Research firm AlixPartner this week released a report looking at, among other things, vehicle connectivity, shared mobility, and autonomous vehicles. Among its conclusions: Automakers are slow to respond to the seeming desire of consumers to have an iPhone-like user interface in their car; the large number of entrants in the autonomous vehicle space mean some will fail but the price for the technology will come down fast; and consumers are already forgetting about ride-sharing companies such as Zipcar but are using ride hailing companies such as Lyft and Uber and will continue to do so.
What does all this mean for dealers? That the automotive retail space will change, and probably faster than many expect it to. aftermarketNews quoted John Hoffecker, global vice chairman of AlixPartners, as saying, “There’s an all-new automotive ecosystem developing, and I fear that many players aren’t prepared for it.”
This week, Oren Tasini takes on that very topic in his column. Dealers have the opportunity to make money from some of these new technologies, he says. But many are afraid to invest in new technology because there are so many choices and they don’t want to be stuck with the BetaMax of customer service software.
Florida recently passed a law that prohibits manufacturers from requiring dealers to invest in a new facility image program for a decade after doing a makeover. Florida is not the first state to pass such legislation. That got me wondering what that kind of law means for dealership valuations. I talked to some industry experts and write about it in this issue.
Last but never least, we have Transaction News.
Enjoy!
