Research highlights new tactics and key challenges for U.S. and Canadian dealerships

Repeated challenges to supply chain-driven inventory, vehicle market pricing and rising interest rates plagued dealerships last year, prompting U.S. and Canadian auto retailers to adopt a ‘strive to thrive’ mindset during unprecedented industry and economic changes. Despite these shifts, 49% of forward-thinking dealerships surveyed carved a clear path to business success, according to market research by CDK Global, Inc., a leading automotive retail software provider.

The 2023 Trendsetter’s Guide to Automotive Retail outlined obstacles encountered last year and highlighted best practices by top store leaders that self-identified as the first to implement change within their dealerships. These Trendsetters are setting the bar within the industry that produce positive operational and financial outcomes. The report takes a deep dive into technology’s impact on dealers and areas that they admittedly are not prepared for in the coming year.

“If there’s one constant in automotive retail, it’s that there’s always an unknown lurking around the corner, so the ability to adapt and thrive during these challenges is crucial,” said David Thomas, automotive industry analyst at CDK Global. “Our research showed how forward-thinking dealers have become within the past year in an effort to remain relevant among consumers and viable in the industry.”

Highlights from CDK Global’s 2023 Trendsetter’s Guide to Automotive Retail survey data include:

• Forty-four percent of dealers surveyed transitioned away from traditional sales to focus on improving the vehicle buying experience, with 50% of retailers using photos and videos to estimate Service recommendations. By contrast, non-trendsetters over indexed on reducing costs and changing their pricing strategies.
• Over the past year, 48% of Trendsetters have enhanced their digital retailing, with only 36% of traditional dealers relying on it from their web channels.
• The delivery process has evolved to the sales representative walking through tech features, pairing a smartphone and helping download a manufacturer app for a customer’s car. As such, 70% of dealers surveyed said that investing in staff technology training had an extremely high impact on their overall business. Eighty-one percent plan to keep investing in it for 2023.
• Forging stronger partnerships with OEMs shifted significantly higher with nearly one-third of dealers reporting it resulted in a strong operational impact.

Several of the industry’s top issues continue to cause challenges among dealers who surprisingly were relatively unconcerned about them, including new online retailers and EV service. At the top of the list was the direct-to-consumer model, which 46% of dealers said they were unprepared to manage.

“Dealers need to keep a steady pulse on economic and industry shifts for continued financial and operational success. Integration of new solutions and investment in staff will help create a significant, lasting impact to weather the unknown changes ahead,” said Thomas.

For more in-depth information on the survey results, please visit The 2023 Trendsetter’s Guide to Automotive Retail | CDK Global.

About CDK Global, Inc.

CDK Global is a leading provider of cloud-based software to dealerships and Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”) across automotive and related industries. The Company’s cloud-based, software as a service (“SaaS”) platform enables dealerships to manage their end-to-end business operations including the acquisition, sale, financing, insuring, repair, and maintenance of vehicles. By automating and streamlining critical workflows, the integrated platform of modern solutions enables dealers to sell and service more vehicles by creating simple and convenient experiences for customers and improves their financial and operational performance.

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