Lithia & Driveway reviews

See the headline. It appeared that management decided once they had a basic functioning web app to layoff 1/2 of Driveway thinking they were no longer needed and now they just need to maintain it. Seemed like business people making money-driven decisions thinking a basic web-app is enough without needing a sophisticated search engine, mobile apps, robust navigation, and all the other features provided by e-commerce leaders. Lithia leadership when it comes down to it are still just a bunch of car-dealers without no understanding of tech innovation and keeping the talent needed that can create that innovation. They're all about short-term thinking.

The product is sold to employees as an industry disrupting customer empowering solution to eliminate all of the unpleasant and/or shady sales standards that make purchasing a vehicle from a brick-and-mortar dealership...but under the hood it's just a sales lead generator with the salespeople paid less and consolidated in call centers and with even less negotiating power for the customer. They act like a startup, but are utterly dependent on funds and are therefore beholden to brick-and-mortar dealerships...so they'll never be able to innovate in a way that disrupts the gravy train. Diversity efforts are only skin deep and (some) managers are utterly incapable of managing neurodivergent individuals. Executive leadership micromanages and is incapable of delegating, so you have the VP running the Design and Product departments and making hiring/firing decisions about employees 5 levels below them. Upper leadership doesn't appear to be capable of planning in advance so they're very reactive and always chasing their tail. They do not take feedback professionally. Product is utterly rudderless with no operational or documentation standards and continually tries to delegate their deliverables to the development teams. The Design org is by far the largest, most bloated design org that I've ever seen in a company of any size. The people are good...but a each small development team doesn't need their own designer, design lead, and copy writer. Employees are routinely managed out (terminated) for sudden "performance" issues with zero documentation. Senior Engineering Managers... don't get me started. There are a few really good Engineering Managers, but also some really bad apples incapable of communicating clear and measurable expectations...and the teams suffer for it. PLUS...as I was writing this my phone started blowing up with messages about the mass layoff of at least half the software engineering staff.