How Dealer Marketing Has Been Affected by COVID-19 – Peter Leto, Foundation Direct

Today on CBTNews.com – Thursday, May 7th, 2020:

How Dealer Marketing Has Been Affected by COVID-19 – Peter Leto, Foundation Direct
On today’s show, we welcome back Peter Leto, former Head of Automotive Retail at Google and CEO of Foundation Direct. Peter and Jim discuss how Coronavirus has affected marketing in the automotive industry, how dealers should be spending their ad dollars right now, and more.

Should Dealers Level Up New Car Inventory Right Now?
Due to the coronavirus isolation orders and a sudden shutdown of the American economy, early April predictions were for a serious downturn in car sales. Fortunately, rather than a 70 percent reduction in car sales, it appears that car sales will have been cut in half – a modest success story during troubled times. And now management in franchised auto dealers needs to make a tough call. Do they freeze all new car shipments until the economy improves, or is there good reason to keep the taps flowing? Read More

Lobbying Efforts Pivot Towards Buying Stimulus
As the United States slowly begin to emerge from a never-before-seen pandemic shutdown, the auto industry has weathered the storm better than expected. While nowhere near pre-pandemic forecasts, the real figures are tickling the 50-percent decline rather than 70 or 80 percent. Still, as a sector that relies on a chain stretching from resource procurement to manufacturing to distribution and repairs, the financial impact is remarkable. Read More

Did you enjoy this interview? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic with host Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.

Car Biz Today, the official resource of the retail automotive industry.