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All Podcast Episodes

June 12, 2025

The Human Advantage in Car Sales—And Why Ted Rubin Won’t Let It Die |…

Today I’m joined by Ted Rubin, President of ActivEngage. We dive into why dealers don’t need more leads — they need better ones, the danger from AI that dealers don’t see coming, why a human touch is still the missing peice a...

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June 5, 2025

The Hunt For Auto Tech's Next Unicorn: Why Silicon Valley Is Betting …

Today I’m joined by Monik Pamecha, CEO and founder of Toma. We unpack why they embedded in Oklahoma dealerships for months, how that groundwork attracted top VCs, and why Toma refuses to build one-size-fits-all AI. This episo...

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May 29, 2025

Dealers Are Saving Thousands in Labor: How They Solved the #1 Bottlen…

Today I’m joined by Graham Anderson, CCO & Co-Founder of KENECT. We get into how dealers are solving the #1 bottleneck in fixed ops, the best times to text customers, how Gen Z is flipping the script on dealer communications,...

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May 27, 2025

Beyond the Buzzwords: The Top Tech Dealers Are Leaning Into | Barb Ed…

Today I’m joined by Barb Edson, CMO of CDK Global. We dive into why post-sale support is becoming the new battleground for dealerships, what tech top dealers are asking for and leaning into, and why a wave of imitators still ...

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May 15, 2025

The Hidden Variables Driving Used Car Pricing—and How to Exploit Them…

Today I’m joined by Derek Hansen, VP of Operations at Cox Automotive. We get into how AI is reshaping inventory pricing, pro tips for navigating vehicle tariffs, where vAuto is innovating next—and more. If your dealership is ...

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May 8, 2025

From Tesla Exec To The Auction Block: How One Startup Is Turning A De…

Today I’m joined by Jimmy Douglas, CEO of Plug. We dive into why over half of dealers are missing an entire used segment, how two months on the lot is the tipping point for EV valuations, why dealers are shipping EVs an average of 800 miles — and much more. This episode is brought to you by: 1. Cop…

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May 4, 2025

Industry Spotlight: The New Playbook For Vehicle Titling: How One Sta…

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 ...

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April 24, 2025

Industry Spotlight: Why Most Dealers Fail at Lead Follow-Up—And How T…

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 ...

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April 20, 2025

Industry Spotlight: Why Tariffs Could Fuel a Used Car Squeeze– And Ho…

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 ...

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April 17, 2025

Industry Spotlight: Who Killed The Loaner Car– And Why Service Custom…

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 ...

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April 10, 2025

Industry Spotlight: How a Superbowl Champion Helped Cable Dahmer Crac…

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 ...

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April 3, 2025

The Hidden EV Hurdle: Why Charging Still Stumps Buyers & How Dealers …

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...

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March 27, 2025

The Data Battle in Auto Retail: Who’s Losing, and How Dealers Can Tak…

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...

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March 4, 2025

Industry Spotlight: Tasca Auto Group's Secret to Bringing Long-Lost C…

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 ...

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Feb. 25, 2025

How Van Horn Auto Group Is Capitalizing on the Final Customer Touchpo…

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 ...

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Feb. 13, 2025

How Sonic Automotive Joined Forces With The Biggest E-Retailer In The…

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 ...

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Jan. 28, 2025

A $250M Vision to Transform the Auto Retail Landscape | Brian MacDona…

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 departme...

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Jan. 23, 2025

Owning 11 Dealerships Was Just the Start: The Dealer-Built Solution G…

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Sam Mahrouq, CEO of Ikon Technologies where we discuss: Scaling his auto group to 11 dealerships and millions in sales, How an "ah ha" moment at th...

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Jan. 21, 2025

Why Dealers Are Losing 70% of Trade-Ins—and How They’re Fighting Back…

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I’m speaking with Brian Kramer, EVP at Cars Commerce, where we discuss: why dealers are losing 70% of trade-ins for every new car they sell, the future of data owner...

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Jan. 19, 2025

The Most Important Metric You’re Not Tracking in Car Sales | Industry…

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 ...

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Jan. 16, 2025

The 2025 Wholesale Car Market Explained – Key Insights and What’s Ahe…

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Peter Kelly, CEO of OPENLANE where we discuss a breakdown on how the wholesale car market finished off 2024, how volume trends are bucking expectat...

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Jan. 9, 2025

The Team Extinguishing Service Department "Heat Cases"—and Protecting…

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Tasso Roumeliotis, CEO of Numa, where we discuss: how to extinguish service department "heat cases" before they burn profitability, why 911 started...

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Jan. 2, 2025

The Raw Truth About What Customers Think of Dealerships — And How Dea…

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I'm speaking with Matt Murray, CEO and Jake Hughes, Director of Marketing at Widewail where we discuss the raw truth about what customers think of dealerships and wh...

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Dec. 19, 2024

How Car Dealers Are Cracking the "Customer Retention" Code | Brice En…

Welcome to the Car Dealership Guy Podcast. In this episode, I’m speaking with Brice Englert, CEO of TradePending. We discuss how car dealers are cracking the customer retention code, insights from competing with car-buying gi...

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