Car dealerships in most instances were largely unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some dealer groups recording record profits.
However, according to recent reports two-thirds of car dealers are worried about future margin erosion affecting their business and are needing to rethink and adapt their strategies to respond and meet the changing marketplace.Sometimes the challenges are obvious: rising staff costs, commitment to EV and sustainable infrastructure and regulatory compliance. But what about those unforeseen risks that can easily damage the bottom line, your brand/reputation and future growth aspirations.PIB x Freeths have curated, this half-day event to address some of the over-looked business-critical issues facing Automotive Retail Dealerships today.Date: Thursday 7 December 2023Time: Registration - 10:00am, Start – 10:30am, Lunch/Networking – 1:00pm, Close – 2:00pmVenue: Colwick Hall Hotel, Racecourse Road, Nottingham, NG2 4BHTarget Audience: Directors, Company Secretaries and Compliance Managers of Retail Dealerships.Register your place here
Our speakers will help you identify, prepare and manage future risk, mitigating any negative impact it may have on your business.
- Joining the AI Revolution – How to protect your data
- Agency and Franchise – Your legal rights
- Cyber Crime and Cyber attacks – Preserving your brand and reputation
- The Future of Automotive - “State of the Nation”
Sessions
Joining the AI Revolution – How to protect your dataAI provides auto dealerships with exciting solutions to enhance their business and customer experience, including: better customer engagement and relationship management, personalised marketing to customers, smarter cross-selling/up-selling and operational optimisation.This all sounds great, but what about the challenges, particularly where UK GDPR is concerned? We guide you through your data protection responsibilities (and how to meet them).Agency and Franchise – Your legal rightsArguably, the main change currently taking place within the automotive retail sector, is OEMs compelling their dealers to move away from the traditional franchise model, to either “pure” agency or hybrid models (franchise and agency combined).We discuss your rights when faced with the threat of termination by an OEMs and how it might affect Directors & Officers exposures in future Mergers & AcquisitionsCyber Crime and Cyber attacks – Preserving your brand and reputationCar dealerships are prime targets for hackers eager to exploit weak security and access a treasure trove of financial data and gain access to third-party vendor supply chains. We discuss the areas of potential weakness including outdated IT infrastructure and insufficient employee training and focus on how you can protect your business.But what if a breach occurs? Would you know what to do? Would your team know what to do if you were uncontactable? We share including notifications, regulatory aspects, reputational management control as well as the potential litigation risks.The Future of Automotive - “State of the Nation”Nick King, Insight Director from Auto Trader will be setting the scene for the future of Automotive Dealerships and how you can de-risk your business.Nick King, Market research and Insight Director, Auto Trader PLC
A consumer psychologist and expert in digital media and marketing, possessing the experience to analyse and interpret trends in consumer adoption of technology and develop strategies for customer acquisition and retention through digital and offline channels.
Nick joined Auto Trader in January 2007 running Business Intelligence and in 2010 built the retailer insight team running master classes and webinars. He also makes short films to evangelise about data and Insight and speaks regularly at conferences in Europe, Canada and North America.
Nick is also a visiting lecturer in consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.
After graduating from Loughborough in 1986 , Nick spent years in advertising and planning at Dorlands and Lintas, was a guitarist with Great Northern Electrics, a publisher on HiFi magazines at Petersen/EMAP and a research Director at Media agency Carat/Difiniti responsible for a team of researchers advising a range of Blue-chip clients on the development of their marketing and communications strategies in the Digital arena.
For more information on this event, please contact Nicola Dolman.
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