Pub. 1 2013 Issue 4

10 San Diego Dealer A lot of dealers get into the business by chance or by default. Did you always aspire to be part of the automotive industry? I started selling cars in 1973 at a Buick dealership in a suburb of Chicago. That was 40 years ago. It was a natural fit from day one and I’ve never looked back. Are there any specific individuals that had a major impact on your career? My father, who passed last year, was a physician. He believed “a car was simply a means of transportation to get you from point A to point B.” Somehow I just knew there was more to it. I found out there was. What's the most rewarding part of your career? It’s all about working with people, and I absolutely love everything I do. I enjoy coaching, training, mentoring and helping people develop their careers within our industry. I’m privileged to work with a great team of people that do an outstanding job of helping people with their automotive needs; whether in sales, service or parts. What do you see as the dominant trends for the industry in the next 5-10 years? Our industry is changing daily and we have a number of issues chal- lenging our industry. We have an aging vehicle fleet. The average vehicle has been on the road for more than 10 years, providing our industry both opportunities and challenges. Pent up demand in the marketplace, low interest rates and loosening of credit requirements create great opportunities. The economic downturn, however, has given us serious unemployment issues and credit challenges that we will be looking to solve for a number of years to come. With the economic downturn came a dramatic drop in new vehicle sales that we are still recovering from. This has led to a shortage of clean, late model, low mileage cars on the market. J. P. Paynter becomes the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the New Car Dealers Association® San Diego County beginning in June 2013. J. P. is the General Manager at Hoehn Acura and has been with Hoehn Motors since 2000. By Shauna Guerrero J.P. Paynter An Interview with NCDA Board Chairman