Car Dealership Guy Podcast

Auto Tariffs Are Coming– Now What? My emergency panel on tariffs with 8 top dealers and insiders:

Behind the Curtain: Winning Strategies from 29 Dealerships (and the Mistakes to Avoid) My conversation with Johnny Cantrell, Executive Vice President at Shottenkirk Automotive Group: 0:30 What shaped Johnny's auto career? 1:19 Best leadership advice for dealers? 4:06 Managing multiple stores effectively? 7:19 Current market challenges/solutions? 10:13 Building strong executive teams? 26:42 Why consistency drives success? 28:19 Top performing brands today? 35:21 How AI improves inventory? 47:18 Used car market outlook?

Cracking the Code on Scaling Car Shopper Experiences in Texas' Oldest Dealership | Industry Spotlight Stream the full episode now, hosted by @samdarc: 1:44 What drove Covert Auto's record success? 3:04 Biggest digital lead challenges 3:56 Why do phone calls frustrate dealers? 7:59 How does AI improve call management? 14:03 Overcoming AI implementation hurdles 24:33 How to measure AI's impact on dealerships 26:54 Mia AI demo - how convincing is it? 31:51 Future AI applications in auto?

You Can’t Be a Leadership Fraud: How Shane Wood Built Dealership-Wide Trust My conversation with Shane Wood, GM at Bruce Titus Automotive Group: 0:34 How has content creation evolved? 1:43 Why consistency beats virality? 4:28 What shaped Shane's career? 8:14 Biggest auto industry challenges 13:39 How to optimize service departments? 21:17 Why truth wins in sales? 24:25 Best sales training techniques 34:06 Will Ford's EV strategy work? 35:05 Solving the car affordability crisis

The Human Advantage in Car Sales—And Why Ted Rubin Won’t Let It Die My conversation with Ted Rubin, CEO of @activengageofficial: 1:22 How did Ted start in auto? 2:20 What sparked BDC development? 9:36 Why human interaction matters? 12:14 How AI impacts auto sales? 16:28 Best dealership tools today? 19:23 Handling customer concerns effectively 20:24 How dealers view pricing? 24:56 AI's current limitations? 37:02 Future of AI in dealerships?

The Truth About Culture, Cash Flow & Customers—From a Dealer in the Trenches My conversation with Anthony Marino, President of Marino Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram - @marino_jeep: 1:50 How did the family business start? 6:06 Biggest challenges transitioning in? 11:26 Secrets to winning Dealer awards? 17:24 Best advertising/inventory management combo 27:57 Most surprising profit margin insights? 28:37 Top inventory management strategies 31:15 How to optimize financing costs? 34:12 Best ways to reinvest profits? 49:49 Biggest future challenges anticipated?

The Hunt For Auto Tech's Next Unicorn: Why Silicon Valley Is Betting On Toma—And What It Means For Dealers My conversation with @monikkinom, CEO of @TomaAuto: 0:33 Why switch from healthcare to auto? 2:29 Biggest auto retail challenges today? 4:31 Why focus on automotive AI? 5:49 How AI improves customer experience? 7:54 Customizing AI for dealerships how? 11:20 Will customers accept AI solutions? 13:36 How secured $17.2M funding? 16:46 Plans for deploying capital? 26:55 Future AI-driven dealership experience?

The Secret To Scaling: Taking A Single Point To Regional Powerhouse My conversation with Ben Faricy, President at @TheFaricyBoys: 1:08 What shaped Ben's business journey? 3:14 Best customer retention strategies? 7:49 Why invest in employees matters 12:50 Keys to leadership growth 18:49 Biggest challenges ahead? 22:15 How measure customer satisfaction? 25:30 Balancing growth vs culture 29:45 Most valuable core value? 31:20 Industry trends to watch?

Dealers Are Saving Thousands in Labor: How They Solved the #1 Bottleneck in Fixed Ops My conversation with Graham Anderson, CCO & Co-Founder of @gokenect: 1:29 How is AI transforming dealerships? 4:24 What shaped your company's journey? 6:52 Why reputation management matters? 10:44 Benefits of automated scheduling 18:42 Biggest tech integration challenges? 21:58 The future AI applications in auto 23:30 Text vs voice for customers 26:27 How to optimize service departments? 32:28 Industry outlook for next year?

Beyond the Buzzwords: The Top Tech Dealers Are Leaning Into My conversation with Barb Edson, CMO of @CDKGlobal: 0:38 Biggest industry challenges today? 2:26 Newest solutions for dealerships? 2:53 How does WSIC improve inventory? 6:39 Best payment solutions today? 9:04 Key executive insights 10:01 How to beat competition? 16:45 CDK's future vision? 22:11 Final key takeaways

Why Dealers Aren’t Flinching—What’s Driving the Buy-Sell Frenzy My conversation with Alan Haig, President of @HaigPartners: 0:18 Current auto market outlook? 2:07 Dealership market health today? 3:19 How tariffs impact dealerships? 10:10 Recent profit trends concerning? 15:55 Best investment opportunities now? 23:21 Lender views on goodwill deals 24:51 Why is California unique? 31:35 How to fixi underperforming stores? 42:37 Market predictions for dealers?

How Subaru Quietly Took Over the Northeast—And Lessons for Dealers from Its Billionaire Distributor My conversation with Ernie Boch Jr., CEO of @SubaruOfNewEng: 0:16 How did family legacy shape you? 1:37 Key moments in business evolution 5:59 Biggest auto industry challenges today? 7:45 What makes NE distribution unique? 19:43 How creativity impacts advertising strategies? 22:00 How to maintain OEM relationships? 24:10 Key lessons from Japan trips 30:32 Most promising auto tech innovations 32:07 Future of dealerships - predictions

The Hidden Variables Driving Used Car Pricing—and How to Exploit Them My conversation with Derek Hansen, VP of Operations at @CoxAutomotive: 0:15 Biggest inventory challenges today? 0:34 What shaped your career path? 1:08 How is AI changing auto? 3:38 Current market trends to watch? 7:11 Best dealer strategies now? 9:37 How to improve appraisals? 15:45 Global car sourcing tips? 21:39 How predictive analytics helps sales? 33:09 Future car inventory predictions?

Inside Jack Hollis’ Shocking Toyota Exit: Why He Left—and What’s Next My conversation with Jack Hollis, Former COO of Toyota Motor North America: 0:50 How did Jack's early life shape him? 5:43 What defined Jack's Toyota career beginnings? 12:28 How will dealerships evolve in future? 19:26 What personal values drive Jack's leadership? 25:55 Key lessons from 33-year career 27:51 How Toyota achieved record profits? 29:33 How regulations impact car buyers? 36:34 What core values build success? 49:30 What's next for Jack Hollis?

From Tesla Exec To The Auction Block: How One Startup Is Turning A Dealer Pain Point Into A Profit Center My conversation with @jimmydouglas, CEO of @plugautomotive: 0:15 Why are EV trade-ins important? 3:09 How did you transition to Tesla? 4:45 Key lessons from Elon Musk? 8:33 Biggest secondary EV market challenges? 10:32 How charging networks impact value? 22:39 How does Trade Desk work? 26:53 What EV trends excite dealers? 32:11 Where is EV charging headed? 42:59 Hardest part of founding company?

The Road To 900 Cars Per Month: How One Dealer Is Pushing His Team To Sales Excellence My conversation with Brad Wise, Executive Manager at Ferman Chevrolet Mazda: 0:19 How to build business resilience? 1:05 What defines Ferman's leadership legacy? 03:31 How to build winning teams? 06:18 Why prioritize ethics and compliance? 16:28 Keys to operational excellence? 24:49 Best incremental growth strategies? 26:54 Why obsess over research? 32:51 Innovations in used car sales? 36:59 How to measure progress/happiness?

The New Playbook For Vehicle Titling: How One State is Leading the Charge | Industry Spotlight Stream the full episode now, hosted by @samdarc: 0:37 Kimberly's path from teacher to Hudson Auto controller 1:10 Why people get hooked on the car business 1:56 Controllers: vital, underappreciated role in dealerships 2:46 Hudson’s perks: Disney trips and family summits 3:34 Titling chaos keeps controllers up at night 4:30 Why titling is still stuck in the past 5:05 Champ Titles: a digital fix for paper titles 8:47 How digital titles save time, money, and stress 19:16 The road to true digital titles by 2030 29:43 Final thoughts on innovation, efficiency, and next steps

Why a 2x Auction Founder Is Flipping the Wholesale Script—And Paying Dealers When They Sell Cars My conversation with Joe Neiman, President of DealerClub: 1:00 What inspired launching DealerClub? 3:22 How did you revolutionize wholesale auctions? 6:07 Why is trust crucial in auctions? 14:06 How to compete with CarMax/Carvana? 17:02 What fueled Dealer Club's rapid growth? 22:55 What's DealerClub's revenue model? 24:32 Why did you sell the business? 34:04 What market trends impact dealers most? 36:02 How do reconditioning centers boost efficiency?

4x'ing Used Car Sales: This Franchise Dealers Ultimate Pre-Owned Playbook My conversation with JR Toothman, Dealer Principal at @Toothman_Ford : 0:54 – How can dealerships embrace technology and data? 1:54 – How have dealerships evolved over time? 5:16 – What is your personal background and career journey? 8:09 – How does your family impact the business? 10:59 – What marketing strategies do you use, and how is your store set up? 19:49 – Why focus on the used car market? 22:09 – What are your strategies for buying cars? 26:29 – How do you optimize inventory and acquire vehicles? 39:23 – What do you see in the future of the used car market?

Why Most Dealers Fail at Lead Follow-Up—And How Tech Closes the Gap | Industry Spotlight Stream the full episode now, hosted by @samdarc : 0:30 Biggest challenges with internet leads? 1:09 How does AI impact engagement? 7:24 What is generative AI? 10:06 How to implement AI dealerships? 21:19 AI's financial impact on dealers? 23:38 Why is data crucial for AI? 26:01 Why clean customer data matters? 27:21 How AI personalizes customer interactions? 35:41 AI's operational impact on dealers?

"GMs Don’t Get Finance": How This Operator Uses F&I to Outrun the Market My conversation with Chase Channell, General Manager of @VictoryJackson: 2:10 What's Chase's early career background? 2:50 Why transition to car sales? 5:00 First car sales experiences like? 12:36 Why is F&I knowledge important? 20:23 How to build customer relationships? 24:58 What defines Victory's company culture? 26:39 How to empower service concierges? 31:49 How to optimize used car sales? 47:53 Why invest in young talent?