Pub. 14 2024 Issue 3

In the auto industry, there is a gap between the number of women in leadership and those who buy cars. Maintaining that discrepancy is risky because it shows a lack of innovation when serving the market.

As a dealership Principal, the questions of if and when to sell require significant consideration. After all, when it comes to a legacy into which you’ve likely poured a sizable amount of sweat equity, it’s important to ensure that any potential transition reflects the value of the asset you’ve built.

We welcomed the recent court ruling upholding the stronger consumer protections that Illinois lawmakers enacted to require automakers to properly fund warranty repair services provided by trained, experienced technicians at auto dealerships.

Finding great employees is tough. One of the first things we look for when hiring people is whether or not they have the skills to do the job. Although skills are extremely important, they may not be the first thing to look for when filling a specific position in the dealership. There are some positions that require some previous experience, but these skills may not lead to the experience we are trying to create for our customers.

Dealerships in Illinois and throughout the nation were recently impacted by the cybersecurity incident of third-party service provider, CDK Global, bringing dealership operations to a halt for a time — with aftershocks of that attack still looming weeks later.1 Affected dealerships adapted to the incident by resorting to pen and paper, as opposed to relying on their DMS systems, for so many aspects of their automotive businesses.