randy kobat

In this episode, Zach Klempf interviews Randy Kobat, VP of Inventory Management Solutions at Cox Automotive. Randy discusses the latest developments from NADA, how Upside and KBB ICO help used car dealers, as well as general discussion around inventory management.

Some of the questions asked include:

Q) So let’s get started, and for those of us listening, talk about how you got into the auto industry?
Q) You and the Cox team recently got back from NADA; what were some of the new exciting announcements from that event?
Q) Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer is becoming a very popular tool for used car dealers, how are they helping dealers during the inventory shortage challenge?
Q) Another new announcement we saw was Upside from Cox for wholesale; what exactly is this product and how can it help used car dealers?
Q) Talk to me about the wholesale market dynamics and specifically how new sourcing and acquisition channels are opening up to help used car dealers find and stock vehicles more profitably?
Q) If you were running a used car dealership, what would be the essential software solutions you would have to manage everything from inventory acquisition to pricing?
Q) What do you think has been most surprising (ex. continued chip shortage) in terms of the auto industry and 2022 thus far?
Q) What are your predictions for the used car marketplace in 2022?
Q) What’s coming down the pipeline in the divisions you manage that you are most excited about (that’s relevant to used car dealers)?

Listen to our other podcast episodes: https://www.sellyautomotive.com/podcast
Read the transcribe of this episode:
https://blog.sellyautomotive.com/blog/randy-kobat-vp-of-inventory-management-solutions-at-cox-automotive

In the last two episodes of this podcast, we spoke more broadly about the causes of the current chip shortages. In today's episode, we are diving more deeply into it, focussing on one of the industries most deeply affected - the Automotive Industry.

I invited Randy Kobat (@RandyKobat on Twitter) to come on the podcast to discuss this. Randy is a Senior Vice President at Cox Automotive, so he's supremely qualified to talk on this topic.

We had a great conversation discussing the impact of the chip shortages on automotive prices, steps the manufacturers are taking, and the future shape of the automotive industry.

If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to leave me a voice message over on my SpeakPipe page or just send it to me as a direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. Audio messages will get played (unless you specifically ask me not to).

If you want to learn more about supply chain semiconductor shortages, don't forget to check out SAP's recently published Point of View paper on the topic, as well as my podcast with the author of the paper Jeff Howell.

And don't forget to also check out the 2021 MPI research on Industry 4.0 to find out how to increase productivity, revenues, and profitability for your operations. This global study examines the extent to which manufacturers deploy Industry 4.0 in their business and the benefits it brings.

And if you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it. Thanks.

And remember, stay healthy, stay safe, stay sane! 

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Finally
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to just send me a direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.

If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover it.

Thanks for listening.