KAR Global plans to stick with 100% online auctions, with the company not planning to return to running cars down a physical auction lane once the pandemic is over, CEO Peter Kelly says.
Lithia Motors in March “saw double-digit increases in service, body and parts, driven by a 32% increase in our highest-margin, customer-pay work,” chief operating officer Chris Holzshu says.
The coronavirus pandemic and increased demand for “contactless” dealership pickup and delivery helped inspire the move, says Cathy Orrico, chief client officer for Agero.
Some retailers just aren’t feeling the urgency, especially mom-and-pop operations that can’t, or won’t, make the necessary investments in online retailing, says Jeff Dyke, president of Sonic Automotive.
“We’re not like some of these companies that are just going to sell you a used car,” says AutoNation’s Marc Cannon. “That’s a key part of this business. You have to service the vehicles.”
Under the brand Assurant EV One, Assurant Global Automotive is introducing to the U.S. market F&I products branded specifically for electrified vehicles, that is, EVs and gasoline-electric hybrids.
Companies need to train employees to recognize fishy circumstances in the first place, and “empower employees to slow down the process without pressure” when they see warning signs, he says.
“Inertia is increasingly considered to be a bad strategy,” Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan Advisors, says during an American International Automobile Dealers Assn. webinar. “Dealers feel they...
Manheim has known for years it needed to tackle many of the actions planned through 2021, and some already are under way. But COVID-19 sped up actions that otherwise would have taken longer to mature, Manheim...
