OPE NING OB SE RVATIONS
TELLING THE FUTURE
The editor bites on a pitch for an article about the future of auto retailing, a topic he's
steered clear of given the emotions it tends to stir.
By Gregory Arroyo
Cars.com collects and remarkets leads. I
guess I wanted to see how well the writer
could dance around these sensitive topics.
I bring up that pitch because the future
dealership was a major discussion point in
Phase 2 of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA)'s Factory Facility
Programs study. In fact, the 60-page report
dedicates 24 pages to guessing what dealerships will look like and how they will function. Te section opens up with a list of
past predictions of our business that didn't
Ea rlier this
Earlier this year, a public relations pro
a
h
ca l
a
wi
called me with a pitch. I won't reveal the
company s
o
n
company she reps, but I will tell you that
it's fr th specializes in making web'
rm that
it's a f r m t
sit
t
sites. Te PR person was pushing a story on
the dealershi
h dealership
s
the dealershi of the future.
told her
l
I told her I was game. Te timing was
right, given last year's dustup between
dealers and TrueCar — when retailers
equated the service to a race to the bottom
because of its focus on pricing — and questions raised earlier this year about the way
quite come to pass. Tell me if any of these
sound familiar:
1. Multibranding: Dealerships would
become so powerful that they would force
OEMs to allow them to stock and sell multiple brands under one roof.
2. Built-to-Order: Te belief was that
dealers would custom-order every vehicle
rather than carry large inventories.
3. Public Ownership: Public chains
would overtake privately owned dealerships.
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AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY • J U LY 2013