https://www.autonews.com/best-practices/raised-pickups-help-boost-mich-vw-store
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...Volkswagen is not known as a pickup brand. But LaFontaine Volkswagen of Dearborn is using pickups to attract customers who wouldn't otherwise come into the store. The Michigan store acquires used pickups and outfits them with a lift kit, beefy rims and tires, side steps and sometimes even fender flares. The trucks are then parked out front on the dealership lawn.
Full-size pickups from the Detroit 3 — whether a Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, GMC Sierra or Ram 1500 — are the VW store's bread and butter to lift. Luckily for the operation, a hefty volume of big domestic trucks come off lease every month in the Detroit area, giving the store a wide selection to choose from.
Once Vandenbussche buys a truck, it is sent to an outside company for outfitting work. The cost of installing a 6-inch lift kit, 20-inch wheels and tires and side steps runs $4,000 to $5,000 per pickup. It takes up to two weeks for the vehicle to come back ready for sale.
The store tries to keep the trucks in the $32,000-to-$35,000 range, Szabla said.
LaFontaine sells four to five lifted trucks a month, and around 30 new VW vehicles each month, as well as 60 to 65 used vehicles.
"We're in a blue-collar area in Ford's backyard," Mike Law, the store's general manager, said of Dearborn, which is home to Ford Motor Co.'s world headquarters.
"Most of the people looking at buying these vehicles are blue-collar people. So we market it to what they want."
Quote
...Volkswagen is not known as a pickup brand. But LaFontaine Volkswagen of Dearborn is using pickups to attract customers who wouldn't otherwise come into the store. The Michigan store acquires used pickups and outfits them with a lift kit, beefy rims and tires, side steps and sometimes even fender flares. The trucks are then parked out front on the dealership lawn.
Full-size pickups from the Detroit 3 — whether a Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, GMC Sierra or Ram 1500 — are the VW store's bread and butter to lift. Luckily for the operation, a hefty volume of big domestic trucks come off lease every month in the Detroit area, giving the store a wide selection to choose from.
Once Vandenbussche buys a truck, it is sent to an outside company for outfitting work. The cost of installing a 6-inch lift kit, 20-inch wheels and tires and side steps runs $4,000 to $5,000 per pickup. It takes up to two weeks for the vehicle to come back ready for sale.
The store tries to keep the trucks in the $32,000-to-$35,000 range, Szabla said.
LaFontaine sells four to five lifted trucks a month, and around 30 new VW vehicles each month, as well as 60 to 65 used vehicles.
"We're in a blue-collar area in Ford's backyard," Mike Law, the store's general manager, said of Dearborn, which is home to Ford Motor Co.'s world headquarters.
"Most of the people looking at buying these vehicles are blue-collar people. So we market it to what they want."