My Dad has sold cars for as long as I've known him. He was a top salesmaster for GM for several years in Canada. The interesting thing I found each this podcas

My Dad has sold cars for as long as I've known him. He was a top salesmaster for GM for several years in Canada. The interesting thing I found each this podcast is how consistent it was with the stories he'd tell us over dinner. We always thought he was just having a tough time with poor management, but it seems that he's not alone. Since moving to fleet many years ago, the dealer would often sell cars at a loss so they could not only hit numbers to be ranked #1, but also for the incentives from the manufacturer. One thing the show left out is the unbelievable amount of paperwork involved in quoting someone an accurate price. Also, the amazing shuffling of cars that goes on between dealers. With certain models only being built for a short period of time, the custom orders take hours and hours of hunting and pecking. On the consumer side it feels like I ask for a bunch of stuff for my car and a week later it shows up as expected. As others have noted, this is an industry primed for a major disruption. The tools most car salesman use on a daily basis haven't really progressed since they left typewriters. The other major struggle for the industry is that a lot of salesmen have been salesmen their whole lives and don't want to retire. Thus, there's an office full of 70 to 80 year old hanging around while the other half runs ragged to make a few hundred bucks.