Business View Magazine | September 2022

202 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 9 ½ years, it is clear many consumers are keeping their vehicles longer. “It’s up to us to be the dealer that sells and services those vehicles,” he adds. Investments for the future Customers have high expectations, so Keating Auto Group is embarking on the next phase of investments to keep several steps ahead of its competition. The company is currently engaged in 10 different building expansions and related projects, in addition to the constant need for technology and IT upgrades to support employees and customers. Ben anticipates that Keating Auto Group will spend “several hundred million dollars” in facility investments at multiple locations between 2021-2025. This includes the building of five brand-new Hyundai facilities and 3-4 remodels of existing dealers. Keating Auto Group understands these investments must be made to stay competitive. “The auto dealer industry has changed dramatically over the past three years but I do think over time we will gradually migrate back to the way it was,” Ben says. He wants to address the changing needs of customers and is already preparing for a time when supply is high and competition for demand will be greater. That is why he is making significant investments at his dealerships to prepare for the time when attracting new customers is even more crucial. “We need to be able to shift back to the changing customer needs,” Keating says. “We are one of the best at what we do now but I want to be the best in the business then as well.” PREFERRED VENDORS/PARTNERS n Max Connect www.maxconnect.com Max Connect Digital is a nationally recognized digital marketing agency rooted in performance. We combine one of the most extensive real-time audiences sets that we deploy through our proprietary marketing attribution and business intelligence platform, Kudos. Through our audience first approach and digital marketing technology, we deliver real business outcomes. n Truist www.truist.com Truist Dealer Services has highly-specialized, dedicated resources to support dealers throughout their entrepreneurial lifecycle, including automotive retail investment banking through Truist Securities, floor plan, real estate, and Blue Sky lending, full credit spectrum indirect auto lending, business transitions advisory, treasury solutions, and insurance and risk management. Visit us at Truist.com/DealerServices. n Armatus Dealer Uplift www.dealeruplift.com | info@dealeruplift.com n Lane Gorman Trubitt, LLC www.lgt-cpa.com