Auto Remarketing is recognizing the 2022 Women in Retail honorees in the current issue of the magazine and at Used Car Week this fall in San Diego.
With these awards, we specifically recognize top leaders on the retail side of the auto industry, including honorees from dealerships, dealer groups and third-party providers/vendors
Over the next few weeks, AR will be posting Q&As with each of the honorees on this website.
Next up is Cristina Bruns, Carvana’s senior director of Sell to Carvana.
Auto Remarketing: What do you enjoy most about working in retail automotive, and what would you change?
Cristina Bruns: My favorite part about working in retail automotive is getting to be at the cross-section of technology innovation, operational challenges, and rich technology to leverage to solve our problems. It’s incredible to see what’s available for our consumers today and how so much of this advancement wouldn’t have seemed possible a decade ago. We are an industry that has rooted over centuries to be a core part of our customer’s everyday life, but that doesn’t mean we don’t take joy in continuing to delight customers decade after decade. Given the lengthy history of our industry, one thing I’m excited to see continue to evolve is the level of diversity represented in auto leadership and transportation more generally.
The best companies have realized the value of working with the best of the best, regardless of demographic, and I believe we’ll continue to see this transition in the coming years.
AR: What is the top trend you’re watching in retail automotive this year?
Bruns: Given the increasing pricing of vehicles over the past couple of years, aff ordability will be top of mind for our customers. I’m looking forward to seeing our colleagues in auto innovate in delivering value options for our customers — whether that’s testing new financing strategies to other alternatives to driving down cost of ownership. It’s an especially important time to ensure we’re delivering the ultimate value for our consumers.
AR: What piece of career advice would you give your younger self?
Bruns: Take every opportunity you can as a chance to learn and get comfortable being uncomfortable — that means you’re growing! I’ve been fortunate to have a couple of informal mentors in my career that have given me opportunities I probably wasn’t completely prepared for, and I was lucky to meet those individuals by happening upon them during projects that were outside of my normal scope of work.
I have been lucky to learn a lot from the people and projects I’ve worked with and appreciate the development I experienced as a result.
AR: What has been the top key to your success in retail automotive?
Bruns: I’ve been very lucky to work with incredible people during my time in retail automotive and appreciate all they’ve taught me. I get a chance to work with the best folks across operations, product, engineering, analytics, pricing, marketing — you name it — and I am a better person working on a better business as a result. Today’s market conditions mean great people have more choices on where to work than ever so it’s of the utmost importance that these individuals understand how much we value them. Thank you, thank you!
Source : AutoFinanceNews
