The alliance between VW and Ford, announced this week, is good news for both brands’ dealerships. Why? Because it should help both firms be more financially sound in the long-term. The initial cooperation will allow Ford to achieve even greater economies of scale with its mid-sized pickup platform, helping keep costs down. Dealers selling Ford’s Transit van should benefit from cost savings as VW takes the lead in developing the next generation, which will share architecture with a VW van of the same size.
In the longer term, the partnership should prove crucial for both automakers in the area of electrification, which is costly to develop and faces uncertain demand, but is necessary to meet ever-stiffer emissions requirements in Europe and the U.S. To be sure, the benefits to Ford and VW dealers are as yet a bit hazy. But they should manifest themselves in the future.
On to this week’s issue, where our first story is a profile of Del Grande Dealership Group in Northern California. DGDG’s president, Jeremy Beaver, talked to ABSR about a wide range of topics. Its approach to talent acquisition and retention was especially interesting to me. Read more about that and other aspects of the expanding group’s operations this week.
Also this week, Michael Issa returns with a look at the industry numbers that suggest now may be a good time to consider selling.
And of course we have Transaction News.
Enjoy!
