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Car Guy Coffee & DriveCentric presents “DC20 Unlocked” feat. Matt Leone & Steve Roessler

Car Guy Coffee & DriveCentric presents “DC20 Unlocked” feat. Matt Leone & Steve Roessler

Car Guy Coffee Jan 20, 2026 21 min
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About this episode

Excitement fills the air as Lou Ramirez and Fred Lenarts welcome Matt Leone and Steve Roessler from DriveCentric to discuss the upcoming NADA event and their innovative strategies for 2026. The conversation highlights DriveCentric's commitment to integration and education within the automotive industry, emphasizing their new product unveilings and VIP experiences. Listeners will learn about the significance of AI in their offerings and the exclusive after-party that promises networking opportunities and fun. Tune in for insights into the future of CRM technology and the vibrant community surrounding DriveCentric.

Topics: nada 2026 product unveiling ai integration vip experiences dealer education after-party networking drivecentric innovations customer engagement strategies
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Hello and welcome to the CarGuy Coffee Podcast for the DC20 Unlocked Series, brought to you
by DriveCentric. For more information or to get signed up for the next DC20 event, go
to drivecentric.com. Let's brew! What's going on Car Guys and Car Gals? It's Lou Ramirez
and it's Fred Lenarts. And we are brewing solutions on the CarGuy Coffee Podcast and
we are excited about finishing up 2025 and all the things that are brewing for 2026.
We've got a fun show with some really live guys.
No, two of our favorites, man. Two guys who've not shy to the microphone on our stage. They've
definitely been on the show a couple of times and they always bring the energy. But one thing
they do is they represent a company that is out there just doing big things. They're never
resting on their laurels or always looking for ways to grow. And man, this year I've
noticed a big theme, it's integration, man. And I'm excited to see what 2026 brings and
also what NADA is going to be bringing for them because I know they're going bigger,
better, faster, stronger this year. I can't wait to see what they do and talk about. We've got a lot
of questions to ask them and a lot of ways to be able to show you guys what's coming up soon. So
pumped up. There is so much that's brewing. And we're over here at B-Top in St. Augustine, Florida,
having fun with the Bozard 4 team, having some fun. Who are people that are on this incredible
platform that is drive-centric? No one like them, nobody brews like they do. And we want to be able
to make sure that we get a couple of their dudes that are on here. And I'm starting to think, Fred,
they got a little bit of a car guy coffee habit. They're on the show a lot. We're at the DC 20s
all the time. We're always brewing solutions. And we are so thankful for the opportunity to take
things to the next level this year. And NADA is going to be that kind of show that you need to
make sure that you show up to. So let's get these solutionaries in the group.
You see this QR code? This is straight to drive-centric's website. So at any point during the
show, you want to just click and go to their website to check out what they have or follow up
with what we're saying is true. I promise you guys won't be disappointed. Set up a time to get a
demo. I promise you you will take your team to the next level if you haven't used drive-centric yet.
Let's get them on the show. But you guys know you need to do help us out, everybody. And tag a car
guy. Tag a car gal. And share, share, share, share, share. Let's get this out there. Get the word
out there, folks. Whether you're watching this live or on the replay, this show is going to bring it.
So make sure you get some folks in here. But you know what? Without further ado,
let's get two of our favorites on. Ever. Let's get them in here right now. Let's talk about some fun.
With the one. The only. Matt Leone. And Steve Roslowe.
Oh, gentlemen. He's working on it. What is brewing with you guys? Pumped up to see you all.
Can be back here, guys. Welcome, welcome, welcome. We are almost at the end of the year.
Merry Christmas to you all. We're excited about what's brewing and all the fun festive stuff
that we're getting through. But man, you guys are brewing some cool stuff over a drive-centric.
And we are pumped up about it and always excited to use our microphone in this cafe
to talk about what you guys got brewing. So welcome to the party. Where are you guys jumping
in from? Are you at headquarters? We're at headquarters. Yep. We're here. We're doing our
big meeting with all the salespeople, account managers. So we had our kind of as we've grown
our first really collective party. It's way we've called it and kick it off for 2026.
So pretty excited about what we got coming. Man, parties are coming. We've been watching you guys
for years now and every year we see the growth. Every year we see the new tools that are coming
along. The innovation that you guys are constantly bringing and bringing Matt in last year was another
piece of that recipe to help get it even moving even further. And I'm excited to see that. Steve,
you have been a advocate. You have been literally the most excited person that we've seen in
automotive in such a long time. You always bring that. He is not scared to get in front of a camera
and show anybody a salesperson, a leader on what it takes to take it to the next level inside your
store, inside of any business. Steve, so I appreciate you and your energy as always brother.
And I can't wait to see what you guys bring. Matt, you are a gentleman, but folks be watching
out for Matt's shoe game. It's coming up. Ladies and gentlemen, there is so much that's brewing.
Let's go ahead and start talking about what's actually happening in NADA and where they can
hand you. I already know that you got a whole lot of points and a whole lot of party and we
got to do. So let's get into this brew everybody. Where are they going to hand you at NADA? Oh my
gosh, was her booth number? 2523 West. Isn't that terrible? It's like too many numbers for me to
remember. But a completely redesigned new booth. We're going to have a main stage. It's going to
be really awesome. I'm really excited about it. A lot to share with customers and a lot to share
with the dealers swinging by. I'm super excited about that again. That's 2523 West. Folks be out
there again bigger. You guys, if you've been to their booth, they're always big. Always they're
always doing something innovative. They're always bringing some great energy and they're switching
it up this year to bring it even bigger. They're bringing bigger lineups when he talks about who's
going to be speaking at their booths. The keynotes that they're bringing in. Bigger products.
Bigger products. I can't wait to hear more about those. Of course, I'm excited. There's a whole
lot to be talking about. It's getting bigger and big. Guys, there's so much gauze. There is so much
and you need to make sure that you do stuff. We do want to see you all and we know that there's a
couple of other crazy car guys are going to be there. I think one of them is you. Yeah, we're
going to be there. We will be at the booth with the other one is him. So we're going to be there.
And we're excited to have you guys there again. It's going to be a big lineup for sure.
And our theme this year is the fast lane to the customer. So what you're going to hear at our
booth is going to be a lot of our strategy, our roadmap and how to engage with those customers.
It's really the future and evolution of the CRM category where we're taking the business.
So we're encouraging every dealer to swing by. If you looked at Drive a few years ago,
10 years ago, you want to take another look at it. And now's a really good time to see what we're
up to. Yeah, the one thing we're doing is this VIP experience. I think we weren't associated like
something like what Apple always would do, stay in line, see what's new with Apple,
or any of these other real technology products be the first one to see it.
So there's going to be this product unveiling and we're going to have a VIP experience. The last
couple of years, we've been doing everything AI. I think everybody knows we've had AI built in Drive
Centric for the last couple of years. And I'll tell you what, being in St. Louis, obviously Matt
and some of the other product team that's going out there stand up on stage getting the sales
people aside for 2026 for this product unveiling of what artificial intelligence is going to be
doing in Drive Centric. It is spectacular. I don't know how to keep the excitement. We have a tight
lip on it, but we are going to show and reveal it at an ADA guys. And you can't ask me about it
because I can't share it with anybody. All right. But it should be a big tease until an ADA.
But there's a limited way you can get out. There's a limited VIP list that you guys are creating
right now. How can people get that list? How can they sign up and how can they be there to make
sure that they get first news of that? So we want to encourage people to go on and follow our LinkedIn
page. We're going to be posting more and more teasers as it comes out. But there's a registration.
So contact your pod, contact your account manager, go on to LinkedIn and register if you want to be
a part of it. The main stage only has a limited amount of space capacity at an ADA. We know an
ADA is crazy, boosts are crazy, but we want to be able to do it at a very specific time. We're
going to do a product unveiling on a very specific date. So the unveiling is going to happen on
Wednesday. It's first thing in the morning. We're going to have a MOSOS. We're going to do a whole
unveiling of what are we launching? And I think people are going to be legitimately blown away
by what we have in store. But as Steve said, we're going to keep it tight-lipped and announce a
bunch of these things coming out. It's going to be nuts. I would tell you this. I think of everybody
who has seen Drivecentric or even our customers that are currently on Drivecentric and seeing
what we've done with AI from a data perspective, a sales perspective. I was blown away just this
morning when we went through that product unveiling. So it's going to be like I said,
it's going to be a game changer for sure. It's going to be live. It's going to be live with Drive.
It's going to be live with Drive. Come on. If you all are out there taking notes, go ahead and write
this down. Seriously, it's very important. Get on that list, everybody. Make sure you find a way
to get on that list. If you don't get anything from this show, make sure that you get on that list.
It is. And there's nothing better than being on that list and being able to hear something new,
especially for somebody who's eager to get their team to do even more and be able to see what's
coming out to get them excited. This is what it's all about. It's the unveiling, a VIP unveiling.
I love that you're doing that. I think that's a great idea. I think that it's not just going to
bring more energy towards what the unveiling is, but it's also going to just, it's going to keep it
like you said, that I love that tight lift. I know it's hard for you, Steve. It's got to be hard
for you not to be shouting it out to the world. I know after this people are going to be asking.
I'm just going to say you got to show up. Just be there, right? It's a be there.
We got a great lineup though. So Wednesday and Thursday is jam packed, but the reason why we
do the product unveiling, we've launched a lot of product features this year in 2025. We're going
to do a whole summary recap of everything we launched this year, but being a natively built
modern tech stack and being focused on engagement, engagement happens throughout the
dealership. It's not just in the sales department or the PDV department. And you talked about
integrations, the opening of the session. I believe the engagement world is broader than
sales. And I believe in a modern natively built tech stack, innovation can happen at
light speed. And it's not, Hey, this is something coming in a year from now. These are things we're
going to be rolling out here in early 2026 and not announcing anything we already did in 2025.
That's old stuff. We're already moving forward. And so that's what's going to happen on Wednesday
would be that session in the morning. So first in everybody, come check it out before you get
distracted with everything else out there. Then we're going to have an interview where we're going
to talk about a new partnership with dealer pay. We're going to be talking about our partner
ecosystem, which is our partner hub we're calling it or partner engagement hub with all the new
partners that we have, one of them being urban science. We're going to have a session with them
talk about our partnership there. Then we're going to have a dealer panel. We're going to have
everybody together as dealerships talking about how they're best using best practices within
drive centric. And then on Thursday, we're going to have for direct on a partnership with them come
out for a keynote on our stage. We're going to have VINQ talk about our partnership with a keynote
with them. And then we're really going to spend some time talking about the difference between
AI features and AI agent agents. And that's really a little teaser about what we're going to be
announcing at our. I almost put my hand on one of his mind. And then finally, we're going to talk
about a new mastermind and folk partnership as well and the deepness there. So those are all of the
keynotes that we're going to have a different sessions. Again, on our website for any idea,
you'll be able to see all those different sessions, register for them or make sure they're on your
calendar and you can place a little link and say, I want to attend one of those events.
Somebody can find themselves just stuck at your booth for the day, watching and growing,
being there. Just make sure that you bring your notebooks, bring your connections,
bring whatever it is that you have to be able to make sure that you go to the next level,
get to that drive centric booth everybody. And I do want to, I want to interject because
obviously there's going to be a lot of good content at NADA. There's always good content.
I think what we're trying to do at our booth is to get more specific information that the
dealers are trying to absorb. I think that's what they're trying to do is say, how is this all going
to work together in all these different different vendors, integration, you know, how is going to
get leveraged in business, typically go to NADA and we always got to be tight lipped. You can't
go out there and really truly market what you're doing. And so this is going to be like what we
do at DC20 guys. I know you guys been here, but this is all going to be very specific to the
auto industry and to the dealers to impact their business in a positive way moving forward. I really
hope that they look at this as a very educational, specific type of venue, at least at our booth.
That's what we're trying to do. Yeah. Education is a huge part of this because
what happens typically in NADA, you get overwhelmed with so many new cool things are out there.
But how do I tech consolidate? How do I make all this stuff talk to each other? How do I manage
what is a CRM? What is it supposed to do? What is all these bolt-ons supposed to do?
And if we can hit that session right up in the beginning for them, just level set, here's what
your CRM should do. And here's the consolidation of the things that a CRM should be able to do
that many CRMs cannot. Now, as you go around, now you can look at all the other vendors out
there and see what they're doing. Absolutely. I love that you're talking about that, really being
able to make sure that people are getting educated more than anything. Because this is, even though
it's been a topic for a while, there's still a lot of people who it's very foreign to them.
They're wanting to learn how to use it and they're wanting to grow and become
all those things that they want to be, but they're just a little bit hesitant because
they don't know. And the more that you can make it smooth for them, understanding,
hey, your CRM should be doing this now. This is how AI works. This is how all these other
areas should be able to bolt in for you and be able to run smoothly and seamlessly.
And that's key. Whether they come with you or not, the fact that you gave them will make you
memorable. That's something that they will never forget. That's something that they will come back
and get more of. And when it's time, they will come to you. And I love that theory. I totally
agree. And one of the things that I feel bad for dealer operators, owners out there, GMs out there
is they're not software people. They're not technical people. They're there to help with
relationships and selling cars and running a P&L of a dealership. But if you're trying to understand
the speed of which technology is rolling out right now, you're barely getting to conversational AI.
And now all of a sudden there's voice AI. There's a gentic AI. It's like, where am I in this journey
and what do I need? And that's what we're really trying to hit on is here's what your CRM should do
and then here's what things we can do. And then if we can't do it, we're going to be transparent
about that. These are maybe you want to go look for other vendors out there that can partner
or integrate with us. But I think it's a big education for dealers right now.
Yeah, I just want to interject too, because I think there's a philosophy that this all-in-one,
the CRM, DMS, right? That's what dealerships are trying to figure out and say this is the best
solution. And I just want to say for anybody who's watching, that is so 1990, that what is coveted
more than anything, I think everybody would agree, is going to be your data and how the AI is powered
with the data that is coming in to something like drive centric, your CRM is what's going to drive
engagement for the stores. That is the teaser for NADA, maybe.
I love that. I love that teaser. Because it is.
That's not a teaser we're going to announce. Do you want to announce the other one?
All about. I don't know what they're going to announce. We'll see. Where are you guys going to
announce the next one? I want to talk about a piece of this that just continues the conversation
of how good you all are at assembling all the elements that get basically a business partying
together and then actual people partying and getting engaged together. You guys are masterfully
putting together the live with drive and friends after party. So we're about to take it to a whole
other level and we're pumped about that. Man, this is exciting. I'll spike my hair for this.
Hey, guys, look, a baby in an automotive industry is but a dream to host a party, right?
It's just one of those things. We've gone out there, you've been to all the other parties and
stuff. And to say we're at a level where now we can actually host a party, we push this through,
I'd put my selling shoes on to get this guy to help get that going. But you know what,
we got some really good partners that obviously are joining us to help put this party on. So
we're partying with Rocket, we're partying with Dealer Process, VinQ, Mastermind, Autify and
Dealer Pay. So these are the companies that are going to help put on this party as a way to go out
there and say, these are some of our new integrated partners and a way that we can bring our, I'd
like to think that everybody's going to show up to the party because these are all medium-sized
companies that hopefully all of us have a great relationship with our dealers. And instead of
having somebody to show up just to show up, they want to be there because they want to be there.
And it's going to be a big celebration. We got bands, we got surprises, we got giveaways.
We're going to make it a really impactful event that I hope everybody remembers.
But it's exclusive, folks. This isn't something that everybody can show up to. You've got to
have a wristband to get into this thing. And I know wristbands, this is a wristband only event,
folks. VIP, again, we're talking about VIP announcements, we're talking about a VIP party.
And every one of those people that he's talked about, every one of those dealerships, but every
one of those businesses that he just mentioned that are going to be part of this are great people
doing big things. He calls them medium-sized, but like Lou said a moment ago, they put a huge
footprint out there. And together, we are huge. We are better together, right? And the more that
we can grow together, the better that we all can be. And I love that. And I love that you're
bringing in so many people, which is going to bring in so many dealers, which is going to bring
in so much fun. There's going to be music, drinks, stacks, all of it. But more importantly,
the network of people there, the network of people that are going to be walking around,
the conversations that you're going to have, the partnerships that you may find right there
at that party, at that after party, having fun, I promise you, live with drive and friends. I
love the name of it. I think it's perfect. I can't wait to be there. We're going to be there. I know
that. I can't wait to be there. We're at everyone in the drive, live with drive parties, because
everyone we've been to, whether small or big, has been amazing and always a good time. And I
always meet great people. Yeah, he's not going to throw a small party. So when they first told
me the idea, I was like, no. And then he says the size he wants to do, and it's five to 600
minimum of people I want there. And I was like, Steve, you can't afford that. And so we were
thankful. We have really great sponsors, and Steve rattled off our sponsors. We're thankful.
We have a really good band. We're thankful that we have found a venue that's really close to
where the convention is five minutes away. It's a cool event. It's a very cool venue,
but this is going to be a big event. And the reason why we want Riz fans is there's a security
that's going to be there, et cetera. And we just don't want any random person to be able to walk
in and go to this event. So stop by any of the sponsors. They're going to have wristbands for
you. Stop by the drug centric booth. We'll give you a wristband if you'd like to cope.
But obviously there's capacity limit five to 600. So we want to make sure that we understand how
many people were handing out wristbands to do as well. Get your wristbands early. I suggest day one
first thing. Product unveiling. Hey, do dinner early on Wednesday and be at the party by eight,
be at the party. Don't be tardy to this party, my friends. I promise you,
this is something that's going to be a lot of fun. I'm hyped up about it. I know that we're going to
meet and see a lot of our great friends. We're also going to meet a lot of new friends there.
And I can't wait to meet all you guys there. And of course, be at the booth, folks. It's going to be
a full day of just learning and education to where you can't wait to go out and have a good time
that night. It's going to be a blast. You're going to be filled with full of energy and full of
knowledge. So I can't wait for that. So important, everybody. 25, 23 West is where you need to find
the entire drive-centric crew that's buzzing inside of this NADA. It's a whole other level,
everybody, and they're making sure to show you how it's done. Make sure that you come through,
have some fun. Matt, Steve, we are pumped up. We are excited. And the momentum is just going to
continue building as we get closer to this event. Brothers, is there anything that you need people
to know before we get ready to wrap up this show and pass it around so everybody knows where to be?
Just register for that unveiling. I want to make sure as many people are there to listen to it,
where we're going to launch into the market here in 2020. Yeah. The only thing I want to say is
it's just, it's been a wild ride. And I think this first party we're doing, it's just a true
celebration, really, of the dealers that have helped support us, get to where we're at, the
community, whether they're on drive or not. We got a lot of friends that aren't on drive. But
it really is truly a celebration for what the company has done and with the automotive community
of partners like what we round off and even more. But it's the wildest thing just happening to do this.
Don't miss it. Don't miss it. Don't miss the parties. Don't miss the unveiling. Don't miss
getting the wristband. Don't miss the show. Don't miss the sessions that they're going to be having,
folks. They're going to be bringing some great knowledge. You guys at the least be ready. Day
one and day two is full. You need to just hang out at the booth and drink mimosas all day, guys.
Come on. That's my secret. That's my secret recipe, my friends. Mimosas at booth 25, 25, 25,
West. Let's get a lot of good drive, everybody. Let's go. Car guys and car gals. Thank you so much
for taking some time to brew some solutions with us with the great drive centric. The one,
the only, Matt Leone. And the one, the only, Steve Rosler from drive centric. I am looking
at you, man. And I'm Frelin Arts and you've been bringing some good drive. Let's keep making it
to do what it do. Let's go live with drive on three, one, two, three. Focus. Fly and keep
growing. Keep growing. See you at the unveiling party to

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