Chopper cuts his own way to success

By Mark Hansel

Friday, March 13, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Josh Towbin is known in and around Las Vegas as “Chop,” the pitchman for the automobile infomercial series “The Chopper Show.”

To much of the rest of America, he is recognized as the star of “King of Cars,” a reality show that focused on the life of a car salesman and aired until 2007 on the A&E channel.

Perhaps his most successful and least publicized role is as the shrewd businessman who not only co-owns the Towbin Dodge dealership featured in those shows, but also heads a successful marketing company that caters to the automobile industry.

Ask Towbin which one is the real Josh and he says it’s all of them.

“I can get excited and jump around and motivate and I can be relaxed and professional,” Towbin said. “I think all of us have different aspects to our personality.”

Although he was a little uncomfortable with the antics of “The Chopper Show” at first, he has come to truly enjoy being in front of the camera and appreciates the camaraderie the show has generated within the dealership.

“I didn’t want to do the show because I thought my friends would make fun of me,” Towbin admits. “Our first infomercial was at our Infiniti store (13 years ago, when he was 20 years old), and I was the used-car manager, but that was our best Saturday.”

He also was not crazy about being dubbed the “King of Cars,” because he thinks the success of the dealership has been a staff effort, but he welcomed the opportunity to be on a national stage.

“Now wherever I go, even in other countries, somebody recognizes me and it’s 99.9 percent positive,” Towbin said. “Once that name went out there, we embraced it, and now I have to admit, it’s kind of cool.”

At his core, however, Towbin is a car dealer.

His father, Dan Towbin, has been a car dealer in Las Vegas for more than 30 years and the younger Towbin had a dealership set up in his bedroom when he was a child. At a time when other kids were playing with toys, Towbin was already planning for the day when he would have his own automobile showroom.

“I didn’t notice it was a little different then,” Towbin said. “It’s funny because now my youngest son is doing the same thing. When he was in preschool all the kids were asked what they want to be when they grow up, they said they wanted to be a fireman or a doctor and he said, ‘I want to sell cars like my dad.’ ”

Selling cars like dad might be a tall order. Towbin admits his approach is unusual and probably wouldn’t work for everyone. His signature shaved head and sideburns and the cast of characters that parade across the screen driving cars for sale during the infomercials are unique to say the least.

“My marketing goal has always been just to be different,” Towbin said. “I didn’t want to be boring or blend in because you spend a lot of time, effort and money making these commercials, and I don’t want to waste that.”

Sometimes it’s hard to shift gears from being the guy signing contracts and doing all of the things that make a business run to cutting up on camera, but it’s also a bit of an outlet.

“If business is a little off, you are looking for some enjoyment and it helps to act silly and make each other laugh a little,” Towbin said.

The nickname “Chop” came from Towbin’s goal of selling cars cheaper than other dealers and his signature ploy of advertising one price on his show and then chopping it down to a much lower price.

“I have always had this obsession with being the least expensive and sometimes to a fault,” Towbin said. “But I figure that the customers who buy those car will generate more customers or come back themselves.”

The business model at Towbin Dodge, he says has always been not just sell one car but to befriend customers and present them with a common-sense approach.

“I try my best to have my guests enjoy the experience,” Towbin said. “It’s how I sell cars because the best customer is one that you already know.”

Towbin Dodge sells new and used cars and is traditionally among the most successful used-car dealerships in the country in terms of sales volume.

Like just about every other car dealer in the country, Towbin has been hurt by the economic downturn, but sees signs that things are starting to get better. He said the credit markets are starting to loosen up for vehicle purchases, so many people can get financing again.

“We did have a dip like everybody else, but in the past couple weeks it’s been really busy,” Towbin said. “I was in California recently, buying cars almost frantically just trying to keep up.”

Towbin relies on a combination of trade-ins — which he likes because customers buying new cars from a Dodges dealer are often trading in the same brand — and purchases. When people are not buying as many new cars and trading in the old ones, it can be tough for a dealership with a reputation for used-car sales to keep up with demand.

Right now repos (cars that have been repossessed) are very abundant, and Towbin has purchased heavily in that market.

It’s not unlike the foreclosure situation in the home market, Towbin says. A lot of people have fallen on tough times and have had to give up their cars.

“We feel like we’re making the best of a bad situation because there are great buys out there,” Towbin said. “We always bring up the current event of the business and repos are a big thing right now. I’m not big with sales, like this kind of sale or that kind of sale, but I bring up what currently affects my customers and repos are something current that gives people a great reason to buy a car now.”

The success of Towbin’s local marketing efforts has allowed him to take his show on the road.

“It’s something I always wanted to do and once I saw the reaction our commercials got, I thought it could really help other companies,” Towbin said. “I actually had a car dealer call me and kind of push me into doing it.”

Towbin now represents auto dealerships and other businesses in the industry throughout the United States and Canada. His presentation is similar to the pitch that has been so successful in Las Vegas and he even takes members of his local contingent, such as Prem Singh (the Blue Genie), on the road with him.

“I do certain deals where I’ll do all the advertising for a company,” Towbin said. “I’ll do a tent event like ‘The Chopper Show’ and me and the Blue Genie will show up and do a ‘pump-up’ meeting with the staff and then we’ll meet people who are fans.”

The pitch is customized for individual markets and includes some radio and Internet promotions, but Towbin said television is the bread-and-butter of the marketing business.

Kingofcars.com is the company Web site, which airs the current infomercial. It also provides information on the marketing business and the Chopper Edition, Towbin’s line of custom-built cars.

Towbin, 33, has been running Towbin Dodge for 11 years, first as general sales manager and now as co-owner. He is in a better position than many of his competitors, but said it is unfortunate to see the industry that has become an integral part of his life in turmoil.

“I don’t want to see anybody fail,” Towbin said. “It’s not a fun thing because it affects too many people.”

Mark Hansel covers retail and marketing for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at 259-4069 or at [email protected].