Consumers want a car-purchase process that is seamless, streamlined and limits their in-dealership transaction time to an hour or less.
That means allowing consumers to compare interest rates, electronically sign credit applications and other documents and shop for finance and insurance products all on a dealership’s website before stepping foot into the dealership.
OK, so the industry isn’t completely there yet — but some financial technology is.
That was the general consensus of financial industry experts, technology providers and other big thinkers, who gathered for Used Car Week in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 12-16.
“We’ve defined the problem quite well; consumers want the information; they want a fast transaction; they want to have it all arranged before they get into the dealership, but I don’t think we’ve totally solved for that,” said Andrew Stuart, president and CEO at TD Auto Finance, during a sideline interview at the conference.
In its search for solutions, TD Auto Finance has been in talks with a number of financial technology startups and struck a deal to become a preferred lender with AutoGravity, a digital vehicle-shopping and financing platform, Stuart said.
“As lenders we’re going to have to make a number of small bets with some of these fintechs that are trying to solve for what consumers want,” he said.
“There are a lot of companies nibbling around the edges trying to figure it out. With enough attention and focus it will get solved.”
Seeking solutions
Also seeking solutions is Cox Automotive.
Take consumer credit applications, for example.
Andy Mayers, Cox Automotive lender solutions strategist, said credit application information is typically gathered from consumers and then entered into dealership computers by dealership F&I managers.
But credit applications submitted on dealers’ websites by consumers using Cox Automotive’s Accelerate digital retailing platform saves time, even if it would have taken an employee just five minutes to enter the information, he contends.
“If you sell 100 cars a month, that’s 500 minutes you just saved by having a consumer enter that data,” Mayers said, during an interview.
“It’s incremental. For an F&I manager, for a dealer, time is money. The more they’re doing administrative things, the less time they are selling.”
Mayers also said dealers are open to giving consumers more information about F&I products online, but worry that F&I sales, a major profit source for dealers, will suffer and consumers will miss out on valuable products.
“If you talk to dealers, some are afraid that consumers will opt out of buying things, such as service contracts and (guaranteed asset protection) products,” Mayers said. “Service contracts can be a valuable tool for a consumer to cover their expenses for costly maintenance.”
To bridge the consumer’s online and in-dealership experience, Cox Automotive’s Dealertrack created uniFI, a dealer-facing software platform that integrates with Accelerate, Mayers said.
As an open platform, uniFI can facilitate the entire car-buying journey of credit, contracts and aftermarket sales, he said.
Though much of the vehicle purchase process, such as trade-in appraisal, test drives and vehicle registration and titling paperwork, are typically conducted at a dealership, “technology is getting there,” when it comes to allowing consumers to do it themselves online, Mayers added.
F&I on dealers’ website
Tammy Linkfield, senior vice president, central region, at Ally Financial, said consumers shop, research and gather information about vehicle purchases online, but “at the end of the day they come back to the traditional automotive dealer.”
“We continue to work with dealers and helping them to have a spot for F&I on their websites and things of that nature to improve that experience,” said Linkfield during the panel discussion: “Auto Fin Executive Roundtable: The Next Steps for the Industry.”
Also on that panel was Jim Money, president of Automotive Finance Corp., who said taking advantage of things such as artificial intelligence and mobile apps “take the mundane out of the process” and help streamline the wholesale vehicle buying and selling for dealers.
“Mobile technology is extremely important,” he said. “It allows the dealer to buy and sell (used vehicles) and pay down and gather information on their accounts.
“Dealers are looking for ways to source their inventory. There are traditional brick-and-mortar (auctions), but virtual lanes are becoming much more important.”
Fintech’s impact is 'dramatic'
Fintech was a hot topic among auto finance executives during a panel discussion that honored them as leading Women in Auto Finance.
Katherine Adkins, Toyota Financial Services group vice president, general counsel and secretary, said fintech is dramatically changing auto finance.
She said companies that don’t adapt and grow risk being among the “Kodaks of the world,” referencing the once-dominate camera company’s near-death experience resulting from its failure to switch its photographic technology from film and paper to digital.
Adkins also cautioned that financial technology is way ahead of regulation, which could eventually present problems.
“The rules aren’t written yet and the business wants to go there. So how do you facilitate them going there without setting up a situation where you end up hurting yourselves?” she said.
More technology, more legal and compliance issues
Panelist Sharon Mancero, senior vice president, Wells Fargo Preferred Capital, predicts that technology will be at the forefront of career opportunities available in auto finance, but agreed that more technology will create more legal and compliance issues.
“The more we lead with technology, the more we go ‘ooh, nobody ever thought about; what do we do with all this data?’ she said.
“It’s all consumer data. There are privacy and regulatory issues. Where do you store it? How do you use it? When not to use it? Legal and regulatory is a big area that we need to continue to pay a lot of attention to.”
Georgine Muntz, board of directors member, defi SOLUTIONS, a provider of loan origination software, said the industry is being challenged by a lack of agility and outdated technology.
She said when an online used-car retailer such as Carvana — which allows consumers to find, finance and arrange delivery of a used vehicle online without stepping into a dealership — can be created and go public “faster than a traditional lender can change out a core system, you have to think there is a problem.”
The industry must become nimble and take advantage of the new technologies for payments and electronic documents, said Muntz, who was also a Women in Auto Finance panelist.
“These are the things we have to take a hard look at and find ways through legal and compliance to allow for these changes to happen,” she added.
As a master impressionist and a man of many characters from his “Saturday Night Live” days and beyond, Dana Carvey, one of the keynote speakers at NADA Show 2019, has had to wear many hats, so to speak.
So too does the franchised car dealer.
Just as Carvey’s repertoire has ranged from characters like “Garth Algar” and “The Church Lady” to impressions of Ross Perot, Johnny Carson and everyone in between, dealerships must navigate a slew of fields from finance, service and repair, reputation management, online retail, social media and, of course, the selling of new and used vehicles.
While perhaps Carvey may have a few impressions and characters in store for his speech at the show, NADA also has workshops and sessions lined up at its annual convention, set for Jan 24-27 in San Francisco, to help dealers work through the many roles they play.
Part of that will be through a new feature at NADA Show 2019: a preview of the NADA Professional Series, the association’s new dealership management training program.
The preview will be conducted through inventory management sessions in four different areas of a dealership:
■ NADA Professional Series: Office Managers
Protecting Your Dealership’s Biggest Assets
■ NADA Professional Series: Sales Managers
Managing Millions in Vehicle Inventory
■ NADA Professional Series: Service Managers
Maximizing Your Daily Disappearing Inventory
■ NADA Professional Series: Parts Managers
Stopping Parts Obsolescence Before It Starts
“Attendees will see first-hand why dealership managers are looking to this program to supercharge their careers,” NADA said on its convention website.
“These special workshop sessions will demonstrate how NADA educates the next level of dealership department managers and equips them with the tools they need to advance both their careers and their respective dealerships in the ever-changing automotive industry,” the association said. “NADA Academy Instructor Georgia Munson will provide an in-depth look at this program, where dealership managers will learn to improve departmental profitability and gain the confidence to secure leadership roles in the departments they choose.”
Education at NADA Show 2019
Overall, the NADA Show’s educational endeavors are divided into four areas, according to the event’s website:
• Workshops on pressing topics in the industry
• A Super Session designed to be “network-oriented.” This year’s will include leaders from Twitter, Google, Facebook and UnityWorks Media, who will discuss “Disrupting Your Market with Google, Facebook and Twitter.”
• An Exchange series of peer-to-peer roundtable sessions
• A Distinguished Speaker Series
With this being a publication that leans towards the pre-owned side of the market, here are a few of the used-car sessions at NADA Show 2019:
Workshops:
• Leadership Skills and Used-Car Strategies for Champions with Tommy Gibbs of Tommy Gibbs & Associates
• Make Pre-owned Great Again with Randy Barone of Pearl Technology Holdings
• More info: https://show.nada.org/2019/Workshop-Schedule/
Exchange Sessions:
• Increase Used-Vehicle Sales
• Used-Car Strategies, from Acquisition to Increased Turn Rates
• More info: https://show.nada.org/2019/Exchange
Distinguished & keynote speakers
Meanwhile, the Distinguished Speaker Series will include:
• Carey Lohrenz, the first female F-14 fighter pilot in the Navy
• Alan Haig of Haig Partners and Dale Pollak of vAuto/Cox Automotive
• Mark King, executive emeritus at Adidas
• Rick Rigsby of Rick Rigsby Communications
• Bill Rancic, entrepreneur, first winner of “The Apprentice” on NBC, author
In addition to Carvey, keynote speakers include:
• Kat Cole of FOCUS Brands North America
• Air Force Maj. Dan Rooney
• 2018 NADA Chairman Wesley Lutz
• 2019 NADA Chairman Charles Gilchrist
When the 2019 leadership of the National Automobile Dealers Association was announced in October, incoming chairman Charlie Gilchrist said in a news release that dealers “are facing many challenges, but we will also have many opportunities as we journey throughout the year.”
Topping that list of challenges, Gilchrist said in an emailed Q&A with Auto Remarketing, is the struggle around new-vehicle affordability.
“It’s a huge issue. And we as an industry need to work on keeping these vehicles affordable for our customers. Affordability is everything for our customers, and so it will be a big part of everything we do at NADA,” Gilchrist said, as he prepares to take the helm of the association, which hosts its NADA Show 2019 convention this week in San Francisco.
Gilchrist, of Texas-based Gilchrist Automotive, was the 2018 vice chairman of NADA. Chosen be the vice chairman for next year is Rhett Ricart, of Ohio’s Ricart Automotive Group.
Asked what targets he would like NADA and the franchised dealer community to focus on in 2019, Gilchrist said: “The main thing that I want to do as chairman is to get every dealer involved in NADA.
“I want every dealer to know what NADA does for them every day, and I’m going to challenge every dealer to get involved,” he said. “And I want those dealers to challenge NADA, as well, because we’re all in this together.”
Other tasks top of mind, too
Of course, the challenges — and subsequent opportunities — don’t end with new-car affordability.
“We’re also facing a critical shortage of service technicians in the auto retail industry. We have to find the best people for every position in our dealerships, but we don’t have nearly enough service technicians now, let alone in the coming years when tens of thousands more will be retiring,” Gilchrist said in the Q&A, after his point on affordability.
“That is an enormous challenge, and we’ll be talking much more about that at the 2019 show and in the months ahead. Our workforce is our absolute best asset, but it’s aging, and we have to recruit, train and retain the best people if we want to continue providing our customers with the best experience,” he said.
“And we’re going to continue to be challenged to figure out the best way to embrace technology in the retail process, but I think that by doing so we’ll be able to speed up the retail process and earn us even more trust with our customers.”
Regarding the latter point on tech, some dealers and dealer groups have partnered with and/or invested in some of the tech-driven companies aiming to change the retail model.
For instance, AutoNation was the lead investor in an $146 million funding round for online car retailer Vroom, which officially announced the Series G round in December. AutoNation had announced its piece of the investment in late October, saying it obtained roughly a 7-percent ownership stake in Vroom after a $50 million strategic investment in the online car retailer.
With its $54 million investment, Lithia led the $140 million round of Series D financing in online marketplace Shift that was announced in September. Lithia and Shift also formed a strategic partnership, and Lithia president and chief executive Bryan DeBoer joined Shift’s board of directors. In October, Lithia said it had acquired more equity interest in the online marketplace.
In the vehicle subscription space, AutoNation announced a partnership in November with used-car subscription provider Fair to potentially provide the dealer group’s customers “an alternative to traditional ownership” and drive used-car velocity. Elsewhere, the list of dealers working with subscription service providers is quite extensive.
So, what is driving the decisions by the groups to work with these tech-driven companies aiming to change retail?
“Every dealer needs to be more creative to run more profitable businesses next year and in the years to come, because the margin compression in our new-vehicle departments is a serious issue. I don’t know the exact right way to do it, and I don’t know if anybody knows,” Gilchrist said. “I don’t know if subscriptions are the answer. But all of us are looking for avenues to keep our businesses strong and healthy, and provide the best customer experience we can at the same time.”
But like his predecessor, 2018 NADA chair Wes Lutz, Gilchrist also urges caution and thoughtfulness around some of the discussion of certain topics in mobility and vehicle tech.
Asking the right questions
In a speech to the Automotive Press Association in October, Lutz, while emphasizing his fondness for auto reporters, urged them to challenge some of the specific “narratives” around mobility and the supposed “end” of personal car ownership.
“I get it. You can’t go to an automotive or a tech conference these days without hearing about the end of personal vehicle ownership,” Lutz said in the remarks later provided by NADA and summarized in a news release.
“But I’m asking you: Question the hype, ask for proof, and find out what they’re not telling you. The future will work itself out regardless. I just want us to be informed in the meantime.”
So, Auto Remarketing posed this one to Gilchrist: What are some of the narratives that he would ask media folks like us to question?
“Absolutely. There are three main media narratives right now regarding the future of our industry that might sound right, but that in reality are built on false or unproven pretenses, and those are: that ride-hailing will replace personal vehicle ownership; that self-driving vehicles will be immeasurably safer than human drivers; and that dealers are reluctant to sell electric vehicles,” Gilchrist said.
“For example, the idea that ride-hailing will replace personal vehicle ownership has always been built on the premise that it’s a cheaper alternative to owning your own car or truck. At least that was always what we were told by proponents of ride-hailing and these companies themselves,” he said.
“But last year, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a study finding that the cost of relying on ride-hailing services as a primary mode of transportation in 20 of the biggest metro areas in the U.S. was, at minimum, more than twice as much as the cost of owning a personal vehicle. That statistic should be front and center in this conversation,” Gilchrist said.
“Similarly, the argument that self-driving vehicles will be safer than humans is built on the premise that humans aren’t good drivers. But there are 90 million miles driven in the U.S. for every motor vehicle death,” he continued.
“That’s 342 years of driving — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year — between traffic deaths. Humans are in fact phenomenal drivers,” Gilchrist said.
“So, the questions automotive reporters should be asking regulators, safety advocates and automakers right now are: What technologies are coming online in the next few years that will reduce driving fatalities, and that don’t require removing brake pedals and steering wheels, or humans, from vehicles?”
On used cars
Elsewhere in the Q&A, we touched on the pre-owned side of the market, where Gilchrist said he believes the momentum will remain.
“I think it’s going to be a more competitive business. As you see more dealers concentrating on used cars, then obviously it’s going to be a harder business for each dealer,” he said. “But we have the ability to expand and get better at it. Because it’s a huge market, and we probably don’t capture the share of that market that we should. So, I think it’s a natural place for dealers to turn to.”
Many publicly traded dealer groups are putting a big emphasis on used cars, including standalone used-car stores. Certified pre-owned sales, for instance, continue to be a strong resource for car dealers.
“I think all dealers, because of the margins in the new-vehicle departments depressing, are searching for additional revenue sources,” Gilchrist said.
“And obviously, used cars would be one of the areas to turn to,” he said. “The challenge is going to be figuring out how to increase the amount of used cars overall that are sold by franchised dealers.”
Holman Automotive has added a Jaguar franchise to its existing Land Rover San Diego facility, selling and servicing new and pre-owned Jaguar vehicles.
In other dealer news, Chapman Volkswagen in Philadelphia has created a new blog to help customers learn more about the latest Volkswagen models and local events.
Starting with the news at Holman, Brian Bates, president and chief executive officer, Holman Consumer Services, said in a news release that his company has represented the Land Rover brand at its dealerships in San Diego and Denver for many years and that he believes the addition of Jaguar to the San Diego location “will further strengthen this world-class retail facility.”
Land Rover San Diego is now operating as an authorized Jaguar dealership and is currently in the process of transitioning all Jaguar sales and service operations to its facility at 9455 Clayton Drive, San Diego. With the addition of Jaguar to its Land Rover San Diego location, Holman Automotive now includes 37 dealership franchises representing 18 brands from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest.
Tassos Panas, vice president of network development, Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC, said in a news release that he was “excited that the Holman Automotive team will be building a brand new ARCH facility that will showcase both brands and service customers in a new state-of-the-art retail environment, expected to open early next year.”
Jaguar Land Rover notes that it has engaged in an “aggressive product expansion” throughout the United States, including Land Rover’s return of its Defender model to the U.S. market. For Jaguar, its 2018 expansion includes the E-PACE compact performance crossover along with the brand’s first-ever, all-electric, mid-size performance SUV, the I-PACE.
VW dealer launches educational blog
In additional dealer news in Philadelphia, Chapman Volkswagen has created a new blog that features several articles detailing the standard and available features of the available models at the dealership as well as other important information that drivers may also enjoy.
Articles have covered models such as the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta and the 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. In addition to links and images to show drivers what the vehicles look on the outside as well as on the inside, the posts also include details on local events.
The blog posts also offer information about the dealership’s inventory, service department and other services. Those interested in the blog can go to chapmansvw.com and visit the “About Us” section.
Car buyers are doing more advance research than ever. Because of that, they often know more about the dealership than the dealership knows about them. Connect Automotive Intelligence is a new product that VinSolutions believes will close that gap.
VinSolutions notes in a press release that Connect Automotive Intelligence will help dealers better act on customer engagement and data. The tools will analyze customer communications and behaviors to help dealers find the best opportunities to deliver a more personalized experience.
VinSolutions, currently in the pilot phase, includes three new artificial intelligence-enabled tools for Connect CRM, which is a dealership customer relationship management system:
1. Engagement strength, which measures a salesperson’s interactions with an existing prospect or customer. By tracking a salesperson’s customer interaction frequency, the tool highlights engagement trends and helps managers better visualize how a salesperson is performing in the CRM.
2. Sentiment analysis, which uses artificial intelligence to determine customer sentiment and intent by analyzing text messages and emails. This analysis helps identify revenue opportunities and highlight the customer interactions that will build satisfaction.
3. Buying Signals, which captures and analyzes shoppers’ online behaviors and distills them to predict shopping personas, shopping preferences and the sense of urgency. Rather than leads coming into the CRM without any context of the prior online shopping behavior, this new enhancement uses known online traffic to increase speed of sale and build trust with the shopper.
“Modern businesses today excel by being more consumer-facing,” Kevin Frye, eCommerce director, Jeff Wyler Automotive Family, said in a press release. “For us, personalizing each customer experience is a high priority. Connect Automotive Intelligence will allow us to deliver a more consumer-facing journey with timely, relevant and personalized communications.”
For new technologies like artificial intelligence to be most effective, VINSolutions says technology integrations must also take place. As part of Cox Automotive, Connect Automotive Intelligence works with products from its sister companies, including Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, vAuto, Dealer.com and Xtime, to streamline workflows, reduce duplicate data entry and ensure dealers get more value from their software investments. Those integrations, which help improve personalization across the entire consumer lifecycle, will also be filtered through these artificial intelligence-enabled enhancements to bring the most opportunity out of the marketplace for dealers.
Connect Automotive Intelligence will be available to view at the NADA convention later this month in San Francisco.
Jaguar St. Petersburg and Land Rover St. Petersburg is the newest member of the Crown Automotive Group, and the newly constructed, 19,000-square-foot building includes various new design features.
The dealer group noted the grand opening of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based dealership will be the first Jaguar Land Rover “Arch” architectural design used in Florida. The arch is a worldwide design used to express the advanced technology of these brands.
The new dealership was scheduled to open its doors on Tuesday and features 11,500 square feet of new construction, a showroom with 16-foot-high ceilings, and 100-percent LED lighting.
The new home for Jaguar St. Petersburg and Land Rover St. Petersburg also is one of the first buildings to have a hurricane-resistant, seamless glass system with exterior glazing — which the group noted is designed for a “luxuriously open feel” while withstanding Florida’s often inclement weather.
“We are extremely excited to have such iconic British brands added to our lineup. Especially one which compliments Jaguar, a marque we have represented since 1976,” Jim Myers, president and chief operating officer of Crown Automotive Group, said in a news release.
The grand opening of Jaguar St. Petersburg and Land Rover St. Petersburg also featured a service reception area and a fully air-conditioned service shop.
More than 3,000 square feet of the service area, including the shop, includes all-new equipment for its certified technicians. Also, three new service lanes with quick-check capabilities have been installed.
The company notes that the lanes increase the speed and information gained from service by using laser sensors and cameras to check wheel alignment, tread and other readings in seconds.
“Our goal is to make our customers’ experience very memorable every time we have the pleasure of interacting; thus showing why we are the truly the better way to buy,” said Michal Niezbecki, general manager of Jaguar and Land Rover of St. Petersburg.
Florida-based Ed Morse Automotive Group has spread its reach to Texas and acquired dealerships in Dallas from Roundtree Automotive Group.
These new dealerships are:
- Freedom Chevrolet by Ed Morse, located at 8008 Marvin D Love Freeway
- Freedom Buick GMC by Ed Morse, located at 3837 W. Wheatland Road
- Freedom Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram by Ed Morse, located at 815 E. Camp Wisdom Road.
“It’s tremendously exciting to be expanding outside of Florida, which has been our home for over 70 years. Dallas is a market that we’ve coveted for a long time and look forward to establishing our trusted family name in such an important region,” Teddy Morse, chairman and chief executive officer of Ed Morse Automotive Group, said in a news release.
The Ed Morse Automotive Group has been in the automotive business since 1946 and is headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla. It has been family owned for more than 70 years. The acquisition will add more than 260 employees to its 900-plus employee base, growing its locations to 16 dealership locations, 22 franchises and 13 automotive brands.
“Dallas is a great car market, and these dealerships were well run,” Morse said. “We are looking not only to continue these dealerships’ history of great deals and outstanding customer service, but to make significant capital improvements. We also look forward to supporting the local community with job growth and giving back to local non-profits.”
The Dave Cantin Group (DCG) sought to become the fastest-growing and largest automotive mergers and acquisitions firm in the United States during 2018.
And DCG believes it delivered on that vision based on the results the company reported this week.
DCG completed 2018 with 39 acquisition listings valued at more than $1.5 billion. The listings cover more than 18 automotive brands, including Audi, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover and Infiniti.
“Our experienced management team has worked tirelessly over the last 12 months to make DCG the top M&A firm serving auto dealers in the country,” said Dave Cantin, DCG’s founder and chief executive officer. “Their efforts have positioned DCG as the industry’s go-to mergers and acquisitions firm.”
Cantin said that DCG’s 2019 goals include offering more than 50 acquisition listings with a valuation of more than $2 billion. The company is expanding its team in 2019, seeking to add additional M&A experts in all five regional offices and its headquarters in New York, to handle the volume of activity and interest in working with DCG.
Cantin’s company currently offers a broad range of professional services, including the management of:
—Simple buy/sell acquisitions
—Multi-dealership acquisitions
—Private equity transactions
—Employee buy-ins
—Minority investor programs
—Succession planning
DCG will exhibit at the upcoming National Automobile Dealers Association Show beginning on Jan. 25 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The firm’s space will be at No. 7553W, located in the center’s West Hall on Level 2.
Sheehy Auto Stores has announced donations of $135,000 among 19 charities throughout the communities they serve in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, Va. The donations are part of Sheehy’s Annual Giving Program whereby each dealership partners with local non-profit organizations.
“Sheehy Auto Stores is pleased to continue our annual end of the year giving campaign that supports a variety of community causes,” Sheehy Auto Stores president Vince Sheehy said in a news release. “Our employees and family of dealerships do much throughout the year in donating time and money for many charities in the areas we serve, and we are proud to support these on-going efforts.”
In the Washington, D.C. area, $55,000 was donated to charities including:
- Ecumenical Community Helping Others ($5,000)
- Fauquier F.I.S.H. ($5,000)
- Gaithersburg HELP ($7,500)
- Good Shepherd Catholic Church ($5,000)
- The Good Shepherd Housing ($7,500)
- The Lamb Center ($2,500)
- Ronald McDonald House Charites of Greater Washington, DC ($5,000)
- Smashing Walnuts Foundation ($5,000)
- The. St. Lucy Project/Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington ($7,500)
- United Communities Against Poverty ($5,000)
Non-profit organizations in Baltimore, Maryland that received $57,500 included:
- The Arnold House ($5,000)
- Arundel House of Hope ($5,000)
- Charles County Children's Aid Society ($5,000)
- The McArdle School for Early Autism Intervention ($7,500)
- Mosaic Community Services ($5,000)
- Naval Academy Athletic Association ($30,000)
In the Richmond, Va. market, $22,500 was distributed to:
- ACES ($3,750)
- Circles Ashland ($3,750)
- Mercy Mall of Virginia ($15,000)
[Updated to correct timing of shift mentioned in first paragraph from Tuesday to Monday.]
AutoNation chief operating officer Lance Iserman and chief technology officer Tom Conophy will be leaving the company effective Monday as part of an operational structure reorganization announced by the retailer, a restructuring that involves several executives departing the company and a change in its regional structure.
As part of the realignment, Donna Parlapiano — who is the executive vice president of franchise network, mergers and acquisition, and corporate real estate — chose to retire effective Jan. 3.
Chief human resources officer Dennis Berger will leave AutoNation on Jan. 31 after assisting in the transition.
In a news release, AutoNation chief executive Mike Jackson said: “We believe automotive retail will be challenging in 2019 and improving our performance, creating synergies across our network, and restructuring our corporate and regional teams are pivotal components of AutoNation's cost savings plan, as we create a more agile, streamlined, and efficient core business that is well-positioned for long-term success.
“These actions will better position us for a changing market,” Jackson said.
He later added: “We want to thank Lance, Tom, and Donna for their years of service and contributions to the company. Realigning, combining, and reducing positions improves efficiencies, speeds up decision making, and reinforces our commitment to providing a peerless customer experience.”
Jackson added: “We would like to thank Dennis for the skill, leadership, and passion he brought to the company.”
AutoNation believes the restructuring will cut costs by about $50 million annually and fosters the retailer’s “flexibility to continue investing in its brand extension and digital capabilities.”
The reorganization also includes a consolidation of AutoNation’s regional structure from three regions to two. In conjunction with the reorganization, AutoNation named James Bender its executive vice president of sales, a move that was effective Tuesday.
Bender, who was been with AutoNation for more than 20 years, was most recently the Eastern region vice president.
“Jim is an exceptional and respected leader, with tremendous success. He will lead all aspects of the variable sales operations,” Jackson said.
