ATLANTA -

It wasn’t the first question Auto Remarketing asked Sandy Schwartz in a one-on-one phone interview Thursday afternoon, but it figures to be on the minds of many: What’s next for Cox Automotive?

“I’m trying to catch my breath. I want to get a nap this afternoon,” said Schwartz.

Given all the projects in which his company has its hands, who knows if there was even time for that.

It has been a whirlwind of activity for Cox Automotive and its president lately, with the company's purchase of Dealertrack Technologies finally becoming official on Thursday.  

“I will tell you,” Schwartz said, “we have our hands full in a very positive way. One of the great things is, we’ve gotten to know Dealertrack even better and especially doing the things we’ve been allowed to do over the last few months; our values are the same, our culture’s the same and our mission’s the same.  And we believe that we can help dealers — and OEMs — but help dealers be more efficient. And so there are so many things on our plate; we’re not out shopping for new things.

“Now, look, we’re going to look at every opportunity as it comes up. But just so you know, you can come on down to Atlanta and you won’t see a big whiteboard that says ‘Next thing, we go do this,’” he said. “Our focus is going to be on taking care of our clients, taking care of our team members and most importantly, doing integration in places where we need to do integration. And we have our work cut out for us, just like everyone else does.”

But keep this in mind, as Schwartz points out: “This is a fast-changing world.”

Given that, the company has to be prepared, ready to adapt and focused on its dealers.

“The world’s changing so fast out there, we want to make sure we’re ahead of the curve. We’re doing the design work we need to do, and that we can be very, very much needed by all of our dealers. And that’s where our focus is. We are dealer advocates. We are open-source advocates. Technology has changed the world; closed systems, I don’t think, pay dividends for anybody,” Schwartz added. “So we’re really committed to that … one of the great things that I tell our people — they don’t like hearing this, and it sounds even crass at times — but our dealers can fire us every day. And we have to produce for our dealers every single day.

“We have great relationships and great partnerships. And so we have to keep our eye on the ball.”

Chrome stipulation

In an announcement first released late on Tuesday (before the deal closed) Justice Department officials said Cox Automotive “must undertake various obligations to prevent Cox from using Dealertrack’s interest in Chrome Data Solutions LP, a company that compiles and licenses vehicle information data for use in inventory systems and other automated solutions and services for the automotive industry.”

As a Cox Automotive spokesperson noted, it is a “joint venture between Dealertrack and Autodata that provides vehicle information data utilized in the industry, including for inventory management applications.”

Auto Remarketing asked Schwartz what his understanding of this stipulation from DOJ means and how Cox planned on remaining compliant.

“It’s not only planning on it, we will be (compliant),” Schwartz said, later adding: “Chrome plays an important role for the industry, so we’re excited to have a part of the Cox Automotive family delivering this.

“We’re totally open, I think as much as anyone could be, for open integration among all of our combined solutions and other third-party providers and assuring the data is available for all customers. This isn’t about us getting data ourselves; we believe this is for the industry,” he continued. “So, we’ve put in place arrangements; the DOJ helped us facilitate data access for all the customers of Chrome, and allowing Chrome and Cox Automotive to deliver the value and the efficiency to everybody.

“But, I’ve got to tell you, we are a user of Chrome, also. So, in my mind … it sets some rules in place, but it really isn’t going to change the way we act,” he added.

Schwartz notes there is an inference that Cox would “want to use this to our advantage.” That is not the case, he says. 

“This is a competitive world for everybody. And we’re all in this together. And so this data is shared by the industry, and I don’t see any changes in how that happens,” Schwartz noted.

‘Two growth companies coming together’

Auto Remarketing also posed this question to Schwartz: Beyond the much-talked-about inventory side, what other areas of the company might be impacted by bringing Dealertrack into the fold?

Schwartz began by giving the example of transportation/logistics. Both Cox and Dealertrack have solutions in that space.

“We have a transportation company in Ready (Auto Transport), and they have a transportation company. That’s one of our integration work streams. It’s not proposed because we think … we might have some services that overlap, so we’ll be able to cut some people. That’s not what this is about. These are two growth companies coming together,” he explained.  “We want to come up with the absolute best transportation solution for OEMs, dealers and others who transport cars, so I think that that will be one that’s on the front burner.”

Looking forward

For those who may believe Cox Automotive is “taking competition out of the market,” as he put it, Schwartz points to something he learned during the DOJ process.

He found “there’s more competition out there than even I’d thought. There are people who haven’t even thought that they’re our competitors who are working in a garage and a month from now will be.

“Every single one of our products, every single service we offer, they’ve got competitive solutions out there,” Schwartz added. “So we have to be the best at every one of those. And our competitors do, too. We know that.”

 Turning to the remarketing arena in particular, he continued: “Look, I think that every day we do a better job than our competitors in the remarketing area, but we don’t have 100-percent penetration. Not close to it. So we’ve got to be at the top of our game in each of these work streams we look at. The goal is, how do we make this product even better?”

Furthermore, Schwartz emphasized that it’s just not about the short-term, particularly given how the business is changing. The thought it is to be ready for the next two, five, even 10 years, he said.

While it may not be exactly clear what the auto market will look like a decade from now, Schwartz finds his company in a strong position.

“I think that today, with this deal,” he said, “we’ve ended up in a really good place to help the industry, and help our dealers going forward.”