Car Dealership Guy

The Car Affordability Trap That Keeps a 50-Year Dealer Up at Night & Where It's Going Next My conversation with Rita Case, President & CEO at @rickcasegroup, and Jordan Zimmerman, Founder & Chairman at @zadv: 0:00 First Person To Ever Sell A Honda Car. 5:00 Bought His Agency Back For Freedom. 10:00 General TV Is No Longer A Good Spend. 14:00 Mud Slinging Breaks Consumer Confidence. 18:30 Search Gives Too Much, Not Enough To Click. 23:00 Equity Mining Sees What Customers Browse. 27:00 Agents Will Shop For Everything Soon. 31:30 Affordability Keeps Her Up At Night. 36:00 Manufacturers Must Build Lower Trims. 40:30 Buyers Going 84 Months On Car Loans. 45:00 Dealers Finance The OEM Balance Sheet. 50:00 Five AI Agents Compete Against Each Other.

Some dealership careers stall for a simple reason: There isn’t a seat open. Roger Hendon Jr., GM & Operating Partner at @bridgewaterchev, explains why mastering your current role may still mean changing stores to get the next one. "You can be really good and be ready for the next seat, meaning you've mastered the class you're in, but there's just not a seat there for you." Daily Dealer live hosted by @samdarc — listen to the full episode here: dealershipguy.com/hendon-jr-… - Thank you to our partner The Presidio Group! Check them out by visiting: thepresidiogroup.com/

"Find the disparity. Find the differences. What's in this file that's not in this file?" Inventory data is getting lost on the way to dealers' ad catalogs. @MichaelACirillo, CEO & Co-founder of ÆTHR, explains how dealers can cross-reference their feed against actual inventory to catch vehicles that never got advertised. Daily Dealer live hosted by @samdarc — listen to the full episode here: dealershipguy.com/hendon-jr-… - Thank you to our partner ÆTHR! Check them out by visiting: theaethr.ai/

NEWS | Mexico auto sales jump 8% in September, hitting decade high amid U.S. trade uncertainty: Dealerships across Mexico delivered 129,288 new light vehicles in September, up 8% year-over-year and the highest September volume in a decade, per Mexico Business News. The surge was supported by vehicle financing reaching a nine-year high, with 637,938 auto loans issued during the first seven months of 2026. Nissan recorded a 15.7% year-over-year sales increase, Stellantis posted a 43% surge, and Mazda's sales grew 15%. But autos remain a major sticking point in U.S.-Mexico trade negotiations, with Mexico seeking a "significant reduction" in U.S. tariffs on its auto, steel and aluminum industries, Reuters reported. Looking ahead: "In areas where we can reach an agreement and strengthen both countries, we are making progress," Sheinbaum said ahead of the midterm elections. Read today's top automotive stories, presented by @DLRdmv : carguymedia.com/4zAIOWt (Source: Mexico Business News / Reuters)

NEWS | 5 must-have rules for trade-in appraisals in 2026: Turn Automotive founder and CEO Marc Steiner told Daily Dealer Live how dealers can fix trade-in appraisals without buying new software. He said the customer and their salesperson should be part of the appraisal, which is often done away from the customer. Steiner said a strong first offer is the best way to keep the new car sale, and dealers should stick to that number. He also said dealers can offer appraisals at the customer's home, the way Carvana and CarMax let customers sell from their driveway. The takeaway: "That's how you compete with Carvana and CarMax," Steiner said. "You do the same thing they're doing instead of saying you have to come to the dealership." Read today's top automotive stories, presented by @DLRdmv : carguymedia.com/4BV8cYn (Source: Daily Dealer Live)

Hendon Jr. on Veterans Day, Cirillo & Collingridge on ÆTHR, Souza on AI | Daily Dealer Live xitter.twitterapi.xyz/i/broadcasts/2lgQQBpPK…

NEWS | BMW dealer’s AI tool ranks all 349 U.S. BMW stores on AI visibility: Individual scores on the first BMW Dealer AI Visibility Index range from 51.4 to 91.0, while the four regions average between 79.5 and 80.2. Mike Yates, general manager of BMW of Bridgewater in New Jersey, built AEO Whisperer and released the ranking Monday (Nov. 9). Each store’s score blends 60% AEO, or how well AI models know and would recommend the store, with 40% GEO, or how ready its website is for AI. “The 40-point gap between the best and worst store comes down to what each dealer does,” Yates told CDG News. What this means for dealers: Most dealers don’t know whether AI can read their website or trusts their reviews, Yates said. Read today's top automotive stories, presented by @DLRdmv : carguymedia.com/4ewudTw (Source: CDG Interviews)

40 days. That’s how long dealer groups typically wait before transferring a vehicle to another store. But some are challenging that playbook. And making nearly $300 more per transferred vehicle than a year ago, according to new data from vAuto by Cox Automotive. The shift: Stop waiting for a vehicle to age before deciding where it belongs. Use data to put it in the store most likely to sell it. Sometimes that means moving a car on Day 1 instead of Day 40. ___ Data via @vAutoInc | Here’s how dealer groups can find their own vehicle transfer advantage: carguymedia.com/4zFUQxT

Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to every veteran, including the ones working in dealerships today. We owe you 🇺🇸

One dealership found a place it doesn’t want AI touching: The phone. Amanda Grappone Osmer, Chief Vision Officer at Grappone Automotive, explains why the store hired three people to answer calls after testing it on inbound prospects. "AI is not my best friend, but I do use it on a regular basis to try to take the drudgery out of work because it frees me up to do more creative things." Daily Dealer live hosted by @samdarc — listen to the full episode here: dealershipguy.com/osmer-on-d… - Thank you to our partner The Presidio Group! Check them out by visiting: thepresidiogroup.com/

Service-lane acquisition is becoming a variable ops job. Derek Hansen, Senior Vice President, Dealer, Lender & Inventory Solutions at @vAutoInc, explains why top-performing stores give one person dedicated ownership of the process. "Over 55% of dealership profit is coming out of fixed ops. And so that's an important team that you wanna keep whole, but you have to have the buy-in from both sides." Daily Dealer live hosted by @samdarc — listen to the full episode here: dealershipguy.com/osmer-on-d… - Thank you to our partner @vAutoInc! Check them out by visiting: vauto.com/

NEWS | Used vehicle inventory increases nearly 5%: Used vehicle inventory hit its highest point since the COVID pandemic in October, up nearly 5% year over year. But demand outpaced it, jumping 5.8% from last October, and prices only slipped to $29,800, the first time in six months below $30,000. CarGurus’ Kevin Roberts explained why: “The logic is that people getting priced out of the new side of the market are likely moving over to the used side of the market, which is helping put upward demand there.” Roberts also said more used EVs are coming into the marketplace, and “they tend to be younger; they tend to have fewer miles on them.” Bottom line: Demand is holding up as inventory grows. Roberts suggests dealers look for fuel-efficient options, including hybrids and EVs. Read today's top automotive stories, presented by @Experian_Auto : carguymedia.com/4sTobSQ (Source: CarGurus / CDG Interviews)

NEWS | Closed sign, open door: Carvana’s phantom Google listings still let users click their way to national site: Most of the more than 140 Carvana Google Business Profiles at government buildings, homes, parking lots and other non-Carvana sites now say “Temporarily closed,” weeks after CDG News and researcher Chris Wood first reported on them. But all 109 temporarily closed listings still have a website button that takes users to Carvana.com, with a tracking code showing which listing the visitor came from. “Temporarily closed doesn’t take a listing down,” SavvyDealer VP of sales and strategy Nick Chivinski said. “It hangs a sign on it.” Google’s own help page says temporarily closed businesses “can rank after open businesses” on broad searches. Bottom line: If those locations aren’t real stores, Chivinski said, the clean fix is to remove them or mark them permanently closed. Read today's top automotive stories, presented by @Experian_Auto : carguymedia.com/4AnfZNk (Source: CDG News Reporting)

“We don’t change unless we’re federally regulated or 60 Minutes shows up with a camera.” One dealership’s pricing process started working *against itself.* Amanda Grappone Osmer, Chief Vision Officer at Grappone Automotive, says salespeople started sending showroom customers home to submit an internet lead for a better price. The fix? One upfront price across every sales channel. Daily Dealer live hosted by @samdarc — listen to the full episode here: dealershipguy.com/osmer-on-d… - Thank you to our partner The Presidio Group! Check them out by visiting: thepresidiogroup.com/

NEWS | Hertz to close all Hertz Car Sales locations amid online retail push: Hertz confirmed Monday (Nov. 9) that it will close all its physical retail stores, also known as Hertz Car Sales locations. Hertz said it has expanded online buying on HertzCarSales.com, deepened its relationships with retail partners, and grown TestDrive+ to more than 300 participating rental locations. “As we advance our strategy, we are focusing on these channels and leveraging our extensive nationwide rental network rather than dedicated Hertz Car Sales locations,” a Hertz spokesperson told CDG News. The move follows an eBay partnership announced May 6 and Hertz joining Amazon Autos more than a year ago. The closures will reportedly be finalized Friday, Nov. 20, though the spokesperson did not confirm that date. Big picture: On last week’s earnings call, CEO Wayne “Gil” West said Hertz is advancing its retail strategy “to prioritize higher-yielding digital channels” and that cost control “is where most of the work remains.” Read today's top automotive stories, presented by @Experian_Auto : carguymedia.com/4k7NIp8 (Source: CDG News / Hertz statement)

New car prices just hit an all-time high: October: $51,000+ Old record: $50,614 (Dec 2025) And fewer everyday buyers showed up: Retail sales pace: 12.6M A year ago: 13.1M The buyers still shopping are paying more than ever. (Source: Cox Auto, KBB)

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