Will Churchill is the Owner of Frank Kent Motor Company.  Frank Kent Cadillac has been awarded GM Dealer of the Year for 2012 – 2014, an honor given to only the top 2% of GM dealers throughout the country.

On this episode, Chris and Will discuss:

• A deep dive on the auto industry.
• The current state of the auto industry.
• What the future of buying cars looks like.
• DTC, EV cars, Hydrogen?!
• And more!

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Links:

The Fort #50 with Will Churchill

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Topics:

(3:18) - Introducing Will

(4:51) - Will’s background in the auto business

(7:06) - What’s happened in auto over the past two years?

(11:16) - Where are we now with the chip shortage?

(13:10) - Thoughts on pricing strategies in the industry

(17:53) - Where do people get auto loans from?

(20:18) - Is there anything that changed through Covid that will be permanent?

(22:37) - Moving the car buying experience online

(27:43) - Thoughts on Carvana 

(31:36) - Focusing on the Wholesale market

(34:45) - What do most people do when they’re owing way more than the car is worth?

(36:25) - What warranty do people really need?

(41:23) - At what point can a car not get a warranty?

(42:58) - Why is there a need for car dealerships in the future?

(44:41) - Why doesn’t Tesla’s model work for everyone else?

(47:03) - Will the Car Dealership look the way it does now in 10 years?

(48:50) - What happens if Wall Street moves to a profitability model?

(50:23) - Buick’s buyout of their dealers

(51:39) - Who dictates investing in a dealership?

(53:31) - The process of opening a new dealership

(56:33) - What’s the pathway to becoming a dealer?

(1:02:25) - Thoughts on the EV revolution

(1:08:12) - What happens to the new cars that got wrecked from the recent hurricane in Florida?

(1:10:09) - Where do cars go to die?

(1:11:29) - Do you see the industry moving to cars-as-a-service rather than traditional ownership model?

(1:12:52) - How are auto loans performing right now?

(1:13:35) - How many catalytic converters have been stolen from you and are manufacturers looking to fix this?

(1:14:33) - How’s the auction market looking right now?

(1:15:16) - What’s the single most impactful thing a dealer can do to improve the car buying experience?

(1:17:13) - How has ride-share impacted the auto world?

(1:18:43)  - Final thoughts

The Fort is produced by Johnny Podcasts