Business View Magazine | June 2022

69 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 6 KENTUCKY AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION (KADA) By Jason Wilson, KADA President W hat a world of changes both personally and professionally we have seen in the past year! Despite the challenges faced by COVID-19, the automotive industry continued to grow with new car sales hitting just over 15 million this last year. Despite inventory challenges, sales are still estimated to rise in 2022 with Cox Automotive predicting an increase to around 16 million. Beyond chip and inventory challenges, the major buzz in our industry is the move to electric vehicles. Manufacturers have committed to moving ahead with EVs and are investing billions in research and development. And car dealers are all in! Dealers have always been the ambassadors of new technology and as more and more electric vehicles are presented into the market, the dealer community is extremely excited for the opportunity to introduce them to the public. Now more than ever, with exponentially high gas prices, consumers are becoming increasingly interested in this technology, and we are starting to see more choices. Among those are the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the VW ID. line, the Audi e-tron, and the list continues to grow. There is no one better equipped to bring these products to the market and meet the needs of the consumer