General Motors’ information technology overhaul could empower dealerships further with an unprecedented system. Soon, GM dealers could implement technology to show when potential customers cross-shop vehicles over the facility’s Wi-Fi network, according to Automotive News.
The system works via Cisco proprietary technology and monitors internet browser usage of customers on the dealership lot when connected to complimentary Wi-Fi. Thus, it can alert the dealership when someone searches for a competitor’s vehicle on the premises. Hotels and some shopping malls already employ the IT system.
Cadillac first rolled out the system at its Cadillac House in New York City, CMO Uwe Ellinghaus said. However, he’s well aware of the privacy concerns such a system brings.
“That’s certainly the aim, to gain learning to allow us to utilize the information at dealerships,” he said. “But, of course, we need to respect privacy in some areas.”
Right now, the system remains in a pilot program at the Cadillac House and GM has not announced plans for the system’s expansion.
Comments
C&D and R&T have numerous articles on how dealerships use microphones in sales desks, the sales person ‘walks away to see the boss’ and the boss and salesperson listen in on hubby’n’wifes conversations.
Another offensive act is when dealerships call out paint number codes as people of color walk in the dealership so that particular salespersons can be assigned to the walk-ins without them knowing.
Ellinghaus – don’t do this spying. Our society is going through an honesty crisis right now, don’t be on the wrong side of history. Just let your customers talk and think to themselves and their partners and be cool about that. When the population comes to know that Caddy will truly respect us, we will respect you back. There’s money in that, there really is.
Absolute nonsense .. “calling out paint numbers”, “planting microphones” ..
Sure, there might be a handful of “old school” Dealerships still doing stuff like this but they’re dinosaurs because the Internet has changed everything.
Customers are educated like never before so to treat them and/or speak to them disrespectfully, you do so at your own peril.
I used references – C&D, and R&T. I’ll even give you the webpage and exact wording on one of my claims below. What you got? “Absolute nonsense”. Exactly. Try reality sometimes, it’s not perfect, but it is real.
https://www.caranddriver.com/features/car-dealer-tricks-to-watch-for
Eavesdropping
Although it’s a good idea to bring a friend or family member shopping with you—someone else to watch the deal, question the terms, and help keep your emotions in check—this opens additional avenues for nefarious dealerships to use the wingman against the buyer. When the salesman leaves the cube, customers drop their guard and feel comfortable discussing aspects of the deal they wouldn’t mention in front of the salesman. With just a couple subtle pokes at their phones, salespeople can leave the intercom open to the sales manager’s office, where they will go not to seek approval on your terms but to eavesdrop on your conversation, harvesting information to use against you. There are even stories of salespeople hiding baby monitors in their offices. When the salesman leaves to talk to the sales manager, that’s your cue to leave and get a cup of coffee.
I think consumers are too trusting of marketers and FB, etc..
I visit this site, and I get pop up banner ads for GM products that have nothing to do with a different site I visted later.
It’s a dirty, scammy way of doing business. I don’t think the Internet should be a consumer tracking device.
Maybe Kevin B feels confident that he’s not being tracked.
Me, I’m not paranoid. But I’m not a clueless believer, either.
Car and Driver, Road and Track .. from 2009….Did they get specific? name dealerships?
I’m not going to argue with you. The business has changed dramatically with the advent of the internet
Providing customers with a positive buying/shopping experience is practically mandatory: bad surveys, bad social media reviews do damage like never before.
Nobody has time to play games like hiding microphones and baby cameras, not with retail heavyweight Amazon planning on entering the car business.
What you’re describing reminds me a great car sales movie….”Suckers” (2001).. If you haven’t seen it, do so….You’ll see the kind of stuff you’re talking about going on……and it’s funny as hell…..
I’m thinking the goofs from Car and Driver and Road and Track watched it and thought it was current and wrote their silly articles.
I went to the big crowned dealer in Washington DC, in 2016. Their ads claimed they would give “KBB + 15%” on trade ins. I arrived, the salesman immediately got Autotrader up on his computer. I reminded him of the ads everywhere, but he simply would not use KBB for our negotiation, and the +15% made him laugh at me. In 2016.
Respect my privacy my ass! This is another strategy for the salesman to try to counter my arguments for not buying the dealer’s car and be a pushy prick. Now I’ll be telling everyone I know not to sign into ANY dealership’s Wi-Fi, period.
I completely agree with Old Trombone.
Thanks!
This is Cambridge Analytica stuff, and their owner’s reputation isn’t getting any better, Uwe. Time for Barra and De Nysschen to disassociate GM from CA’s psychology-control politics.
“Respect privacy in some areas”?
Actually, it works to a buyer’s advantage for a dealer to know they’re not the only vehicle being considered.
But … kind of a creepy, big brother move for IT to snoop beyond knowing someone’s shopping Cadillac vs Lexus vs whatever.
Not hard to imagine realtors are doing the same thing, but I’d prefer to keep my private doings private…
Sneak-peeping on a buyer’s consideration set – via Cisco’s ‘proprietary technology’ – sorry, Uwe, bad move.
Almost all Wi-Fi connections will use proxy servers for there access to the internet and almost all of them are writing log files that store where each url connection is going.
Cisco’s proprietary technology = grep’ing the networks outbound proxy server logs. Hardly groundbreaking.
Hey, here’s an idea. Instead of using all that money to spy on potential customers, why not try to build better vehicles. GMC vehicles came in next to last in reliability. Oh wait, they did beat out Cadillac, which came in 27th place, dead last. Pretty soon there won’t be any customers walking in the showrooms to spy on.
The reasons these things are still selling at all are ignorance and misplaced patriotism. Americans are a rightfully proud bunch, EVERYONE would be buying American nameplate cars IF: 1. They were even remotely competitive in quality and reliability 2. They were actually all built in the USA 3. They were based on American ideals (as in NOT running to the government for huge financial handouts during tough times)
No, everyone wouldn’t be buying American if domestics “were even remotely competitive”. People are greedy and selfish, not caring about their neighbors jobs much less a fellow American in another state.
Hyundai gained its foothold in this country through ultra low prices, period. They were trash cars, everyone knew it, but they justified it by the price. Once established, obviously the prices and quality rose in step.
If you look at JD Powers, GM vehicles rate very highly. The problem with CR is it is a self fulfilling prophecy.
If you’re a CR subscriber and you buy based on their recommendations, you submit positive surveys for your car. You’re willing to overlook “little glitches”.
If you’re a CR subscriber and you go against their recommendations, and the car has bugs, those problems are amplified psychologically and you trash the car. It becomes a huge deal when the brakes squeal or a headunit is slow to respond. Next time you buy something CR recommends.
If you’re a CR subscriber and you go against their recommendations and the car is genuinely great, guess what? You realize they are full of bologna and you cancel your subscription and your results don’t get included in the future.
In the end, the CR process CREATES a base of MINIONS that agree with them.
If CR fixed their surveys by offering them at random to every American, whether they are a subscriber or not, they would be worth something. Today they are worthless.
Pure discourse analysis by a thinker as great as Foucault and Derrida. Congratulations and Thank you Brian D!
JD Powers makes sense to nobody, they give high scores for the most disgusting cars known to man.
Thanks for the CR subscriber psychological analysis, next time consider using facts. GM is still last (ok we will say last “winner” since this is GMA, no losers here) in all legitimate quality measures. After a $50 billion shot in the arm, your sub par car is still assembled by lazy union swine, employed by disingenuous fat cats who are in the business of making money over building a good product, turns out they failed at both. This greasy fast food joint of the automotive world was destined to die before it was held afloat artificially like a 300lbs welfare queen.
Hyundai is a great example, trash to quality in less than a decade, why has GM been building trash for generations now?
Lessee here, CR is just normal people being surveyed, but JDP is a corporation with a corporate agenda…
Magirus, I think you bought a Callidac, or a Telorvehc, the exact wrong way around…
I think this is a bad move and if consumers find out about this they might just shop elsewhere .
The minute you step outside your house or log onto the internet your moves are being watched . Iv’e had my identity stolen from some creep who got ahold of my credit card number and went on substantial shopping spree . It took me 6 months to get my credit card holder to stop harassing me , threatening me and finally after filing a police report and on the last call from my credit card bank that I was not going to pay for this crime that had been committed they stopped with the harassment .
Now Equifax’s information on over 145 million people being hacked into and our personal information out there for sale to the highest underground buyer makes this 2 times for me .
If I were to find out that a dealership was doing this browser scam I would walk right out the door .
The WWW / internet used to be a good tool for information gathering , which has made our world a smaller place to live in as we can learn about other countries customs etc.. But like any good thing there always seems to be a dark side , a weaponization of information .
Back in 2000 when I got my first computer and decided on AOL for my ISP I was told to come up with a screen name so no one knew who you were , a safety precaution . Now with the likes of facebook or any web site you share with others your personal info can be stolen by any trol out there .
So anyway , Cadillac , GM , Mary Barra please don’t go down this intrusive type of behavior . We all know ” Big Brother ” is watching but do you really need to spy on people to sell cars ?
Question: If Tesla or Mercedes was discovered doing this, would anyone raise a fuss?
Various forms of web tracking has been going on for a good while. I could see it on my last purchase.
Most people make them selves marks by not doing their home work knowing what they want, what they need, how much they should pay and shop with emotion.
They forget that the MFG make more every day and get taken.
Web tracking is nothing new and you are track so much now it is crazy.
Now places like Amazon want you to put speakers in your house for service but who knows what else.
On Star? Another mic.
Most are treated correctly some not and if the wrong person ever gets control of this your true freedoms could be every gone.
As good as Cellular Networks are getting nowadays….I think they’d have to also employ some kind of cell signal blocking in order to force you to connect to their WIFI. I live in the Exurbs (suburbs to the suburbs) and I still have a good enough signal to even stream videos on my phone at my local dealer. Not when I bought my 2009 though. My smartphone was my only calculator and the battery died while I was negotiating. I didn’t really need it…but it’s faster than I am.
Not sure why some are shocked as data mining is old news here. The free WiFi is not always a public service.
The data collected on you is major.
You can be sure face book and yahoo know you better than your mother.
Who the heck uses dealers Wifi?
I mean I sure I get it when your waiting in the service drive for 2 hours and therefore bring your own laptop, but seriously, Who is out in the lot looking at cars and signed into the dealers wifi instead of using their phone network?
This can’t be more than 1 in 1000 people, all of which are too broke to have a cell phone plan and therefore are massive payment buyers?