Dealer News Today Podcasts

As President of Charge Enterprises , Mark LaNeve is helping design and implement the 5G and EV charging technology of the future. And as Chairman of Franchise Equity Partners, he provides capital for multiple-franchise owners in the automotive industry and beyond, to help them grow their enterprises.   So this is already shaping up to be an interesting chat.  But before he held those positions, Ma...

On the second episode of Transactions, we get into the nitty gritty. Dave talks about the state of the automotive industry, including lessons we can learn from history about our current economy, and he explains why there’s no end in sight to the M&A frenzy that has taken place over the past year, saying, “Every public company is still out there looking for more acquisitions.” We also hear why,...

The automotive industry is missing out on a big pool of talent.  In the words of Cheryl Thompson — CEO & Founder of the Center for Automotive Diversity, Inclusion, and Advancement (CADIA) — there is an untapped “goldmine for talent”. By tapping into it, we not only benefit our country and our industry but also our companies, with a broader, more diverse, and richer pool of prospects to choose...

Welcome to the newest series on the Dealer News Today podcast network — Transactions with Dave Cantin — featuring the CEO and Founder of the Dave Cantin Group.  Each week, Dave will give automotive market updates and break down the financial topics that matter most to auto dealers. On this first episode, Dave lays the groundwork for the show, discussing what it means to be an entrepreneur and exec...

Rick Ford’s company, RFJ Auto, operates 40 dealerships across the American West and Midwest.    One of them is the largest CDJR dealership in the world, Dave Smith Motors, which sells 10-12k new vehicles, plus about 5000 used, per year. The surprising part?    This dealership is in Kellogg, Idaho — a town of 2,390 people. Their success (selling cars in 40 states in a typical month) comes from digi...

Jeff Mantz came into the automotive world through a career in accounting. When he was offered the opportunity to manage the financials at Garnet Auto Group, he said —  “I will, but I want the opportunity not just to do the accounting, not just to do the financials, but I want to get involved. I want to learn the business. I want to understand how everything works.” On this episode, Jeff discusses...

CEO and founder of the Patriot Auto Group , Adam Arens, certainly keeps himself busy. After being talked into getting into the car business some 40 years ago and starting Patriot in 2003, he’s expanded his horizons to include cannabis, reinsurance, non-profits and politics, to name a few. But what always brings him back to automotive is his love of helping his staff learn and grow. ”At the end of...

*The political views expressed in this episode do not represent the positions of Dealer News Today, the Dave Cantin Group, or Cox Automotive. Bernie Moreno’s story shows the power of any person to pursue opportunity in America. His family came to the U.S. from Columbia when he was five. His love of cars took him to the University of Michigan, then an early career working with Saturn’s corporate of...

You might be surprised to learn Alex Vetter isn't exactly a car guy. But to hear him talk about the industry, you wouldn’t know it. “I’m more focused on technology and business model evolution, and I leave the curation of the cars to the pros.” His website, Cars.com , hardly needs an introduction. It generates more organic traffic than any other website in the sector, with about 30 million vi...

Ernie Boch is an automotive entrepreneur, global philanthropist, accomplished musician, and all-around fascinating guy. He’s owned numerous dealerships throughout his career, including the world’s #1 Honda dealership. Today, he maintains a Ferrari store and a Maserati store, and he distributes Subaru vehicles to dealers throughout New England. On the philanthropic side, Boch is currently helping t...

Dave Cantin began his career climbing the ranks of the world’s most successful single-point Hyundai dealership, where he became a part-owner and eventually sold his ownership stake. He later negotiated the second-largest dealership sale in U.S. history, before founding his current venture, the Dave Cantin Group — an automotive holding company that specializes in mergers & acquisitions, as well...

Tim Devine has some advice for dealers — lost profit is preventable . On the surface, this is obvious. But as Tim digs into the issue, we see how much money is missed by dealers every day, from OEM incentives and rebates, to unnecessary spending and much more. Plus, he explains how you can recapture these funds to increase your bottom line. Tim Devine is Executive Manager at DCG Capital . He has 3...

Tom Maoli’s background is in real estate investment, global logistics, and as a serial entrepreneur. As a relative newcomer to automotive, he has a much broader perspective than the average car dealer who grew up in the industry. For years, Tom Maoli hosted a radio show, Go Big or Go Home , to teach entrepreneurs how to start a business, manage risk, leverage loans, and navigate the American econo...

At age 25, Troy Duhon bought a 10% stake in a Dodge dealership, then helped take it to #9 in the country. At 30, he was the world’s youngest Toyota franchise owner. Today, his company Premier Automotive owns dealerships across LA, TX, MO, KS, and CA. On this episode of the DNT podcast, Troy gives us 30 minutes packed solid with value — including innovative strategies for buying new and used invent...

Today’s guest, Aaron Zeigler , has acquired nine dealerships in the past 16 months for his company Zeigler Auto Group .   Sure, 2020 was a record year for many dealers, but these numbers are incredible in any market.  So how did Zeigler's team create this kind of success? They learned from past crises like 9/11 and the 2008 recession. While everyone else was cutting back, they were buying up...

Steve Zabawa began pursuing digital car sales as early as 2012. He’s the co-founder of both Rimrock Auto Group (Billings, MT) and WebBuy.com — an online auto retailing tool that integrates with dealers’ websites so they can buy and sell inventory from anywhere, at any time. On the Season 2 finale of DNT, Zabawa and Derek D discuss sales during COVID, online retail, the chip shortage, the current s...

In a growing number of states, car dealers can now enhance the car buying experience by saving their customers the trip to the DMV, when they integrate electronic solutions for registration and titling.      Today on DNT, Derek D is joined by two key members of the team at Dealertrack : Kait Gavin, VP of Operations, and Sarah Hunsicker, Director of Government Affairs. Kait and Sarah work together...

During 10-plus years in the consumer packaged goods industry, Nathan Fox watched e-commerce go from being a small part of the industry to becoming a major commercial channel. Now years later, he’s seeing the same dynamic play out in the automotive industry.      Nathan, who is Senior Director of Business Development at Cox Automotive, draws on his past experience to inform his current role, helpin...

Mandi Fang says the new rules of client engagement will come down to two things: the willingness to disrupt ourselves and the ability to think like our customers . What does this mean?      It means we’ll discover where AI can create efficiencies and where we’ll need humans for a deeper level of interaction and problem-solving. It means that, as these efficiencies increase, “personalized” and “at-...

If you’re not embracing data, you might want to think about the dealer down the street who is.      Today, Derek D talks with two automotive data experts. Tracy Fred is Vice President of three Cox Automotive brands: Dealertrack DMS , VinSolutions , and Xtime . Elton O’Neal is Cox Automotive ’s Senior Director of Data Strategy.      Together, they flesh out the case for why data is now paving the p...

How can Patrick Jane’s car buying advice inform your sales tactics?      Patrick and Derek D cover a ton of ground in this episode of DNT—the state of new car manufacturing, optimizing used inventory, wholesale vs. retail prices… even rental cars.       Patrick Janes, who is Senior Business Development Director at vAuto, has spent 27 years working all angles of the automotive industry, all over th...

Evolution is a part of any industry or business, and those who keep up are those who survive and thrive.    Today’s guest is Brian Finkelmeyer , Senior Director of New Car Solutions at Cox Automotive . Brian worked for 20 years on the OEM side of the industry and has since been involved with automotive tech developments and trends at Cox. His background makes him uniquely qualified to talk about n...

Today, Derek D talks to Andy Mayers, Lender Solutions Strategist, and Emil Banga, Asst. VP of Operations at Cox Automotive.    Our guests deliver current insights on the state of automotive F&I, getting to the heart of the consumer’s ability to buy. They also discuss tools and techniques for streamlining the processes around vehicle financing between all parties—consumers, dealers, & lende...

Now a full year into the pandemic — what is the state of business at dealerships across the country?      Dan Garwatoski shares his perspective with Randy Kobat, for part 5 in our Novel Thinking series. With over two decades in automotive sales, Dan has led his dealership, Nissan North , throughout the past year to pre-pandemic levels of success.      Today, Dan gives a full update on how his deal...

Eighty percent of automotive salespeople turn over each year on average. “Does it really have to be like that?” asks Chase Abbott, VP of Sales at Cox Automotive (and today’s guest on the DNT Podcast).   Chase joins Derek D to discuss his conversations with automotive salespeople, who often give reasons that help explain this 80% turnover statistic. He speaks from his own experience as a car salesm...