As a country we are inundated everyday with media messages about our environment, global warming, recycling, and, depending on the season, reminders to turn the thermostat up or down. As nation we are becoming more sensitive about contributing to pollution and global climate change. Auto dealers are no different. I have read about many dealerships instituting their own recycling programs for lubricants, scrap metal, cans, and other recyclable items. I applaud these dealers and suggest to them that all of this is media worthy and it’s important to get the word out on your efforts to your customers and the community.

In order to help prime the pump for auto sales Congress recently passed the “Cash for Clunkers” program, which offers rebates on new vehicles in order to get older gas guzzlers off the road. The good news is this will help boost some new car sales, but unfortunately it won’t do anything directly for used vehicle sales. The media hype about the clunkers program, however, creates a great grass roots marketing opportunity for dealerships who want to tout their fuel efficient new and used vehicles.

I suggest you consider having a “Go Green to Save Some Green” event at your dealership. You could tout your dealership and local recycling efforts and offer discounts on service and parts when replacing polluting components like mufflers, catalytic converters, or blown gaskets that not only cause pollution but are also unsafe.

Your dealership could offer its own instant rebate program when any customer trades in a vehicle and buys one that is more fuel efficient. Create some excitement with a “Green Tag Auction Event.” Retailers have been using “Red Tag sales” events for years, now you can offer a “Green Tag” event.

You can offer the excitement of a vehicle auction and promote fuel efficient vehicles that have been safety checked for their emissions systems. Eligible auction vehicles could feature green hang tags showing the highway MPG for each of these vehicles. This makes it clear which vehicle are part of the auction and lets customers browse and purchase vehicles the week or days before the event to see which units they will be vying for on the day of the sale.

Customers bid for vehicles, get great deals on the cars or trucks of their choice, and do their part to reduce tailpipe emissions by driving cars with higher mile per gallon ratings than their trade-ins. You can decorate your showroom and lot with banners and pennants touting the recycle symbol and if you want to include premium gifts, consider one of those recyclable grocery bags.

To make the event really pop prepare a direct mail piece highlighting all the benefits, excitement, and door prizes that will be offered at the event. Then be sure to get your sales team engaged and work out all the details of who does what on auction day. Plan your refreshments for the crowd; during the summer, a barbeque can be a great idea. Be sure to have greeters for folks attending the auction and a process to appraise their trades while they walk the lot looking at the “green” vehicles which will be going through the auction lane that day.

The green revolution is coming; make your dealership a part of it and make some green at the same time!

Drake Baerresen is the vice-president of sales and marketing and co-founder of Turn-Key Events. He can be contacted at 866-476-7748 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .