A plug-in hybrid is a type of car that uses both gas and electricity. You can charge it at home, and it can drive short distances using just electricity before switching to gas.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe is a larger hybrid SUV that combines gas and electric power. It's designed for people who want a spacious vehicle that can handle tough terrains while being more environmentally friendly.
An all-electric vehicle runs only on electricity and doesn't use any gas. It’s better for the environment because it doesn’t produce pollution from a tailpipe.
The Lincoln Navigator is a big, fancy SUV that can carry a lot of people and stuff. It's known for being very comfortable and has lots of cool features, making it a great choice for families who want a nice vehicle.
Destination fees are extra costs that buyers pay to have a car delivered from the factory to the dealership. These fees can change based on how far the car has to travel.
84 months loans are car loans that last for seven years. They can make monthly payments smaller, but you might end up paying more in interest over time.
A connected car is a vehicle that can connect to the internet. This helps the car communicate with other devices and provides features like navigation and maintenance alerts.
Maintenance intervals are the times when you should take your car in for regular check-ups and services to keep it running well. This includes things like oil changes and brake inspections.
OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer. It's the company that makes parts or products that are sold under another brand. In cars, it refers to the car maker.
An incentive is a reward or bonus given to encourage people to do something, like buy a car or visit a store. Here, it's a $300 offer to bring customers back.
Express Lane business is a way for car repair shops to quickly handle simple services like oil changes or tire rotations. It helps customers get their cars serviced faster without long waits.
The Mercedes-Benz SL is a stylish sports car that you can turn into a convertible by folding down the roof. It's known for being fast and luxurious, making it a popular choice for people who want a fun and fancy car.
NADA stands for the National Automobile Dealers Association. It's a group that helps car dealers by providing training and support to improve their businesses.
A multi-point inspection is a thorough check-up for your car. It looks at many parts to make sure everything is working well and to catch any problems early.
A brake inspection is when a mechanic checks your car's brakes to make sure they are safe and working properly. They look at parts like the brake pads and fluid levels.
LIVE
We're doing better as a result of social media presence.
If it doesn't do those three things then it's on the chopping block.
It's in return on investment discussion.
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of The Daily Dealer Live.
I'm your host, C.M. Dark, and welcome to the space where Automotive comes together to learn,
to share, to grow, and most importantly to execute. Thanks for being here on this Friday,
January 9th, and welcome to Fixed Ops Friday, everybody. We've got one heck of a show coming
at you today. David Kershara, service director at Benz, Benzil Bush Motor Car joins up. Danny
Nagalha, fixed ops director at McGovern Automotive Group, also joining the show.
But before we go there, let's hit today's industry headlines.
First up today, Stellanus has confirmed that it's discontinuing all of its plug-in hybrids in the
US starting with the 26 model year. That includes the Wrangler 4xE, which has been the best-selling
plug-in hybrid in America. News of the models being discontinued first surfaced after the drive
got a tip that the Wrangler and Jeep or Grand Cherokee 4xE were no longer available on their
respective build-in price tools on Jeep's website. At the same time, Stellanus has been pulling back
elsewhere shelving the all-electric RAM cooling plans for a Chrysler EV crossover and shifting
marketing back toward gas engines and performance models. Bottom line,
rather than juggling incentives, compliance, and mixed demand, Stellanus appears to be simplifying.
Next up today in a news car news, CarMax says 2026 is about getting back to basics.
After watching news car demand pick up while its own performance lagged, CarMax recently told
investors it plans to reset pricing and rein in costs to try to win customers back. That starts
with lower sticker prices including a mix of $501,000 reductions across portions of its inventory
to make listings feel closer to the market. At the same time, CarMax plans to spend more on
marketing while cutting about $150 million a year from selling general and administrative
expenses. Bottom line, after a year of declining sales and profits, CarMax is conceding that
execution, not demand, has been the bigger issue. Next up, Ford has a long list of vehicles that
qualify for the new $10,000 auto loan interest deduction including many of its best-selling
trucks, SUVs, and vans including the F-150 rangers, super-duty trucks, Bronco Escape Explorer,
Expedition, Mustang, Transit, E-Transit, and Econoline. I get a breathe.
But several Lincoln models also qualify including the Aviator, Corsair, and the all-new
Navigator. The deduction applies to personal use vehicles purchased from 25 through 28 with
income caps that phase out eligibility above $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for joint
filers. And because roughly 80% of Ford's US sales are domestically assembled,
the brand is better positioned than most to benefit from the policy. And last up today,
a growing share of new car buyers are taking on $1,000 plus monthly payments.
In Q4 2025, get this, 20.3% of new vehicle buyers committed to four-figure payments,
20. That's the highest level ever tracked by Edmonds. On top of that, the average amount
financed hit a record $43,759. While destination fees jumped sharply in 25, Detroit automakers
alone raised pickup destination charges by about 600 bucks. And buyers are stretching
loans to make payments work. Loans of 84 months or longer accounted for 20.8% of new car financing
in Q4. That's well above year-ago levels, keeping monthly payments lower at the cost of longer
debt. What's the big picture here? Well, the new car market is increasingly split by income,
and since 2019 new vehicle sales are down 30% for households earning under $75,000,
and down 7% for those earning $75,000 to $150,000, but up 45% for households making $150,000
or more, that according to Cox Automotive. And that's a wrap on today's industry headlines.
Yuli, welcome. Hey, buddy. Dude. All right. I'm going to breathe for just a second. So we always
talk about, I'm CEO of an auto group, 41 stores, four states, 2,700 employees. And in the course
of this job, sometimes the job collides with the show. And we got to improvise. And today is one
of those days. We are focused here at Ziggler on crushing 2026. And so I am all over our footprint
trying to make that happen. And today, the show, we're going to improvise a little bit. I don't
have my teleprompter like normal. I'm in a different setup. You can see stuff behind me.
So this is live automotive, where we adapt and we execute as we adapt. So what do you think about
most important piece of the puzzle? We can see and hear you.
Yeah. We're 20 by 20 in my glass box. By glass cage of emotion to quote in for me,
which I love, by the way. Hey, Yuli, how are you doing on the co-video contest,
on the sales and service contest? I am 1000% fired up. I'm ashamed to admit I have not
recorded a video yet, but technically, I'm just a judge. So I'm going to tell you something. I
recorded a video even though, even though I don't qualify. And can I tell you something else?
We're going to play my video on Monday, because I think that'll help spur some competition. And
so I'm throwing it out to my friends, Dennis Gingrich, everybody who's ever been on this show.
Join me, send your video in. You can text it to my cell phone. You can go to the form to submit it in.
We might preview a couple or a few videos Monday on the show. Now, this is not the contest. We're
not judging, but just to kind of spurs some creativity and some excitement. As a reminder,
Yuli, shoot a video customer facing. It's got to be two minutes or less. Shoot it on your phone.
You can do it on your phone. Loom, you can do co-video or whatever you use every day. And the
important part of this, and I remembered this when I did my video, it's got to be customer
connecting. It's got to be something that delivers information and you got to have some sort of
call to action on it. And we're going to pick ultimately at the end of the contest, the top
four videos in the entire country, and we'll have those four people come on the show and share with
us what they did, what their thinking was behind it, and how they connected with the customer.
Because all the data that we study on this show from service MPIs to customer communications is that
people connect better with video than they do email, than they do text messages, than they do
with anything else. And so we'll bring the finalists on a final episode. We'll give them
a one final hurdle. And then ultimately, we will crown the champion of car dealership guys 2026
dealer video competition. And that winner gets national recognition, a little bit of national
props. And I don't know if there happened to be an NADA, they get an invite to the NADA party.
So which will be fun, right? So yeah, for sure. All right, so will you make a video for Monday?
You and I will both pop our videos out. I'm in. All right, let's do it. We'll share our videos
Monday. We'll do a super fast not to take away from our guests. All right, let's go to our first
guest today, David, service director at Benzel Bush Motor Car. Welcome to the show. Welcome back
to the show, I say. David, welcome. Good to have you back. Thanks for being here. You've been on
the show before. So let's start out with how's biz and tell our audience for those who may not know
you as well, who you are, where you are and what you do. Great. I'll start off with that. So my
name is David Sucram, the service director at Benzel Bush Mercedes in Inglewood, New Jersey,
26 years in the business, 20 of it on the part side, the last five years now on the service side
of things. And we just closed out a great 2026. All of our metrics, everything we set out to
conquer. We did it. So we're coming out of the gate in 26, looking to make another big impact
again. So we're pumped. We're ready. That's awesome. So last time you were on the show,
we talked connected car leads and you said they were converting 20% in 30 days. What's the number
now? And what did you do to improve that or protect it? So we're working on them every morning.
We get the leads from Mercedes-Benz, which work out really well for us. And it's really the real
gauge on it is the customer sentiment, the response. Like, wow, you know that my vehicle is in need of
service. That's great. So we're making it as easy as possible for our clients to make a service
appointment by reaching out to them. So yeah, we're still kind of in that same range right in
that 20%, which is great at striving business into our express service department. And now
we're going global. So we're going to take that ride also. You talked about getting daily
interval lists for Mercedes. Is that related to the connected car? And do you still do that?
And what's been your updated process on that? Yeah, so the VDC, so yes, it is all part of the
connected car leads. And the connected car leads provide us with information regarding if you need
breaks of regular maintenance intervals. So yeah, we're working that every single morning at 7am.
We get to get connected car leads. They're new every single day. So yeah, the VDC is working hard on
that. That's awesome. What would you tell someone that has not leaned in or doesn't understand connected
car very well in January 2026? What's your take given your experience with it about how it is
the future of automotive if it is so cool? Yeah, I mean, I would say that you're just not in the
game, right? Number one, you need to ensure that at time of delivery that you're connecting that
customer to your store, you're making sure that you're the preferred dealer. Yeah, I really,
it really creates this unbelievable service experience for the client. They're loving it,
they're reaching out to them because I think a lot of times it can be intimidating calling into
the stores to schedule an appointment. So we want to make it as easy as possible. And that live
VDC red making that phone call, it just sets us apart. So Mercedes Benz, I love their motto is
best or nothing, right? And a lot of dealer groups, dealerships across the country, there's a little
bit of a battle between the OEM and the dealer group or the dealership for ownership of that
customer. The OEM in a lot of cases would bring that customer back to any store owned by the OEM.
Dealer ships want them, the customer to come back to the store or the dealer group.
How has Mercedes Benz set themselves apart if they have it all in focusing bringing that customer
back to your store as opposed to the brand? I can tell you one thing Mercedes Benz has done a
really great job with the Mercedes Benz max marketing program. I mean, recently they had a
conquest and really to get back dormant customers where they were providing a $300 incentive to
get back into the store and the pool of customers that we're seeing coming back. I mean, I think in
the month of December, we probably had 30 customers with that with that marketing campaign coming
back and spending money on true service and repairs. So it's definitely working. I mean,
Mercedes Benz as a manufacturer does a great job on the fixed upside things from parts and service
information. I would say that they're one of the leaders. So no question. They're focusing on each
store individually. And now that Adam Chamberlain is back, I think 2026 is going to be a huge year.
It's going to be even better. Again, I love their motto, the best or nothing. If there's anybody in
this business that doesn't grab onto that ethic, whether you're Mercedes Benz or not, you're missing
the boat. You want to be the best. We all want to be the best. Last time you were on the show,
you talked about Express being 22% of ROs. You're Express Lane business. How has that been since
you were last on the show? We're now getting close to 24%. Well, we come to understand that
customers are willing to wait as long as we can honor them, keeping them in the store for
right about an hour, right? Between servicing, getting the car through the car wash and having
the touch points every 15 minutes. Customers are willing to wait. A lot of them are just,
they don't need a load of car. And if they can just prop up their laptop, we have some really
great amenities here, they're going to hang out with us. And it continues to go for us.
How do you, from a technology standpoint, how do you set the wait expectation and service so that
customers feel good about the time spent there? What's your strategy for setting the expectation
and then delivering on that? Well, video MPI, even though the customer is waiting,
that happens within the first 15 minutes with any recommendations, right? So service advisors making
those 15 minute interval touch points with them to let them know how we're progressing with the
vehicle. But the video MPI piece is the one that triggers happiness, I would say, because they're
like, they're working on my car, right? Here's, that's my car. And we're doing a great job with
that. We're now up to 84% video creation. Wow, that's awesome. David, can you do us a favor?
Will you go through and look at your best videos this past week? And will you send us
the best video today that we could play Monday? And just, I think I want to give some of our viewing
audience some of the best of the best. There are dealer groups that are at 80%. There are dealer
groups that are at five. And there are dealer groups. I was in one of our stores and I shared
the idea of the metaglasses for the video MPI. And our Hyundai store was like, that is awesome.
We want to do that. But like, how do you do that proactively, right? Would you send us your best
example? We'll submit it into the contest. So it'll be part of the contest. But we'll share it with
our audience on Monday, just to kind of give everyone a sense of what's coming. That would be
because 80% to our audience in the in the comments, I would love to see if anybody's got better than
that. I think you guys are probably leading. Yeah. And the other thing is Mercedes-Benz is
leading into it too. They just announced that any of their dealerships that are above the 80%
threshold, they're going to give us $2,000 a month, right? And that's a great way you can use that
money to incentivize technicians do anything with it. So I mean, if you're not in the video
MPI game, you're just falling short all the way around. You could buy everybody metaglasses.
What in your world, what's what's the device that you use to take the video? Is it so an iPhone,
a camera, is it glasses? What is it? Yeah, so we go. So we have CDK and CDK within their service
view. So we're just using our technicians phones, and it just uploads right to the cloud. And we
do send direct. So it goes directly to the from from the technician to the to the customer, which
we love because it really opens up the conversation, right? And really, there's no delays. And it
really helps us optimize that approval while the customer, I mean, they could be in the waiting
room, right? But it's really, it's a conversation started there. They're calling our advisors
saying, Hey, I received the video. I need tires or brakes or there's any kind of other recommendations.
So it keeps us going. There's so much credibility from being able to see it rather than just hearing
it being told it. If I'm told it, it's a question of credibility. If I see it, like it's so credible.
So with CDK, I'm curious, just because I ran into this, we launched the contest in our group.
And some of my teams reached out and they're like, Hey, co video is CDK, right? And I thought it was
because CDK is in the process of rolling co video out to all of its customers, I think.
So based on my own experience, true video, true video, it's true video. Okay. Okay.
That's their partner. Were you aware that there was a co video pilot or some program out there
with CDK or no? No, no, no. I think it's true. I know it's true video because that's my dashboard.
That's where I look at all my performance metrics for sure. Okay. So you go in as part of your service,
your CDK service project and you can see the metrics for number percent of videos delivered
as part of that's exactly right. So we actually communicated to our technicians every week,
right? The previous week's generated videos and what the performance lift is. So I spell it out
every Monday morning. It's actually one of the first things I do to let them know the importance
of it. So look, we've got a ton of buy-in. They see what it's done for them and their
pockets and the transparency provides to our customers. Wait, can you tie it back to performance
lift? Are you able to quantify it? Yeah. Give us that metric. Yeah, absolutely. So customer
pays sold hours before and after a video. We're just under an hour and then the lift on parts
to right about 30% lift. Wow. Yeah. So the CDK platform does a really good job of letting you
know, first of all, how many videos reviewed, how many times it was shared to other people.
That's the metric I love to see because you know that's what's really, really engaging.
But yeah, right under the dashboard, it gives you all the information and it tells you
open repair order versus close and you can filter up internals. So you get a really
accurate number. In my case, I filter out internals and also collision repair orders
because those are being done somewhere else. Interesting. So Mercedes-Benz obviously is an
OEM. They're probably agnostic to what system you use to push that out, I would suppose.
There's X time, there's CDK service, there's a bunch of different programs. Have you tried
different programs? Was this the best one of them all? What was your experience there?
So I could say that this is the best one so far due to the fact that there's
noise cancellation. The technicians can pause the video. There's close captioning, right?
So I have a few technicians that maybe English isn't their first language and maybe it's a little
hard for our customers to understand what they're saying. They're on the close captioning and
here's that. By the way, speaking of noise canceling in my busy days, that's what I need
right now. I've got noise all over the background. I don't know if y'all can hear that but noise
canceling is probably smart so that when your technicians are doing the video or your sales
people are doing the video and someone in the background says something that they don't accidentally
catch somebody dropping some sort of language or a conversation, right? Like you've got to have
that I would think is a key. But that lift for parts is astounding. That's amazing. How long
have you been experiencing that lift as a result of using this?
About three and a half years now. Yeah. So I mean we ask ourselves this question all the time. Where
would we be financially without video MPI? I mean we would be thinking about that all the time so
we definitely wouldn't have the lift year over year without it. And really customers,
if we do miss it, they're asking for it. They're like, last time I had a video, what happened?
Well, I hope this video gets clipped up, this moment in time in this show today gets clipped up
and shared because it's so interesting to me. I'll have some dealers reach out and they're like,
Sam, why do you guys talk about videos and MPIs and all that stuff so much on the show?
We're at 80%. It's a standard. It's an expectation. And then other stores are like,
we haven't quite gotten onto it. Our technicians won't do it. And my question,
if the techs won't do it, is what's the biggest obstacle? I think as leadership you got to set
the standard, you've got to what you've done, you've quantified the impact, you've explained why
it's so important. And then it becomes part of culture. Do you have any comments about that?
An acceptable reason not to do it and or why you wouldn't do it and how you took that reason and
turned it into culture at your store? Look, I'll tell you, probably the first 100 videos were
done by myself. And I said, you know what, we're just where I made fun of myself when the videos
were so great, right? But then with some of the naysayers, we just, I worked right alongside
them and I said, well, once this video gets through to the customer and we see, we see an
upsell happen, that's how we got engagement out of them. So look, it's really about shop leadership
and being out there. And I spend a ton of my time in the shop. We have 41 technicians and I live
my life out there with them. So, okay, what it does for transparency, I mean, dealerships are,
everything comes into question when cars are coming into a dealership. So we eliminate that
black hole, right? I mean, how great is it to educate a customer and look, we don't only use
it for upsells, we're also using it to explain how to use a certain product, right? If a customer
is not sure how to use a driver assistance feature or anything, you can make a 45 second video
and directly, even without a repair order, a true video has the ability to do it that way too. So
there's so many cases for use, it's in value. All right, we've talked a couple times on the
show this week and past week about what's the toughest job in a dealership to hire for. Recently,
we had a great GM owner operator on who said, hey, the toughest job isn't service, it's a sales
manager and he had a great explanation for why. What say you January 2026, what's the toughest
job in your world to hire for today? And how are you filling that gap?
Look, we're in a great position that we're not hiring any technicians. We have a full staff
here, we've done, we've done. I love that. Retention. Right, a great job retaining technicians,
where we're spending a ton of money. I looked into it before the show, we had 243 training days
at the Mercedes-Benz Learning and Performance Center for our technicians. In 2025, we graduated
seven master technicians and two centralized diagnostic technicians, which that was a big
feat. We set out in 2025 to make sure that we could master certify as many technicians
as possible. And yeah, we're up to seven and the CDTs, they're really a game changer. So
we're fully invested in it. So is the training part of your solution on the retention piece?
Is that what's driving or how have you solved for turnover? How have you had such high retention
at your dealership with so many technicians, service riders and support staff? Look, it really
comes down. It's interesting. Most technicians, service advisors, they're looking for education.
They want to have a career path. Actually, most of the conversations don't even start
of what the compensation is. It's like, how are you going to develop me? How am I going to get
there? And we have a culture in this store, and it's really from top to bottom. Our owner,
Jay Address, is fully committed to this. I mean, to have 243 days of training, those are days of
lost production. But the thought really is they're going to come back with the tools to really make
an impact. So the most complex vehicles, complex repairs, EVs, it's no big deal for us. And then
on the customer facing side of it, we subscribe to the NADA education program. So advisors are
going through a central service advisor training, the parts advisor management team. So we're using
every educational resource that we can to really make a difference in the lives of our employees.
And that's what they're looking for. And when we're in that environment, you're not losing people.
Yeah. That is such an interesting paradigm shift over automotive 20 years ago. 20 years ago,
we all got super nervous when people were wasting time where they could have been turning ROs in a
classroom. And today, I see that as well, that commitment to training, development, and not
patronizingly, but truly giving somebody a career path. How did you get to that point of,
we see the value of time spent in a classroom and we committed to that? Because that's
intentional. And initially, it takes some expense to make that commitment, right?
Look, I would say that I'm the poster child here of education, right? I set the tone for everyone.
But we had, as I said before, commitment from our ownership. The NADA for us has been huge.
I think of, I have 11 service advisors, they've all gone through their training, right? Myself.
So really setting a gold standard. Look, the industry is really complex. Our customers are
expecting more from us. We need to give our team members the tools to really operate in a real
professional way. And the education that's provided, both from the NADA and also from the Mercedes-Benz
Learning Performance, it's foundational. And without it, you're not going to make an impact
in your store. You've got to make that investment spend. Well, I got to tell you, we appreciate
you being on the show today, sharing your progress and your continued success. We'd love to have you
back. Love to dig deeper even into mobile service because that's another area where Mercedes-Benz
is so elite. But thanks for, well, and by the way, send the video because we will show it. We're
going to show my video. We'll show you these video. We'll show yours. And everybody, I think,
will get a kick out of this Monday as we go through the process. So David, I slaughtered your name.
Sir Caron. Sir Caron. Sir Caron. There you go. David. David Sir Caron, service director at
Penzel Busch Motor Car. Thanks for being on the show today and sharing your perspective on this.
Fixed Ops Friday. Awesome. Thanks for having me, guys. Thank you. Thanks, David.
We're going. We're going to see a bunch of videos on Monday. This will be fun. Definitely. You're
going to be surprised by what I did, Yuli. So you got to do something good and you can't bring the
beard back, but it's got to connect with the customer. It's got to show why people in dealerships
would go up to 80% pen on those. So, all right, let's talk stream companies. Today's episode is
brought to you by stream companies. Dealers, stop chasing incentives. Retail ready from stream
companies. Update your offers in as fast as four hours and keeps them compliant. Stay current.
Beat out competitors and drive more leads. Headed to NADA. I love this part. Visit us at booth
3113W. If you've been in NADA, you know the need for that or learn more at stream companies.com
retail ready. And to stream companies, thanks for sponsoring today's content,
including that great conversation with David on all things Mercedes Benz best or nothing from
all the things that they're doing to increase their effectiveness and express service and
everything else. That was a very, very cool conversation. So, thank you for your support
of the show to stream companies. All right. Next up, Yuli, you ready? Should we go to Danny?
I'm ready. All right. Danny Nogala, corporate fixed ops director at McGovern Automotive Group.
Welcome to the show. It's great to be back. Thanks for having me again. How are you guys doing?
I'm back. Great to see you. Good to have you back. Now, so for those who don't know you,
tell us a little bit about how's biz. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Business, you know, 2025 was a great year. I think it was a photo finish. We saw our 10%
increase in more units in terms of repair orders customer pay wise and a 15% increase in fixed revenue
year over year. So, pretty excited about 25 and what 26 is going to bring. I've been the
fixed ops director from McGovern Automotive Group since inception of 2016, late 2016,
and the business about 30 plus years started off in the parts department. So, here we go.
Giddy up. Well, since the last time you came on, we were talking about retention, you're doing some
pretty special things there in your department to, you know, to keep your people. What's the one
thing you changed in the technician system, you know, recruiting, onboarding, pay plan that produced
the biggest measurable lift. So, we had a pretty good conversation the last time we spoke about
our technician incentive program that was administered about four years ago by myself and
the team of fixed ops managers, including a fixed ops trainer. And that's been pretty successful.
We're now at about 690 technicians. And our turnover rate ratio is roughly about 22, 23%
in comparison to on the fixed side. So, that's been a positive and retaining our technicians.
And I think this 2025 really flourished with the program because it had some, it had some
opportunity from the process perspective, which flourished in 2025, which allowed them to receive
a little bit larger incentives in November. So, it's a pretty good buzz and not only to retain
technicians and retain most of our fixed staff, but it generated into fixed operations profitability.
We love that.
Yeah. Well, getting your turnover down to the low 20s is very impressive and you had mentioned that
last time. But what's the next number that you're chasing and maybe the two to three levers that
you're using to chase that? From a retention perspective, I think, you know, we have the
three-legged bar stool is what we call it in our culture here. It's customer satisfaction,
employee satisfaction, and we have to be somewhat profitable in our company. If one of those legs
fall off and the bar stool tips over. In terms of next level, well, there's, you know, there's
always something that we can get better at, whether it's providing better benefits or
having access to, which we do, employee pricing, providing a good work environment,
celebrating successes. One of the things that we do a lot of as well, to try to understand what's
out on the field, I personally go to the stores with our trainer Ken Webster and we do round tables
with the technicians, get a pulse as what's going on in the field. It's important to us,
it's important to our ownership. And as we collect that information, it can allow us to
help retain our technicians and our staff more properly just by having a pulse on it. So,
that's also been very helpful. I love that. We know that you know David, so I got to ask if
you're willing to share with us. He's saying his video MPI is, you know, over that 80% mark.
Where are you guys sitting now? Because we know that that's a very important thing to focus on
here. I don't want to put you on the spot. No, it was the best it's ever been last year because
the program really took place and it kind of self-managed itself with the technicians and at
the store level. I believe that our photos and videos grew about 23% year-over-year. And when I
look at overall multimedia on 158,000 customer pay repeat orders, it was about 93%. Wow. Do you
have about 20% increase in revenue per media in comparison to prior year with more locations.
So, they bought into the program. Say that again, but louder. So, you're saying 20% more revenue
just by doing media. I mean, if that's not impactful, yeah, I don't know what is. What would
you say your best stores are, you know, under your umbrella? Oh, geez. I'm not saying your favorite
store. I'm saying like the top performing video. Of course. I have to say, if I was going to look
at a store and say our highest volume store, which is our Toyota store, really took off last year,
I would say they're probably 98% multimedia, almost 100% multi-point inspection. So, they really,
and it's a store that does about 7,000 hours a month. So, those small adjustments really made a
big impact and definitely funneled more profitability to that store. We also had a really a good
outlook with BMW last year. Our Audi store did really well. We had several Hyundai stores.
Our newer Mercedes-Benz store did well, but if we're going to look at a high volume store
and best performance based on volume to get to that number is commendable. So, I'd say that too.
We know that you're always forward-thinking as well. Is there any new technology that you
brought on or that you're utilizing to achieve these amazing figures?
Well, so I think we just got better at the program. However, technicians now need to be at their base.
Last time we spoke, we talked about our AI platform that is now on 20 plus stores. So,
now we have robots in the service departments. Not all of them. We got a couple of service
departments. Toyota being one of them, they got two robots. Our Ford store, I guess, has a couple.
And now we're testing over at Subaru. So, we believe that these robots are making a... Well,
they are. I mean, we're testing them out right now. They are definitely making it more efficient for
the technicians being at their base and turning more hours. Who are you getting the robots from?
Ryotech. Okay. Ryotech. Okay. I need more info here. Explain, you have robots in your service department.
What do they do? They're delivering from parts to the technician, right? And what's the ROI on it?
How long have you been doing it? Robots are cool. It's really cool. They play music too,
and we give them different names. I love it. We actually have one store that can actually,
they go out to the customer waiting area and it'll drop off a water or a bottle of water from the
customer. I went to a ramen bar that had a robot deliver my meal. They're not robots like that,
right? No. So, what do they do? Essentially, we looked at this, the costs of having a parts
runner didn't make any sense because one, there's an emotional perspective there where they can
get into it with the technicians. They can call out late, not show up to work, and it's a bigger
expense. So, we looked at a robot where they can be programmed to get the parts pulled,
they run the robot, and then they get programmed to go to each bay in about a minute to two minutes,
if so, and drop off the parts there, then come back and onto the next. So, when you have a 48-bay
shop and about 90,000 square feet, it's time consuming. So, we've seen a lot more efficiency
there. We really haven't put a big number to it yet. It's been about three months, but I think
we'll see a lot better trend going into next year, this year. I'm really fascinated by the
back end of this as well. So, I mean, you have 48 bays, you're saying, and you have one or multiple
robots coming. We have two robots. And they know where to go. Yeah. So, when you bring them in,
they'll come out and program the robots for us. They'll work with them for a couple of days,
make sure they're doing what they need to do. And once they do that, they're on their own.
It's a matter of picking the parts, putting it on the robot, hitting the bay number,
and off it goes. And it'll drop it off at the bay, maybe 30 seconds or so, and come back.
What do they cost? I think the robots, I think just a little under 3,000 or right around 3,000
a month. Okay. And then they can handle all the maintenance costs, all the software upgrades,
all that stuff. That's interesting. So, have you looked at the comparison between that 3,000
a month for the robot and what it would cost you to have a parts runner like a whoever to perform
that function? What's the savings? It's got to be anywhere from 20%, 25%. So, that's just the
savings, but also looking on the return on investment. So, if you put both together,
it's going to be double that at least, especially in a high volume shop.
Did you look at buying versus renting monthly? It didn't make any sense to buy. One,
you know, it's a month to month, so the agreement's pretty easy. It works for us.
And if something fails, they replace one with the next day or two.
Have you named the robots? I'm pretty sure there's a couple of names out there that I've heard.
But no, I haven't named them personally, but they do play some pretty good music.
Such as? What's the favorite tune? You can play some mazzi on there, you know?
Oh, that's cool. Yeah, you can play some mazzi. Yeah, they can play anything. Yeah, it's pretty
cool. That's awesome. Yeah, it's so, you know, that we went from AI to some robots and most recently,
Aoteota Store was approached by, and this is really cool actually,
a tire machine that changes tires on the lift itself. I sent through a presentation yesterday
on this, and it was very impressive. Talk about, you know, future robots and changes in technology.
It actually replaces tire, mounts and balances tires, and it'll give you a brake inspection,
multi-point inspection. It's pretty wild. The car stays in the lift for the next year.
What is it? Yeah, the car stays up on the lift, up in the air. It's never come, I mean,
I assume they're taking the wheels off to be able to do this, right? So this is really new.
It's, I think, it's in pilot basis, I believe, at a few places, and essentially,
do you drive the car on the lift and on the arms that looks like, it looks like a, you know,
a tire, mountner and balancer, and it's all robotic. It'll go in there and pull the tires off,
just mount the tire, add the new tire, put it back on, and while the tire's out,
it'll give you brake inspections and an inspection of your components there,
you know, in the brake area. So, and it gets it within three seconds, or three minutes,
I believe, it's three minutes. It's pretty wild. How are you thinking about with this
innovative technology, robots, and the technology you just talked about? What's the bar for you to
say, yes, let's do that. Yes, let's try it, because it is pretty outside the box, right? And we have
a tough time with that in automotive. What's the bench where it makes sense to take, not the risk,
but to try it, pilot it? I think it's being open-minded to, one, staying ahead of doing
things differently that can be not only more efficient for the business, but also more profitable.
Yeah. Secondly, this is where we're going. This is the future. So, if we don't start looking at
these things now, we're going to become obsolete, and I don't want to be obsolete. We want to be
cutting edge, and fortunately, we have service managers, general managers, that really want
to embrace this technology. They buy into it because they see the value. So, if you see the
value in something, you know, I think that's always the most important thing. And the risk,
you've got to take risk, because if you don't take risk, then you're not going to find out
what the benefit of that can be. So, I don't think there is a limit. At least I haven't been told
yet. So, as long as I can prove that it works, and we have the team that embraces it, and they're
open-minded, it's going to be good. Danny Nagal, Fit Corporate Fixed Obstractor,
McGovern Automotive Group. Last question is, will you do the video? Will you send it in? We'll show
it Monday with everybody else as well. So, we appreciate you being on the show. Thanks for
joining us today. Yep. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks, Danny. And Julie,
talk about executing at a super high level. Here we go. We're going to close out today's show
in epic style. And actually, Danny's here. We appreciate you being here. To all of our daily
dealer listening audience, thanks for watching Daily Deal Live. We break down the biggest moves
in the car business as they happen on this fixed ops Friday. Don't forget we're here live every
Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern. So, if this is your world, hit like, hit subscribe,
turn on those notifications so you never ever miss a beat. And we'll see you next episode,
everybody. Thanks for being here. Thanks, guys.
About this episode
Social media's impact on automotive operations takes center stage as hosts C.M. Dark, David Cerqueira, and Danny Nagalha discuss the evolving landscape of fixed operations. Key topics include the discontinuation of Stellantis' plug-in hybrids, CarMax's strategy to regain market share, and the rise of new car buyers facing higher monthly payments. Cerqueira shares insights on the importance of connected car leads and video multi-point inspections, while Nagalha highlights innovative technologies like robots in service departments. The episode emphasizes the need for dealerships to adapt and leverage technology for improved customer engagement and operational efficiency.
Today's show features:
- David Cerqueira, Service Director at Benzel-Busch Motor Car
- Danny Negalha, Fixed Ops Director at McGovern Automotive Group
This episode is brought to you by:
Stream Companies – Stream Companies is a full-service, fully integrated, tech-enabled advertising agency that drives measurable results through performance marketing, creative and content development, and proprietary AdTech solutions. Our innovative platforms, including the Retail Ready platform and Integrated Marketing Cloud, empower brands to optimize performance and accelerate growth. To learn more, visit StreamCompanies.com.
Dealer Video Excellence Challenge, presented by Covideo – enter the contest by submitting your videos for your chance to win $1,000 and 3 months of Covideo access here: https://2tqce38uozv.typeform.com/to/KEOuOixJ
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