CARY, N.C. -

AR: Tell us where you grew up.

Smith: The nearest real town was Rocky Mount, N.C., about 60 miles east of Raleigh. I actually grew up in a rural community called Dortches, which had a population of about 300.

My father was first a mechanic and then a service manager at a Chevrolet dealership in Rocky Mount … which I guess you could say was my first contact with the automotive industry. At nine years old, I started working as a farm hand in the tobacco fields with local farmers. Whenever I could, I also played baseball and did all the things kids do.

AR: How did your parents impact you?

Smith: I think everybody is a product of their parents, and I see a bit of that. Physically, I look a lot like dad. When I got older and my hair started turning white, I joked he started looking more like me every year. Dad was a very quiet person, reflective until he needed to say something and then he was outgoing and friendly.

Mother, on the other hand, was very outgoing. She was the one who talked to everyone, was very creative and loved to write.

Both of my parents grew up and lived their entire lives within a 50-mile radius. In fact, dad and I had the same first grade teacher.

My parents were products of the Great Depression. If you go back and look at our history, their families were what you might call the working poor. During the Great Depression, both of my grandfathers became prison guards at a prison farm (which raised crops), and the guards lived with their families on the farm. Mom had letters she exchanged with dad in fifth and sixth grade. They were teenagers when they got married … dad 18 and mom 16 … right before he went off to serve in World War II.  They were married 59 years; it was a great love story.

AR: I understand your mom was a writer.

Smith: She was not a creative writer, like writing short stories, but she loved to write letters. Mom also kept a journal, and as a writer myself I have always been impressed at how expressive she was.

AR: Did you get your love of writing from your mother?

Smith:  Maybe I did but I have always loved reading, just as both my parents did.

AR: When did you first see writing as a possible career?

Smith: Probably in my junior year in high school when I was first exposed to a journalism class. They had taken three small rural schools and consolidated them into one large high school and expanded the curriculum. Since I loved to read and write, I looked forward to taking journalism.

Now I was still a farm hand in the summertime. That summer I had been working all summer on the farm without a day off (during the week). The farmer told me I did not have to come back after lunch. That afternoon I got a call from the weekly newspaper editor who was calling those who had signed up for journalism at the high school to see if he could find a high school sports stringer. I thought that sounded a lot better than 90-degree days in a tobacco field, so I applied and got the job. I had not quite turned 16, but over the next two years, he gave me a one-on-one tutorial in journalism.

I always thought it was Divine intervention that I happened to be home when that call came. It definitely was a phone call that changed my life. And now 40 some years later, I’m still writing stories the way that editor taught me.

AR: Did you write only sports?

Smith: Mostly sports. But I also interviewed a retiring U.S. congressmen who lived nearby. I was really blown away by that. I think I still have the letter he wrote to thank me … big stuff for a 16-year-old. Of course, he was a politician. 

We did a lot of other things at the small community newspaper. I worked on everything from print brochures to church bulletins. And we seemed to work all the time. In high school, I was working 35–40 hours a week in the school year and 70–75 hours a week during the summer. I still remember my starting salary: $1 an hour. But at least I was not in that tobacco field!

AR: Tell us about meeting your wife Donna.

Smith: I met her at a small two-year college in the North Carolina mountains called Brevard College. What attracted me to the college was that it published a weekly college newspaper.

Donna and I were part of a group that used to go out on dates together. She was dating a guy from Florida and I a girl from Florida. As most college romances go, we broke up with our respective partners, and because we were friends, we commiserated with each other. My joke is that I cried on her shoulder so much that I realized I liked the shoulder. We have now been married for 40 years.

AR: Talk to us about your time at college.  What was the life like?

Smith: Not only was college a new experience for me, but it also was for my family because I was the first one to go. Anyone in college in the late’60s remembers how turbulent a time it was. There was the Vietnam War, riots, rebellion, etc.

I had my own rebellion. After I broke up with the girl I had been dating, I did things like grow my hair to my shoulders, grow a beard and started wearing bell-bottomed jeans and sandals. I even quit going to all classes except journalism. When the semester break came, I packed up all my stuff and went home. My parents told me I had to cut my hair, shave and get a job … not necessarily in that order!

Of course, I got the notice to report for an Army physical a few weeks after getting home. I had been sick as a kid and told that I would never be able to serve in the military. I’m not sure I would have quit school if I had not been told that. Anyway, the docs finally gave me a medical deferment, although not as quickly as I thought they would have. I was beginning to get a little worried. 

AR: Did you ever finish college?

Smith: After Donna and I were married, I got a bachelor’s degree in political science and English from North Carolina Wesleyan College.  I did that while working full-time.

AR: Was that job in newspapers?

Smith: Working in newspapers was what I knew; after all, I had worked two years at the weekly and year-and-a-half in college on a weekly paper. After I quit college, I played golf with the sports editor at the local daily newspaper, and he helped convince the editors to create a position for me writing sports and general news. Later, the Army drafted a reporter, and I took his place. Then the city editor left, and I applied for and got that position. Here I was, only 20 years old and city editor of a daily newspaper! I had reporters twice my age reporting to me.

I stayed with that newspaper for six years, and it was a lot of fun. And I learned a lot, a whole lot. I covered everything from bank robberies to a visit by Mamie Eisenhower (former first lady). A daily (newspaper) certainly teaches you how to write under deadlines.

AR: How did you transition from newspapers into public relations?

Smith: My first public relations job was with a municipality as the public information officer. It was the mid 1970s, and cities began to realize they needed to have more open communications. I got a lot of experience setting up communications programs for the city, doing a newsletter and being a spokesperson. I guess in looking back it was my first taste of being entrepreneurial in that I was the city’s first PIO.

Later, I was approached by an ad agency and asked to be an account executive and set up a PR division. Working with the agency gave me even more experience, and it didn’t hurt that there was a salary increase as well. It also allowed me to study and learn about professional public relations — how it is much more than simply publicity. It was at the agency that I first became involved with the Public Relations Society of America.

AR: Did you miss writing every day?

Smith: Some people talk about their love of writing; I can’t really say I love writing. I don’t write short stories anymore. To me, writing is a communications tool, a skill. I don’t feel like writing is something I have to do to fulfill my day. I’ve often said the art of writing comes in rewriting — not in writing the first draft. But writing comes easily to me. I often tell people my definition of talent — something that comes easily to you but not everyone. Writing is a talent I have.
The drive of a journalist is the drive to communicate. The real job of a journalist is to tell a story. Public relations is a first cousin of this. The art is to communicate. I have looked at myself as more of a communicator than a journalist or a public relations person. I don’t think I’ve really changed in wanting to bridge the story gaps.

Like I said, the agency taught me a lot, but I still had that budding entrepreneurial bug. A friend of mine tried to open a small PR firm working with municipalities in North Carolina, but as I like to say, we did everything someone should not do to start a business. In the end, we shut it down after having lost almost all of our savings. It was a tough time.

AR: That had to be a lot of pressure with a young family.

Smith: it was, especially since our first child was only a year old. However, I always thought that working in newspapers was a sort of safety-net, and I soon found a job at another small weekly paper near Raleigh. But I still wanted to be in PR. There was a small PR firm in Raleigh where I knew some of the staff, and after a short stay at the paper, I joined the firm. I stayed there a couple of years. One account I worked on was NIADA (National Independent Automobile Dealers Association), which was located in Raleigh then. That was my first encounter with the national used-car industry.

One day the executive director came to me and said, “I have good news and bad news. We are not going to continue the relationship with the PR firm, but we would like you to come to work with us as assistant executive director to help change our newsletter into a magazine.” That is the magazine that is Used Car Dealer today.

The job also appealed to me because it broadened my horizons so much, from local to national. Also, NIADA, along with NADA (National Automobile Dealers Association), was mounting a strong lobby against a proposed window sticker by the FTC. In addition to starting the magazine, I also was the spokesman for NIADA on a national issue. I guess that was the first time I combined both public relations and journalism. 

AR: Tell us about working with the NIADA.

Smith: The window sticker situation was exciting. I had majored in political science when I had gone back to college and so this situation was right down my alley. We were not lobbyists. We were communicators and coordinated our strategy with NADA. I flew to Washington several times a month to meet with congressional legislative staff to explain our position. Earlier, Congress had given itself the authority to veto a regulatory action like the FTC was doing so our strategy was to go for a congressional veto. It took a couple of years, but for the first time in history a regulatory action was vetoed by Congress.
Our excitement didn’t last too long as a suit was filed claiming that the Legislative Branch of government, the Congress, could not veto an action by the Executive Branch. It was eventually appealed all the way to the Supreme Court where the congressional action was found unconstitutional. We may have lost the battle, but we won the war. The FTC could not implement the rule while it was on appeal, and by the time the Supreme Court ruled, President Reagan was in office. The Reagan FTC was more business-friendly, and we ended up with a window sticker like the ones proposed by NIADA and NADA.

Because this was such a precedent-setting challenge, NIADA got a lot of national attention from publications like The Wall Street Journal and New York  Times. My PR skills came in handy as I was interviewed on numerous occasions. We even had the president of NIADA on "The Today Show!"
My job was a mixture of both public relations and journalism.

AR: What was the industry like at that time?

Smith: Certainly these were changing times for the entire used-car industry. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that each element of the industry is driven by small business people who are really passionate about what they do. The used-car industry is a major segment of our economy that is really a major building block of the overall economy.

Most of the general public and politicians do not recognize the value of the used-car industry. It is three or four times larger than the new-car industry but has been always treated as a stepchild because it doesn’t have the glitz associated with a new car

I also came into the industry when there were a lot of fundamental changes taking place. Dealers are honest, fundamentally sound business people. And a lot more used cars today are sold by franchised dealers, which I believe has had a positive impact on the industry. Professional practices are so much better than they were 30 years ago. Today business is so much more robust and analytical; it’s really a science.

AR: But you didn’t stay at NIADA.

Smith: No I didn’t. After a few years, I just could not shake that entrepreneurial feeling. With permission of NIADA, I had been doing some PR work in my spare time. I decided to make the jump back into self-employment, so I pitched to NIADA the idea of doing their magazine on a contract basis instead of as an employee. That is how in 1982, I started the business we have today.

We continued our relationship with NIADA until 1990 when the association made the decision to employ their own magazine staff. It was the right decision as we had grown the publication from about 12 pages to more than 70 pages a month, and the association had moved from Raleigh to Texas. Oh, I also not only served as publisher of the magazine during those years, but also on several occasions as NIADA’s acting executive director when they were in between executive directors. 

AR: How did NIADA taking the magazine back in-house affect your business?

Smith: Well, it certainly had an impact but it provided an opportunity as well. I’m certain I would never have launched what is Auto Remarketing if we had continued with the association’s publication.

However, after a decade in the used-car industry, I thought I saw an opportunity because franchised dealers were more involved in their used-car business. We focused our magazine on the used-car operations of franchised dealerships and it remains so today. Of course, we have expanded to also include the highest grossing independent dealers.

AR: What was it like setting up your own magazine in the early 1990s?

Smith: I think most people go into a business venture over-enthused but under-capitalized. That was certainly true in my case. Add to that the fact that at that time most people in the industry thought of used cars only as something for independent dealers.

However, there were some fundamental changes taking place. There was a recession and the first Gulf war. Manufacturers introduced program cars through daily rental companies and then back to dealers through closed factory sales. Almost overnight, franchised dealers were into the used-car business big, not just keeping a few cream puffs around.

Our biggest barrier was that no one knew about us and did not realize the value of a publication focused solely on the remarketing marketplace. We sometimes would introduce ourselves from the magazine and people would ask, “What’s that?” (laughter)

I remember a friend of mine, Gene McDonald who founded Black Book, sitting down with me during those first few years. He asked, “Do you know what your five-year business plan should be?” Here was a guy that was a legend in the industry, so I hung on every word. He answered simply, “Be there.” That was the best advice I ever received because he knew that people would take us seriously if we lasted that long. Sure enough, after five or six years, we began to hit our stride.

I clearly remember the day that I first realized that we were not doing everything in a vacuum. Bill (Zadeits, publisher) and I were on a flight to the West Coast when a passenger several rows in front of me pulled out reading material that included the latest edition of Auto Remarketing. I felt then that we were making an impact. It felt good.

AR: The publishing company has also been involved in industry email newsletters.

Smith: One thing I have always said is that we are in the communications business, not the print publishing business. By that I mean our job is to communicate what is happening in the industry. We certainly do that in print, but around 2000, we started doing it electronically with the launch of Auto Remarketing Today, our first email newsletter. And that as much as anything help built the brand because we were getting our name out every business day and reporting on the top industry news. For the late-model used-car industry segment, we became the principal voice and this continues today.

AR: The company also branched out into conferences. Did you see this as a continuation of communications?

Smith: One of the things we believed in was to have industry talking with each other about the issues of the day. Our first conference in 1999 focused on certified vehicles, asking if CPO was a marketing strategy or a different type of used vehicle. Marv Ingram, of Toyota/Lexus and who had pushed the idea of CPO on a national basis, was the keynote speaker. I think the industry was moving quickly toward a CPO model, and our conference helped to bring more attention to it.

If you look at the industry today, there are three main segments, in my opinion — new car, CPO and used cars. Used cars are pre-owned vehicles that have not been certified and are primarily five years old and older. CPO vehicles meet a higher standard and are nearly always five model years and newer.  There may be no national standard for CPO, but if you look at OEMs and private programs, they all fit within certain parameters. I think consumers are recognizing the difference as well.

AR: How do you see your business today compared to when you first started?

Smith: Oh, there are major differences. When we first started, we were solely a print magazine. Today, we have three major segments that have matured over last few years.

First is Auto Remarketing print, which goes out to thousands of dealers and industry people twice per month. However, because of the publishing deadlines and the timing element, it is more of what happened in the past. It is not breaking news.

We then started producing Auto Remarketing Today to provide more up-to-date news. When we have a breaking news story, we can actually get it out in less than an hour. Our readers are looking to see what is going on today, almost like they are checking the weather. They see AR Today as a way to help plan their day.

The third leg is the conferences, and that is where we bring industry people together to talk about not only what is happening, but also to talk about what is going to happen in the future. Our conferences are built around people having time to do relationships and network.

Now we are offering more of a training segment with the Pre-Owned Automobile Dealers Alliance and the Auto Remarketing Training Webinars. We’re fitting the picture of not only reflecting the news, but being a conduit of communication.

AR: You mentioned one milestone (the dealer reading the publication on the plane), but were there others?

Smith: One day does come to mind. Back in September 2001, we were holding the iRemarketing Conference in Chicago when the terrorists struck. I remember walking up on stage and looking out at the approximately 150 people there, all with blank looks on their faces. We immediately shifted our attention from running the conference to working to get people home. Thank goodness for Enterprise Rent A Car, who had people attending, because they provided vehicles for our people to drive. Within just a few hours, we had everyone on the road so we packed up and left as well.

That event was also a turning point for us and the industry.  We had always had relatively small conferences prior to 9/11, but we decided to be bold, roll the dice so to speak. Because so many organizations were cancelling events, we saw an opening and were able to contract with the Bellagio in Las Vegas for what was later to become our National Remarketing Conference.

It was quite bold. We knew that if it didn’t work, we would have a tremendous financial liability. But it did work, and in February 2002 we had nearly 500 people attend with GM’s Jeff Heichel as the featured speaker. Now the NRC is one of the industry’s principal events. And of course that gave us a springboard for other conferences like Auto Remarketing Canada and the CPO Forum.

AR: So what do you see for the future of the industry?

Smith: I think the market today is undergoing another cycle change, primarily in a major restriction in supply, but that has only strengthened my admiration of dealers. Each dealer is different than the one right beside him. You can sell 10 new cars that are just alike … but 10 used cars are not. We tend to lump them together, but dealers today are very innovative. The industry is such that the faith and future is solid because of each individual person doing something different than someone else. That confidence in themselves, that rivalry, etc., makes sure it comes out alright. I think the industry will find its place. I think in two or three years we’ll be on the other side of the supply cycle. Dealers are survivors and adaptable, and they’ll do very well.

You’re seeing new technology all the time, but the process is not changing the end result. Maybe not in my lifetime, but if I were to parachute into the future, I think you will see centers that are not new or used, they are transportation stores. These transportation centers will be geared for the community they serve and may be more of a supermarket type model where you go in and buy what you need … new, used, certified, buy-here, pay-here and whatever. I think our industry is set for a very solid future.

AR: Now that you are stepping down as publisher, what are your plans?

Smith: I am most proud of our team and the confidence they give me about the future. Because of them, I can step away from daily involvement and know they share the same goals I have had for years. They will do a great job and grow our business beyond what I even imagine.

However, I am not retiring in the sense of stopping work. Oh, I plan to slow down some, but now I will be more involved in many of our other business ventures, such as the public relations company we have. Also, because I will not be publisher of the industry’s leading b2b publication, I look forward to the opportunity to have clients in the automotive field and not have the appearance of any conflicts.

AR: What do you like to do when not working?

Smith: That is hard to answer because I enjoy my job so much that I think of it as my hobby. I gave up golf years ago. I do like to read and be involved with church, and I am a member of the local Rotary club.

But I would probably say my two favorite pastimes are spending quality time with my granddaughter Stella and being at our cabin in the mountains. And when I can combine both, even better.

Ron Smith is the founder of Auto Remarketing and publisher emeritus of the publication.