Congratulations to the Green Bay Packers and thank you Pittsburgh Steelers for making it exciting again…………right to the end.

SAN FRANCISCO — Too many retail sales personnel are waiters.

Sales traffic down, credit-challenged shoppers staying home, the dealership sales staff sticks with the comfortable technology of the past: They patiently wait for customers to pull into the lot and get out of their car.

That’s a big mistake for retailers, urges Patrick Kelly, senior vice president for CAR-Research XRM, a dealer management services business. Kelly says it’s a behavior learned from the past 20 years when industry sales were strong and more constant. It was more productive to stand in the showroom waiting for the next customer because one was certain to come along any minute now.

Not so in 2011.

Kelly presses his dealer customers to work the phones, e-mails, Facebook and all other forms of person-to-person communications to connect with sales leads. It’s not merely a better use of their times, he tells dealership managers — it’s a statistically more rewarding pursuit.

He cites research by J.D. Power and Associates in his presentations: On average, he tells dealers, only 9 percent of the purchase-ready customers who walk into a dealership for the first time will buy a vehicle on that visit — 91 percent will walk away empty handed.

But, he emphasizes, with a little follow-up work, one-third of those same empty-handed customers will return for a second visit. And of the one-third who return, more than half will end up buying a vehicle.

Reasons Kelly: the magic isn’t getting customers to come in the first time — it’s following up with them and getting to come in that second time.

WASHINGTON — A pilot loan program aimed at increasing access to inventory financing for auto, boat, RV and other dealerships will be re-launched Tuesday (2/8) and will be effective through Sept. 30, 2013, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced today.

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 included a provision for re-launching SBA’s Dealer Floor Plan (DFP) Pilot Loan program, which first became available in July 2009. The pilot is part of the SBA’s overall 7(a) loan guarantee program. The Jobs Act also increased the maximum size for 7(a) loans to $5 million, up from $2 million, which includes loans made through the DFP pilot program.

“As a result of the credit crunch in late 2008 and early 2009, dealerships saw a significant decline in the availability of this type of inventory financing,” SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns said. “SBA’s original DFP pilot program was launched as a way to expand the availability of floor plan financing and the Jobs Act added further enhancements to that program, including allowing for larger loan sizes.

“Dealerships are a cornerstone of local business communities,” Johns continued. “As we continue to see our economy recover, the re-launch of this pilot provides another tool, alongside SBA’s other programs, to help them succeed and create jobs in their local communities.”

The rules and regulations for the pilot will be available Tuesday on the website of The Federal Register, and in print editions on Wednesday. A procedural guide to the program will be posted on the SBA website at: http://www.sba.gov/content/dealer-floor-plan-financing-program-0.

Floor plan financing is a revolving line of credit that allows a dealership to obtain financing through SBA’s 7(a) program for inventory that can be titled, such as autos, RVs, manufactured homes, boats and trailers. As each piece of collateral is sold by the dealer, the loan advance against that piece of collateral is repaid. As the loan is repaid, the dealer can borrow against the line of credit to add new inventory.

The program is available to qualifying small businesses, including new and used automobile, motorcycle, RV, manufactured homes and boat dealers. SBA has issued a new maximum alternative size standard to allow businesses with $15 million net worth and $5 million in net income measured over two years to have access to the program.

All SBA-approved lenders may make DFP loans. Lenders with more than $1 billion of floor plan lines of credit in their current portfolios may apply for delegated authority, which would expedite the lending process.

Borrowers interested in obtaining a DFP loan should contact their lender or their nearest SBA field office to get a list of SBA-approved lenders in their area who may be participating in the program. Local district offices and contact information, as well as information on this and other SBA programs and resources, can be found at www.sba.gov or by calling the SBA Answer Desk at 1-800-U-ASK-SBA or TDD 704-344-6640.

February 3, 2011 – 3:14 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) — Super Bowl advertisers such as Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. may end up getting a bargain for 30-second spots costing a record $3 million or more — if the audience for the Fox telecast reaches new highs as forecast.

The Feb. 6 National Football League championship between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers may top the record 106.5 million viewers who watched last year’s game on CBS, according to New York advertising executives Peter Gardiner of Deutsch Inc. and Andy Donchin of Carat North America.

By buying up all the ads from News Corp.’s Fox in October, advertisers avoided paying higher prices closer to the game, when the cost can soar for the few spots that typically remain. Advertisers didn’t want to risk waiting because recent Super Bowls surpassed forecasts for viewers, said Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer of Audi of America.

“This is something we view as a very smart investment,” Keogh said in an interview. “This is our fourth Super Bowl, and every year has over-delivered.”

The cost of a 30-second Super Bowl spot peaked two years ago, when the Steelers, led by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 27-23. Advertisers paid an average $3 million that year, according to Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research for Kantar Media in New York. The price slipped to about $2.97 million for last year’s matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.

For this year’s game, Fox may have commanded more than $3 million, according to Laura Martin, an analyst with Needham & Co. in Pasadena, Calif. Swallen estimated the price at about $3 million.

Fox record

“Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, will be the single highest-revenue generating day in the history of Fox,” Lou D’Ermilio, a spokesman for Fox Sports in New York, said in an e-mail. He said the network doesn’t comment on advertising rates. Keogh declined to specify rates paid by Audi.

Martin estimates a 3.5-hour to 4-hour Super Bowl will generate $288 million to $300 million in advertising sales, exceeding the $213 million record set in the 2009 Super Bowl, according to figures provided by Kantar Media, owned by WPP Plc.

This year’s Super Bowl in Dallas stands to attract the biggest audience ever after NFL regular-season and postseason viewing reached records, said Gardiner, chief media officer of Deutsch Inc., part of Interpublic Group of Cos.

“If the regular season and playoffs are any indication, you have an American populace salivating for NFL football,” Gardiner said in an interview. “Football is on a roll.”

NFL ratings

“NBC Sunday Night Football” led prime-time television ratings in the first half of the TV season, averaging 21.6 million viewers, 11 percent more than a year earlier and the most since the program started in 2006. CBS’s American Football Conference playoff games scored their highest viewer average in 23 years, CBS Corp. said last week.

The Super Bowl’s audience has grown for each of the past five years, according to Nielsen Co. data. In 2009, advertisers reached 98.7 million viewers on average with a 30-second spot.

The Super Bowl is sold at a flat rate, unlike per-viewer prices advertisers pay for most other programs — typically $25 per 1,000 prime-time viewers, Martin said. When deciding whether to buy time, marketers usually assume the game will attract a similar-size audience to the prior year, she said.

“Despite the high prices, there’s a steady march of advertisers to replace those that drop out or reduce their buys,” Swallen said. “That gives a certain level of price support. It also helps make the Super Bowl one of the most coveted spots on television.”

‘Traffic jam’

New models and the auto industry’s rebound from the recession have led to a record six carmakers pitching as many as nine auto brands during the game, according to Swallen. Viewers may experience a “traffic jam” of competing ads, according to a Jan. 18 report from Kantar.

Mercedes-Benz is advertising for the first time. GM bought its first Super Bowl spots since 2008, prior to its bankruptcy, and BMW will run an ad for the first time in 15 years, according to Kantar Media.

To make sure its spot stood out this year, Audi considered six to eight variations and had test audiences vote on two finalists, Keogh said.

‘Cinematic moment’

“You need to entertain and have some humor,” Keogh said. “You also need to tell a story. It’s a cinematic moment.”

Audi is using its Super Bowl spot to showcase a redesigned A8 luxury sedan, listed at the company’s Web site with a recommended base price of $78,050. The ad pokes fun at “robotic” luxury-car buying decisions, Keogh said. The A8 competes with the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series, he said.

In past years, Audi has seen foot-traffic spike at its dealerships and web-traffic spike on its sites after Super Bowl spots aired, Keogh said.

“Four years ago Audi wasn’t on the shopping list of tier- one luxury car shoppers,” Keogh said. “The Super Bowl has helped us tell our story and now Audi is among the top of that list. It’s not just a coincidence.”

Jesse Snyder
Automotive News — February 1, 2011 – 6:10 pm ET

Surging retail demand drove U.S. auto sales to another strong showing in January. Sales rose 17 percent, and the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 12.6 million marked the fourth straight month over the 12 million mark.

Automakers and analysts were encouraged by retail demand.

“Consumers are driving much of the gain that we’re seeing in the industry,” said General Motors U.S. sales boss Don Johnson.

Said Jesse Toprak, an analyst with TrueCar.com: “The most promising aspect about January is the retail growth. The recovery is being fueled by real, natural demand and by consumers who aren’t just buying what they need but starting to buy because they want to.”

Fleet demand was below the month’s normal 25 percent share. Last month, fleet share was about 18 percent, Toyota estimated. “So January’s retail sales were actually a bit stronger than December,” Toprak said.

Bankruptcy twins gain share
Chrysler Group and General Motors, entering their second full years post-bankruptcy, both outperformed the U.S. market. Chrysler sales jumped 23 percent, and GM was up 22 percent.

Ford the loser among Big 7
Ford Motor Co. lost market share despite a sales gain of 9 percent. A solid 22 percent increase for the Ford brand was dragged by declines of 21 percent at Lincoln and 96 percent at discontinued Mercury. Oh, and a lack of Volvo sales.

In the middle
The big Japanese brands bunched together in January sales limbo: up on units, but flat or down a bit on market share. Toyota Motor Sales rose 17 percent, Nissan North America was up 15 percent and American Honda gained 13 percent.

We have brand winners …
Cadillac sales soared 49 percent, Jaguar leapt 48 percent, and Jeep climbed 47 percent. Buick and GMC both gained 32 percent.

Other brands gaining 20 percent or more: Smart, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Subaru, Ford, Dodge, BMW, Mini and Audi.

… and brand losers
Lincoln: down 21 percent; Lexus (17 percent), Mazda (9 percent), Chrysler (7 percent); and Bentley (4 percent).

Trucks outsell cars
Light trucks outsold passenger cars in January, reversing a trend toward fuel-efficiency in recent years. Sales of pickups, vans, SUVs and crossovers rose 29 percent to 413,079, while cars gained 7 percent to 406,609. A year ago, cars led light trucks by almost 60,000 units.

Pickups stay hot
Despite the cold weather, sales of full-size pickups are sizzling. Led by best-seller Ford F-Series, big pickups jumped 29 percent to 94,320 units. Every nameplate posted gains between 22 and 56 percent except for the Nissan Titan, down 4 percent to 1,431.

Perhaps sales were up because of the weather. Snow removal is a big business these days in much of the country.

Gone but not forgotten
Ford is replacing GM as the automaker with sales most skewed by lingering comparisons to dead or sold brands.

In 2010, GM’s four surviving brands did well but big fall-offs at its four discarded brands from 2009 volume dragged down the corporate average. As for Ford: It was up 19 percent in January counting just Ford and Lincoln, but up only 9 percent when Volvo and Mercury are included.

Subaru starts strong, again
Subaru of America started the new year with a 21 percent sales gain. The Japanese manufacturer was the only brand to increase U.S. volume in each of the past three years.

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Gov.-elect John Kasich’s administration is poised to hire a Democrat to run the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

Thomas P. Charles, whom Kasich named as director of the Department of Public Safety, intends to restore Michael Rankin to his former position as the bureau’s registrar, multiple sources told The Dispatch.

Rankin and Charles declined to comment. Kasich’s spokesman also would not confirm the appointment.

Rankin, a Democrat, headed the Bureau of Motor Vehicles between 2007 and 2009, when an acrimonious dispute with then-leaders of the Department of Public Safety led to his resignation.

He ended up as a top manager in Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s office.

Rankin said he’s been both a registered Democrat and an independent. He ran unsuccessfully for local judicial offices in 2004 and 2005.

Kasich’s spokesman, Rob Nichols, said the governor-elect doesn’t have a partisan litmus test for appointees.

“All we’re interested in is the right person for the job, period,” Nichols said.

Franklin Caltrider, a former registrar who is a Republican, questioned the choice. Caltrider noted that Rankin participated in investigations led by Charles, currently the inspector general, of wrongdoing in the Strickland administration’s Department of Public Safety.

“I believe some will see this as payback for helping bring down the past members of a Democratic administration,” Caltrider said. “Why Gov.-elect John Kasich would subject himself to this criticism is beyond me.”

Grim forecasts that a leaner supply chain could hamper the auto recovery are coming true: Parts shortages are shutting down auto assembly plants around the world, derailing automakers’ attempts to meet rebounding demand.

“It’s beyond a trend; it’s an epidemic,” said Dan Sharkey, a suburban Detroit lawyer who works with many auto suppliers.

This week Chrysler Group expects to idle its Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant for at least a week because parts are scarce.

And Ford Motor Co. expects to reopen a suburban Detroit plant that builds the F-series pickup after a shortage of parts for V-6 engines forced a weeklong shutdown.

On Friday, Ford also closed its Kentucky Truck plant because of a parts shortage. That factory builds the F-series Super Duty pickups, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator. As of late Friday the shutdown had not been scheduled to extend into this week, a spokesman said.

In Europe this week, Volkswagen AG will halt production at its main assembly plants in Wolfsburg, Germany, because of a shortage of engine parts.

Ford also took an additional week of downtime at its Chicago assembly plant — which builds the in-demand redesigned Explorer — before and after the traditional Christmas shutdown. Ford spokesman Todd Nissen said parts shortages there have ended.

The parts shortages already have had an impact on dealers. Jack Kain, who owns Jack Kain Ford near Lexington, Ky., says he has delivered only five Explorers, “but we could have sold 15 to 20 if we had the availability.”

Many suppliers who cut capacity to the bone during the downturn either can’t ramp up quickly enough or are gun-shy about adding equipment and workers amid the fragile recovery, industry observers say.

“I see tremendous capacity constraints throughout all tiers of the supply chain,” said Sharkey, the Detroit lawyer. During the downturn, many suppliers were stung when customers’ volume projections fell woefully short, Sharkey said. Now many subsuppliers in particular can’t keep up as automakers and larger suppliers increasingly put in short-notice orders that far exceed original forecasts.

Tier 1 suppliers have had an easier time adjusting to the rebound in demand, said Bill Kozyra, CEO of TI Automotive and chairman of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association. “I would have no problem handling 14 or 15 million units of production tomorrow if that were to occur,” he said.

One particular trouble spot: suppliers of electronic components. Many are Tier 2 suppliers for whom the auto industry is a small part of their business, said Lars Holmqvist, CEO of CLEPA, the European auto supplier association.

“When the crisis came in 2008-09, they didn’t believe in the auto industry any more and closed some plants,” Holmqvist said. “They are not keen to jump back in.”

At Chrysler’s Windsor plant, which makes about 1,500 minivans a day, about 4,400 workers on three shifts will be idled this week, said Rick Laporte, president of Canadian Auto Workers Local 444. He blamed shortages of multiple parts and raw materials. Laporte and another plant employee said aluminum materials from a Chinese supplier were among the problems.

Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson declined to comment.

The parts shortages are likely to make a tight vehicle inventory situation even worse. As of Jan. 1, for example, Ford dealers had a 57-day supply of F-150s, the lowest level since Sept. 1, 2009, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Kain, the Kentucky dealer, says it already takes weeks to fill an F-150 truck order. He’s had to ask customers to wait.

“We are short. Most dealers are,” he said. “We have about 50 percent of the stock we’d normally carry.”

How’s this for a mixed bag? Small business owners are angry (most want to do away with health-care reform), yet happy (most think business will improve in 2011), while more are walking around with their heads in the clouds (so to speak). Here’s a closer look at some of the latest small-business surveys.

Rejecting Health-Care Reform

More than half (55 percent) of small-business owners support repeal of health care reform, according to a survey conducted in early January by Discover Small Business Watch. Forty-six percent say health-care reform, as it currently stands, will hurt their businesses, while 27 percent say it will help.

Most of the business owners cite cost as the major factor in their dissatisfaction, with nearly half (47 percent) of those who currently provide health insurance considering eliminating it due to its high cost. (A word of warning: It will be especially hard to hold on to valuable employees if you ditch their health coverage.) On the other hand, 69 percent of business owners say it’s hard to find affordable health care for themselves and their employees, an increase of 4 points from last year.

The House voted earlier this month to repeal the law signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010, but the move was seen as largely symbolic because it is not expected to survive in the Senate.

Small Businesses Ready to Spend

Small-business owners are rarin’ to go, according to Manta’s Pulse of Small Business Survey. Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed — most of whom have fewer than 10 employees — plan to invest in expanding their businesses in 2011, which is a drastic contrast to the 85 percent who made across-the-board spending cuts in 2010.

Nearly half (47 percent) say their biggest expenditures will go toward marketing and sales, 24 percent will invest primarily in business development, and 23 percent plan to spend on marketing and advertising. These are all sales functions, which makes sense to me — small businesses need to get more business in the pipeline.

Cloudy and Bright?

More and more small-business owners have their heads in the “cloud” — and that’s a good thing. According to a cloud survey conducted by 7th Sense Research for Microsoft, 12 percent of small and midsize businesses have used cloud-based services to help start their businesses. Among the SMBs familiar with cloud computing, 29 percent say companies that operate in the cloud are more innovative, and 29 percent also say the cloud enables IT to be more strategic.

What are small businesses doing in the cloud? Twenty percent use or plan to implement the cloud for e-mail and communication, while 18 percent use cloud-based computer backup and storage services.

One big allure of computing in the cloud is cost. The “low cost of ownership” was cited by 42 percent of SMBs as the reason they turned to the cloud, 49 percent say using the cloud has “improved their bottom lines, and 40 percent say they’ve already saved money.

DETROIT — Two Michigan congressmen want to expand the number of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles eligible for a federal tax rebate, one day after President Obama reiterated his commitment to put 1 million EVs on the road within four years.

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., proposed legislation in the House today and his brother, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., plans to introduce a similar bill in the Senate that would increase the per-manufacturer cap on the $7,500 tax credit from 200,000 vehicles to 500,000.

The rebate was started as part of the Recovery Act of February 2009. It is currently available on five vehicles — the Chevrolet Volt, the Tesla Roadster, the Nissan Leaf, the CODA sedan and the Wheego LiFe. It is phased out after a manufacturer sells 200,000 units.

General Motors Co. has said the cap could hinder future sales of the Chevrolet Volt, which sells for $41,000, with delivery, before the credit.

To jumpstart EV demand, the White House also wants to change the $7,500 tax incentive currently available for buying an electric car into a rebate that consumers could use at the time of purchase.

Obama has pledged to expand research and development in batteries and electric drivetrain, technology, including a 30 percent increase in federal grants.

“With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015,” Obama said in his State of the Union Address.

The administration also is extending initiatives to improve electric vehicle infrastructure in U.S. cities. As many as 30 communities across the country would be able to receive grants of up to $10 million each to install public charging stations, electrified parking space access and fleet conversions.

Vice President Joe Biden visited Ener1 Inc., a lithium-ion battery manufacturer in suburban Indianapolis today, to jumpstart the administration’s efforts.

Ener1 Inc. won a $118.5 million grant as part of the Recovery Act to expand production of batteries for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles.

The grant allowed the supplier to add 120 jobs at its Indianapolis plants in 2010, according to a White House statement.

“Green vehicles represent the vanguard of automotive innovation, but they have to be economical for consumers and profitable for manufacturers,” Sander Levin said today in a statement. “Raising the cap on this credit will help carmakers reach the demand and production scale necessary for long-term viability.”