Dealerfloor spoke to Ashley about his role in NADA (National Automobile Dealers’ Association, a constituent association of the RMI), taking the reins from Gary McCraw, who is now the acting COO of the RMI. NADA represents the interests of 1 546 dealerships. Following the recent announcement of the NADA DSI results, NADA has begun engaging with various OEMs and Importers on key issues identified, with the aim of fostering stronger working relationships between NADA and these stakeholders.

What will his main focus be? We kicked off the interview with Ashley with this question: "My main focus point at the moment is taking care of the membership. That is my main role to lobby for them when there are other issues coming up from government or any other industry," he tells us.

Ashley has a diverse mix of experiences across both the public service and the private sector with a passion for the automotive space (he is an avid Liverpool supporter). He makes no secret of the crucial need for upskilling people in the automotive retail sector as well as getting a new generation interested in this sector as a career path.

"With skills shortages in the industry, he says the recycling of staff needs to be halted with the upskilling of existing staff and the entering of a young, new generation to the sector through dedicated career days," Ashley tells us.

He says the importance of career days for learners to practically see and experience what our sector has to offer is an aspect he has a keen interest in and which can bear fruit for the automotive retail sector.

On another level, NADA is currently engaging with OEMs and dealerships on training initiatives aimed at upskilling staff across all dealership departments. Through the RMI, NADA has access to a wide range of courses and bursaries, making these available at no cost to either the participants or the dealers.

Dealerfloor asked him how we arrived at this situation. "What I have noticed, and this is just from chatting to different people, is that it has happened over a period of time where many of the skilled workers have either retired from the industry or emigrated. While the larger groups are able to maintain these efforts, attracting young people to the automotive sector remains a challenge. A further hurdle is ensuring that candidates meet the required maths and science standards, unless they commit to a bridging programme offered by certain TVET colleges.

“For smaller dealers, however, the cost of sourcing, recruiting, retaining and training new entrants is often prohibitive. He says this led to the poaching of skilled workers from other companies, leading to recycling people instead of upskilling the next generation. To normalise the situation will not happen overnight, but with the effort being put into resolving it, it could still take a few years to stabilise the situation.

Regarding other challenges dealerships face today, Ashley says fraud is one of the most serious obstacles for any dealership and seems to be on the increase. "Even with measures in place to try and slow it down and get to a point where we can try and eradicate it, there will always be the criminal element," he says.

Another challenge for dealerships in the short term is inflation and how dealerships operate within the next two years. "Look at how the prices of vehicles are going up over time compared to what people are earning. Even when official inflation figures ease, the affordability gap remains. It's not at the same rate," Ashley says.

In this regard, Ashley says customers are now looking at the sub-R400 000 category when buying vehicles, as they can no longer afford the more expensive luxury brands. "The market is changing, and dealerships are going to have a challenge selling those types of luxury vehicles to the market," he says.

Asked about complaints from dealerships regarding the high cost of Corporate Identity (CI), Ashley explained that this was one of the issues NADA has raised with OEMs as part of the DSI engagement process, to explore how dealers might be assisted. “Many of the OEMs do assist with subsidising CI, which is welcomed. A number of OEMs have also indicated that they have started slowing down,” he tells Dealerfloor.

And what does the future hold? Ashley says that notwithstanding the challenges, he remains optimistic about dealerships' future and emphasises the important role NADA plays in facilitating issues between dealerships and a range of other role players. These not only include OEMs, but also government institutions and local authorities to assist in creating an environment where the dealerships, as businesses, can function to capacity.