Yahoo Autos What We Learned in 2020: Lessons from Around the Auto Industry
Every part of everyday life was disrupted in 2020. It was a trying year, even for the luckiest of us. We wanted to find out how people in the various corners of the auto industry managed the challenges, how they adapted, and how the lessons learned this year might carry forward and change the way cars are designed, serviced, sold, and toyed with in the years to come.
Ralph Gilles: Head of Design, FCA
For many people with desk jobs, the transition to working from home was logistically simple. Not so for car designers. "Have you ever been to a HazMat day?" FCA head of design Ralph Gilles (pictured above) asked us, as he described the day when designers came to the company's design office to have their "very, very expensive" design equipment deposited in the trunks of their cars by the waiting IT staff.
Home offices sorted, Gilles had to figure out how to recreate a collaborative work environment. Gilles says his team leaders set up regular virtual coffee or happy hour meetings with their staffs. "Without having an agenda, you were able to just discuss open-mindedly," Gilles says. He even thinks the designers' work is improving. "You put a drawing on a wall with a bunch of other drawings, yours can blend in." But now that each designer presents ideas to the group individually, people want their sketches to shine.
Those sketches have, inevitably, been influenced by the pandemic. Gilles says the staff now spends more time thinking about how to make a car easy to clean, how to improve filtration, and how to incorporate antimicrobial materials like copper into their interiors.
It'll be years before we see the fruits of those labors. But that doesn't mean we have nothing to look forward to. Gilles is looking forward to some "very significant" new vehicle launches in 2021.
MICHAEL BUTTS: Sales Consultant, Jake Sweeney Automotive, Burlington, Kentucky
When new car sales cratered during the first COVID restrictions, the dealership Michael Butts worked at laid off its entire sales staff. Butts landed another dealer sales job over the summer, and he's adapted to a new relationship with clients in a profession that has relied on close personal interaction.
"I was always taught 'Sell in your seat, not on your feet,'" he said. But even after lockdowns ended, some potential buyers wouldn't even speak over the phone, but only text, and some who'd bought cars wouldn't enter the dealership until they needed to sign paperwork. "It was kind of hard to change my approach," Butts said, "to have the customer engaged with me but never have them in person."
COVID affected every aspect of the sales process, large and small. Butts said the dealership now keeps cars in the showroom locked, "That way, not a lot of people are touching them and getting in and out." Moving the pre-sales process online compelled dealers to divulge numbers early or risk losing a sale, and obliged customers to show interest up front and set appointments they're more inclined to keep. As new vehicle sales recovered, the auction market remained hindered by distancing and sanitizing constraints, limiting the supply of quality pre-owned vehicles.
New technologies and processes have enhanced the buying experience for both parties, and Butts believes they'll stick around. "I think this could be a good thing for the car industry," he said. "Now we are tailoring each experience that the customer has."
RICH BENOIT: YouTube's “Rich Rebuilds”
In 2015, ex-IT guy Rich Benoit combined two Tesla Model S wrecks into one daily-driver Model S. That effort turned him into a full-time YouTuber known as Rich Rebuilds, while continued skirmishes with Tesla corporate bestowed such notoriety that Vice called him "The Rogue Mechanic." Andrew Lawrence profiled Benoit in our September issue.
For a guy like Benoit, travel restrictions were the worst kinds of constraints. "I get energy from talking to people, being around people," he said. "2020 definitely sucked a lot of my energy away because I couldn't do those things."
After taking two cars to SEMA last year, he planned to expand his presence this year. "I wanted to do more car shows in general," he said. "I build these projects, I want to show more people what I can do and also inspire a younger generation of tinkerers and say, 'Hey, you could do this, too. I don't have any experience … [if] you just follow first principles, you could have some really awesome stuff if you're into it.'"
