CARY, N.C. -

As part of Used Car Week's Pre-Owned Con next week, Cherokee Media Group will recognize honorees in the annual Used Car Awards, a program presented by KAR Global. 

That includes our annual Franchise Dealer of the Year, which this year goes to Rick Ricart, president of Ricart Automotive Group.

Below is a Q&A with Ricart, which is available to CMG Premium subscribers now and to all readers in the upcoming December edition of Auto Remarketing.

Auto Remarketing: The auto business, of course, is a family business for you at Ricart Automotive Group. What was your first job in the family business and what did you learn from it?

Rick Ricart: My first tax paying real position at the dealership was selling new Chevrolets in the summers while in college. However, I can joke that long before that I would “work” occasional days doing manual labor, helping the maintenance department, or painting light poles as punishment. I look forward to passing that privilege to my children as well one day (I’m funny, too).  
 
AR: What do you enjoy most about the car business today?
Ricart: The challenges. More specifically, the game of disruption between the traditional OEM/dealer network and the new start-up “Wall Street ventures.” I’m a firm believer that we must not let the disruption happen, but do the opposite which is innovate ourselves. Technology is becoming available for dealers to take the next steps. 
 
AR: How has automotive retail changed the most since you started?
Ricart: Since the early 2000s, I have seen dramatic change. My first summer selling cars, I had one of those spiral bound green books (and analog CRM) and a pen.  
We had a DMS but no CRM and barely a website. Now the website, digital retailing tool (we use AutoFi), CRM and DMS are all flowing together with very little communication and human contact, and we are selling cars.   
 
AR: How has COVID-19 impacted the way Ricart does business and how has your group adapted?
Ricart: We are lucky. We adopted AutoFi and began offering remote/online buying almost three years ago so our staff was trained and ready when the pandemic hit.  
We had experience and immediately sprang into action offering remote deliveries and express delivery at the dealership. We also opened a very large fleet/commercial service department in March and that turned out to be a home run because of all of the delivery and work vehicles needing repairs to keep moving. We also changed up marketing messages to be more community focused and show care and that has been a powerful move. 
 
AR: Lastly, what sets your dealership group apart?
Ricart: Simple. It’s our people. Our culture. The family we have here does not just stop at the nine Ricarts that are working here: it’s the dozens of managers and leaders that have become family over the years.  We have great tenure and low turnover and they are absolute superstars in everything they do.