posted October 14, 2005
Mountain View Ford officials said they are reaping rich rewards from their e-commerce presence on the world-wide web, including a recent sale to a man in Germany.
The Chattanooga family-owned dealership is preparing for the arrival of Volker Echoff from Hamburg, Germany, next Thursday.
After arriving on a 4:45 p.m. flight into Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, Mr. Echoff will take delivery of his brand new 2006 black on black Ford Mustang GT which he purchased through the E-Commerce division of the downtown Chattanooga dealership.
Don Erwin, the dealership’s managing director of E-Commerce, said he will meet Mr. Echoff’s plane and escort him in his new Mustang to give Mr. Ecoff his first “in person” look and drive of his new car.
He will also be treated to a night at the Stone Fort Inn downtown as well as tickets to the Tennessee Aquarium and IMAX Theatre. "We want him to enjoy the Chattanooga experience," Mr. Erwin said.
Mr. Echoff’s delivery marks the third international sale completed by Mountain View Ford’s E-Commerce Division. Two other such transactions have taken place with one exception – instead of the customer coming to the United States to take delivery the vehicles were shipped to the customers, one in Woodbridge, Canada, and one in London, England.
Mr. Erwin said, “When Mr. Echoff said he would like to come here to pick up the car, we were so excited. We started thinking what this would do for Chattanooga as well as our business. Can you imagine what kind of exposure this will give the Scenic City? Honestly, when we started e-commerce we were thinking only on a local level, but now we realize the market is limitless.”
Mr. Erwin said the sale was made through the eBay auction site. He said he is listing 10 cars a month on eBay. With each listing, he has 35 color photos that show "everything from the oil dip stick to the tread on the tires and everything in between."
He said Mountain View Ford sells about 35 percent of the cars it lists on eBay.
He said, "I've got a map outside my office with pins for everywhere we've sold a car over the Internet. There are pins for Washington state, Delaware, Miami and lots of places in between."
Mr. Erwin said a man from Flagstaff, Ariz., bid $52,000 on eBay on one of the local dealership's Excursions. He said the man then flew here to pick it up. He said the Arizona man said that, after his costs of getting it back, he still saved $3,000.
Cost of shipping the vehicle that was bought by a London purchaser was $1,800 from the dealership to London.
Mr. Erwin said the German buyer has arranged to have his Mustang shipped out of Norfolk, Va. That will take two weeks.
Mr. Erwin said vehicle prices out West are much higher and the availability is much tighter. He said some buyers find exactly what they are looking for through the eBay listings. He said, "A couple from Atlanta bought a Saab off one of our eBay listings. It was just the right color, model and style they had been looking for."
Clay Watson, general manager of the dealership, said, “Perhaps we could benefit by remembering that when Mr. Echoff goes back home to Germany part of Chattanooga is going with him, hopefully making America’s Scenic City the World’s Scenic City.”
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