“We’ve been doing it one technology at a time” || Ryan Robinson, Automotive Research Leader, Deloitte

Ryan Robinson took an unusual path to the automotive industry, having earned degrees in philosophy, English literature, and classical archaeology from Montreal, Quebec’s prestigious Concordia University. However, he’s managed to apply the analytical skills from this course of study to a two-plus-decade career working in all points on the automotive value chain. Today, he leads Deloitte LLP’s automotive sector department in finding actionable insights and predicting key trends that will affect the industry for years to come.

In this episode, Ryan talks with our host Derek D about how the study of archaeology and “learning how to learn” set him up for success in research, how automotive culture was part of his background from the very beginning, and the unforeseen benefits of the semiconductor supply crisis. Plus, he highlights how autonomous vehicle systems have had precedent for longer than we think, concerns about autonomous delivery and freight from a labor standpoint, why consolidation by dealership groups is even reaching across the US-Canada border, and more.

Episode Highlights:

• Why brand loyalty will become increasingly important during the continuing rise of electric vehicles
• Who drivers trust the most in their entire automotive experience
• The surprising result Deloitte got when asking consumers how long they’d be willing to wait for delivery of a car with all of the exact features they want
• Ryan’s one piece of advice to dealers: What aspect of business should you double down on?

“One of the bigger questions we’re contemplating right now… is how much restraint the manufacturers are going to have to not go back to the way things were.” 

— Ryan Robinson

|| Dealer News Today is a DCG Media production