Digital Dealer - February 2020 - 19

Meet the New
NADA Chairman
Rhett Ricart of Ricart, Automotive Group

icart Automotive was founded in 1953 when the late Paul F. Ricart bought a tiny Ford

dealership in Central Ohio. His goal was to become the area's leading low-price dealer, and
demand increased as the dealership's positive reputation spread. Paul's sons, Rhett Ricart
and Fred Ricart, assumed ownership of the company in 1982 and grew it into Ford Motor

Company's No. 1 dealership by 1986. Today, they employ over 500 and annually sell approximately
14,000 new and used vehicles across multiple new product lines. Ricart's franchises include Ford,
Genesis, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Nissan, as well as Harley-Davidson.
In 2019, Rhett, president and CEO of Ricart Automotive Group, served as vice chairman of the
NADA and represented Ohio's franchised new-car dealers on the board of directors. This year he
serves as the NADA Chairman and is well-prepared for the role. Rhett has served on several automotive industry boards, as well as held executive positions with dealer associations. His commitment to
retail automotive and to the local community led to his selection as the Ohio Business Person of the
Year by The Ohio State University business school in 1993. In the following interview, Rhett shares his
enthusiasm for the industry's future, discusses his plans for NADA and talks about the importance of
training and mentoring the next generation.

DEALER MAGAZINE: Congratulations on
your appointment as Chairman of NADA
for 2020. What do you hope to accomplish
during your tenure as Chairman?
NADA is a lean, mean machine, even more so
now than it's ever been. I want to leverage NADA's
resources to address and focus on the most important issues facing dealers today. I want to offer
dealers and their staffs additional NADA training
and tools to help them stay ahead of the curve in
light of the increasing complexity of operating an
automobile dealership.

DEALER MAGAZINE: What speciﬁc
challenges do you see ahead for dealerships and how do you see NADA helping its
members meet those challenges?
The increasing price of vehicles and the
growing inability of our customers to afford a new
car or truck is an important issue facing new-car
dealers.
Furthermore, we need to address dealers' abili-

February 2020

ty to manage increased pressure on new-car profitability and dealership size and cost structure.
From a customer perspective, there are issues
that dealers need to continue addressing in anticipation of customer demands, including online
purchases, paperless and digital transactions. I
also see the issues related to data collection and
privacy impacting dealerships in the coming year.
The ability to attract and retain service technicians is also in the limelight, as the processes
to repair increasingly technologically advanced
vehicles are quickly changing.

DEALER MAGAZINE: Ricart Automotive
Group is a family enterprise that began
in 1953 when your father, Paul, bought a
small Ford dealership. Today, you employ
over 500, oﬀer six new product lines, and
annually sell roughly 14,000 new and used
units. What's been the Ricart secret to
success?
Innovation is key to everything we do and

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Digital Dealer - February 2020

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