On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Steve Greenfield, automotive expert, and CEO/Founder of Automotive Ventures. Greenfield specializes in advising founders, owners, and CEOs on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises. He is also the host of The Friday 5, a weekly CBT News series, which recaps the week’s action in automotive technology deals.
In this segment Greenfield and anchor Jim Fitzpatrick begin by discussing his background in the automotive retail industry. Greenfield joined the business back in 1999 selling software to car dealers out of a Manheim location in Toronto. During his 10-year tenure at Manheim, Greenfield was re-located to the Atlanta area and oversaw international expansion efforts.
In late 2009, the now-former CEO of Autotrader, Chip Perry, offered him a job overseeing the acquisitions of vAuto, HomeNet, VinSolutions, and Kelley Blue Book. In just 12 short months, the organization had spent nearly $1B to close these deals. After leaving Autotrader in 2014, Greenfield decided to start his own business Automotive Ventures.
Switching gears, Greenfield and Fitzpatrick talk about what an incredible and unpredictable year it has been thus far. When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the U.S. back in early March, analysts were predicting that consumer demand would dry up and thousands of car dealers would go out of business. However, 2020 has been favorable for car dealers despite the economic hurdles.
Here are some of the trends Greenfield has observed throughout 2020:
- Car dealers have benefitted from both consumer savings and consumer desire to update their car as a means of isolating from COVID-19
- Cut back overhead expenses in anticipation of a steep drop in volume
- Public groups having record-breaking quarters in Q3
- Dried up new car supply
- High used-car valuations
- Car dealers ability to hold gross
Be sure to watch our full interview above to hear more great insight and advice from Steve Greenfield.
Did you enjoy this interview with Steve Greenfield? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic with host Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.
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