Car Dealership Guy Podcast

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 Doug Obenhaus, President Texas Auto Sales, and David Kang, Chief Marketing & Analytics Officer, Copart. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is brought to you by Cop...

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 Cody Hansen, Fixed Operations Director Ferman Automotive, and Matt Gonzalez, Sr. Account Executive, Automotive at Uber. This episode of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast is broug...

Today I’m joined by Christian Crain, VP of Operations at Crain Automotive — a 16-store dealer group based in Arkansas. We dig into a story that’s both unique and all too common in the car business: generational turmoil, how control can fracture a family, what it takes for the next generation to rebuild and much more. CDG's Automotive Tariff Tracker mentioned in this episode: https://news.dealershi...

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 Tom Bear, Platform Used Car Director at Cable Dahmer Automotive Group, Stephan Morris, Used Vehicle Acquisition Manager at Cable Dahmer Automotive Group, and Frank Zombo, Vice...

Today I’m joined by Michael Wood, GM at Jaguar Land Rover Virginia Beach. We discuss Jaguar returning to its roots as a niche sports car brand, the existential crisis facing car dealerships, whether “negotiation-free” really matters—and more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. SalesApe (AI Agent Group LTD) - SalesAPE is the AI sales rep built for dealerships - it understands your inventory and...

Today I’m joined by Oliver Phillips, COO of Qmerit. We break down the #1 EV problem dealers aren’t talking about—and how to solve it, why Florida is quietly becoming an EV powerhouse, how EVs are cutting through the political noise, and a whole lot more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. OPENLANE - ‪The world’s leading online dealer marketplace for used cars, bringing you exclusive inventory,...

Today on the show: A powerhouse panel breaks down one of the most urgent issues facing auto retail — tariffs. With major policy shifts on the horizon, I brought together some of the industry's top operators, economists, and insiders to cut through the noise and unpack what tariffs could mean for dealers, OEMs, and the entire retail ecosystem. This isn’t theory — it’s what’s coming, and how the sma...

Today I’m joined by Chad Rycenga, Chief Product Officer at Authenticom. We’re breaking down the data battle playing out on dealership lots — how dealers are protecting customer info, where the threats are coming from, and how smart businesses are using data to unlock serious profits. This episode is brought to you by: 1. CRC Transport LLC - If you’re tired of unreliable vehicle transport services...

Today, I’m sitting down with Andrew Dahl, President at Dahl Automotive, a 12 franchise dealer group based in Wisconsin and Minnesota to discuss: How He's Scaling to $1B a Year, Why 'entitlement' almost ruined a 5th-generation family legacy, How he found found a higher power to change his life and much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. StoneEagle - Technicians hate writing repair stories,...

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...

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...

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...

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 toda...

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...

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...

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 br...

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....

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 str...

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 epi...

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. Amaz...

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 Technol...

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...

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 wa...

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 br...

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. Ric...