Today’s Featured Interview:
How Sonic Automotive and EchoPark plan to keep up their momentum in 2021 – Jeff Dyke, President
Sonic Automotive is coming off a strong year in 2020 as it set records in sales and expanded its EchoPark used-car stores. Today, we speak with Sonic President Jeff Dyke on how the retailer plans to keep up the momentum moving into 2021. In the first months of 2020, Sonic Automotive got off to a record start. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic hit U.S. markets, the company has to switch gears quickly. Like many retailers, the pandemic forced Sonic to evaluate operations, audit expenses, and implement new processes. During the Summer months, Dyke says that the business really took off with record earnings for Q3. Business also ended the year on a high note, and Dyke expects strong Q4 results. Watch the full segment here.
Top Headlines:
James David Power, lll passed away this weekend at the age of 89. J.D. Power revolutionized the auto industry by building one of the largest global market research firms in the industry. In 1969, Power began his business from the family kitchen with automotive customer surveys that measured and ranked new-vehicle quality. In 2014, Power was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for revolutionizing the approach to customer satisfaction which is now the standard across the entire industry.
CarMax is dropping its only remaining franchised dealerships to focus all efforts on the used-car market. Both dealerships are Toyota stores with one located in Maryland and the other in Wisconsin. The retailer said it expects to keep its dealership location in Wisconsin as the buyer of the Toyota business would operate out a new dealership. The new-car segment of CarMax has been slowly shrinking as the company has put more resources towards selling used vehicles. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated plans to drop the remaining new-vehicle franchises. The move will better position CarMax to compete in the growing used-car market with online retailers like Carvana and Vroom.
In 2020, consumers said the vehicle buying process improved dramatically. According to a survey by Cox Automotive, 72% of consumers were, “highly satisfied” with the overall shopping experience, up from 60% in 2019. The survey also found that average new-vehicle buyers only visit two dealerships before making a purchase. The implementation of digital retailing in 2020 cut down on time spent in the dealership for many car buyers. Isabelle Helms, Cox Automotive vice president of research & market intelligence, says this is what consumers have been wanting for a long time. The process is also providing an advantage to dealers through a more efficient, streamlined purchasing process.
Tesla is suing a former employee for allegedly stealing software. According to CNBC, the company claims that a former software engineer moved company files to his personal Dropbox account. The files were reportedly linked to the company’s warp drive software, used to automate many of the company’s business processes. Tesla claims that the former employee stole the data and that he was only one of a few Tesla employees who had access to the files. According to the lawsuit, the former employee told Tesla investigators he, “forgot” about moving the files when company officials confronted him. The man was also unaware he was being sued by Tesla until he was contacted by the New York Post for an interview.
News & Opinion:
Rethinking the test drive to unlock new revenue
There’s no doubt COVID-19 accelerated automotive retailers’ digitization efforts. Evolving consumer preferences for personalized, on-demand service that doesn’t require a dealership visit mean the retail environment now covers a lot more ground. However, the car buying experience is still very much that; an experience. The ability to experience a potential new vehicle; the performance and handling, the body lines, the in-car technology, that new car smell, all add considerable value to the ultimate purchase decision. So how can we rethink this journey in a way that considers these seemingly incongruent realities? Read More
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January 26, 2021 at 05:02PM
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CBT automotive newscast: January 26, 2021 - http://cbtnews.com/
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