vAuto Podcast

In this vAuto podcast episode, Adam Robinson, CEO of Hireology, highlights a growing disconnect between the way dealers are currently filling positions in sales and service, and the expectations of the people dealers are looking to hire. Adam shares best practices to help dealers address the disconnect—from rethinking what they expect of key sales and service team members to reinventing how they c...

Think your reconditioning process is good enough? Think again. Vehicle reconditioning is often considered a necessary evil of inventory management—a cost of doing business that’s less glamorous than selling cars. It historically hasn’t received the attention and oversight it should. As a result, dealers often don’t consider how much their reconditioning process affects their ability to effectively...

In this vAuto podcast episode, company founder and Cox Automotive executive vice president Dale Pollak shares an overview of new solutions and a book that will debut at the NADA 2022 convention in Las Vegas. Find out how the ProfitTime Global Acquisition system helps dealers manage multi-channel inventory sourcing efforts, enabling the application of key metrics to drive success in each channel. D...

It’s no doubt the way dealers source used vehicle inventory has changed in the past two years. In this podcast, Micah Tindor, Senior Director for Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer, discusses how dealers can improve their efforts to acquire more vehicles directly from consumers. Learn how you can more quickly engage customers with vehicles to sell or trade and ensure your first offer is your bes...

In this podcast, our lives are becoming more digital, and the car business is no exception. Consumers spend an average of 7 hours doing online research and shopping in their car buying journey. For most shoppers, the media carousel is the first place they click when on the VDP – over 60% of VDP visits on dealership websites include engagement with the photo carousel. However, most dealers do littl...

In this vAuto podcast, Dominick Gagliano, Social Media Director and Sales Manager at Lexus of Las Vegas, joins host Micah Tindor, Senior Director for Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, to discuss the playbook Dominick uses to execute a successful social media strategy for his dealership (@lexusoflasvegas on Facebook and Instagram). Dominick shares how he selects, pays and equips “social media am...

Hear from Brian Finklemeyer, Sr. Director of Business Development at vAuto, and Mike Stanton, CEO and President of NADA, as they discuss what’s ahead for franchise dealers in 2022. Find out why Stanton is betting on the future of the franchise system, as evidenced by record-setting buy/sell activity, and the resilience of dealers as they’ve adapted to inventory shortages, the rise of direct-to-con...

In this vAuto podcast, vAuto founder and Cox Automotive executive vice president Dale Pollak shares five take-aways from 2021 that will drive success in the year ahead. As dealers continue to face constrained used vehicle supplies in 2021, they will need to continue selling more cars from smaller inventories and acquiring vehicles directly customers. Dale also discusses how customer-centric apprai...

In this vAuto podcast, Patrick Janes, Sr Director of Business Development for vAuto’s Stockwave solution, shares that used vehicle wholesale supply is down 22% from normal levels and how these current market conditions have spurred a shift in the way dealers source inventory. Patrick details how dealers should not only use local auctions for inventory but can benefit by sourcing from the service l...

In this vAuto podcast, Greg Palmer, inventory and marketing director at the Ron Marhofer Auto Family in Clinton, OH, shares how a firmer commitment to managing inventory as investments has helped the dealer group achieve even better gross profit and volume outcomes. Greg details how the commitment has helped the group resist the temptation to reduce prices on vehicles with high investment value to...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Brian Finkelmeyer, Senior Director of Business Operations at vAuto, and Colton Ray, Chief Marketing Officer of Walser Automotive Group (MN), discuss sales and marketing strategies to get ahead on the new car business. Colton shares how Walser has navigated through the inventory shortage by moving to a more progressive sales model that includes preselling incoming inv...

In this vAuto podcast, Mike Boyd, director of business development for vAuto iRecon and Micah Tindor, senior director at Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer, discuss take-aways from their recent Digital Dealer workshops. The conversation covers how customer emotions and expectations should shape the processes dealers use to acquire more inventory from customers across different sourcing channels....

In our third "Straight from the Source" podcast episode, Micah Tindor, Sr. Director, Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer has a conversation with Glenn Carroll Dealer Principal, Custom Cars West. Glenn shares how he and his team about their acquisition anywhere strategy and their successes.

In our second “Straight from the Source” podcast episode, Micah Tindor, Sr. Director, Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer has a conversation with Jonathan Hakes, Used Vehicle Director at Bob Johnson Auto Group. Jonathan shares how he and his team use tools and data and a consistent processes to build customer confidence and to win the right vehicles.

In our first “Straight from the Source” podcast episode, Micah Tindor, Sr. Director, Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer has a conversation with Bill Brauer, Pre-Owned Director and Wholesale Manager at Morristown Motors Inc. Bill shares how his dealership has been using a more cost-effective way to acquire vehicles despite ongoing market challenges. Brauer also shares the successes his dealership...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Mike Boyd, director of business development for vAuto, and Brian Kramer, general manager of Germain Toyota of Naples (FL), discuss how today’s customer-minded appraisals have evolved considerably in recent years. Brian shares how he’s refined his appraisal process to focus on the customer’s experience and satisfaction as much as the car’s condition and value. Brian d...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Randy Kobat, vice president of operations for vAuto, and Dale Pollak, founder of vAuto, offer a sneak preview of dealer-focused sessions offered by vAuto at the upcoming Cox Automotive Fall Expo User Summit. Hear how the sessions will help you diversify your used vehicle sourcing and manage used vehicle inventory as investments, as well as perspectives from Dale on r...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Brian Finkelmeyer, Senior Director of Business Operations at vAuto, reveals why he believes the current, reduced dealer days supply of new vehicles is here to stay. Brian explains how this new normal is changing when dealers retail new cars to optimize sales despite smaller inventories. Next, Brian outlines how dealers should manage and mine their new vehicle sales e...

In this vAuto Podcast Dealer Voices episode, host Randy Kobat and Gary Wexler, general manager of Honda of Downtown Chicago, discuss the dealership’s decision to move to an investment value-based strategy for managing used vehicles and the positive changes that resulted. Wexler also shares how he and his team have put a greater emphasis on acquiring customer vehicles to feed their used vehicle inv...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Nathan Fox, Senior Director of Business Development at vAuto, discusses changing car shopper preferences and their impact on the ways dealers merchandise vehicles. Nathan shares how more immersive, transparent content helps dealers capture shopper interest and drive the vehicle buying decisions that increasingly occur online. Nathan also details how new technology he...

In this vAuto Podcast episode, Patrick Janes, director of business development for vAuto’s Stockwave solution, shares strategies dealers and used vehicle managers can use to find acquisition opportunities as the wholesale values adjust to more normal conditions. Patrick shares how dealers can use technology and tools to identify sellers with high no-sale rates are selling their cars and lean on lo...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Brian Wieland, Used Car Director for Van Horn Automotive Group, Plymouth, WI, shares how the group has adopted a “source from anywhere” strategy to acquire more inventory directly from customers. Brian details how the group has standardized its appraisal process and uses car-buying events to feed inventory to the group’s 18 stores, resulting in more profit-favorable...

In this vAuto podcast episode, dealer Mark Bush of Bush Auto Place, Wilmington, OH, discusses results of a recent Northwood University student project that examined his store’s processes for preparing and promoting used vehicles online. Joined by Northwood University instructor Jennifer Patten and vAuto’s senior director of business development, Patrick Janes, Bush outlines how he’s adopted study...

Join a discussion between host Brian Finkelmeyer, Sr. Director of New Car Solutions at vAuto, and Michael Brown, Owner/Operator of Empire Auto Group, about how his business weathered the past year within the COVID-19 epicenter. Michael shares what his group has done to sustain itself during COVID-19 and the inventory shortfalls, how it has thrived during the recovery, and what they’re doing to pre...

In this vAuto podcast episode, Patrick Janes, director of business development for Stockwave, joins Northwood University instructor Jennifer Patton, dealer Mark Bush of Bush Auto Place, Wilmington, OH, and three students to discuss an experiential learning project that assessed the health and strength of Bush’s inventory marketing and merchandising. The students share how they approached the proje...