Harold Redden, GM, Fitzgerald Auto Mall & George Vescovo, Digital Marketing Director, Viva Auto Group

George Vescovo + Harold Redden ITD NADA

Tue, Feb 07, 2023 3:15PM • 4:08

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

love, dealers, industry, operations, auto, maryland, msrp, hanging, year, pandemic, making, dealership, company, clearwater, dirt, q1, store, digital marketing, ad, different platforms

SPEAKERS

Kyle Mountsier, Harold Redden, George Vescovo

Kyle Mountsier  00:00

This is In the Dirt with ASOTU. All right standing here with George Vescovo. With Viva Fiesta Auto Group hanging out. Thanks for hanging out with us just a little bit.

George Vescovo  00:14

You're very welcome. Thank you for inviting me over. A little bit of a surprise. But

Kyle Mountsier  00:18

Yeah, absolutely. All right. So you are, you have an interesting story, because your backstory is actually that you were a Dealer and you've sunk your teeth back into the marketing. And what's what some of that transition in the industry been like for you?

George Vescovo  00:33

I actually love it. So I was a Dealer for 10 years and ran a ealership for 10 years before that. Now I'm doing the digital marketing for the auto group that bought me out. And it's really my passion, love the data analytics, love being cutting edge love constantly learning new things in a changing industry.

Kyle Mountsier  00:54

Alright, cool. So as you're looking into 2023, you and I've had a couple of discussions about like, just how you're looking at ads and looking at the content and looking at how you know, the different platforms? What are you really trying to dial in as you go into 2023 for the auto group.

George Vescovo  01:09

So for 2023 I think efficiency really matters. So in terms of making sure that the every dollar of ad spend is absolutely as effective as it can be. I think that's going to be critical within the next year or two.

Kyle Mountsier  01:26

Awesome. Well, thanks for hanging out and congrats on on making a move. That was really fun for you. Thank you so much. Well, Harold, where are you at in the country? And what store are you with?

Harold Redden  01:38

I'm with Fitzgerald Automalls, and we operate mainly out of the Washington, DC, Maryland suburbs. We also have dealerships in Frederick, Maryland, Hagerstown, a couple in Pennsylvania and Clearwater, Florida,

Kyle Mountsier  01:52

Clearwater, I bet that's a stopping point for you every once in a while,

Harold Redden  01:55

in the wintertime, we get people standing in line to go down there and do work for us.

Kyle Mountsier  01:59

Awesome. So, what's your role inside the company?

Harold Redden  02:01

Well, I'm the General Manager of one of the stores, I'm in charge of all the IT operations for the entire company. Wow,

Kyle Mountsier  02:08

I met so General Manager and IT that's an interesting combination, for sure. So what like as you're looking into 2023, and as you're even just looking at q1 as an organization, what does it look like for you? And what are you really honing in on and looking to do operation?

Harold Redden  02:22

Well, we're functioning obviously, like all Dealers are on our used car operations. And we have, you know, a very steep decline as a lot of Dealers have experienced in inventory value for used cars. So we're managing through that. At the same time, you know, we're coming off of a year where vehicles sold for more at MSRP on our case, and in some cases, some Dealers more than MSRP. And now I think we're coming back down to the pre pandemic, or at least the first year of pandemic pricing levels. And so it was a big focus on that. Also, we have a lot of people in the industry, not just in our company that have actually the working in sales that have actually never seen what we might call a typical environment that would require selling. So we are making sure our people are equipped for that challenge.

Kyle Mountsier  03:13

I love to hear that. What What got you into the industry thinking back when you when you first started in the industry? What was it for you?

Harold Redden  03:19

Well, I've worked for Fitzgerald for 48 years. And so when I started I was in high school and I was looking for a high school after school job and I went to the Dealership and just fell in love with the business and the people never left.

Kyle Mountsier  03:33

Man, that's amazing to hear. Thanks for sharing a little of your story and wish you just an amazing year.  Thank you for listening to In the Dirt with ASOTU. We love the automotive industry and the people who make it run day in and day out. We would love to connect with you more through our daily dose of fun, a free email that you can sign up for at ASOTU.com That's a s o t u.com. We put our heart and soul into it every day. Thanks again for listening. Join us next time for more Conversations in the dirt with ASOTU.

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