The biggest problem facing the automotive industry isn't AI. It's the loss of experience. Every week, experienced managers and industry veterans leave our dealerships, taking decades of knowledge with them.

At the same time, we're promoting great salespeople into management roles.

But who is teaching them how to lead?

Who is mentoring the next generation?

Leadership isn't something you inherit with a new job title. It's learned through coaching, experience, and great mentors. Without that investment, we see:

• Higher staff turnover

• Poorer customer experiences

• Inconsistent leadership

• Lower profitability

AI will transform how we sell cars.

Great leaders will determine who succeeds.

The dealerships that invest in developing people—not just promoting them—will be the ones that thrive over the next decade.

Are we doing enough to develop tomorrow's automotive leaders?

At Radelja Executive Advisory, we believe developing leaders is one of the most valuable investments a dealership can make - for today and the future.

Over the last few months, working with Franchise Dealers, big and small, family owned, and large groups and public companies, this is abundantly clear.

The days of poaching a ready made 20+pm closer with good gross is gone.

Dealers need to recruit, develop, mentor and retain their own teams, but retention and stability have gone out the door.

We have some amazing, talented, curious, and coachable “cadets’ in our dealerships, but our Sales Managers are too busy with admin to train and mentor them properly.

Managers are too busy and distracted, chasing targets, putting out fires,  managing inventories and EOM, to devote the time and effort to commit to a structured and defined training process.

Dealer budgets are set in advance and margins are too tight to invest, and they rely on mandatory OEM training portals and Sales Managers to train staff.

The talent pool has been eroded, so the best salesperson becomes a cost effective sales manager, but does not necessarily have the experience tor time to train and mentor new recruits.

Time and time again I have seen Dealerships that come to me with the same problem … "we are recruiting , and training new staff, but as soon as they start selling some cars, they move on."

And they move on to the Dealers and Dealer Groups that have a structured induction and training program for their staff.

Every successful industry recruits cadets, had a structured and lengthy apprenticeship to give them and the business the best chance of long term success.

Unfortunately, in this instant, reactionary, online world… too many Dealerships want a “magic” button without the long term hard work and persistence that forged a successful generation before them.

I always try to find a sports analogy that us dinosaurs can understand.

When your football team is struggling and the forward is not kicking straight.. go back to basics.

When you develop a slice or you get the putting yips, … go back to basics.

If your sales team is struggling .. go back to basics.

Everyone is talking about the new car market.

I think we’re asking the wrong question. The real story is what the used car market will look like in five years.

Today, Australia’s new car sales are already changing dramatically. T

he Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux still lead the market, but Chinese brands such as BYD, Chery and GWM are now among the fastest-growing manufacturers, while EVs and hybrids continue to gain share.

Fast forward five years…

Those same vehicles won’t be sitting in new car showrooms. They’ll be sitting on used car lots. Thousands of novated leases written since the EV tax incentives were introduced, together with corporate fleets, government vehicles and lease returns, will begin flowing into the used market in significant numbers.

Fleet and leasing providers are already reporting strong growth in novated leasing and increasing vehicle volumes. Think about that for a moment.

Today’s typical used yard is dominated by:

• Toyota• Mazda• Hyundai• Kia• Ford• Mitsubishi

By 2031, that stock mix could include large numbers of:•

BYD• Chery• GWM• MG• Tesla• Geely• Leapmotor and other emerging brands

The challenge isn’t whether these cars are good or bad.

The challenge is whether dealerships are ready.

How do you accurately value a five-year-old BYD or Chery?

How do you explain battery health, software updates and remaining warranty?

How do you determine future residual values when there is only a few years of Australian market history?

And perhaps the biggest question…Will Australian buyers be comfortable purchasing a five-year-old Chinese vehicle in the same way they confidently buy a five-year-old Toyota today?

Whether the answer is yes or no almost doesn’t matter.

Because if those vehicles represent a significant proportion of lease returns and fleet disposals, dealerships won’t have the luxury of ignoring them.

The used car industry has spent decades adapting to changing customer demand.T

he next challenge will be adapting to changing vehicle supply.

The dealerships that succeed won’t simply be the ones with the most stock.

They’ll be the ones that know how to value it, market it, finance it and build customer confidence around it.

I'd love to hear what others in the industry think.

Is your dealership preparing for the used car market of 2031—or are we still managing today’s market?