes of a start up than by an existing vendor who already has distribution in the wrong places. That is why we are able to point to the examples of Hertz and German Maestro. Newer companies who chose to do business in a different way. Both are growing, and why do they do so much less business than some of the “name brand” staples of our industry? They won’t sell to those who will tarnish their brand. They are newer brands whose business plans allow them to grow while providing attainable margins at retail. They could grow quicker if there were more legitimate retailers out there for these vendors to engage with. They could grow faster and create even more consumer demand by selling to the trans-shippers and MAP violators, but that is not their philosophy. I am sure they would have no problem selling to the very MAP violators who are profit pirates to our industry. These brands will grow slower but be better off in the end, and for that I am thankful because the way they are choosing to go to market doesn’t hurt us as a retailer. It can only help a retailer. The demand for these brands will grow in time.

    If you are still with me, to summarize…….first a vendor is going to have to want to clean up their brand. I am sure there are many who wish to do so. Second they are going to have to be able to afford to. Once they are that far along the rest is simple. Look at Oakley Sunglass, Alpine Star (motor cross equipment/racing equipment), Bose, etc. The examples are out there in the consumer electronics industry and in many other industries. It can be done once the vendor decides they want to and can afford to. Until more vendors in our industry can afford to do so our industry will suffer and the race to zero for market share will continue.

    For now I guess we will be making DRASTIC changes again here at Freeman’s for the remainder of 2010 and into 2011. This time it will be changes as to whom we choose to do business with. Why? Because we can afford to and……………. because we can’t afford not to!!!!!!

    I will stop ranting with one last question. Are there going to be more CD players sold in 2011 now that we have a Brand Name manufacturer lowering the new entry level price for single CD to $69? I think we all know the answer, but just in case I would guess it is all about market share. This vendor’s competitors are sure to do the same in an effort to remain competitive and not lose market share. If there are increases in single CD player sales for 2011 it won’t be a result of this price move.

    Respectfully,
    J. R. Stocks
    General Manager
    Freeman’s Stereo Video
    [email protected]

  11. I beleive we all can attest to the fact that our business is changing rapidly. It’s the perfect storm, a lack of professionlism, just in time stocking,( which allows anyone to enter the business)caused by changes in the distrubution channel, and last but not least a severe lack of inovation by our conventional suppliers are all factors to this storm. I remember coming back from CES thinking WOW NOW THAT WAS AWESOME! I can sale that! Our products are now commedities and even table saws have better price protection. It is up to us and only us to adapt, change and make our products and services more desireable. May I note that the computer business now has 5 points in product and the only one suceeding are the business models based on service. Yet many of us give that away! Great change is upon us and with great change comes great oppurtunities!

  12. You guys all know what I do. I teach people how to sell and how to manage. Over the past 15 years I have the metrics to prove my stuff works. Yet, I cannot sell a single program to this industry. The retailers have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in their stores, yet they won’t spend a few hundred bucks to save it. They spent half that much last weekend on a night out they don’t even remember. Therefore, it can’t be the money. Then what is it??

    I believe the reason they do not want to purchase anything is it will force them to have to do something. They all want someone else to solve their problems. Business is bad because of the other guy. Where’s my magic pill? “You mean I have to learn something new?” Brother, if 1990 comes back you will all be in fat city.

    Do what you’ve always done and you’ll get less. It’s a different world. The crash of 2008 changed it again. I know a handful of mobile electronics dealers having the best year since they’ve been in business. They are selling in the same environment as everyone else. Their secret? Their store and their employees are an exclusive product. You cannot get them anyplace else. They don’t sell boxes. They sell solutions. They sell a fun buying experience. They sell the security of knowing you did the right thing at the right place of business.

    Maybe you have no confidence in yourself, your staff or your store. You can change that – and increase your business. But change is difficult and no one wants to do anything hard. Sorry. The solution to the situation is in the mirror. It’s the only place its ever been.

  13. I agree with both Barry and Ray. If retailers are concerned about the protection of MAP then they need to offer support to those brands who work to actively enforce it. Afterall, it has to start somewhere right? I have always been taught that success breeds success. If “smaller” brands are successful with MAP enforcement – then others will follow. Protected distribution and strict MAP enforcement is the path that I am taking with the new Lightning Audio. Kudos to Joe to. SELL YOURSELF FIRST – The internet can never compete with face to face communitication and a sense of local community support!

  14. wow ,, this is great piece to comment on , to wake us all up , these ideas from all of you are fantastic , you gentlemen are the top of this field , i am a shop owner who has been here 27yrs, have seen 10 shops come and go in my area .
    it all comes down to customer service , take care of all customers from young and old ,answer all questions , dont lie . smile and answer the phone , keep invetory in stock ,kits and harnesses and be open for business . it has worked for me.thanks mr gilroy , mr windsor ,steve ,ryan joe , and mr vogel ,

  15. Not supporting all of the “whored out” lines will result in a bigger degradation to the industry. Those manufacturers will have to sell somewhere, so they will drop their pants to be in Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Radio Shack etc. Thus creating more “backyard” installers and even less knowledge of car audio, effectively killing the independent industry as a whole.
    Manufacturers need to be more supportive to dealers that are business oriented, not enthusiasts. Signing on Gas Stations and outlets of the same caliber is another killer.

  16. First; To Ray, Of course that is the core of specialty retailing. To Steve Z; If your customers don’t want the products that can make you a better margin, and supply superior performance, then you are not doing what a specialty retailer does. Demonstrate superior product, show superior service, and create demand for what you want to sell.
    To the broad questions, I offer 2 observations. We are not wanting for great innovations or products. We are wanting for a way to get the information to the consumer that we are more than subs and amps. The consumer does not understand much of what we can offer, or why they want it. We think that because we are tech savvy and get all of this, so will today’s consumer. WRONG. The second observation is that far too often, the innovative products we sell are either too complex for the average consumer to deal with, or they do not do all that they claim in all vehicles. Particularly with interface devices. I conservatively estimate 20% of the time they do not do all that they claim on all vehicles they claim to work on. That is 1 out of 5 customers that will not be satisfied with our work. And in today’s market, we will not get a second chance with most of those we fail to satisfy on the first try.
    Address those issues and we may begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

  17. I hate to say it, but Steve Z has some merit to his point (all be it painful, as a retailer, to accept). But the end result/point he’s making is to SELL YOURSELF, quit selling stereo systems / parts as though they are what you are selling.

    The best sales a retailer can make is when they explain the technology, advantages, package (without ever mentioning a brand) and then install it for the consumer. If the retailer is honest/ethical the customer will receive EXACTLY what they needed at the best VALUE (not price).

    As far as this article directly………I CRINGE at the idea of ‘importing’ this/that as a ‘solution’. If anything the fact that technology is so easy to ‘knock off’ and/or replicate overseas us why we dont have more innovations. Lets say brand X dedicated a few million dollars to R&D for a ‘sync system’ killer (bad example as the sync system is all about marketing, not innovation….but used in this article). Then you’ll find a few dozen companies selling ‘knock-offs’ and imports at a fraction of the price because they aren’t designing anything, they are a MANUPACKAGER!

    We need ‘innovation’ and we need it at home……not abroad, for the US market to continue to THRIVE in the ME segments. As it is our products (for car) are on average 18 mths behind their japanese counterparts. I say Japanese, simply because 100% of our quality head unit companies are japanese based now adays!

  18. I agree with the outcry from the retailers. My store sticks to the brands that give me the support I deserve, and I give it back them them. I know the people at the companies I buy from, and they know me, and that is how it should be.

    Customers do not come into my shop with the line, “But its $100 cheaper online,” because its not online. If you feel like you can’t stay in business without the “big” name brands that will sell to anyone, then maybe you shouldn’t be in business. First and foremost, you are selling yourself and your shop, the product itself barely matters if you can sell and install it properly.

    Retailers should also look to support the suppliers who are making a real contribution to the industry. Are your suppliers inventing new technology that helps us all get to the next level, or do they pick a speaker out of a Chinese catalog and put their name on it? There is a finite amount of money that will be spent by the retailers, I like knowing that most of mine goes to the innovators.

  19. It’s not that Hertz or Maestro do anything from a policy standpoint to enforce map. They do little to no business in the U.S. and no one is interested in buying it. Its called supply and demand. Look on ebay, its full of product that people want, not crap. The days of dealers expecting 50 points on every sale is long gone. Wake up dealers! sell yourselves, not the brand.

  20. Great conversation piece…

    I recall a head unit brand that was indeed successful at enforcing MAP and practiced responsible distribution discipline. It was called Eclipse. Before that it was called Alpine. It can be done. Suppliers must select retailers and retailers must select suppliers who have common goals and methods.

    I am quite confident that innovation will return to the aftermarket busines. It might not be in the traditional “in-dash head unit” but it will happen.

    If your observation about Hertz and German Maestro is accurate it seems to me that retailers should begin there. Partner with business people who have an understanding of the retailer’s challenges. The return on investment to the retailer is significant when such a pertnership is built and sustained.

    Having lived this experience as a retailer and manufacturer, I am here to tell retailers it can be done, even today.

    Ray Windsor
    President
    German Maestro

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