Dealer News Today Podcasts

Gary Silberg started off as a self-described “Midwest guy” but now has lived and worked all over the world. With over 20 years of experience in technology and 15 years in automotive, Gary’s career has taken him to places as far afield as France and China - and led to him becoming fluent in French and partly conversational in Mandarin Chinese. Among his particular areas of expertise are automotive...

“German engineering” is a byword for quality in the automotive industry, almost a cliche. And Ralf Klädtke personifies that concept. A 25-year veteran in the technology space, Ralf has only recently brought his considerable talents to automotive: He has been a captain in the German Air Force and a director at DARA/DLR, the German space agency, where he helped develop the crew return vehicle for th...

Mario Benedetti proved his acumen with decades of success in the automotive industry in his native Venezuela, then proved his resilience with his move to the US. Mario’s family has been in the car business for nearly a whole century, with three generations managing Venezuela’s Prosperi Cumana dealership since its founding in 1924. Mario worked as a mechanic and in accounting at the family business...

From the Oxfordshire, UK town where he grew up, Chris Sachno set out to explore the world, first earning his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at North Carolina’s Duke University, then making his way to Japan, originally intending to learn Japanese. Not only did he become fluent in the language, he also caught the technology bug and went on to help develop tech that has been used in products l...

Lifelong LA area resident William M. Monroe Jr. has been a leader on the OEM side of the auto industry for over 20 years, but now holds a prominent position at a highly distinctive company. Karma Automotive is the successor to California autobuilder Fisker, whose assets it bought out in 2014 - and William is Karma’s current SVP of Global Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service. William has been ins...

Nadia Bical was born into the automotive industry and considers herself to always have been a part of Bical Auto Mall. Growing up, the business was her biggest connection to her father, Sammy Bical, the company’s president and founder - now she’s risen to a leadership role for which she’s won multiple awards, including from Carfax and Cargurus. Nadia runs day-to-day operations and human resources...

It’s fair to say that Alan Haig has a great pedigree in both the automotive industry and in finance in general. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, wrote AutoNation’s original business plan in 1996, and went on to found Haig Partners and the Haig Report, currently having $5 billion in total dealership transactions on his record. On this episode, Alan chats with our host Derek D about ho...

Cliff Banks has a history of innovation and entrepreneurship in the analysis sector of the automotive industry. An automotive professional for over 30 years and a journalist for over 20, Cliff founded The Banks Report in 2013 to fill what he knew was an unmet need for a publication covering the automotive business from an investment perspective. In 2016, he held the first edition of AUTOVATE, whic...

A trusted voice in automotive analysis and one of the original team members at Bloomberg Intelligence, Kevin Tynan has over 20 years of experience in his field. He is a lifelong gearhead who installed a lift in his garage to work on cars, a multi-time award winner for predictive accuracy from organizations such as Forbes and the Financial Times, and incidentally a member of the St. Anselm College...

It’s no exaggeration to say Charlie Chesbrough is one of the top minds in automotive economic analysis. Michigan born and bred, Charlie intimately knows the US auto industry as well as the international outlook from companies abroad, with 20 years of experience in his field. He has been recognized many times for his predictive accuracy and is active in industry organizations such as the Detroit As...

Itay Michaeli is a real citizen of the world, having been born in Israel and moving with his family to the US when he was 6, and now focusing his expertise on automotive companies around the globe. Itay, an NYU alum, has been in the field of investment analysis right since he graduated from college, and has earned many accolades over the past two decades of his career, including previous #1 rankin...

To say that Cynthia Caine has a keen mind for finance is an understatement. She has spent her whole career in this field, serving both the automotive industry and a diverse range of other clients. She joined Wells Fargo in 2016, where she led efforts to retain and grow manufacturer programs in the Distribution Finance division, eventually taking over as the head of a 200-person Commercial Auto tea...

Diversification is the name of Brad Cobb’s game - in addition to being president of the entirety of Bowers Automotive Group, he is also a dealer principal or partner in Bowers dealerships selling 7+ different brands of cars across multiple states. Brad initially wanted to go to law school when he graduated college, but when the legal profession didn’t appeal to him, he went full-speed into the job...

It’s no surprise that Randy Dye was selected as the chairman of Stellantis’s National Dealer Council for 2022. He’s a proven automotive industry veteran - he operates Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM & FIAT, as well as Maserati and Alfa Romeo dealerships in the massive Daytona Auto Mall. Randy has worked at dealerships of all sizes en route to owning Daytona DCJR, and maintains community involv...

Benny Robles Jr. is an automotive industry “lifer” - he grew up around the business and took to it like a natural. Benny’s father, Benjamin Robles Sr., audited Bartow Ford when working at Ford Credit, befriended the then-owners, went to work for Bartow as a finance manager, and eventually purchased the dealership. Benny, a NADA Academy graduate, has worked many positions on the retail and service...

Although she’s the vice president of Ancira Auto Group, which has 12 dealership franchises across Texas, the automotive business is just the foremost among April Ancira’s many interests. Aside from her leadership role at Ancira Auto, April also serves on the boards of over a dozen charitable and civic organizations, competes in the Ironman triathlon, and performs as a stand-up comedian. On this ep...

Renowned pediatric oncologist Dr. Michael Weiner joins us for a special episode of Automotive Authorities to highlight the work done so far by DCG Giving. Dr. Weiner is the vice-chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York Presbyterian Hospital. He’s not only a leading medical specialist, he’s also a published author, and he has decades of experien...

Brian Kelly’s career in the automotive industry spans an incredible 56 years and counting. He got his start working at his father Roland’s used car lot as a young teenager - which would eventually become the first dealership of Kelly Automotive Group. There are now eight Kelly dealership locations with a total of ten franchises throughout them. On this episode, Brian Kelly sits down with Derek D t...

Dan Fields is something of a Renaissance man - he studied in multiple countries during college, is bilingual, and has a professional interest in aquaculture in addition to the automotive business. He’s also lived, worked, and studied in several very different states, and fittingly, Fields Auto Group has 34 locations in some diverse areas -  Florida, Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. At Fiel...

Fourth-generation car dealer George Grubbs III grew up wanting to be a doctor - until he got his first taste of the sales side of the automotive industry. Now, he’s president and CEO of his family’s dealership group, boasting six stores and on their way to further expansion. George joins Derek D for an insightful conversation spanning his lifelong love of automobiles from multiple standpoints, wha...

A lifelong gearhead, a graduate of the NADA Dealer Candidate Academy, and a longtime employee of his family’s dealership, Brandon Tomes was destined to get into automotive sales. With Brandon’s initiative and his father’s blessing, he expanded the Tomes family’s automotive dealership holdings to include Brandon Tomes Subaru and Brandon Tomes Volkswagen. Brandon sits down with Derek D to talk about...

Starting when he was 18, Joe Cardinale was hooked on the business of selling cars. He opened a dealership of his own for the first time in 1980, and now Cardinale Auto Group has 22 locations throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona, and the family-owned and operated business is planning to open several more soon. On this episode, Joe Cardinale chats with Derek D about his near-lifetime of experi...

Dorian Jimenez has been in the automotive business for 26 years in all sorts of roles - despite having a pre-med degree. He’s been general sales manager for the largest Acura dealership in the US, sales director for a large luxury car dealership, and joined Classic Chevrolet of Grapevine, TX a few years ago. Besides being the general sales manager, Dorian is the face of Classic Chevrolet’s adverti...

“There are a lot of bad habits being formed that are going to have to be addressed, once the situation becomes back to a normal cycle.” — Steve Barna Born and raised in Hawthorne, NJ, Steve Barna also owns Hawthorne Chevrolet , which has been a family-owned and operated dealership for over 90 years. Steve got his start in automotive sales when his stepfather asked him to fill in for sales staff wh...

She’s back! One of the hardest-working women in the automotive industry, Rita Case, returns to Dealer News Today for another enlightening and entertaining chat with Derek D. Cars have always been a family affair for Rita, with her children also working at Rick Case Auto Group, and she continues to look ahead on behalf of future generations in the auto business. Listen in as Rita Case talks what it...