While recent years have marked great progress in EV sales growth in the US, virtually all of these sales have been in luxury and premium luxury segments, and, as Mary Bara has said 98% of those who purchased EVs owned, on average, two other vehicles. Clearly, it will take new finance methods, pricing, and mobility options to get entry-level EVs into “mainstream” hands, to overcome higher prices and buyer hesitancy. This “Fireside Chat” discussion will explore many of these emerging ways to accelerate the growth of EV sales, with innovators in the forefront leading the way in EV subscriptions, EV retail finance, and EV consumer information, education, and experiential support services. All ushering in a new era in “EVs for Everyone, Everywhere.”
Key Takeaways:
- Present an overview of how the entire EV ecosystem – OEMs, dealers, finance organizations and technology vendors, can work together, to maximize the impact of federal and state EV new and used vehicle financial incentives to profitably expand EV sales beyond the affluent luxury buyer, to the higher volume mainstream automotive consumer
- Define the areas of change – vehicle subscriptions, new fintech and finance innovations, and direct consumer education and experiential innovations – in automotive EV retailing that will usher in and enable “mainstream” vehicle buyers to drive and own EVs in the near future.
- Review the ways in which dealer retailers and remarketers can best leverage these new innovations, combined with their infrastructure and expertise, to sell more EVs to mainstream buyers today and scale sales rapidly as more moderately priced EV vehicles are introduced by manufacturers
A culture-wide shift towards a digitized retail environment has been steadily building over the past decade, and now, most people begin or complete the automotive buying process online. These changing expectations have created ripple effects, which put pressure on dealerships to adapt.
As customers crave more convenience than ever, dealers that evolve to meet customers where they are will win. Long-term success now depends not only on selling vehicles online, but also on how willing you are to bring your service business directly to the customer on their terms. The best step forward goes beyond retail and enters the next phase of digital transformation: digital servicing.
Key Takeaways:
- Detail the road from digital retailing to the emerging trend of digital servicing.
- Analyze the differences between valet and mobile services, from adoption rates to successes and setbacks.
- Explore the early results from dealerships and OEMs that have embraced convenience and expanded service bays with remote experiences.
Whether it’s in the retail, remarketing or finance segments, capital investment has ramped up in the auto industry. Same goes for M&A activity, as buy-sell moves increase among dealers, auto auctions and their vendors.
This session will explore the reasons behind this growth and what areas are ripe for additional moves.
Along with observations about what’s happening with respect to wholesale prices and volume, these four executives from a variety of consignors will share perspectives about how technology has impacted operations within their own businesses as well as the entire industry.
Learn how global auto manufacturers, lenders, retailers, suppliers, trade associations and government bodies are working together to cost effectively enable seamless and secure business processes while safeguarding sensitive business and consumer data with blockchain solutions. MOBI, a non-profit smart mobility consortium, has created industry standards to accelerate adoption of zero trust Web3 standards and solutions for connected ecosystems and IoT commerce. The session will review multiple possibilities for blockchain applications in the auto industry and will cover two use cases, floorplan audits and title administration.
Analysts and economists share insights on the state of the economy and its impact to the retail, remarketing and finance segments of automotive. The discussion will include analysis of macro-economic trends, in addition to automotive-specific data around supply, prices, sales/volume and more.
Transportation is a simple concept that seems to have become more complex to execute as new technologies and companies enter the space. How did that happen? Technology simplifies things and makes our lives easier right? Let’s discuss how transportation really works, what’s behind the curtain? Who is really booking the orders, who is moving the units? Is it the same entity a different entity a third entity? We will explore all of these aspects of the industry and familiarize the audience with the key components that they should be aware of while setting up a transportation solution. Throughout this discussion we will include key pointers on money well spent and money better saved.
Key Takeaways:
- At the conclusion of this session attendees will have a clear understanding of all of the different layers of transportation technologies and services and the value (or lack of value) that they bring to the overall transportation process.
- Participants should understand where their transportation dollars are being spent and how to most effectively transport units, (effectively, NOT necessarily cost effectively, as attendees will learn, spending more could cost less!
- Pitfalls to avoid that can put you at risk for insurance coverage issues and performance and accountability issues, learn who REALLY covers your insurance and who is really going to tell you “where’s my car”
Led by Steve Greenfield of Automotive Ventures, this panel features some of this year’s Emerging 8 honorees, reviewing how they’ve overcome challenges to position themselves for growth.
As cloud computing and storage have become more affordable, dealer groups are starting projects to unify their customer data using a CDP to create bespoke customer experiences, deliver one-to-one messaging, and improve marketing effectiveness. With dozens of companies involved in identity resolution, data hygiene, data management, and those offering marketing automation platforms (MAP) it is not easy for dealer groups to pick the best partners. This session will create a framework for mangers which will simply the shopping process and create a clear path forward.
Key Takeaways:
- Understand the complexities of identity and entity management
- Differentiate automotive CDP and MAP vendors to better match the needs of dealers
- Visualize a new world where marketing campaign can be more personalized and effective.
