“We can operate just as well with fewer cars” || Eddie Hall III, Chief Operating Officer, Hall Automotive Group
Born-and-raised Michigander Eddie Hall III says his favorite thing to do in elementary and middle school was help his father at the family’s car dealership on weekends. Eddie obviously took to the family business, and is now the COO for all of Hall Automotive Group and a partner and dealer principal at Feldman Ford of Detroit. Eddie sits on the boards of multiple prestigious industry associations, including the Ford and Chrysler Minority Dealer Associations, and was recently elected president of the NAMAD NextGen Group. He also participates in outreach programs for his alma mater, the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
In this episode, Eddie joins Derek D to discuss applying the lessons learned from recent auto industry upheavals - including finding happy mediums in terms of both vehicle supply and the transition to electric vehicles. Eddie talks the ways in which automotive retail still needs to modernize in order to be most effective, why every dealership is at the mercy of different suppliers regardless of brand, how OEMs are steadily lowering order-to-delivery time for customers, why the industry is shifting from “just selling cars” to creating customer experiences, and much more.
Episode Highlights:
- Why Eddie is excited about US investment in microchip infrastructure
- How poor promotion of the skilled trades has led to a nationwide shortage of automotive technicians - and what can be done about it
- The ways in which a family business can play to everyone’s strengths
- How the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the automotive industry to improve its digital processes, and what work remains to be done
- Why many households will have “split garages” in the near future
“We in the automotive industry have to be one of the most antiquated industries out there.”
— Eddie Hall III
|| Dealer News Today is a Dave Cantin Group production