Tim Jackson, President of CADA, on the biggest challenges facing Colorado dealers

Rejoining the show for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Tim Jackson, President of the Colorado Auto Dealers Association, or CADA, sits down with anchor Jim Fitzpatrick on CBT News to share an update on the industry and how dealers are doing in the state of Colorado.

Jackson is widely respected around the industry for the time, energy, and effort he has put towards the automotive industry. Throughout his career, Jackson has served as the Colorado state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, the Executive Vice President for the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce, and two statewide associations in the state of Missouri.

Jackson begins the conversation by providing an update on how dealers are doing in the state of Colorado. He says the biggest challenge for dealers is tight inventories but also explains how dealers have found wins through light-duty truck sales. Currently, 83.1% of Colorado’s overall market is made up of light-duty trucks. This percentage has skyrocketed in the short timeframe of twelve years, as light-duty trucks only made up 58% of the overall market in 2008.

Jackson then shares how the value of used-cars has significantly increased in recent years. Jackson says that used-cars going over the auction block are averaging a 5% value increase overall. As a result, consumers are having to pay higher prices for used vehicles based on higher resale values.

As EVs continue to be a hot topic, Jackson shares his stance on where EVs fit into the market. While California is moving forward with a plan to only sell electric vehicles in the near future, Jackson is hesitant to believe the market is truly there for EVs. Electric cars only make up 3% of auto sales in Colorado despite being fourth in the ranking of states selling EVs. 

“New car dealers want to sell whatever consumers want to buy,” said Jackson. “And so far consumers, in Colorado and nationwide including California, haven’t really bought into EVs.”

Jackson is also undergoing one hundred meetings in a hundred days with legislators and dealers on behalf of the CADA. The meetings are designed to put at least one dealer at the table with legislation to have casual conversations. The conversations focus on many points across the auto industry. Jackson says the meetings are invaluable and very essential. The meetings help legislation understand the industry from a dealer’s point of view before making a legislative decision.

Jackson concludes the conversation by discussing how the current election is impacting the automotive industry. Jackson says getting the candidates behind the industry could help auto sales. Despite who fills the presidency, Jackson has been impressed by the resiliency of the auto industry in the midst of the ongoing pandemic as well as natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes.