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None of us know anyone who would look back on their first car purchase and say, "Ah, I miss the good old days of buying and financing a car?"

Even baby boomers and Generation Xers recall their first car financing deal with groans more normally associated with root canals. Millennials in particular, with their one second click-to-load screen tolerance, have zero patience for that kind of old...

SAN FRANCISCO - Today’s car-buying marketplace demands nothing less than a connected, personalized customer experience. Consumers want dealerships to know who they are and what their interests are, and to anticipate the types of cars and services they need. They want to reach their salesperson whenever it’s convenient for them, whether by voice, e-mail, video or text.

These expectations make...

Start-ups aim to change how you buy a car

February 27, 2016

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Althea Chang

Car shoppers are increasingly making purchase decisions using the Web, mobile devices and apps, leading a few Silicon Valley start-ups to think the U.S. retail auto market may soon have a new home."I'd go as far to say that Silicon Valley is becoming the new Detroit for the automotive industry," said Zach Klempf, CEO of...

In the past 18 months, over $35 billion in major equity transactions have taken place within the automotive retail space. In fact, 2013 and 2014 were two of the biggest years for private equity transactions in the sector since 2002. Not since the land speed record of Mach 1.020 was set by Andy Green in October 1997 has the space moved as fast. Clearly, digitizing the car buying experience and...

It’s 2016 and never has the used car industry faced so much disruption! Over $450 million in venture capital has been invested into new automotive start-ups like Beepi and Carvana. Moreover, GM recently announced they will sell more than 30,000 vehicles direct through their pre-owned Lease/Fleet ‘GM Factory Collection,’ and Millennials are quickly adopting utility models for transportation...

Car shoppers are increasingly making purchase decisions using the Web, mobile devices and apps, leading a few Silicon Valley start-ups to think the U.S. retail auto market may soon have a new home. "I'd go as far to say that Silicon Valley is becoming the new Detroit for the automotive industry," said Zach Klempf, CEO of Selly Automotive, a firm that sells software that car dealerships use to...

This post originally appeared on Tech Crunch via http://tcrn.ch/1YDLOKs

Never has the traditional automotive business model been under constant siege as it is today from multiple fronts. Technology has not only changed the car-buying experience but it is also relentlessly reshaping the entire ecosystem from dealership go-to-market strategies to the automobile product offering itself, all while...

Today’s car buying marketplace demands nothing less than a connected, personalized customer experience. Consumers want dealerships to know who they are and what their interests are, and to anticipate the types of cars and services they need. They want to reach their salesperson whenever it’s convenient for them, whether by voice, e-mail, video or text.

3 REASONS WHY YOUR DEALERSHIP NEEDS TO BE MOBILE

June 9, 2015

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Zach Klempf

Today’s consumers are always on the go and constantly connected with their digital devices. A recent Forbes article predicts that by year end 2015, almost half of all Google searches will come from mobile form factors. (Olson, 2015) As Millennial and Gen Y consumers interface predominantly online, the smartphone has...

This article originally appeared in the May 2015 issue of Dealer Solutions Magazine.

I spend a lot of quality time with auto dealers, and am often surprised at the state of their online marketing programs. Sometimes I am even downright outraged at how some online marketing providers (website developers, SEO & SEM companies, and social media agencies) are taking advantage of dealerships....