Once again, my heart is heavy as I write this column. On the heels of the news of the death of Sergio Marchionne, I learned that automotive journalist extraordinaire and good friend Warren Brown had also died.
I met Warren sometime around 1999 when I was living in Shanghai. He was in town for a Michelin event. We have been friends ever since. As many have said, Warren was always willing to tell it like it was. But something I haven’t read in the many tributes, and was one of the many traits that endeared Warren to me, was his total belief in and support for women. I can’t cite a specific incident to illustrate that, but it was always clear to me that Warren was a man who enjoyed being around women and fully backed us in all our endeavors. And we loved him. He will be sorely missed.
On to this week’s issue. Both our columns this week address questions I don’t believe we have ever discussed, surprisingly. First, Scali Rasmussen takes on the question of how to deal with a dealership’s loaner fleet in a buy sell. These are often very lightly-used new cars. So how to value them?
As a journalist, I am a story teller. So I could relate to this week’s column by Key Private Bank on the importance of a dealer principal recording his or her story. It is an important legacy step, not only passing on knowledge but also potentially preventing disagreements down the road. Read more in this issue.
And of course we have Transaction News.
Enjoy!
