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S4E18 - Consumer Buying Trends Dealers Need To Know
S4E18 - Consumer Buying Trends Dealers Need To Know
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About this episode
Insights from Mark Bland of S&P Global highlight the importance of understanding diverse consumer demographics in the automotive industry. The discussion emphasizes the need for dealers to engage with various communities and adapt their strategies to cater to a changing market. Key points include the significance of women in car buying decisions, the impact of generational shifts, and the necessity for consistent outreach to growth audiences. The episode also touches on the role of technology in enhancing customer interactions while maintaining the essential human touch.
Marc Bland, Head of New Business and Growth Audiences for S&P Global, breaks down the trends he’s seeing across customer bases, the segment OEMs are overlooking, how to engage more buyers and his opinion on TikTok car sales.
For more information about our guest, visit their LinkedIn.
Episode Breakdown
0:00 - Marc's insight on OEM sales and consumers
3:33 - What’s important for dealers to pay attention to
7:14 - Who is driving buyer growth?
9:09 - How dealers can engage fast growing buyer populations
12:51 - Ways dealers can hit gross margins
17:10 - Generational buying trends
21:23 - Is there a segment OEMs are overlooking?
26:20 - Best Bets: TikTok car sales, small EV buyers adoption
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Brand
Toyota
"...when you start thinking about that, Toyota, Honda, General Motors has an army..."
Toyota is a car company from Japan that makes many types of vehicles, known for being dependable and economical.
Toyota is a Japanese automotive manufacturer known for its reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, including popular models like the Camry and Corolla.
Brand
Honda
"...when you start thinking about that, Toyota, Honda, General Motors has an army..."
Honda is a Japanese car manufacturer famous for making reliable cars like the Civic and Accord.
Honda is another major Japanese automaker, recognized for its innovative engineering and popular models such as the Civic and Accord.
Brand
General Motors
"...when you start thinking about that, Toyota, Honda, General Motors has an army..."
General Motors is a large American car company that makes many different brands of vehicles, like Chevrolet and Cadillac.
General Motors (GM) is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells vehicles under various brands, including Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac.
Term
alternative powertrain
"...when you think about alternative powertrain. So that is not just EVs, which are most talked about, but steadily growing, but also hybrids. You can't forget about hybrids."
An alternative powertrain is a way to power a car that isn't just using gasoline. It includes electric cars and hybrids, which use both gas and electricity to run better and pollute less.
An alternative powertrain refers to any vehicle propulsion system that differs from traditional internal combustion engines (ICE). This includes electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles, which combine an internal combustion engine with an electric motor for improved efficiency and reduced emissions.
Term
hybrids
"...but steadily growing, but also hybrids. You can't forget about hybrids."
Hybrids are cars that use both a regular gas engine and an electric motor. This helps them save fuel and produce less pollution than cars that only use gas.
Hybrids are vehicles that use two or more types of power sources, typically combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. This combination allows for better fuel efficiency and lower emissions compared to traditional gasoline-only vehicles.
Concept
mechanical device
"The second piece is we don't care what we do. At some point, a car is a mechanical device. Highly technical these days, right, but it's still a mechanical device."
A mechanical device is something made of parts that work together to do a job. In cars, this means all the different pieces that help the car run, which need to be taken care of to keep the car working well.
A mechanical device refers to any machine or tool that operates using physical components and mechanisms. In the context of cars, this includes everything from the engine to the transmission, which all require maintenance to function properly.
Term
CUV
"...this thing called a CUV, we like it. It meets all of our needs. Car, small car handling, but SUV capability with the hatch in the back, etc."
A CUV is a vehicle that is like a mix between a car and an SUV. It has the comfort and handling of a car but the space and height of an SUV.
A CUV, or Crossover Utility Vehicle, is a type of vehicle that combines features of cars and SUVs. It typically offers a higher driving position and more cargo space than a standard car, while maintaining car-like handling and efficiency.
Term
EVs
"...And then once we start to answer their questions"
EVs are cars that run on electricity instead of gas. They are better for the environment and can save you money on fuel.
EVs, or Electric Vehicles, are cars that are powered entirely by electricity rather than gasoline or diesel. They are known for being more environmentally friendly and often have lower operating costs.
Select text to request an explanation
I want to go after, identify and retain everybody to create a world-class product and sell to everybody.
If you start and end there, then you start thinking about all these different communities
and cultures, et cetera.
That's another word that's becoming a really good buzzword because it's good.
Hello and welcome to the Walkaround Podcast, powered by JM&A Group.
I am one of your hosts, Mark Spoto, joined by my co-host, Heather Wilkinson.
Heather, we are reunited.
We are re...
We...
I mean...
And it feels so good.
And it feels so good.
I mean, I feel like it's been a while.
It's been a while.
You know why it feels so good?
Why?
Because we are in the Sirius XM Studios at the fabulous Wynn Las Vegas, joined
by none other by the man himself, Mark Bland.
And that's M-A-R-C, Mark Bland.
Just like your co-host here, the only way to spell it, M-A-R-C.
I can't...
M-A-R-C.
That's the only way I am surrounded by two intelligent marks, M-A-R-C.
Here we go.
What a start.
What a start.
What a start.
I can't wait to get into it today.
Let's do it.
So, we are here with Mark Bland and Mark is the head of new business development
and growth audiences for S&P Global.
Mark's responsible for the development and enhancement of S&P's Global
Mobility's Automotive OEM relationships.
And I've had the pleasure for so many years to hear Mark report the news
and report the facts based on data.
All day.
All day.
What is the industry telling us from an OEM perspective?
Who are our buyers?
Who should our OEMs be looking at as future dealers?
How should dealers be looking at their customer basis?
Mark works across organizations to ensure the products and custom solutions match the
unique marketing needs for OEMs and brands.
What a bio.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
Man.
So, tell us, Mark.
First, before we get into the facts and the data and what the story is telling us,
how did you get involved with S&P Mobility?
What was your journey to this?
They bought my services.
No, no.
That's true.
But some truth to it.
I was originally with a company called the Polk Company, P-O-L-K, owned by Jim and
Stephen Polk.
RL Polk.
Oh, yes.
That's all the data.
Owned by Stephen Polk.
And then we were acquired by IHS, the world leader in forecasting.
So we had the best new and used vehicle registration.
They were the leaders in forecasting.
They acquired us.
And then this really sharp company called Market, M-A-R-K-I-T, which were how we are in auto.
They were like that for Wall Street and financial data.
Acquired both of us.
So we became IHS market.
And then S&P came along and decided to have a greater footprint in auto, but didn't want
to manufacture cars or sell cars.
And they acquired data, which is going to be good anytime, all the time.
So they acquired us for a substantial amount.
And so that's how I became part of S&P.
But I started with the Polk Company and went to grade it through IHS, IHS market, now S&P.
So you've been in data a long time.
26 years.
You see it.
You know what it means.
Absolutely.
Tell us some insights.
Where do you see right now in the automotive business that is going to be really important
for dealers to be paying attention to?
So the first thing is this short, really quick story that talk to multiple leaders
in multiple industries, again, pharma, home goods, telecom, and automotive, of course.
And the one thing they said will never change is that these three things, gross revenue,
net profits, and a focus on consumers, and if you need a revenue, net profits and focus
on consumers, and if you need a fourth is competition for all three of those things.
Never going out of style.
So the second piece that these smart people have told me across multiple industries is they
all in dealer principles, male and female executives from all of these industries have said they
are all seeking the best and most talented individuals, whether they're brown, black,
Asian, Hispanic, male or female, tall or short, that can help them build products that
they ultimately built the best product, whether it be a car, a truck, or anything in between,
that they can sell to guess who.
Everybody.
Right.
And so now we get to, we're at NAMAD, right, that's the National Association of Minority
Auto Dealers, but NAMAD is really, really important because they represent all of
the black or African American, Asian, Hispanic, male and female dealers across the country.
That's a big portion of everybody.
So I just want to say that first to say that's why this juncture is so important because
if you're seeking to be with everybody, you need to be kind of everywhere talking
to all people and today's or this week's event is really, really important.
So now what's going on?
There's some change in our marketplace, right?
What you should say, what you shouldn't say, what you should do, where you shouldn't be.
But if you just think about what I just talked about, they want to bring in everybody to
help them build world-class products to sell to everybody, then all of us are subset
of that everybody.
You need to be out and reach and so you need to be in places like NAMAD.
And so when you think about auto, there are some groups that are doing really,
really well and they've really grasped that concept and are running with it.
And who are those groups?
Tell us about that.
What's the data telling us?
The data says, and I'm going by based on who's winning, right?
I mean, who's selling the most?
I mean, when you start thinking about that, Toyota, Honda, General Motors has an army
of folks that are really focused on these things.
The luxury brands are really digging in because even though on the surface, people say, you
know, the media may say that things are bad, people are still spending big on the things
that they like, which are houses, but also automotive.
And I think it's across all races and what you're saying.
And so you're pointing out Toyota, General Motors.
And what is what you're saying are the demographics of those buyers?
Is that what the data is telling us that it's a cross representation?
It's definitely a cross representation and you can't segment out.
The key word is out.
You have to be all in with everybody.
So Mark, let's get into that a little bit because something that you've said many
times is if you're not engaging diverse buyers, you're not growing as a dealer.
So what do you see in the data in terms of who is driving that growth right now?
So I just showed, I just talked about in a panel earlier today when you think about
alternative powertrain.
So that is not just EVs, which are most talked about, but steadily growing, but
also hybrids.
You can't forget about hybrids.
And I say that because I think hybrid based on the data is the true bridge from ice or
gas ultimately to EV is to take that stepping stone is that step.
And it's that step.
But what I showed is I put a slap.
It was very in your face.
It said what I call growth audiences.
That's a new term.
I reference blacks, Asians, Hispanics.
Why?
Because the census said in 2045, they will become the majority population, right?
Growth audiences.
The industry is down about six and a half, 7% from 2021 to 2025 over the past five years.
Growth audience consumers only down less than 1%.
And how do you see the difference in the percentages like that?
How do I see the difference?
Yeah.
What's that attributed to?
Oh, yeah.
So we look at economics.
You think about affordability.
So you think about the economics.
You think about affordability, but you also think about fast growing populations.
Yeah.
And you can't forget about this really quick.
You can't forget about just the natural bear facts that if I have a fast growing population,
how do we sustain and maintain our lives in the U.S. by earning revenue?
How do we do that?
By going to work.
The key word is going to work.
How do you get to work more often than not with your own vehicle?
So what do you think dealers should be thinking about and engaging those fast growing populations?
That you have to just keep the facts in mind and go back to that umbrella statement I expressed
earlier.
I want to go after, identify and retain everybody to create a world-class product and sell
to everybody.
If you start an end there, then you start thinking about all these different communities
and cultures, et cetera.
That's another word.
That's becoming a really good buzzword because it's good, community.
If you start thinking about all these different communities to say, hey, you know what?
If there's five communities out there just trying to keep it simple, I'm going to focus
on two.
I'm going to negate the other three.
You just blew away 60% of the marketplace or you kind of left them behind and leaving
them to chance.
You can't afford to do that.
You have to really invest, put people in charge of meeting the needs and understanding what
the active triggers are.
I want to say active triggers.
What's going to get them to consider you and ultimately buy what you're selling?
For not two or three, but all five of those communities.
Do you think it's a matter of the brand reflecting the values of that population
or is it more on the local level at the dealer?
I think it's a combination and again, whether it be good, bad or indifferent.
When you have and everything starts at the top, no sounds cliche, but it really does.
If your leader says, hey, there's five markets trying to keep it simple.
We want to go after all five, then everybody below that leader is going to really get
it and figure out how can we meet the needs and understand the needs of all five.
If the leader says, oh, well, there's five markets, but we're really going to focus
on two, then your organization, by default, is going to maybe miss the opportunity
with 60% of what's out there and that's going to just trickle down.
It's going to go from the highest level of your strategic platform to your
dealers, to your suppliers, to everybody and that's just what we're seeing.
And so there's, again, I called out some groups, but everybody's really
trying when we start thinking about who's really winning.
And we're going to have a program called the DVLs, stands for Diversity
and Volume Leadership Awards, but it's now a really cool acronym, DVLs, where
we're going to recognize those organizations at the model level.
From the OEM, from each of the OEMs, you look at each of the OEMs and you
identify who sold the most vehicles to these growth audiences.
And the only way you give a stage, it has nothing to do with your
sponsorship level or anything else is, did you sell the most?
And the only way you sell the most is by having a really defined strategy
with people put in charge to execute that strategy and financial
and resources put behind to help the strategy realize itself.
And people that understand those audiences and, you know, I think
one of the things, Mark, I marked my mark S to my right, again, I've
got my mark S and my mark B. I'm surrounded by marks today.
The intelligence in this room is just off the charts.
I mean, just amazing.
I need we need to tone it down.
But Mark S, you know, one of the places you were going, and I'd
love to, to die, double, double click into this is from a dealer perspective.
At the end of the day, we hear time and time again that the consumers
that come into your dealership need to see people that they can identify with.
Absolutely. And Mark B, you talked about the importance of inclusive.
And I think where I'd love to double click into from a dealer perspective,
what should dealers be doing to make sure that they are hitting
their gross margins they're looking for, hitting the the
profitability they want when they're looking at their consumer base
and the people that work in their dealerships.
So one of the first things I have to go back historically and show that
the prior name at leadership,
thereby got him, Damon Lester in the past.
But what we did is took the name at
the name at groups, look their data.
And we took my actual registration data for all consumers, right,
for all dealers and overlay them and came up with a data set
that show and prove that minority or community dealers,
right, you choose how you want to call them, but minority or community dealers
actually sell more of their product,
incrementally more of their inventory
to their same community background as the owner.
So black dealers actually sell twice as many units
to other black consumers as the non-growth audience peers.
Asians, the same thing twice as many in Hispanics, three times as much.
So now the OEMs have really gotten smart in saying, hey,
if the census is saying that these groups are going to become the majority
population and we want to stay intact with who could become the majority,
because once they become the majority, they're going to act like the majority,
either you're in or not, then maybe a great vessel for us
to engage and stay in front of them is through these community dealers.
And so that's one strategy that's that's taking shape
at different levels, at different OEMs, but it's still happening across the board.
Right. Then you turn around and you say to the dealer,
the dealers can't just try to lean on or rest on
their community background, but they have to get out into the actual broader community.
So I'll give you an example from my past, from a personal perspective,
when I was growing up in Detroit, many years ago, there was a guy named Mel Far
Superstar before, but why it's important, why it's relevant here is
Mel had his own brand.
I came up like a lot of folks in the inner city.
And we had a big thing called Pal Police Athletic League football.
Probably 20 teams across Detroit.
This is one example, but it resonates across the nation with different people.
Mel Far took the time.
He owned Ford and Lincoln stores at the time, but he took the time
during like opening day and showed up with there was 20 teams.
He showed up at every game.
So there's 10 games you got to come to.
He showed up at every game, put it and got jumped out of a branded car
with his baseball.
So, you know, with the capo and said, hey, our superstar,
or a superstar, Superman.
You remember seeing this?
I remember being there superstar.
Yes, I do.
But the example I'm giving is he was smart to realize
not only am I coming out to put a good vision
in these young people's heads or something positive.
Hey, being sports, staying some constructive and organized
instead of being to your own thing and getting in trouble.
But it's the parents of all those children and the and the supporters
that are looking at, hey, this is a guy that happens to own a car dealership.
That looks like me.
That looks like me that took time out to come on and speak to my son.
Oh, next month, next week, six months from now,
I need to buy a car.
They're going to remember, hey, let's go support
this dealer because he took the time and it was like free publicity.
So the point there is make sure they leverage
their natural strength and take that onto the community
and make themselves visible on behalf of the brand and themselves.
Yeah, and make that connection.
Mark, let's talk a little bit about generational buyers.
So Gen Z, millennials, what are some trends you're seeing there?
Millennials will now have been in the market for some time.
Gen Z are emerging.
You know, how should how should dealers be thinking
about the way Gen Z and millennial buyers are approaching shopping differently?
So I use the old cliche.
Some things change and a lot of things stay the same.
So, yes, these younger,
more tech-savvy buyers
like to do more things on the web, right, on their phone.
But at the end of the day, they still need
and they still seek a human being, the human touch.
They need that.
They still need that connection.
In some instances, validation in in their process.
That's one word you can use.
It's just they just want we're human beings at the end of the day.
So regardless of the brand, regardless of the car,
it's a it's a person selling to another,
selling to and meeting the needs of another person.
So whether it be, hey, I went out online, picked the vehicle,
had it delivered when it gets delivered.
Somebody needs to knock on my door, excuse me, knock on my door.
Hey, I open, I'm talking to another person.
Hey, this vehicle that you went online and purchased in order
is getting off this truck. It's yours.
They need to they need to feel me.
They need I need to feel them.
They need to be something that this is the second biggest purchase
in most people's lives.
The house is number one cars are number two.
And you probably buy a lot more houses.
I mean, a lot more cars in the time it takes for you to pay off a house.
So that's one. The second piece is we don't care what we do.
At some point, a car is a mechanical device.
Highly technical these days, right, but it's still a mechanical device.
And those things can break down or will break down without proper maintenance.
And so at that point, you have to engage with a individual
that's going to take your car in service.
How well do they do that? How well do they engage you?
Do they treat you like a human being? Right.
Do when you pull in and you're going,
well, I bought from Brande again, because they're all in this game.
I bought this vehicle from Brande.
I'm pulling the brand because I believe in brand.
That's why I bought a car from them.
But when I pull in, do they recognize me and say, hey, welcome?
You know, we've got a long line, but grab yourself a cup of coffee,
grab a magazine, something that says you see me.
And so all those things can get lost,
even though I think some of the younger buyers going back to ask your question
are more into the tech.
Some things don't change.
You still need that human interaction to show that
you value me, you value my business and you appreciate what I'm investing in.
I love what you're saying, whether it's about customer attention or technology.
That's going on all of this is still a human touch led business.
And whether it is dealers trying to make better connections in their community.
You have to consider the human element and the impact that you have on your customers.
That's what I'm hearing you say.
There's still a tremendous amount of human interaction that you have to get right.
Yeah. And Mark, I think also what I'm hearing Mark B.
say is from the OEM perspective is understanding at the end of the day,
what the data is showing from what I've heard from Mark today is
what's the data showing about who their buyers are, how do they reach their buyers
and then how do they get their dealers to reach those buyers
through that community connection, you know, and how OEMs
from what we're hearing value dealers that are in the community
and have that connection.
So on that point, Mark, when you look at the data,
is there a segment that you think dealers or OEMs are overlooking
and should they be doing anything differently and getting that correct?
So I'm going to put caution out first disclaimer.
Anything I say, there's there's groups that are doing it really, really well.
There's groups that are not really getting it all and I'm protecting innocent.
And there's groups in the middle.
On anything that I want to say, right?
So just take that first.
I think one of the biggest groups and I've said it on stage
yesterday, today, I'm going to say it again tomorrow.
I think the most pivotal and influential group that are sometimes overlooked.
Women, hmm, there's a study that came out that said women influence.
And let me say this, women have eighty five percent influence
on all big purchases for the home.
No, one of the biggest purchases for the home, a car, truck or SUV.
Well, Mark, there's only one CEO in my household, and it is my wife.
There's no there's no doubt about that.
Well, as we can see, who seated in the middle of this table?
And so, no, no, really.
And it's and I've said the same thing.
My wife's five, four and a half.
I'm six feet.
I can have all the money sitting on the table as she goes.
I don't think that's good for you or the family.
That vehicle will never show up as part of our fleet.
So when you think about dealers engaging better with with women buyers,
what are you seeing dealers get right that other dealers can start to do?
What?
And so I'm glad you asked that because that's where I was going to go.
What I've seen them get right is one, address the woman.
Just like we would address him young, just like we would address the man.
Meaning if a woman comes in by herself, hey, how are you doing?
What is your name?
What are you interested in?
How can I help you?
Because it's her that's there.
I'll give you the inverse.
Don't say, hey, who's the lucky guy or what does he want?
No, she's there, right?
Recognize her, ask her, what can you do for her and follow that path?
That sounds so simple, but it's often overlooked.
A lot of the things that we talk about and I'm blessed that we have at S&P,
we have data to back these things up to support it, right?
So when I say data to back it up, why are women important?
Because 42% of all new vehicle deals come from women.
42% when I say new vehicle deals, that means we're not talking
about the percentage of vehicles they're driving.
That's probably 80, 70, 80, 90 percent.
All right. No, I'm talking about women got up and got up that morning.
I'm going to the dealership.
I'm going to pick out the car.
I'm going to test drive.
I want to sit down and I want to sign my woman or female name
to this registration as the owner as the owner.
And you also shared that over 80% of women
influence that car buying or that car purchase, correct?
Women, women influence 85% of all new vehicle deals.
So there's only 15 deals that a woman based on this statistic does not influence.
It only 15 out of every 100 deals
a woman does not have some direct or indirect.
And you said it, I said it.
Hey, our wives go, hey, you going out?
I know you want whatever.
Don't bring that back.
Bring this other thing back and guess what we're going to bring back that other thing.
OK, so that that piece, I think is important.
That's one, two, I'm going to say
one of the things that could be better is just the consistency
in the reach or the approach to these growth audiences.
It's not it's not OK to say, hey, you know what?
In these first three months of a 12 month calendar,
we're going to go after the growth audience in the other nine months.
We're not doing that.
If you get in the game, you have to be all in all the time.
Because when you're not and your competitor is these consumers recognize that.
That's right.
And I'll say that if you decide, hey, there's five again.
I try to keep it simple.
There's five major events happening
that are consumer focused happening around auto industry.
Oh, we're going to go real big on this first one.
And we're going to miss the next four.
But you have a competitor, OEMB.
That says, no, we're going to be a one, two, three, four, five.
You're big at the first one.
But you got to tell you get the second.
Definitely by the time you get to the third, they're going, hey,
where is that group?
We haven't seen them the last two events.
But this other group is here all the time.
They really get it.
They really appreciate us and they really love us and show that
where the first one, you made it real big on that one.
But you're not the other four.
It's going to be noticed consistency is key.
Well, Mark, we can we can ask you a thousand questions all day.
We know you're you're a busy guy and we thought we would
transition into our closing segment.
All right, cool.
Which is our best bet. Best bets.
We're in Vegas. We're at the win.
I don't know if you're a gambling man.
Personally, I am.
You know, it's just fun.
The win in Vegas, right?
We all have fun. Yeah.
All right. So here's how it's going to work.
Already.
We're we're going to throw out some trends,
some statements, some hot takes at you.
And we're going to ask you bet it or forget it.
Bet it or forget is what I'm going to say.
You got it. Let's go.
And feel free to expand on the Y.
But here we go. Let's let's start with the first one.
Gen Z buyers will expect to build
and price a car entirely on TikTok.
Bet it or forget it.
Forget it. Really?
Hmm. Tell us more.
Not TikTok.
I think they'll look at other sites.
And again, I know there's a lot of.
But when you think about like CarGurus,
you know, I think those things come up first,
where you can actually go out and say,
I'm looking at a certain vehicle, see what's out there,
see what the ranges are, start to pick from there.
Instead of just TikTok.
I mean, TikTok is cool,
but I don't think that's the platform.
Maybe it's some I'll call it dealer
or retailer specific platforms.
But I think we are seeing a lot of dealers
try to build that engagement, right?
As you were talking about through TikTok.
And that their presence out there,
because you have a generation to
that's where their life is.
They're looking for guidance.
They're looking for recommendation.
So do you do you see the industry
having to embrace these other social channels?
So that's a different question.
Yeah. Bet that.
Bet that. Okay.
Embrace, embrace.
Yeah. I don't think that's where they're going to go to say,
Hey, I'm going to go price it and do all these things.
There's other sites that are that are my mind better.
Right. And I hear them say that are better.
Oh, they use TikTok for a lot of things to get them started.
But that part about it.
Oh, yeah.
If you want to be successful,
you have to have some kind of presence
on TikTok, these other social sites.
Yes. All right, here we go.
Here's the next one. Let's go.
This is a little bit more on the segmentation front.
Women will drive adoption of small, affordable EVs.
If OEMs build them,
women will drive adoption of that segment.
Bet it or forget it.
Ask the question one more time.
So small, affordable EVs,
women will drive adoption of that segment.
I want to add something to it.
Then I'll give you my answer.
If those small, affordable EVs
are CUVs or small SUVs, bet that.
OK. OK.
Now, why do you say that?
Women are the leaders in the CUV adoption period.
Women drive.
That's a huge percentage.
Don't quote me on the number
because they don't have it in front of me right now.
But women were the first ones to cross over and say,
this thing called a CUV, we like it.
It meets all of our needs.
Car, small car handling,
but SUV capability with the hatch in the back, etc.
Fold down seats.
EVs continue to go that way.
And then once we start to answer their questions
and get them over some of their concerns,
range, anxiety and other things,
yes, bet that heavy bet, double down.
All right, I love it.
All right, I think we have time for one more.
One more.
Are we going with the million dollar chip here?
Oh, yes, let's do that.
Let's do one more million dollars here.
You're ready to wage a million.
I'm ready to wage your million. Yes.
One more better to forget it.
Then we'll do the million dollar chip.
OK, better to forget it.
Better to forget it. Here we go.
Dealers will start reporting
DE and I metrics just like CSI scores.
Bet it or forget it?
So let me first put a caveat there.
I've been doing this for over 20 years
and I've never used the acronym DE and I.
I've always just talked about how dealers can lean in
and be more inclusive with growth audiences
to help their bottom line.
So now if we take out the DEI acronym,
I'm going to say, yes, dealers need to be more inclusive
of all their consumers as I started earlier
because they want to include the feedback from
so they can ultimately sell to everybody.
And I think that's important if dealers make sure
that they don't put any barriers or any exceptions
in their customer base.
I love that. I love that.
OK, so here's the final question.
If we were to give you a poker chip.
Yes. Right.
Worth one million dollars.
This is your dealer hat.
Put your dealer hat on.
It's on one million dollar poker chip.
One million.
Where are you betting that in your investment?
Where are you investing that chip in your dealership?
Where am I investing that chip?
My dear ship. When you say within my dear ship
and you talking about new versus used versus fixed
out versus your groups, you are a dealer.
You have a group.
Where are you? Where are you investing that money?
Where million dollar chip. Give me a second.
Oh, this easy.
Oh, go. He's got it.
He's got it. He's got it.
He's ready.
I'm going to tell you, my million dollar chip
is going on community outreach in my area.
On behalf of my respective brand or OEM.
And tell us why. Why?
Because if I don't get people into my showroom
or my retail space, nothing in my dealership works.
I have to fill that space up constantly
with people from all walks of life
to sell them new cars, used cars, certified pre-owned parts,
supplies, apparel, everything.
But to get you to do that,
you have to either be physically in my shop
or virtually on my website.
So that's what I want to do.
I want to invest that money into the community
to make everybody aware I am here.
I've got everything you need.
I can meet all your needs and we are ready for you.
So they fill my shop day in and day out.
Well, there's your million dollar.
It's pretty sound advice.
A million dollar process to grow your business.
It's hard to ignore that advice, right?
If you're a dealer listening to this,
pay attention to what Mark is saying.
Where can people find more of what you have to say
and what your thoughts are on the industry?
Yep. So, well, here, if you're here in town in Vegas,
we have three booths in the area.
One for S&P. We also own Carfax.
And we also own Automotive Mastermind,
which deals specifically with dealers.
So they're there.
The team is there to help you.
You can also go to spglobal.com
and get all the information about Mark Bland
and all the other great and smart people at the company
because we're all here to help and serve.
We can't thank you enough for joining us,
spending some time to give us
some really incredible insights.
It was my honor on behalf of S&P Global.
Thank you all.
I appreciate you.
Thank you, Mark.
We really appreciate you joining us today
on The Walkaround, and we hope you enjoyed the episode.
Please be sure to like, share, subscribe, and follow us.
We look forward to seeing you next time
on The Walkaround.
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