We are ecstatic to have Tynan’s Nissan as one of our members at Denver Metro Clean Cities! Markus Kamm, Director of Sales at Tynan’s Nissan, chatted with us about his personal background in car sales and how Tynan’s runs their business. Keep reading to learn about Tynan’s sales team, how they are promoting electric vehicles and their recent sales accomplishment!
Company: Tynan’s Nissan
Location: Aurora Colorado
*Note: The following are answers summarized from an interview with Markus Kamm from Tynan’s Nissan
How did you get into car sales and is selling EVs different than ICE vehicles?
My father owned a Volkswagen dealership in Germany where I was born and raised, so I grew up around the business and it was a natural fit to pursue a career in the car sales business after college. As far as the selling differences between EVs and ICE vehicles go there are several, the main one of which probably revolves around state and federal tax credits that are available for EVs but not internal combustion vehicles. This is usually one of the first questions that people ask, besides range, which is the second major difference. Most cars get between 500 and 600 miles of range per tank, so even though EVs have come a long way in the last few years, there is still a little bit of range anxiety that we must talk and coach people through as they are considering purchasing an EV.
How does Tynan’s Nissan support the transition to electric vehicles? Why are electric cars so important to the industry?
Tynan’s has been at the forefront of Colorado’s EV movement since the very beginning. We delivered our first new Nissan LEAFs in December of 2011 and we just sold our 1,000th LEAF last month! It is a super cool milestone and had been a goal for a long time. EVs are important for the industry as a whole for a number of reasons, including navigating through an environment of increasingly strict emissions requirements and laws. In addition, we have a duty to our planet and future generations of humans to replace as many fossil-fueled, carbon emitting vehicles with clean electric ones as possible. This is a big part of what is fueling Tynan’s commitment, and it may seem like a splash in the ocean when you look at Colorado compared to the other 49 states and our dealership in tiny little Aurora, but we are doing what we can and are happy doing so.
What can people expect from the sales team at Tynan’s?
Consumers can expect a no-pressure, highly informative, consultative purchase experience no matter which stage of the purchase process they might be in. Whether they are just gathering preliminary information or if they have done all their research and are ready to buy, Tynan’s is prepared to help in any way we can. What really sets us apart is that our entire staff of tenure sales consultants is factory trained and ready to speak all things LEAFs, EVs, state and federal tax credit, range, chargers, ways to charge, and apps tied to vehicle charging and we always have a ton of different financing offers or outright purchasing offers available. There is continual training that goes on all the time here in house, and we want to make sure that anyone and everyone that comes in with questions leaves here with answers.
You recently won the sales crown as the #1 volume Nissan LEAF dealer in the nation, how does this award align with Tynan’s Nissan’s sustainability goals? What goals do you have for the future of Nissan LEAF sales?
Thank you for bringing that up! We are super excited about our sales crown. We actually sold more LEAFs last month than Nissan’s entire mid-Atlantic region combined, and they have roughly 70 dealers. We sold almost as many LEAFs as our entire region, which is the central region, combined and Colorado dealers sold more Nissan LEAFs all together than the entire nation. There is one self-serving purpose for pushing all these LEAFs. In a year from now, we will hopefully have the all-new Nissan ARIYA, 100% EV SUV with a 300+ mile range, and the more LEAFs we sell now, the more of the ARIYA we are going to be able to get allocated to us once it launches. What we are envisioning is for many of the 2-year LEAF lease customers from this last month to return in a couple years when we will (hopefully) have 50 – 60 ARIYAs in stock to be able to push out. Our LEAF sales now are like a foundation, if you will, for future business as well as a great thing for our current business. We also have a Volkswagen store next to our Nissan store and we are about to break round on a huge charging infrastructure investment around our dealership. This investment comes because the brand-new VW EV, which is the ID. 4 SUV, will hopefully be in stock by the end of 2021 at about the same time that the ARIYA hits, so we will have choices upon choices for people to purchase.
How has your relationship and involvement with Denver Metro Clean Cities and Drive Electric Colorado helped you achieve your business and sustainability goals? What can we continue to do to support Tynan’s Nissan’s efforts?
Over the years, and after having facilitated several large-scale Group Buy events, we have found that EV sales are most successful when the sales event is backed by a municipality or an organization, such as DMCC. Something incredible happens in the joint marketing efforts, so when there is a special deal or offer and people hear about it somewhere other than a dealer’s website, it creates instant trust and causes people to flock to the dealership to take advantage of the special pricing. It really is magic, and we appreciate our relationship with DMCC more than I can ever say. We know that the winning formula for successful Group Buy events or EV sales in general is when that marketing comes together. It is so easy to dismiss a dealership’s ad because the market is so saturated with automotive ads, so when someone goes on a website like Drive Electric Colorado and sees offers, it creates a totally different dynamic. We become an extension of something bigger, rather than just a dealership trying to sell cars.
Is there anything else you would like to share that we haven’t touched on?
The October saga continues, and we have already sold 12 LEAFs for November as of Monday the 10th. The momentum from our October sales has continued and we are hoping to ride it as long as we can and take full advantage of the holiday season as well. I am not sure on specific numbers, but we have something like 70 LEAFs still in stock to sell so there is plenty of inventory left to finish off 2020 strong.
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