Car Industry Terms with Definitions
Here are Car Industry Terms with their
definitions. This is the kind of car terminology used in the auto industry.
After-market: Anything that a car dealership adds to a new vehicle after
they get it from the manufacturer. It could be accessories like special wheels,
tires, pin stripes, etc.
Auctions: The military, IRS, DEA, Customs, Police and many more
government agencies regularly have auctions
for almost anything. Wholesale used car auctions are where retail car dealers
and wholesale car dealers go to buy cars at wholesale prices. These auctions are
closed to anyone that does not have a dealers license.
Auto Brokers: Car brokers
are people that will find you a car and their fee is based on a percentage of
the price of the vehicle or just a flat fee.
Buying Services: These car buying
services offer a service where you can choose what type of vehicle you want and
they will find a car dealer in your area with the best price.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE): By Federal mandate, the window
sticker on a car at a car lot will show the supposed average gas mileage of that
vehicle. The average shown is bogus and is always much higher MPG than the
vehicle will ever get in the real world.
Domestic Automaker: These are car manufacturers that make cars in the
United States. The lines are blurred now because a large percentage of what goes
into a domestically built car comes from overseas.
European Delivery Program (EDP): This is a program offered by domestic
car dealers where you can go to Germany, for example, and take delivery of a
Porsche that has been built according to U.S. standards, or wherever you are
from, and then you might travel with the car for awhile and ship it home when
your vacation is over. Don't confuse this with Gray Market vehicles.
Fleet Seller: A Fleet Seller works for the car manufacturer and is the
person responsible for handling deals that involve volume sales for large
companies and government.
Gray Market: On the surface, this seems similar to the EDP shown above
but you buy the car directly from the overseas source and the car is brought
into the country without being built to U.S. standards. If you can figure out
how to bring the vehicle up to U.S. standards here without spending a fortune
then the savings can be substantial.
Imports: These are just car manufacturers that are not incorporated in
the U.S. Many of these companies are now owned by GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Joint Venture: Two or more car manufacturers join forces. Usually its
because one owns a large interest in the other. You can see this
"homogenization" with GM and Toyota, Chrysler-Mitsubishi-Mercedes Benz, Ford and
Mazda, etc.
Make: The name of the car manufacturer that makes the car. Dodge is a
make and Toyota is another make.
Manufacture Date: The date that is approximately when your car was built
and is usually shown on the panel inside your front drivers door.
Manufacturer Options: These are options and accessories installed at the
factory as opposed to aftermarket accessories added by the
car dealer later.
Model: The car model is the specific
vehicle made by the car manufacturer. For example: Volkswagen would be the Make
and Jetta would be the Model.
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM): This is one of those car industry
terms having to do with car parts that are made by the vehicle manufacturer
instead of a third party.
Platform
Family Members (Twins, Cousins): The Geo Prism (made by GM) and the Toyota
Corolla are Cousins because they are basically the same vehicle made by two
different parent companies. Twins are the same model made by the same parent
company with different names and they might have slightly different grilles
and lights. The Chevy Tahoe and the GMC Yukon are Twins.
Regional Recall: These are recalls made by the manufacturer for a
specific geographical region. The problem with Regional Recalls is that the
manufacturer will not fix the problem with your car once it has been moved out
of that region. Click here to see if your car has been involved in a
regional auto recall.
Regional Sales Manager: This individual works for the car manufacturer
and is in charge of pushing your local franchised car dealers within a specific
region to sell their vehicles.
Sales Regions: The territory/region that the Regional Sales Manager
described above is in charge of.
Transplant: A Transplant is a car industry term that is about how many
overseas car manufacturers now have plants located in the U.S. Mercedes Benz,
BMW, Honda, Mazda and Nissan, amongst others, all have plants in The U.S.
Trim Levels: Most models come with different option packages from the
manufacturer and they will usually denote those models with a different lable.
For example, the Ford F150 comes as an XL, XLT or XLT Lariat. They are all the
same basic truck with more bells and whistles on them.
That is all the car industry terms for now. Check back to see if I've added more
car industry terms to this page later.
Leave Car
Industry Terms to Go To The Auto Terms Start Page
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