Inside dealers’ new normal

The pandemic caused a shift in the auto industry driven by digitization, online transactions, and new consumer expectations that some automotive dealers believe is here to stay. Since March 2020, the question “When will we go back to normal?” has transformed into “How will we adapt?” Ricart Automotive President Rick Ricart told Auto Finance News , noting, “We’re never going back to normal.” Groveport, Ohio-based Ricart Automotive is a 67-acre new- and used-car dealership selling Ford, Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi and Nissan cars. Aggressive buying from lenders, low incentives and low inventory were never expected to last but, more than a year and a half later, dealers, lenders and manufacturers are no longer working to get back to pre-pandemic operations and have adopted new practices instead. Dealers, for example, are looking to different avenues for used inventory, Ricart said. “You’re definitely seeing more online dealer to dealer sales, and more and more are using online auction systems,” he said. Meanwhile, lenders continue to buy deep and expand their portfolios as cash stays high in the marketplace and vehicle values remain elevated, Ricart said. “The banks are smart enough to notice that there’s really no cliff on our horizon,” he said. In the new-vehicle market, manufacturers, like Ford Motor Co. , General Motors and Hyundai Motor America, are offering more build-to-order options to appeal to consumers who have developed an interest in online purchasing. Hyundai, for example, has streamlined its build-to-order process through simplifying the customer experience by offering fewer vehicle options, Ricart said. “From an order standpoint, it makes it easy, you pick a level, pick from three packages and pick a color,” he said. The auto industry continues to show flexibility as the market appears to hold steady, Ricart said. “As far as our new normal, we’re already there and further predictions should be based on the new world we live in,” he said.

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