[Originally aired June 7, 2018]
Rideshare companies, direct to consumer sales models, recruiting, tariffs and if that is not enough over 4 million off-lease cars are hitting the market this year. There is a lot going on in the Automotive industry theses days. To help break everything down for our viewers we are joined Executive Vice President of Cox Automotive, vAuto Founder, and Author, Dale Pollak.
Dale Pollak is one of the leading professionals in the automotive industry. As the Executive Vice President of Cox Automotive and founder of vAuto, Pollak has integrated innovation throughout cox media since 2010. Also an author, Pollak has published multiple books including his most recent one, Like I See It which we discuss during our interview.
To begin, Bridget Fitzpatrick of CBT News asked Dale about margin compression and how he anticipates it will affect the industry. “Margin compression, without question, is the single biggest threat and challenge that the automobile industry has today,” says Pollak. He goes on to speak on behalf of the NADA Dealers Health Report and how it showed net profit per used retail unit went negative.
“What isn’t a threat to dealers these days”, Pollak tells Fitzpatrick when we change the narrative and ask about the Tesla model impact. He further explains, “The potential threat, is perhaps the diminishing strength of the franchise. I think that is a rick and Tesla is defiantly chipping away at it, but I do believe that we have to face the reality that time moves on and times change and markets change. We have enjoyed the benefits of franchised laws for decades but I would not assume necessarily that they will remain intact at, least with the same force that they have in the past.” In whole, Pollak believes that Tesla and direct sales to the consumer will shift the game but still does not believe it will be a full market through industry take over. He concludes the topic by stating that Tesla and their sales model is not Pollak’s greatest concern in regards to testing the stability of the auto industry.
Throughout the rest of our interview with Pollak, we discuss the new generation of dealership staff and how they areDale Pollak On Today’s Greatest Challenges In The Automotive Industry mostly millennials who prefer a fixed pay, schedule and clear map of possible career paths. We also speak to ownership models, vehicle subscriptions and more.
