SEASON 4 | EPISODE 15
Brian Kelly’s career in the automotive industry spans an incredible 56 years and counting. He got his start working at his father Roland’s used car lot as a young teenager – which would eventually become the first dealership of Kelly Automotive Group. There are now eight Kelly dealership locations with a total of ten franchises throughout them.
“We have new customers coming in every day, and you add that to the repeat business we do, and that’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful”
– Brian Kelly, President and CEO, Kelly Automotive Group
On this episode, Brian Kelly sits down with Derek D to discuss how his career selling cars got started with buying two suits for $59, why the Federal Reserve raising interest rates is a necessary evil for the automotive business and how long the aftereffects may last, and how Kelly Automotive came to open one of the first INFINITI dealerships in the entire world. Plus, he talks about how a little real estate knowledge can be valuable for dealer principals, why his connection to his hometown is so important to him, and how he quickly spotted auto brokers trying to take unfair advantage of market conditions recently.
Episode Highlights:
- How Brian’s childhood tricked-out bicycles led to a lifelong love of both cars and motorcycles
- Why it matters what brands a dealership sells during the ongoing chip shortages – and which automakers are managing their current supply of microchips well and poorly
- Why the most prized vehicle Brian owns is one of fewer than 200 in the world
- What needs to happen before most or all cars no longer run on internal combustion engines – and why Brian is unsure what will be propelling those future vehicles
- How inflation’s impact on the industry is like a broken arm
| Dealer News Today is a Dave Cantin Group production
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