DAVID BISHOP - 31: Vice president, Bishop Automotive Group

摘要

David Bishop seems to approach the most turbulent period for the auto business in recent memory with the kind of tough but laid-back, no-nonsense resolve one might expect from a family of former farmers. Bishop Automotive Group in Cheboygan, Mich., was ready for a banner year, said Bishop. Instead, sales were cut sharply in March and April by the pandemic. Now, with sales rebounding strongly, the group faces dwindling inventory and high wholesale prices for used vehicles. "The inventory shortage is probably what keeps me up at night," Bishop said. "But, you know, with this business, there's always going to be something," he added with a laugh. Bishop's father, uncles and grandfather were potato farmers in Pinconning, Mich., before his dad went to work for a dealership when the younger Bishop was in middle school. By high school, he was working at the dealership, too, washing cars "and helping out any way I could." While Bishop attended Northwood University, his father had a chance to buy into a dealership outside of Bay City, Mich. Bishop worked there with him, had a stint at General Motors, and eventually the family bought the stores in Cheboygan that would become Bishop Automotive. Just before the virus outbreak, the family bought land in Cheboygan to expand the group's footprint. Bishop runs marketing and new-vehicle related operations for the group, but his focus has been used vehicles.