Today, I’m sitting down with David Thomas, Director of Content Marketing at CDK Global to discuss: Tesla polarizing customers and the brands they are flocking to, The potential impact of auto tariffs and how manufacturers are pivoting, the coming drought of used rental inventory—plus much more. This episode is brought to you by: DriveHRIS - DriveHRIS streamlines hiring, onboarding, timesheets, PTO tracking, and payroll—all in one seamless platform. Let DriveHRIS handle HR and Safety so you can f...
Mar 20, 2025•36 min
Today, I’m sitting down with Vinay Shahani, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer at Nissan/Infiniti USA. We break down Nissan’s comeback strategy, how its product mix is evolving, whether or not the brand is "over-dealered," and what it all means for the future of the franchise—plus much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Corpay - Corpay is transforming how dealerships handle payments. We help you save time, score big rebates, and ditch manual headaches—all while syncing directly with yo...
Mar 18, 2025•52 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I welcome back Alan Haig, CEO of Haig Partners to discuss: Why dealers are lining up to buy Stellantis stores, Why "Japan Inc." won't let Nissan fail, the vibe shift on dealership profitability in 2025, and how 10 million cars disappeared from American roads. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Uber for Business - With Central, you can request a ride on behalf of your customers even if they don’t have the Uber app. If you’re ready to ...
Mar 13, 2025•58 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Wright, Managing Partner at Vinart Dealerships. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Phone Ninjas - Is your store missing opportunities before they even hit the lot? Phone Ninjas helps dealers maximize every opportunity with custom scripts and critical coaching on actual customer calls. Get your team certified today and watch your appointment set and show rates double! Visit @ https://www.phoneninjas.com/ to star...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Doug Horner, General Sales Manager of North Olmsted Mercedes-Benz and the creator behind the wildly popular Benzs and Bowties social media accounts. We discuss why he’s intentionally leaving $50K on table with every G-Wagon he sells, how he’s generating half of his leads through social media, and what finally pushed him to start creating content. This episode is brought to you by: 1. OPENLANE - The world’s leading online...
Mar 06, 2025•43 min
Welcome to Industry Spotlight—a focused series hosted by Sam D’Arc, highlighting standout dealerships and innovative companies, and exploring the trends driving success in today’s automotive market. Today, Sam sits down with Bob Tasca III, VP of Tasca Automotive Group, and Ryan Maher. CEO of BizzyCar. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by BizzCar. 1. BizzyCar — built by dealers, is an AI-powered Recall Management and Mobile Service Platform that increases appointmen...
Mar 04, 2025•36 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Michael Speigl, Dealer Principal of We Auto, a Michigan-based dealer group. We discuss the lessons he learned from working for Lithia and how they shaped his own dealerships, why he’s investing over $250K in company culture, and the phone call that changed his family’s life forever, along with much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Phone Ninjas - Is your store missing opportunities before they even hit the lot?...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Welcome to Industry Spotlight—a focused series hosted by Sam D’Arc, highlighting standout dealerships and innovative companies, and exploring the trends driving success in today’s automotive market. Today, Sam sits down with Jennica Krebsbach, Controller at Van Horn Auto Group, and Julie Douglas, CEO of Dealer Pay. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Dealer Pay: 1. Dealer Pay – Designed to increase productivity and customer retention, Dealer Pay is a dealer-specif...
Feb 25, 2025•33 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Brett Sutherlin, Dealer Principal of Sutherlin Automotive Group, to discuss: His no B.S. dealer strategy and what brands he's avoiding, How he's doubling margin vs his competition with Google Business Profiles, Buying dealerships off of Linkedin and much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. DriveHRIS - DriveHRIS streamlines hiring, onboarding, timesheets, PTO tracking, and payroll— all in one seamless platform. Le...
Feb 20, 2025•47 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Bowers, Dealer Principal of Matt Bowers Automotive Group, to discuss how he brute-forced his way to 12 dealerships and $1 billion in revenue, his unlikely start in the car business and tumultuous path to becoming a powerhouse auto group owner, the most important factor when buying a dealership, and much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Lotlinx - Get the best possible market advantage on every vehicle tran...
Feb 18, 2025•57 min
Welcome to Industry Spotlight—a focused series hosted by Sam D’Arc, highlighting standout dealerships and innovative companies, and exploring the trends driving success in today’s automotive market. Today, Sam sits down with Jeff Dyke, President of Sonic Automotive, and Matt Nuffort. Director at Amazon Autos. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Amazon Autos. 1. Amazon Autos - Learn more about the Amazon Autos Beta here 🚨 Don’t forget to subscribe to Car Dealershi...
Feb 13, 2025•39 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Elgie Bright, Chair at Northwood University, to discuss his game plan for the future of auto in a time of disruption, the importance of developing lifelong learners, building automotive retail curriculum to tackle tomorrow’s technologies, and much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Ikon Technologies - Ikon Technologies was founded by dealers, for dealers, to solve the daily challenges your dealership faces. Our ...
Feb 11, 2025•35 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Lonny Soza, Vice President of Fertitta Auto Group, to discuss how he built a multi-million dollar powerhouse, the biggest lesson he learned acquiring vehicles for CarMax and AutoNation, and how he's bringing Bentley-level customer service to his new Chevrolet store—plus much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Auto Hauler Exchange - Ship Smarter. Pay Less. No Middlemen. Tired of brokers driving up costs and slowi...
Feb 06, 2025•38 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Rob Cavender, COO of Cavender Auto Group, and Eric Barbosa, VP of Variable Operations, to discuss how they create and execute a blueprint for success in retail automotive, how they’re training salespeople to become General Managers, the growing pains of scaling a dealer group, and the secrets they've uncovered along the way—plus much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. IkonTechnologies - Ikon Technologies was fou...
Feb 04, 2025•55 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Ric Saatzer, General Manager of BMW of Minnetonka where we discuss: How to run a dealership like a $10B Company, How Lean Six Sigma has transformed his business, The role of a GM to build a winning culture of detail, and more secrets of a Lithia Motors General Manager. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Mia - Your 24/7 AI receptionist who speaks like a human, not a robot. No more "p...
Jan 30, 2025•55 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I’m joined by Brian MacDonald, CEO of CDK Global. We explore why he’s betting $250M on a major shift in automotive retail, the winners and losers as service department trends evolve, and his prediction for a wave of dealership acquisitions this year—and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Richtech Robotics - Titan is the autonomous parts delivery system that keeps techs in bays, helping you...
Jan 28, 2025•30 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Sam Mahrouq, CEO of Ikon Technologies where we discuss: Scaling his auto group to 11 dealerships and millions in sales, How an "ah ha" moment at the dealership led him to found a $55M revenue tech company and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Uber for Business - With Central, you can request a ride on behalf of your customers even if they don’t have the Uber app. If you’...
Jan 23, 2025•47 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I’m speaking with Brian Kramer, EVP at Cars Commerce, where we discuss: why dealers are losing 70% of trade-ins for every new car they sell, the future of data ownership for dealers, how Brian and his team are working to tackle—and beat—online vehicle price manipulation, and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Dealer Pay - Designed to increase productivity and customer retention, offering a...
Jan 21, 2025•36 min
Welcome to Industry Spotlight—a focused series hosted by Sam D’Arc, highlighting standout dealerships and innovative companies, and exploring the trends driving success in today’s automotive market. Today, Sam sits down with David Steinberg, CEO and Founder of Foureyes. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Foureyes: Foureyes - No one buys a car because AI bombards them about test drives. They buy when they find the right match on your lot. That's why Foureyes built...
Jan 19, 2025•27 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Peter Kelly, CEO of OPENLANE where we discuss a breakdown on how the wholesale car market finished off 2025, how volume trends are bucking expectations, and the key trends and challenges facing the segment in 2025. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. OPENLANE - The world’s leading online dealer marketplace for used cars, bringing you exclusive inventory, simple transactions, and bett...
Jan 16, 2025•25 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I sit down with Bryan Collins, Shop Foreman at Braman Miami, to discuss life as a Master Technician, his journey rising through the ranks of a dealership shop, strategies for retaining technician talent, the real pay ranges technicians can achieve and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Ikon Technologies - Ikon Technologies was founded by dealers, for dealers, to solve the daily challenges ...
Jan 14, 2025•49 min
Welcome to Industry Spotlight—a focused series hosted by Sam D’Arc, highlighting standout dealerships and innovative companies, and exploring the trends driving success in today’s automotive market. Today, Sam sits down with Jay Healey, CMO of Healey Brothers Automotive Group, and Justin Friend, SVP of Dealers United. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Dealers United: Dealers United – Specializing in Social, SEM, and SEO, Dealers United is the premier digital mar...
Jan 12, 2025•39 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO of Numa, where we discuss: how to extinguish service department "heat cases" before they burn profitability, why 911 started his entrepreneurial journey, when AI should answer phone calls and when it shouldn't, and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Numa - Numa is the first AI agent platform for auto dealerships. Address communication breakdowns wit...
Jan 09, 2025•36 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Dorian Jimenez, Dealer Principal at Classic Chevrolet, where we discuss: Going from leading the #1 Chevy store in America to rescuing a broken dealership. How one small Texas dealership in the ’90s minted 10 Dealer Principals. Why his wife secretly enrolled in the NADA academy, and much more. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Openlane - The world’s leading online dealer marketplace...
Jan 07, 2025•45 min
Welcome to Industry Spotlight—a focused series hosted by Sam D’Arc, highlighting standout dealerships and innovative companies, and exploring the trends driving success in today’s automotive market. Today, Sam sits down with Findley Ewing IV, CEO fo Ewing Automotive Goup, and Phil Zheng, COO of Richtech Robotics. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Richtech Robotics: Richtech Robotics – Titan is the autonomous parts delivery system that keeps techs in bays, helpin...
Jan 05, 2025•38 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Matt Murray, CEO and Jake Hughes, Director of Marketing at Widewail where we discuss the raw truth about what customers think of dealerships and why customers are the empty chair in the board room. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Widewail – Power your reputation engine with Widewail. Go Google-first. Our approach is proactive: mostly automated, sometimes manual. The perfect blend...
Jan 02, 2025•35 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this special episode im speaking with my toughest critics, the Car Dealership Guy team! This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Access Point Consulting - Access Point Consulting is a consulting firm that specializes in providing strategic solutions to enhance business performance and drive organizational success. Learn more @ https://accesspointconsulting.com/ 2. CDG Recruting - Building on the success of my industry j...
Dec 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I speak with Taseer Badar, CEO of ZT Automotive. We dive into his entrepreneurial journey, including how President Obama "pushed him" into the car business, explore his M&A strategy, uncover which brands are on his wishlist, and reveal the tough realities behind employee layoffs. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Corpay - Corpay is transforming how dealerships handle payments. We help you save t...
Dec 26, 2024•43 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast! In this episode, I’m joined by Tina Tasche, Head of Innovation & Tech at Van Horn Automotive Group. We dive into how to build the next-generation dealership BDC, Her AI features wishlist for the call center of the future, and why the traditional lead form is dead. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: 1. Podium - Turn every lead from website, email, text or phone into more sales for your dealership. Podium’s AI BDC con...
Dec 24, 2024•41 min
Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I’m speaking with Brice Englert, CEO of TradePending. We discuss how car dealers are cracking the customer retention code, insights from competing with car-buying giants like Carvana, and how consumer loyalty is shifting in the age of hybrids. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by: TradePending - TradePending makes dealers' websites convert better with their trade-in tool and payment calculator on steroids,...
Dec 19, 2024•42 min
