Emily Marlow Beck on Leading a Third-Generation Dealership

This episode of Inside Automotive features Emily Marlow Beck, president of Marlow Motor Company and Virginia’s 2026 Time Dealer of the Year nominee, as she discusses leading a third-generation dealership through market shifts and organizational change. Marlow Beck reflects on her family’s 75-year legacy while outlining the operational strengths, cultural priorities, and industry challenges shaping her approach.

The conversation explores:

• Managing a family-owned dealership amid economic uncertainty and government-driven market influences
• Balancing tradition and modernization following leadership transitions
• The role of dealer associations like VADA in protecting franchise models
• Strengthening culture through the CARES Committee and employee-led initiatives
• Reducing turnover through engagement, autonomy, and community-focused programs
• Strategic growth considerations and the value of attending industry events such as NADA

Marlow Beck highlights how clarity, culture, and advocacy can sustain independent dealers as the retail automotive landscape continues to evolve.

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Transcript

Welcome And Nomination

Announcer 0:06

Welcome to Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:11

Hey everyone, Jim Fitzpatrick. Thanks so much for joining me on another edition of Inside Automotive right here at cbtnews.com. Nominations have been made around the country for the 2026 Time Dealer of the Year Award. Today I am joined by Emily Marlow Beck, the third generation owner and president of uh Marlow Motor Company and Virginia's Time Dealer of the Year nominee. So thank you so much, Emily, for taking the time out of your busy schedule there running the dealership to join us on the show.

Emily Marlow Beck 0:39

Hey, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Market Pulse Near Washington DC

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:41

Sure. Congratulations on being nominated Time Dealer of the Year from the great state of Virginia. And uh we're so happy to have you on the show. And uh I'm I'll be pulling for you, that's for sure. So before we jump into that, talk to us a little bit about your business today. How are things going?

Emily Marlow Beck 0:57

Things are good. I mean, we're we're close enough to the DC market that we kind of hold our breath and we we we we feel every bit a little, you know, all the little bumps and things that that are that are going on to DC. We're about you know 60 miles out, so a lot of our uh customers are either government workers or government contractors, or they have family members who are government workers or government contractors. So so we're we're happy that things are kind of moving along as far as the government's concerned. But uh, but things are good. Yeah, things are things are really good.

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:29

That's good. Did that have did the stoppage have much of an impact in your business in the last 40 days?

Emily Marlow Beck 1:35

Yeah, you you feel it a little bit because people are just afraid to make decisions, a lot of traffic, but not a lot of decision making. So we're hoping that it'll it'll um kind of rebound once we've got to do that.

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:46

Yeah, and then there's those businesses that support those employees that are affected.

Emily Marlow Beck 1:50

And that's what we feel. We feel a lot of people, the government contractor part where we've got you know the people who are driving into DC every day. Right. Um, a lot of those folks are are out where we are.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:00

Yeah, for sure, for sure. Um inventory levels okay and?

Emily Marlow Beck 2:03

yeah, everything it's it's good.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:06

Have you felt a stop uh uh in terms of EV sales after the tax incentive went away?

EV Demand And Incentives

Emily Marlow Beck 2:11

Now our market isn't a real heavy EV market anyway. So we're just we're we're not um we're not gonna feel that as much as maybe someone in a different kind of market that's gonna be a little bit more, but but for sure, we definitely to the extent there was that sort of of demand, it's it's cooled a little bit.

Breaking Barriers As A Woman Dealer

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:30

Yeah, yeah, sure. I can I can imagine. So um, you're the first uh woman since 1998 to be named Virginia's nominee for the time dealer of the year. What went through your mind then and then what what was that like?

Emily Marlow Beck 2:44

Well, you know, when I got the call, when Don called me, I was shocked, I was surprised, it wasn't what I was expecting. Um and I uh it just was a surprise to me. And of course I was excited. That was my first thought. Uh my second thought was um I lost my father about a year ago, this time last year. In 2024, and my thought was, gosh, I really wish dad would be here for this. That was the second thought. I remember growing up, I don't think I met a female dealer until I was a practicing attorney. I I you know, it just wasn't something that I had ever seen.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:23

Yeah.

Emily Marlow Beck 3:23

And um you know, I mean, I'd go to the NADA and I'd see the pictures, and you every once in a while you'd see a picture of a female dealer, but it really wasn't something that was really common. And now it is more common, and now we're starting to see that a little bit more.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:40

Right. But not enough though, right?

Emily Marlow Beck 3:42

Not enough, not enough.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:43

Right, exactly. Do you have uh kids or daughters, by the way, coming up behind you?

Emily Marlow Beck 3:48

They're too young. They're too young. So I have two boys. I have a 16-year-old and a 13-year-old, and they wash cars, and you know, they do all the stuff that I did, and I have a nine-year-old who a daughter, nine-year-old daughter, and she is quite the entrepreneur, but you know, there's a difference between selling her crafts and selling cars. We're just we're gonna let her keep selling her her crafts for now.

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:13

Now you've seen and your family has seen a lot of changes. You guys started 75 years ago, right? I mean, that's how long your company has been around. That is an incredible feat today, right? I mean, with all of the consolidation and every dealership being for sale or gobbled up or what have you, uh, 75 years is just incredible.

Emily Marlow Beck 4:32

It it is. It's it's a uh it's a it's a blessing in that we've seen a lot, we've been through a lot, there isn't much that I mean there's there's new stuff all the time, but um you have a lot of confidence in your roots and your um just just kind of what has gotten you to this point thus far. And that's not something that everyone has.

Franchise Model Pressures And Advocacy

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:55

That's right. That's right, no question about it. Um in terms of the uh, you know, you you're an attorney as well as a dealer, and you you've seen here now in the last year or so where manufacturers have, you know, their associations have sent out letters and said, hey, we're not so sure, you know, the franchise system is the best way to go for our customers, and maybe we should be able to sell directly to consumers. And man, that that must just just really irk you when you hear things like that, right?

Emily Marlow Beck 5:25

Uh you know, again, being here for almost 80 years, you know, you you you hear there's a lot of different variations of of there's a better way to do it. And and and fundamentally, uh we just uh continue to do what we do and we do it well. And not I'm not talking about my store, and I'm talking about all dealers. You know, we just we just keep taking care of the customer and we do it very well. And then we lean on our state associations like VADA and and just what they're able to do and how they're able to tell our story. Um and and that's just uh so it's it's it's it's important, it's serious, we need to get engaged, we need to, but we need to also just really show the world and tell our story about how we do things better.

Building Culture With CARES Committee

Jim Fitzpatrick 6:09

That's right, that's right. You bring you bring up care and and caring. Um, you also started the CARES committee that gives employees a voice in shaping the culture in your group. Tell us about that and what kind of impact that's had on morale.

Emily Marlow Beck 6:22

Yeah, well, what I found is that, you know, as dealers, we're always gonna take care of the community. We're always gonna do what is the right thing to do. And uh in the past, we might, you know, cut a check or do something. It was kind of high-level stuff. Sure. And that didn't really trickle down to our team. Yeah. And not only that, the things that I care about may not be the things that my team cares about. And so we learned this uh through something that I talked to you about a few years ago. We did this event called 75 Acts of Kindness. We learned that when we get our stuff to come from a grassroots level, when we get our ideas from our team, the things that they care about, um it just has a it just it spreads better, it works better, it gets more traction. And it's not just ownership walking around with the clipboard saying, hey, we're doing this thing, we need you to do it. It's them coming to me saying, hey, there's this thing I care about. Can you get behind me on? And it we've just found that not only is it more successful, but people are more engaged. It's a great way to model um our culture of humility and servanthood and things like that. And so it's just it's been a really good thing for us.

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:30

That's right. And today's generation of uh people coming into the industry and coming into the work to the workforce, they want that, right? They want there to be uh associator, they want to associate themselves and work for a company that's got a cause that's greater than themselves, right?

Retention, Purpose, And Next Gen Talent

Emily Marlow Beck 7:46

They they want to feel like what they do matters and they want to feel like where they work matters, and they want to feel like they're making a difference. And so um I found that it works better if I let them tell me what they care about. Yeah and I can get behind them, as opposed to me telling them what I care about and asking them to get behind me.

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:04

Yeah, very, very good point, very good point. And as you know, in the industry, not necessarily at your group, but we do suffer from somewhat of a high turnover. Uh and and things like this matter in keeping people, because as we know, that's probably one of the most uh costly areas of running a dealership is that turnover. You know, they people leave, you gotta retrain, you gotta hire, you don't know if they got the right one. It's a heck of a lot easier to keep people than to try to find uh the next thoroughbred out there, right?

Emily Marlow Beck 8:31

Absolutely.

Most Rewarding Wins: Growing People

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:32

Absolutely. What's been the most rewarding part of your journey so far? I mean, you got a lot of runway ahead of you in running stores, but both as a dealer and a community leader.

Emily Marlow Beck 8:41

Oh gosh, I think just um seeing my team grow, seeing people in my team grow, you know, every every dealer's got a story of this, you know, hiring this kid out of high school who, you know, knew how to work hard but didn't have a lot of skills. And then you look back some years later, and oh my goodness, they're a senior master tech and they're feeding their family. And they're, you know, to be part of that journey is the most rewarding thing. And we see that in service, we see that in sales. You know, you'll see the the sales guy who comes in and doesn't know how to shake hands or he doesn't know how to how to look someone in the eye. And the next thing you know, he's you know, he's he's grown into a sales manager. I think, I think that's the most rewarding part. Um, that's the part that gets it's it's funny, and and you know, dad used to always tell me this, he and and I think he was right. He said that um, you know, everyone will talk about people who work for you.

Jim Fitzpatrick 9:30

Yeah.

Emily Marlow Beck 9:31

And if you really, when you really think about it, like that, yeah, they're working for you, but you're working for them. I mean, you're really working for them to be able to help them meet their goals. And so that's been the real joy.

Jim Fitzpatrick 9:45

That's right. Dad was smart, that's for sure. He realized very, very smart. Yeah. So I mentioned earlier the consolidation of the industry. Any acquisitions on the horizon for your for your group? Uh you looking to grow?

Consolidation, Growth Plans, And NADA

Emily Marlow Beck 9:57

Yeah, you're this the the media, not just saying the news is always asking things. Uh no, not, you know, I I would love that opportunity. Um, and uh, and that would be something that would be that I would definitely welcome if if that opportunity were to present itself.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:12

Yeah, that's great. Well, maybe after this broadcast it's going to. So Emily Marlow Beck, president of Marlow Auto Group. Thank you so much for joining us on the show today. Again, congratulations on being nominated uh for the Time Dealer of the Year 2026. We will see you out at NADA, which is, I think, just less than 90 days away, right? That's crazy.

Emily Marlow Beck 10:32

It's not that far. I better, you know, better book our flights. I've got my my room, everything else booked, but I got to get my flight.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:38

For some reason, the flights are very expensive this year to uh to Vegas. What is the deal with that? Is everybody going to Vegas for something?

Emily Marlow Beck 10:46

Divine demand. I don't know. Maybe that's where everyone wants to go.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:49

But worth every single nickel for dealers that are watching. If you haven't booked your flight, book it. It's gonna be an amazing show out at uh Las Vegas. And uh not everybody could make it last year because of the snow and uh the weather and what have you, but I think it's gonna be just an amazing show. They've sold out all the exhibits, they got great speakers lined up. I know the OEMs will be there with their dealer meetings and such, so uh, you gotta go. Emily, thank you so much. Really, really enjoyed this. Thank you. Yeah, best of luck to you in the future, and we'll see you out at NADA.

Emily Marlow Beck 11:18

All right, I appreciate it.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:19

Thank you. Take care.

Announcer 11:22

Thanks for watching. Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.