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...based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was deep in debt. That's why, in September 1999, he sent Jackson, president of Mercedes-Benz USA and one of the industry's top marketing gurus, an SOS.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Despite being the biggest car and truck dealer in the country and three times the size of its nearest competitor, AutoNation was sinking fast. Huizenga bet that Jackson, who started his career as a mechanic in a Cape Cod Mercedes dealership, could be the life preserver that AutoNation needed.
Jackson already had spent a decade as a marketing strategist, driving Mercedes to sales levels once thought improbable for a luxury car import. He convinced Jurgen Hubbert, worldwide Mercedes chief, to build cars for the U.S. market with all the safety features available in Europe, because that was what American luxury buyers wanted. And he prodded Mercedes to build a factory in Alabama for assembling vehicles, namely the M-Class SUV, specifically for the North American market.
Another strategy he employed was breaking away from the auto industry's costly spiral of rising sales incentives. "Jackson told me we have to get off the rebate drug," says Bob Crolic, manager of an AutoNation Mercedes dealership in Pembroke Pines, Fla., and a former colleague of his at Mercedes-Benz USA. Jackson achieved this by finding the true transaction price of a model--what it was selling for at the dealership--and setting that as the manufacturer's suggested retail price. He also made sure that supply was in line with demand, helping turn sales around without onerous rebates.
Inspired by the challenge of turning AutoNation around, Jackson took Huizenga up on his offer. After assuming the...
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