Tony skinner
Hi, and welcome to the podcast channel with podcastmybusiness.com.au. And today we have Andrew Dalton from car expert.com.au Hi how are you. Andrew.
Andrew
How are you, Tony? So Well, thank you so much for having me. 
Tony skinner
My pleasure. So, huh. I wonder what we’re going to talk about?
Andrew
Indeed, indeed, well, I’m ready when you are, please.
Tony skinner
Okay. So cars is obviously we’re going to talk about, and we were having a quick chat before we went live, about cars being the second biggest purchase that most people make. And part of that process nowadays is looking and checking out the car that you want to buy looking at options. And that’s where you guys come in?
Andrew
Absolutely. It’s something that’s sort of in the blood of everyone behind this business, I think. Between us all, we’ve got no debt a couple of 100 years of motoring journalism experience. And most of us it’s sort of car tragics. And really love the process of helping people choose the right new car. And we’ve done that in a former life since sort of the early 2000s, and more recently, under the banner of careexpert.com.au
Tony skinner
Okay, so, what makes care expert so special?
Andrew
Well, we’re an independent company. Our purpose or reason to exist, I guess is to help people discover, compare and choose their niche new car, but put less elegantly, we’re here to help take the suck at buying a new car. As we all know, we can’t trust advertising. It’s getting harder to tell the difference between editorial and advertorial. And if we’re really honest with ourselves, we would say or acknowledge that the dealership experience itself is just about as intimidating as it is inconvenient. We think there’s a really big gap between how people want to buy cars and how they want to buy cars.
And we’re here to fix that. Put simply, today, that means we publish fiercely independent car content, such as car reviews and comparisons. And we do that on car experts.com.au but in 2021 and beyond. Our plan is to evolve into to far more than just a website. But that’s probably a chat for another episode.
Tony skinner
Yet for sure. Okay. Well, I was going through the site, and I saw something interesting. And I guess I’ve been curious about a few things. And I saw the Kia Sorento Sport Plus,
Andrew
Well, it’s certainly not classed as a sports car. It’s an SUV, and it’s actually one of the best products I think he is put on the market today. It’s, it’s a wonderful, sort of affordable premium experience with the Sorento. And while it’s got a bit of zip, it’s, it’s certainly not a sports card and shouldn’t be classified as one thing.
Tony skinner
That that’s it, but they do this thing. And it’s interesting, I have a WRX. And, of course, this thing I know someone’s got to do with the twin turbo. And what have you, Kia and other brands, would you say the becoming more Europeanized or European design?
Andrew
Oh, look, I, I think there’s a number of trends in manufacturing right now I know, in respect to the kheer. Particularly, it was a real flagship product for here. And it put them on the map for a lot of people that otherwise wouldn’t have considered to be capable of producing a performance car like this thing, particularly one as good as the stinger. And I know when they sort of produced that, that twin turbo rear wheel drive performance sedan, it really puts you on the map for a lot of buyers that otherwise wouldn’t have. And it’s been really great to see the rise of the Korean brands in general, actually, particularly like young guy. And year that since inception. 
You know, they struggled as the challenger brands with the more mainstream dominating players and, and through great products and great marketing and also by providing great confidence, like the seven year warranty. You know, they’ve really sort of fought their way to the top. But I think to your point around European styling, however, yeah, look, I think, you know, there’s always been a recognition that cars are an extension of our own personalities, you know, we buy them as a balance between sort of emotion and logic, you know, this sort of there, what car do I want versus what car do I actually need? What can I afford versus what’s gonna make you look good, and the European styling is frankly, quite an attractive one for so many and I’m not surprised that many of the manufacturers have linked to that sort of style.
Tony skinner
Absolutely. So there’s been lots of news and what have you, and let’s face it. We’ve had more we’re still coming to the tail end, hopefully, of the coronavirus pandemic. And there’s all this stuff you hearing about new car sales up, new car sales are down, now’s a good time to buy, now’s a good time to buy, you use cars. values are up, they’re going back down and what have you. So is there such a thing? And let’s look at what time of the year is a good time to buy a cat?
Andrew
Well, yeah, this certainly is, I think your first point COVID has delivered a really interesting. It’s had a really interesting effect on the market. And in so many different ways. I think, first of all, we know that their sales numbers were decimated in sort of March and April with the onset of COVID. In Australia, for the most part, they’ve had a really good recovery since then, in all states, with the exception of Victoria that had continuing restrictions. However, there was sort of declining car sales month on month for the last two and a half, three years.
So it was the trend line was heading in the wrong direction for the new car industry. But you know what, it’s also caused this sort of a catalyst to quite an exciting transitional period in, in automotive marketing and retail. You know, we’ve seen more brands doing online, doing pop up experience stores, extended test drives, home delivered test drives, there’s a move towards car subscriptions, which is separate to COVID. But certainly a change in the trend, you know, sort of press release from VW, not so long ago suggesting that they had sold over 450 cars online this year. And brands like Honda and Mercedes, moving to an agency model where there’s a growing trend to move towards a fixed price model. So there’s more predictability and less stress in the buying process. So COVID has been responsible for a lot of that, or at least is responsible for accelerating the eventuality of those things. But you know, where are we at right now to enter simulator questions, Tony? a really interesting time for car buying. As it stands today, one of the knock on effects of COVID has been a either a slowdown in manufacturing or a slowdown in international logistics and shipping. So we’re seeing for the first time in a long time demand is actually outweighing supply.
And it’s becoming harder and harder to get a new car in the driveway or the one that you want in your driveway quickly, is growing wait lists. And of course, when demand outweighs supply, we’ve got also an increase in arguably pricing as well and is anecdotally a very good time profitably for profitability, I should say in the new car industry, as people try to buy the cars that are on the floor. So and with that has a knock on effect to to the used car market where if you can’t buy the new car you want, you certainly want what’s in market, which means used and that’s put prices up for us cars as well. So for the first time in a long time, I could make the argument that it’s a better time to be a car dealer than ever before.
Tony skinner
Wow. Okay. Well, that was going to take me to my next question. So that’s great. So is it ever any excuse for paying exactly the driveaway price on the manufacturers price?
Andrew
If you ask me personally, absolutely not out of principle just about Tony. But I’m I’m I do like to negotiate good deal with with the car deal. I think everybody should. But I also need to really accept that. While I find negotiating quite a quite an enjoyable sport. I understand a lot of people don’t find that process enjoy the little In fact, I read some statistics, not that long ago that that said that people would rather go to the dentist and the car dealer. They find the process that intimidating and apprehensive. So I wouldn’t be surprised if in the not so distant future. Maybe not. Certainly not this year, not next year. But in the coming years, Tony, I think we can see more and more manufacturers on fixed pricing. As you know, they like to get more control over the retail pricing of their vehicles through their dealership franchises. And also they to recognize that it’s one of the significant pain points that prevent people from either getting into market to buy a new car because they want to avoid the entire process or it’s it really takes away from the consumer experience, which is not really a win win for anyone. 
Tony skinner
So we’re going to have less and less of our opportunity to have fun with a dealer and we’re going yeah, no, down a little bit down a little bit more, and then they try pump us up with the finance and balance things that way.
Andrew
Yeah, look, there’s always going to be ways to get a value add, I think, you know, mind you, Tesla has held firm, you know, it’s pushed button ordering Tesla. And I think why dealerships exist, there’s still going to be a way to get added value in the process, then that added value could be outside of the price, it could just be things related to servicing or extended warranties, or it could be accessories, it could be, you know, after sales products like tinting, paint protection, etc. I think you’re still going to find people that are motivated to do deals, but maybe what we call the deal will change.
Tony skinner
Right? Okay. So if I was looking, okay, I’ll be up front, I was looking at potentially getting a new WR x because I get benefits for the instant asset write off and blah, blah, blah, blah, my cat scan or you know what? Why spend $1 to save 30 cents on tax. So that’s fine. I knew the models coming up new models coming up soon set, if I was looking at buying a new car? How would I go about that? So I look for what I’m figuring out what I’m looking for and started looking for go to K expert read the reviews. And then I go out to see a dealer what is some good tips and tricks to get the best possible deal and how that fits me? Yeah,
Andrew
there’s a few steps in that process. I think, I think the first one is having a very honest conversation with yourself around what you want every car. I mentioned earlier in the interview that Buying a car is a it’s a balance between emotion and logic. So really understanding what what you want out of it from a from an ego perspective, from an emotional perspective, you know, how it looks and how it reflects on your own personal brand. But then also the the more rational, logical requirements like fuel economy and warranty and resale?
And obviously, the number of passengers and what does the car need to achieve? Is it is it need to go off road does it need to tow You know, there’s a there’s a long list of needs and wants that I think the car buyer should have a good honest conversation with themselves about and then it’s about going in embarking on the process of discovery. I think you do need to come to a stoplight car expert to come to you or others or have conversations with people that know things about cars in order to understand what sort of consideration set you should form what should what should be on the on the shortlist. And, and while I think that the volume sellers are a good indication of cars that have entered the way to the top
Tony skinner
right, what do you mean by volume sellers,
Andrew
you know that the Toyotas and the Mazdas that, you know, I really and the models, particularly within those makes, you know, like the hilux and the Ranger for example, that you know, on most people’s radar, but the point I’m trying to make is that there’s some cars out there that I know if you spoke to some of our motoring experts and motoring journalists, they would say yeah, look at those for sure. But have you considered x y and Zed? There is a lot of cars out there that that people are not buying that we think they should they’re not necessarily new comments. They’re not necessarily in fact not at all challenger brands, but there’s some cars that just don’t get the same level of exposure and awareness and consideration that they deserve and that’s what we like to do it carry expertise you know shine a spotlight on the cars that sell but also the cars that we we think should sell and of course we shine shine the spotlight on the cars that sell that we think probably shouldn’t as well. You know we pride ourselves on writing very independent and critical reviews when it’s required. But ultimately after that once you sort of got you your your consideration list or your shortlist Tony it’s about whittling down to one or two.
And for that I always reference what I call the three pillars of decision making automotive decision making more specifically and that is before someone buys a car, they should have a look at what the manufacturer has to say. I think the OEMs they give you all the glitz and fanfare and while that needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
They’ve got a lot of good things to say you know see great photos of the exterior and interior. You’re gonna be able to look at specs documents and play with building process configurators but then Like any good news story should be fact check. And that’s where we come in, people want to know from the experts and the and the owners, which are the other two pillars. And that’s the role we play in the consumer buying process is to be that independent voice of reason that’s going to take a critical eye over every car that is sold in Australia, and review it in ways that maybe you wouldn’t have thought to, and provide that in a really enjoyable, legible format that the average car buyer can really not just enjoy and read, but understand. And, you know, that’s sort of the role we play from a content perspective. But ultimately, I think that the true test of truth is one’s own experience. And they should be getting behind the wheel of a car and do a test drive. Regrettably, I can tell you that last time I saw the stats, people are driving, or test driving 1.5 cars before they buy one. And and I really wondered why people did that. And we commissioned some particularly expensive research with a tier one consulting firm, and then combine it with some quite cheap common sense. And the conclusion we came to why this was, is because people, you know, they, they’re intimidated, and they have apprehension towards that process and stepping inside that dealership. And while we’re trying to do what we can to address that, in the years to come in the meantime, and what I would say is put those problems aside and get into a dealership and, and drive a car before you buy it and drive numerous cars. Because it is really the true test and your own experiences will go far beyond what the manufacturer can say and what the experts can say about it 
Tony skinner
Well, thank you very much. And like this is a great time to look at buying a new car coming up anything else you’d like to add? Yeah, look,
Andrew
I think, as far as business is concerned, you know, it’s it’s a crowded space in the market today, when it comes to automotive publishing, Tony, and we were questioned repeatedly on on why we thought there was room for car wrecks, but in the market, and the conclusion we came to is that we didn’t think there was much more room for advertising. To make it commercially viable. I think the world’s soon enough, got enough advertising, but there’s certainly plenty of room for authenticity.
And, that’s sort of what we want to offer both, you know, the car buyers of Australia, and also the people that make the cars, we want to provide a better way to sell cars and a better way to buy them as well. And while we’ll know, sort of crossed the line between content and commerce, you know, it’s been it’s been a great ride, getting this business up and running over the last, what sorts of 1011 months now, building under a really healthy audience base and producing a great amount of content. And, Tony, what I can say is look, thanks for having me on the show, and I really look forward to perhaps sharing with you where this business ends in 2021. Beyond
Tony skinner
absolutely outlook, you know, cars are a constant theme. So yeah, it’d be good to catch up again in the new year and see how things are progressing.
Andrew
Fantastic. Really appreciate the opportunity.
Tony skinner
Great. Okay, so thank you, Andrew. That’s Andrew from car expert.com.au