Posted on 09/02/2012 11:18:05 AM PDT by ColdOne
CarMax co-founder and former CEO Austin Ligon, who will be a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention, says he and his company's 17,000 employees aren't responsible for his billion dollar company, the government is:
As President Obama has said, I didn't do it alone. I succeeded because we had a committed team of CarMax associates working round the clock to build our business. We found ready capital from healthy and flexible capital markets that allowed us to grow. We benefited from an effective national transportation infrastructure that let us move products from one market to another, and we had cooperation and assistance from federal, state, and local governments in providing clear rules of the road that let us plan and grow our business.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Cash For Clunkers was a big reason for this rise in Used Car prices.
He is the worst of the used car salesmen. He is a “We Tote The Note” category car salesman, rated right down there with the scummiest of any professions.
They fulfill a demand in the car business just like the sub-prime mortgage market only the car guys office is in the sewer.
The DNC is going to commit suicide on the stage at the Bank of America staidum in front of the whole nation. I love it!
He joined Redfin investments this was the press release; nothing about government until the last line, where it was introduced as an obstructor of business.
CarMax focused first on building consumer trust, in an industry where consumers were skeptical, and no brand was well-trusted.
CarMax pays its field organization to do the right thing, not just sell cars at any cost.
CarMax is unapologetic about offering low, no-haggle pricing. The industry in which it operates has been unapologetic about trying to maximize per-transaction profit, and hostile to the ideas of value or efficiency.
CarMax believes that only way you can disrupt an industry is by being better and cheaper, not just one or the other.
CarMax grew slowly, market by market, perfecting the customer experience before expanding.
CarMax builds competitive advantage by gathering data about inventory, customers & operations that individual dealerships can’t match.
CarMax accumulated operational expertise in a complex business that eventually created barriers to entry so deep that the company now has virtually no competition.
CarMax’s first contact with customers is online, in an industry where the in-person salesman had been king.
CarMax’s online competitors are lead-referral sites, which send customers to dealers of varying quality, operating in a broken system.
CarMax has always focused on the long-term, limiting its initial appeal to investors, but maximizing return on invested capital over time.
CarMax built a culture of respect for its employees, despite competing in a dog-eat-dog industry. For the sixth consecutive year, Fortune just chose CarMax as a Top 100 company to work for. No auto dealer or manufacturer has ever made the list.
CarMax lobbied Congress to override anti-competitive state laws, and failed.
The only argument I’ve gotten in with Austin so far is whether the largest class of American state legislators consists of car dealers or real estate folks. Welcome Austin. We’re glad to have you aboard!
...especially for the last sentence.
:^)
Sounds a lot like Bain Capital. Yet he criticized Mitt's involvement with Bain.
What they likely stand to lose is a lot of customers when they alienate half the market. Hollywood has done that. The big city newspapers and the TV networks have done that. Corporations based on retail trade are nothing without loyal customers.
My point exactly. I think I’ll go have another beer.
good find.
KarlMarx
You can’t write this stuff...
Good to know this. My mom bought her last car at CarMax 7 years ago and has been talking about buying another one there. I’m sure she won’t do it now.
Obama helped get rid of a lot of their competitors
This is not a successful strategy. All this will do is prove what ob@st@ard meant when he said, “You didn’t build that.”
If I were a shareholder I’d fire his ass for this remark.
NOT because it’s pro-Obama, but because it’s suicidal for any company to intentionally alienate 1/2 or more of it’s potential customer base. He’s there to run the company, not be a politician. Although I’d make it possible for him to pursue his political ambitions awful quickly.
Add Carmax to the list of companies I will never, EVER do business with.
Ever.
1) that place has always been terrible and I got a terrible vibe the few times I’ve been there.
2) It shall from this point forward be called “carL maRx” instead
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