Steve Greenfield will discuss The Future of Automotive Retail, provide a framework for the various industry trends, and look out 5 to 10 years to forecast which of these trends the industry should particularly be paying attention to. 

Take the learnings and insights from the NY to LA 3300 mile rally across country with 6 EVs, as we navigate the challenges of the consumer transition to EV and explore how that transition translates for companies to adjust for the advent of electric vehicles. EVs are gaining momentum in sales. There are similarities to gasoline vehicles, but many differences as well. Understanding and navigating these differences will be critical to effectively managing your business.

In this session, Suzanne will give an overview of the tax opportunities and challenges of using an aircraft within a dealership or as an outside business to help manage travel and business needs. She will discuss depreciation opportunities under theTCJA and relevant regulations, explain the tax implications of personal use by owners or employees under Section 274, and detail common misunderstandings that may lead to significant errors in tax planning or management. Finally, Suzanne will review the recordkeeping requirements in order to justify aircraft deductions.

This session will identify and give examples of legal issues that are rising in importance or frequency in current dealership operations. The speaker will illustrate legal issues that impact financial efficiency, employee matters and overall dealership operations. As part of the presentation, the impact on operations, value and third party (e.g. OEM and lenders) impacts from legal issues will be addressed.

This session will provide an economic update with a focus on inflation. The combination of supply chain disruptions and sturdy demand has pushed inflation up to four decade highs. In response, the Fed is "expeditiously" pushing policy rates up to at least neutral levels. Can inflation be tamed without precipitating a recession? This session will also provide insights to the answer.

As advisors to our clients, we can often see the potential for family business issues. Fear, loss of control, and anxiety over conflict generally act as roadblocks to change. Transitioning leadership from one generation to another is ripe with potential conflict. Generational and leadership differences; unexpressed or misaligned expectations can paralyze Dealers to make the smallest of tweaks towards a better outcome. However, creative problem solving can happen once a Dealer, their leaders, and family can safely share their visions, concerns, and opportunities. Safe is key here, as personal feelings are often met with conflict, which creates the fight, flight, or fawn in addressing key issues impacting long-term family and business success. In this session, we will discuss strategies advisors can leverage to motivate Dealers to address issues impacting their vision: * Strategies to minimize fear and anxiety and encourage clients to address issues affecting their vision * Governance strategies to empower Dealers to transition operational responsibilities to develop next-generation leaders     * Organizational structures to professionalize the family business and compete amongst consolidation     * Who should be a part of your succession planning team & when to put them into the game You will walk away from this session with creative strategies to facilitate your client’s vision.

Every year dealerships perform parts physical inventories and attempt to reconcile the parts pad to accounting. While the physical is pretty straight forward, most dealerships run into difficulties when trying to reconcile the parts pad to the general ledger. If everything throughout the year flows properly between parts and accounting, the variance to accounting should be zero but that never happens. In many cases dealerships can be off by $20,000 or more in either direction with no explanation.