How the Best Dealers in America Are Building Their Own "War Chests"

In this episode of the Industry Spotlight, joining host Sam D'Arc are Aaron Zeigler, President of Zeigler Auto Group, and Johnny McKellar, who leads NationsGuard for Hendrick Automotive Group, to discuss why Zeigler is leaving its third-party warranty provider to stand up its own dealer-owned program, ZeiglerGuard, and what Rick Hendrick himself says has been the single best decision in his 50 years in the car business.

Rick Hendrick joins the conversation to explain how his dealer-owned warranty company became the financial reserve that let him avoid layoffs through COVID, recessions, and 20% interest rate cycles. Aaron and Johnny break down what it actually takes to transition a 41-location group onto a new program, why two groups that compete on paper chose to partner instead, and why Hendrick is selective about who gets access to this platform at all.

Topics:
02:45 The Defining Moment For Zeigler.
04:10 Why Hendrick Started AutoGuard.
05:35 The Secret Sauce To Growth.
07:40 Controlling Your Own Destiny.
09:50 Three Times More Likely To Buy.
12:20 It's Your Program, Not Ours.
14:20 Why Hendrick Opened The Door.
16:00 We Won't Do This With Just Anyone.
17:30 The Best Thing We Ever Did.
18:30 When Business Partners Are Friends.
20:15 The 3-To-1 ROI On NASCAR.
23:30 The War Chest That Saves Dealers.

Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff:

For dealers:
CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Dealership recruiting ➤ http://www.cdgrecruiting.com
Fix your dealership’s social media ➤ http://www.trynomad.co
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://cdgguest.com

For industry vendors:
Advertise with Car Dealership Guy ➤ http://cdgpartner.com
Industry job board ➤ http://jobs.dealershipguy.com
Request to be a podcast guest ➤ http://cdgguest.com

Car Dealership Guy Socials:

X ➤ https://www.x.com/GuyDealership
Instagram ➤ https://www.instagram.com/cardealershipguy/
TikTok ➤ https://www.tiktok.com/@guydealership
LinkedIn ➤ https://www.linkedin.com/company/cardealershipguy
Threads ➤ https://www.threads.net/@cardealershipguy
Facebook ➤ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077402857683
Everything else ➤ https://www.dealershipguy.com