Car Dealership Guy Podcast Feb 6, 2026

LIVE From Final Day of NADA 2026 | Daily Dealer Live

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Concept

plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are cars that use both a gas engine and an electric motor. You can charge them by plugging them in, and they can drive on electricity for a while before needing gas.

Term

battery capacity

Battery capacity is how much energy a battery can hold. For electric cars, a bigger battery means you can drive farther before needing to charge it again.

Car

The Dodge Ram is a big truck that can carry heavy loads and is great for work or outdoor activities. People talk about it because it's strong and has a nice inside, making it good for both work and family use.

Brand

Mini

Mini is a car brand that makes small and stylish cars. They are known for being fun to drive and have a unique look.

Brand

Audi

Audi is a luxury car brand from Germany that is known for its high-tech features and stylish designs. They make a range of vehicles, including sedans and SUVs.

Brand

JLR

JLR is a company that makes luxury cars, including Jaguar and Land Rover. They are known for stylish and high-end vehicles.

Brand

Volvo

Volvo is a car brand from Sweden that is famous for making safe and reliable cars. They have a variety of models, including SUVs and sedans.

Brand

Acura

Acura is a luxury car brand that comes from Honda, a well-known Japanese car maker. They focus on making high-end cars with good performance.

Brand

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a popular car brand from Germany that makes many different types of cars, including the famous Beetle. They are known for being reliable and affordable.

Concept

direct to consumer

Direct to consumer means that a company sells its products straight to the people who will use them, instead of going through stores or other sellers. This is happening more with car companies now.

Company

Scout

Scout is a car brand that wants to sell cars directly to people instead of through regular car dealerships. This is becoming more common with some new car companies.

Brand

Tesla

Tesla is a car company from the United States that makes electric cars. They are known for their advanced technology and selling cars directly to customers.

Brand

Rivian

Rivian is a new car company in the U.S. that makes electric trucks and SUVs. They are known for their unique designs and features for outdoor adventures.

Term

OEMs

OEM means the original company that made the car or its parts. It's like the brand name of the car, such as Ford or Toyota.

Term

EV rebates

EV rebates are discounts or money back from the government when you buy an electric car. They help make electric cars cheaper to buy.

Company

Moto Acquire

Moto Acquire is a business that helps car dealerships get more customers by making it easier for people to trade in their cars through social media.

Term

flip

'Flip' means to buy a car and then sell it again quickly, usually to make money. It's like buying something and then selling it for a higher price soon after.

Term

whip

'Whip' is a slang word for a car. People use it when talking about their vehicles in a cool way.

Brand

Infiniti

Infiniti is the luxury brand of Nissan, similar to how Lexus is to Toyota. They make more upscale cars with extra features.

Term

payment affordability

Payment affordability means how much money people can spend on their car payments without it being too much for them.

Term

20-inch rims

20-inch rims are the size of the wheels on a car. Bigger wheels can make a car look nicer, but they might also make the ride bumpier and use more gas.

Concept

Chinese vehicles

Chinese vehicles are cars made by companies in China. These cars are becoming more popular and might be sold in other countries, including the U.S.

Brand

BYD

BYD is a car company from China that makes electric cars. They are known for creating vehicles that are environmentally friendly and use battery technology.

Brand

Lexus

Lexus is the luxury brand of Toyota. They make fancier cars that have more features and are designed to be more comfortable and stylish.

Car

Nissan Ariya

The Nissan Ariya is a new electric SUV from Nissan. It's designed to be stylish and packed with technology, making it a strong competitor in the electric vehicle market.

Car

Tata Motors Aria

The Tata Motors Aria is a spacious SUV that can fit a lot of people and stuff. It's important because it shows that Tata is trying to make nice cars that can compete with bigger brands.

Car

BMW Series Bmw

The BMW 7 Series is a really fancy car that has lots of cool gadgets and is super comfortable to drive. It's talked about because it's one of the best luxury cars you can buy, perfect for those who want to travel in style.

Car

Porsche Taycan

The Porsche Taycan is a fancy electric car that looks great and drives really fast. It's important because it shows that you can have a stylish car that doesn't use gas and is good for the environment.

Term

EVs

EVs stands for electric vehicles, which are cars that run on electricity instead of gas. They are often seen as better for the environment because they don't produce exhaust fumes.

LIVE

We're doing better as a result of social media presence.

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 the Daily Dealer Live.

I'm your host Sam Dark and today we are live here at NADA 2026 on the Expo floor on this

last day of the convention broadcasting live to you from the Reynolds and Reynolds booth.

Huge props to Reynolds.

If you watched Wednesday's show they pulled a huge rabbit out of the hat for us by hosting

us here on their set.

It's an elite operation, an elite setup.

We have for the first time ever a CDG first.

We've got Ray Ray or we've got the Reynolds cam, the Ray cam we'll call it today.

You'll see a little bit of movement in today's show and because we're live on the floor you're

going to hear commotion, you're going to hear activity and you're going to hear the excitement

that was NADA 2026.

Probably we'll hear it with our guest today one of the most if not the most highly attended

show to date.

So props to the Reynolds team.

Coming up today's part of today's episode we've got operators, we've got disruptors,

we've got straight up automotive energy in the house and on this stage Dennis Gingrich,

Russ Flip-Lips who you've seen on social media, Marion Kane and more and we're today cutting

through the noise, no buzzwords, no vendor fluff, just what's actually working on the

showroom floors right now.

As we know affordability pressures are real, AI is everywhere in this room and the other

hall during this convention.

Used cars are back in the spotlight and the big question every dealer principle in GM

is asking this week is simple.

What actually moves the profitability needle?

What actually moves the metal in February of 2026?

So whether you're watching from your store, your office or walking the NADA floor with

us buckle up.

We're talking leadership, sales velocity, culture, technology and the plays dealers

are making right now to win.

And to our loyal listening audience we are streaming live across all CDG social media

platforms.

Post your comments into the show it'll change the trajectory of today's show, we'll bring

your comments in.

Whether you're here in another part of the convention or you're joining us at the Reynolds

booth today, post your comments, we'll bring them in.

But first let's cover today's industry headlines.

First up today in the news NADA's incoming chairman dealer principle Rob Cochran isn't

trying to reinvent the wheel, instead he wants to tighten the screws on the policy that

fight that directly shapes dealer economics.

Speaking on the NADA 2026 live stage in Las Vegas, Cochran outlined three priorities.

First, pushing back on California's emissions rules in favor of one national standard.

Second, staying deeply involved in tariff discussions as levies create pricing volatility.

And third, continuing to work the EPA on fuel economy compliance costs that hit inventory

mix and margins.

But most importantly Cochran made it clear that defending the dealer franchise model

remains non-negotiable.

Cochran said frontline dealer engagement is quote essential as automakers test direct

to consumer sales, adding that NADA and state associations are aligned and prepared to quote

vigorously defend the traditional retail model.

We'll talk a little bit about that on today's show.

Under the comment here from Cochran is a discussion on the scout venture and Volkswagen's attempt

to go direct to consumer in multiple states including Colorado where they've already received

a one-year approval to do so.

Next up today, Stellanus American Brands Chief Tim Kuniskes says the company's moved to kill

its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the US came down to two main factors.

Lack of demand and cost.

Recently in a one-on-one with Kelly Bluebook, Kuniskes said the gap between what electric

applied vehicles cost to build and what customers are willing to pay forced tough trade-offs.

Automakers, he said, built battery capacity for demand that was quote artificially inflated

on the backs of government rebates, not real customer demand, and now the write downs they

are catching up.

Translation, PHEVs still carry a cost problem in 2026, but traditional hybrids are closer

to a more sustainable reality.

What's the bottom line here?

Well, according to Kuniskes quote, the customer, the customer is willing to pay what the customer

is willing to pay, and it's either going to come out of our margin or it'll come out

of lower sales.

Finally up today, we've got another busy stretch on the dealership M&A Front with multiple

deals across Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana.

By the way, we love our CDG Bicell Tracker today brought to you by the entire teams here

at Reynolds.

First up in M&A Activity this week, Julie Herrera, the longtime auto retail veteran turned

dealer and founder of Idea Auto Group, has sold her three Texas dealerships this month

to make way for a new Honda store in Prosper, Texas.

According to sources familiar with the transaction.

Next up, Kunis Auto Group, coming closer to my geography in the Chicago land, closed on

three acquisitions in January, including two dealerships in Minnesota's Twin Cities and

one on Chicago's North Shore, props to Kunis for acquiring that.

Kunis now operates 45 locations across the Midwest by rapidly growing its footprint

by 39 stores in the last 12 years.

We'd love to have someone from Kunis on the show to talk about how you expand culture that quickly

and expand your footprint that quickly and maintain your culture.

And in Indiana, dealer Matt Bowers purchased Bill Estes' Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram from the

Asbury Automotive Group.

While Matt Bowers Automotive primarily owns stores in the Gulf Coast region,

lately the group has been eyeing brand new markets and this acquisition in Metro Indianapolis

is no different.

What's the big picture here?

Well, profitability and liquidity are historically high for public and larger private groups.

Meanwhile, buyer demand is outpacing supply.

You can see this deal announcement and many more throughout the entire year

by visiting the CDG Bicell Tracker at cdgbicell.com powered by the Presidio Auto Group.

And that is a wrap on today's industry headlines.

Thank you all for your comments that you're putting into the comments section.

Dan, see how was the AFSA conference go?

Any significant takeaways?

Dan, in response, AFSA was awesome.

It was a great event on Monday.

I spoke about the affordability pressures that are challenging the consumer today

and a solution will thread that in to today's conversation.

Eager case as PHEVs are the most unreliable electrified segment of vehicles

and they visit the service department more than any other segment regularly.

We'll talk a little bit about that with a dealer focused in Northern California

who knows a thing or two about EVs and about hybrids.

Eager case as NADA convention is awesome.

Drink responsibly, fellas.

Paul Salisman excited for today's episode.

So thanks to our entire daily dealer listening audience for being there,

providing your commentary.

Let's dive into today's show.

First up today, Dennis Gingrich, sales and finance director,

Neil O'Company.

Dennis, welcome to the show.

Good to be here, Sam.

All right.

I'm repositioning my mic.

Here we are.

It's the last day of NADA, Dennis.

You've been here, actually, you've been here since Tuesday.

You and I...

Monday.

Yeah, you and I were together at a JD Powers panel speaking with Jeff Stafford,

which was awesome.

So as we come to the conclusion of this NADA convention, Dennis,

you have a significant role within the Neil O'odder Group.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your role, and Neil.

Where are you located?

How many stores do you have?

And what are you doing in this automotive industry?

Well, I appreciate being here,

but it's always fun to talk about the Neil O'Company.

We've been in business now for 104 years.

We're located across 10 rooftops in Sacramento.

We represent a variety of brands, Porsche, JLR, Volvo, Acura, BMW,

Mini, Audi.

I always forget one.

Did you say Volkswagen in there?

All right, we're coming to that topic.

We're coming to that topic.

That was a hot topic on Monday, so it'll be a fun one to unpack.

But family-owned, we got three brothers that run it.

Rick Roger and David Nealow.

We work for Great Kings, and we're very appreciative for all they do for every one of our teammates.

But myself, I've been around this industry since I was a kid.

That's how my dad raised me, being in the car business,

and started selling cars at 18.

And what's that make me?

I think 46.

I grew in the math, so here we are, love our business.

And you say it all the time, man.

Such a great, it's one of the best kept secrets out there to do it all and have a good life.

So our daily dealer audience is used to seeing.

You've been on the show a couple of times.

You're usually here with your sidekick, Tolia, Jason, somewhere.

You agreed to come on today's show.

Tolia, I think, is in route back.

So now you're able to comment without any of his fun from the air.

And actually, I just checked our social comment screen.

David Rogers says hello from 33,000 feet.

So maybe Tolia will pop up in the comments at some point.

Well, I would love that.

That would be good.

All right, so as a dealer group, you came here intending to accomplish some things.

Two questions.

There are a lot of people here this year.

What do you think plays into that?

And then second is, what was your goal coming into this year's NADA?

There were a lot of people here.

I think what really plays into that, the last quarter,

we've had some market headwinds.

I think dealers are looking to get more efficient.

And everything they do.

And last year, with the way New Orleans played out with the weather and so forth,

and the combination of the headwinds we're all facing, dealers are coming here to hone

in their operations so we can win in 2026 and beyond.

And I think what was really great is walking around the floor over the past few days.

A, it's busy.

But I think what gives me a lot of hope and I'm excited about the future is when talking

to our dealer partners, they're signing business.

So I think the dealer community is optimistic about the future.

And that's good.

That's good news for us.

So I have a theory about some of the attendance.

Tell me if you think this is right or not.

I think a general manager, a new role of a GM in 2026,

is to understand this buzzword that we've heard.

You and I remember five years ago, the buzzword was digital retailing.

Today, that buzzword is AI.

And AI is everywhere on this floor.

I think the GM of 2026, your typical GM, doesn't understand what AI is, how it works,

and how to best bolt it into the business.

I theorize that a big reason for the explosive attendance here today,

not only has to do with New Orleans, but it's a desire to understand it, to learn it,

and to figure out how to effectively put it into business.

What do you think about that?

Like, what percent of dealers truly understand AI

and how to implement it into their business in 2026, Dennis?

Well, I mean, the industry is lagged behind all other industries for a long time.

So your comment about a GM needing to understand AI,

you couldn't really find a better place to come and do it.

You know, I come here obviously with a goal,

but I like to leave time open on my calendar.

And the reason I want to do that is so I can have conversations with some of the bright minds,

you know, so I can learn and so I can effectively plug that into our operation

to not only just gain some efficiencies, but really, Sam,

really to help our people that are dealing with the customer.

There is just so many disparate systems pushing so much information in front of our employees,

but also pushing it out to our customers.

And none of it is coherent.

And I think with AI, I think that's,

that is the thing that is going to help us deliver on a great experience.

And so by coming here and having conversations with the great people at Reynolds and Reynolds,

or insert any other company that's here, you know,

you're starting to connect the dots so you can go back with a plan and make a difference.

Okay, one of the things I heard a lot this week is there is AI technology that's garbage.

And we've seen some of that.

There's stuff that actually works.

Is there one tool and you don't need to say the company name,

but is there a task or is there something that you're working in?

You can say the company name if you want, it's free advertisement, I guess.

Is there something that you're seeing that's like, Hey, this actually works.

This helps deliver better for our customer, for our employees in this automotive industry.

Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I came on last year about our, you know, our switch,

our CRM switch we did last summer with our friends drive centric.

I think they're, they're leading the way on that with the adoption of AI

and really giving a connected platform.

You know, that's really good.

But, you know, I'm just excited some of the, you know, the heavy lifts.

And I think we talked a little bit about it on Tuesday.

You know, we're in a highly regulated state in California.

You know, we, we pay a great company to come in and really audit our car deals,

make sure we're doing things right.

And you know, the CNCDA does an amazing job of giving us the resources

to navigate that environment, but really just putting that into a,

you know, an enterprise level chat GPT instance where our data is secure.

So we can quickly make the adjustments we need to stay compliant.

So what's the tool you're using to do that?

I'm just using the enterprise level chat.

Now, the danger and you don't want to do it.

You don't want to put it into the free chat.

No, no, do not do that.

You're just thinking about that.

That puts MPI out there.

If you get the enterprise version, you're saying you've got some feedback

that that helps protect that data, but also delivers a benefit to you and the group.

Yeah, absolutely.

And then, you know, it's just quickly to, you know, I can make a job aid

for my finance managers, you know, and it helps me quickly put them in a position,

Sam, where they don't have to make decisions, you know,

and because when you make a decision, obviously you can make two types,

good and bad.

So, you know, we're just trying to make it simple.

So Paul Salisman asked a great question.

He says, what's the average number of tools in a typical franchise digital stack these days?

I don't know the answer to that, Paul.

If one of our listeners does, feel free to put it into the text chat.

One thing I would tell you that's absolutely fun.

We've seen some tools.

So I think chat GPT, when we all first got to the scene with it, you put a request in,

you saw what it would do and how to respond data and you are surprised and kind of delighted

by what it would be able to do, right?

And then you're like, what's the practical benefit?

Like, how does it help us deliver better?

To your point, compliance, big win.

We're here at the Reynolds booth.

Again, props to the entire Reynolds team for helping us out with today's show.

They've got a robot and on Daily Dealer Live, we've featured dealerships that have used robots

and their operations to deliver from parts to technicians.

If you think about it, that delivery is kind of a labor intensive job that, you know what,

if the person was reallocated to something else, they're probably going to have more fun

doing the something else, right?

And I'm looking right now at their robot.

It's called RELO and actually maybe if we've got the clip, I think they may have one.

This robot is integrated into their DMS and I'm not even sure exactly how it works.

Maybe we'll have somebody on from Reynolds at some point,

but it will deliver from the parts department to the technician, the part,

and then it will go back for more parts and it just keeps making those return visits.

And you and I are watching it, like it's got a rack, it's got parts on top,

and it's just kind of cruising around the show floor here.

Which is, that's a great example of a tech tool that reduces something that's labor intensive

and really benefits the customer, right?

You're absolutely right.

Now that Tully's not here, I can set the record straight on fix for him,

but to your point with what Reynolds and Reynolds doing, there's other people that,

you know, as appointments are coming in, you have AI check-in-the-part shelf,

getting orders and just really automating some of these processes that can really,

if they're not done properly, we ruin the customer's experience.

So to your point, we're going to have people that may be concerned about,

hey, you know, I'm not going to have a job, but, you know, people have jobs after we switch to cars.

Yeah, and that's my other theory too, Dennis, is I think some of these technologies are creating

such a high expectation of consumers that it will be impossible in years to come

for people to deliver that high.

And so we're going to need these tools that are coming out to even come close to reaching that.

A great example that came up in a session yesterday at Impel, where you're speaking,

is answering a phone call at 3 AM, right?

You don't have a human being that's going to be able to answer that phone call at 3 AM.

And there is really interesting voice technology that can not only answer it,

not only respond to it, but can elicit empathy in the way that it responses.

The voice quality is so good.

Igor Kay says, more you use AI, more it learns and improves.

It's all about repetition.

AI is a self-learning tool and does it fast, which I think is very cool.

By the way, Eric Nilo, who I think is one of your bosses,

he says, I'm staring at Toley right now.

So Toley's about to jump in the chat and probably have a little bit of say.

So you and Toley famously on the show, you battle tongue in cheek.

We need to have you both on the show at some point.

Your variable, he's fixed.

He always says his metric for success in fixed ops is retention.

He doesn't want to sell anybody outside the footprint.

As you went around with him this week, was there any tool that helped him?

Because today is fixed ops Friday as well, live from an ADA convention.

Was there a tool or something that he saw that helped increase that retention

in his fixed ops world?

That's such a great question.

Really our purpose to come out here.

We've been really deep in the CDP journey lately.

When Toley and I came out here.

Are you doing the CDP then?

So you're cleansing your data?

Yeah, we're there.

And Toley's done a great job positioning us to be more ready to implement that.

We spent a lot of time this weekend talking to some different folks that play in that space.

And what we're really excited about.

I love Toley.

I love fixed ops.

But this CDP, quite frankly, I think the big beneficiary in our dealer group

and probably any dealer group is really going to be fixed ops.

There are just so many use cases that can trigger these marketing moments, if you will.

And the more important thing to me is when we build these audiences or whatever it is

and however we're connecting with the customer, it's going to give us that opportunity

when the customer engage to give them that personalized experience.

Which again, it just goes back to efficiency.

And the CDP and everything that goes into that, that is not my native language.

So being here and then obviously leading up just to have these discussions and learn,

you know, it's amazing.

It's a good experience.

So Dennis, every conversation this week that I've been in, many of you've been in as well,

centers and is focused around affordability.

In 2026, affordability for the consumer is a big deal.

We've got payments driven by interest rates, insurance costs are skyrocketing.

They're through the roof.

What is the solution in your role at the Neal Auto Group

to deliver a more affordable payment to the consumer?

Or is it much to do about nothing?

Do you think that the consumer is unaffected by current costs?

No, I think the consumer is really squeezed.

You know, we look, you know, just at our group, you know, our new volumes down, our used volume is,

you know, been flat a little up here.

You know, so and I think that people are starting to look at pre-owned vehicles

is a solution to, you know, fight the affordability crisis.

And you know, and I went to one of the make meetings, you know, talking about affordability

and the dealer body, you know, talking about, you know, well, it's Volkswagen, right?

We go to this meeting.

By the way, so Volkswagen, let's set this up.

Scout, Scout is attempting to go direct to consumer.

Now, it's different than Tesla Rivian.

Tesla Rivian didn't exist.

Volkswagen is the parent company of Scout and they have received legal authority

in different states, Colorado, I think Utah as well, to sell direct to the consumer.

Dealers say, wait, I don't think that's a great idea.

You were at the factory meeting.

Tell us what happened there.

Yeah, you know, I, you know, just broadly when you, when you think about the affordability

concern, and I'll, you know, I'll land the plane back with the Scout conversation,

because I really think it is all tight in, you know, Volkswagen, you know, that, you know,

even just being considered as an option for consumer, that's an area that they're,

they're struggling in right now.

You know, and when I look at it, Volkswagen is the people's car.

So if we're, if we're not being considered and we're struggling on our quality metrics,

the only really lever you have left to pull, in my opinion, is an OEM, is affordable

lease payments.

You know, so if, you know, we're, it's going to be difficult to compete against,

you know, a Honda or a Toyota when you're struggling in those other areas, you don't

have, you got to compete on money.

Yeah.

You know, and, you know, also just, you know, coming back in that meeting, you know,

the dealer body is very upset and I've rightfully so about the Scout situation because

they have these problems, but you drop, I think the numbers 15 billion, you know,

on this company and it's going to be, and you're really telling, and I love the way

I read a case, laid it out, you know, at the meeting, it's, we're telling the, you know,

our customers that it's not a good idea to go into a dealership and buy a car that you

should just buy it directly from the manufacturer.

And you just, I think it's just everything we read about, affordability, lack of dealer

trust, and it just doesn't, you know, it doesn't add up, you know.

So I understand the dealer body's concerned.

I think they're absolutely right.

And, you know, and again, I don't think the OEMs really want to, you know,

working with a customer that's when things aren't going good.

It's, we do that, you know, we do that for a living.

State of EVs in the state of California, EV rebates ended this year.

Many expected it to fall off cliff.

It sort of has, right?

But there will be some return to some sort of normal in California, a state with

historically strong EV demand.

What have you seen since the rebates went away and what's your game plan for 26 and rebates?

EVs?

Well, I mean, we're going to get, I mean, we work in California, you know,

our adoption of EV is, you know, is much greater than where you're at in Chicago,

I guess, you know, and, you know, a comment was made at the meeting of the perception of

dealers is that we don't want to sell EVs, you know, and that's, that couldn't be further

from the truth.

We want to sell whatever we can sell.

We just want to sell a good product, you know, make a few bucks and, you know,

earn a customer.

When it comes to EVs, you know, we're still stocking our pre-owned inventory,

you know, into EVs.

That's an affordable car.

It's another way to get a customer into the, into the NELO web, so to speak.

So because I believe we represent some aspirational brands and we're just going to

make sure we've got the tools and the information, you know, we've got to,

you know, we have to be able to educate our customers on EV when it's time for them to

make a decision so they can make a good decision.

And, you know, if they want to buy one, we want to sell them one and give them the opportunity

to protect it and have a good experience.

All right. Last couple of questions here.

Many here at NADA this year have forecasted modest declines in the SAR and new sales

versus 2025.

Do you believe that?

Do you think that's true?

And if so, what are you doing the NELO group to win?

That's one question.

Then the second would be what's one takeaway item that you're going to implement in your

operation from this week that you think will executionally help you in 2026?

I only ask it because those two might be tied together.

Yeah, you know, the flat, I would subscribe to that.

You know, some of our meetings coming into the new year, you know, some big manufacturers,

that's, you know, that's what they're anticipating going into the year.

You know, we're going to, you know, we're fortunate in our markets.

We're, you know, we're on the podium in all the markets.

And I think that we're going to focus to keep doing what we're doing, executing,

making sure our teams train, making sure they have the tools to be efficient.

And we're going to be looking at our, you know, our expenses and, you know,

bringing in tools that are going to allow us to really cut our dependency on maybe

some third-party advertising sources.

And we're going to, at any point-

What's an example of a tool that will help you cut your dependency on third-party advertising?

That's why we're here.

We're here for the CDP, you know?

And, you know, because-

So you cleanse your data, that makes it more effective.

Yeah.

Is there a particular provider you're thinking about for the CDP?

We've had some great meetings with 4I's, TeleM.

We even spoke with Salesforce at length about it, you know, and you learn a lot.

But at any given time, Sam, 3% of our book of business is looking to buy a car, you know?

And it's just important that with AI and everything is going-

We can, we'll know when that's happening and we'll be able to get in front of them

and earn another opportunity to earn their business.

Yeah.

Dennis Gingrich, Neal Auto Group.

We appreciate you being on the show today sharing your perspectives.

Again, here live from NADA 2026.

It's been an exciting week, an eventful week.

I think a lot has been accomplished this week.

We appreciate you being on the show.

Love being here, Sam.

Thanks, Dennis.

And by the way, any final comments for Toley watching from 35,000 feet?

You know, you could sell a car into Texas now and he's got no say.

He doesn't have any say.

And he's got Eric by his side.

So I think Eric would probably back you.

Actually, that's an interesting question.

You're in a room.

Dennis is vying for more car sales up front.

Toley is vying for better retention.

Nealos are making a judgment call.

Who do they back?

Switzerland.

Ah, yeah, that's a good answer.

But I want to give Toley something.

Go fix, bro.

Appreciate it.

There you go.

Dennis Gingrich, thanks for being on the show.

We'll get Toley on at some point.

Thanks, Sam.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.

All right, everybody.

That's Dennis Gingrich.

Next up, we've got our next guest.

And I actually think this is a guest that you've seen out there in social media,

if you've been watching, with a very unique take on multiple things,

including training, development, and all things automotive.

Welcome to the show, Russell Richards, and also known as Russ Flips.

Whips, Russ, welcome.

Thanks for having me, Sam.

I got to tell you, man, this is a unique experience because I'm not used to be able

to sit face-to-face with somebody.

So again, props to Reynolds for allowing it.

We've got the Reynolds cam, which is the cool sliding shot there.

That's cool.

Yep.

So Russ, for those who don't know you, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Who are you?

What do you do?

And how do you fit into this automotive world?

Yeah, so a quick 10,000-foot overview on what I do and what I did.

I worked at a small family-owned Lincoln store, selling primarily new Lincolns

in a crowded market with four other Lincoln dealers and a 30-mile radius.

There's not that many Lincolns to be sold in Pittsburgh, trust me.

And I wanted more out of my life.

And I used the phone in my pocket to make social media content to attract buyers,

to get people to know me, like me, and trust me.

Long story short, ended up breaking every record of dealership, selling well over 30

Lincolns consistently at this dealership.

That was just more than some of the other Lincoln dealers were doing in a month.

Some of them combined.

Some big dealer groups recognized what I was doing, and this was all attributed to my

social media success.

Never in a million years did I ever dream of what I do now, which is traveling across the world,

teaching car salespeople how to become a business legitimately within the business

in this new way.

You've probably heard that a million times.

You know, go hand out business cards, go get a flyer, yard signs.

And that's all great.

I don't say don't do any of that.

But you want to start to reach thousands of people on a daily basis.

You deal with social media.

And what I do now is I teach salespeople how to replicate what I did and I'm currently

doing now for my new business, which is I'm still just using social media to promote what

I do now.

So it's interesting.

We've had Doug Horner on the show, Ben's in bow ties.

He has taken a similar approach of saying, look, I'm going to be out there on social media.

I'm going to let people see what I do.

I'm going to use video and social as a way of connecting with consumers.

You're totally different.

He on the show said, look, 20% of our sales I can attribute at his Mercedes Benz store

to his social media activity.

You're showing, hey, I had a lot of success connecting with the consumer using video and social.

Given your success, if you can do it, if he can do it, why doesn't everyone do it?

What's the biggest barrier in 2026 to saying I'm going to engage on social media using video

and win by connecting with consumers?

There's a few reasons people wouldn't do it.

One, it's just not part of the culture.

Did Ben's in bow ties explain to you why he started?

He wanted his sales team to do it and they wouldn't do it because no one was

showing them how to do it.

By the way, great leadership is doing it.

So if you're a manager watching this and you're telling your team to do something,

ask yourself this, have you ever done it?

It's most likely the answer is no.

And ask somebody to do something you haven't done and aren't willing to do

is a great way to get people to not buy it.

As a salesperson, you can sniff out when your sales manager wants you to do something that

he has never done and certainly isn't willing to do.

So I think leadership not participating and asking them to do it is one reason.

I think people's being scared of failing is another.

If you're watching this, go watch my very first YouTube video.

I posted it in April of 2019.

It was a seven minute long video.

I said 50 times.

Didn't know how to edit.

Just posted it and I wasn't scared to fail.

I think a lot of people are scared to fail and some people just truly don't know where to start.

So general manager 2026, either here at NADA or watching what you're saying,

if I need to develop the skill set to be able to create videos,

to engage with consumers, to set the standard and an example for my sales teams,

what are three steps I could do to learn how to do it and then to actually begin doing it?

Yeah.

I mean, I think the first part is actually pulling out your camera and fumbling through some videos,

just like, you know, I love to use car sales analogies.

The first customer a salesperson ever takes, you know, it's going to be terrible.

And they might get lucky and sell the car.

Well, you might get lucky and make a good video and go borrow.

You need to get comfortable on camera.

I think that's the first thing before you would ever do any training like mine or

there's other people out there that do it or spend time on YouTube learning exactly how to do it.

You do want to start.

And then the second thing that you need to do,

I can give you a million examples of people that I've changed their lives because they listen to this,

post the exact same video at a minimum, you can do more,

but at a minimum to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Those are four different platforms that people use and consume differently on.

Nobody, I don't know one person that spends all day on all four.

Most people like, Oh, I use TikTok.

Oh, I use Instagram.

I'm a YouTube guy.

So why would you not forex your chances?

You run dealerships.

If you could post on CarGurus, AutoTraderCars.com completely for free,

every car in your inventory, would you?

Absolutely, of course.

So why wouldn't you post the same video?

It's all four platforms because it's completely for free.

All right.

So what do you say to the car dealer who's a little bit older school,

who is of the older mindset of, look, being out there on all those platforms,

my salespeople, that's terrifying.

Yeah.

What if they say something wrong?

What if they trigger somebody?

Yeah.

What if they get canceled in 2026?

What do you say to that?

The risk is the risk of saying the wrong thing and showing up wrong outweighs the benefit.

Yeah.

Totally agree.

And that is 100% a possibility.

Let me give you a lengthy explanation for this.

First and foremost, you're probably hiring the wrong people

if you feel that way about your team.

All right.

So how do you, okay, how do you qualify and hire the right people

so that you make sure that the wrong content doesn't trend?

Because we've all seen, listen, TikTok, Instagram is right

with people that have said stupid things and they've gotten themselves into trouble for it.

Stupid people tend to say stupid things.

Don't you agree?

Yes.

I mean, first and foremost, most dealerships will hire anybody with a heartbeat.

Dealerships need to be running some system similar to traction EOS.

So you understand the type of people you want to hire and have on your team.

A lot of dealerships just want to hire people, get them on the floor,

take and then they tell, hey, do social media.

Another thing is we're not giving people direction.

How many managers watching this right now are telling your sales team,

make video, go do video, go do video.

Are you telling them what to do?

Are you giving them direction?

Are you giving them the do's and don'ts?

If you don't give people proper training, they're going to say stupid things.

Just like they might say stupid things to customers because they didn't receive proper training.

Social media, unfortunately, a downside amplifies stupidness.

So you need to have your team.

There's a group I work with.

They have 80 salespeople posting on social media every day, no problem,

because they have been given the do's and the don'ts, the proper training.

And they understand we don't need to say stupid things to grow and follow.

We can talk about our OEM incentives.

We can talk about the cars we sell.

We can talk about what makes us special.

When people are going to watch us because of that.

And by the way, a small mistake is OK, right?

Of course.

It's human nature.

And actually, it probably endures you just a little bit to the consumer.

Yeah.

And as an example, I would say, you know, Doug Horner talked about

how he was early to an incentive with Ben's.

If I remember this, Doug, I apologize if I'm quoting you wrong.

He put it out there and it caused a stir.

The OEM had him take it back and everybody walked away from the problem.

But they saw the value of that connection as being valuable enough to take that risk, right?

But if I'm a GM, you say, hey, you've got a train on it.

If I'm a GM that is not proficient, doesn't understand social media well,

where's the place?

And obviously, they can come to you.

Where are some publicly available spots that I could go to learn more about how to show up?

Well, as a GM, how to train my sales staff?

What are the standards?

What are the guidelines to set for?

Yeah.

I mean, I put out a ton of free information on my YouTube,

completely free and go watch it, direct how to get started steps.

I actually put most of the beginner friendly stuff out there because I truly believe,

I say this to every manager that I've ever pitched on my training.

I'll say this at the end of every call.

Sam, if we don't do any business together, I truly want you to get started.

That's how much I believe in social media and how it can change your dealership.

Whether you work with me or not, I love to work with you.

It is so important to get started because I've seen it transform dealerships and salespeople.

33 additional cars, additional from one guy one month later.

He was so well known in his community.

But how do you remind people constantly?

Oh, I should call that guy.

How do we offboard them from the third party platforms and get them into our ecosystem?

So when they think car, they think Sam.

They don't think car crews.

They don't think Google.

They literally think I'm going to reach out to the guy who I've been watching for months.

So you can check out my YouTube.

There's a ton of free content.

And if you're a general manager, you're probably a pretty smart guy.

You could probably watch my stuff.

You can probably watch Doug stuff and think I could probably do version 1.0 of what they're doing,

just off copying.

And there's nothing wrong with copying.

Think of Steph Curry, great NBA player.

What do you do?

Start shooting from half court.

Three years later, what's every team doing?

We need guys that could shoot from half court.

They copied.

And that's okay.

All right.

Igor K comes into the comment.

He says, well, Russ is a salesman for sure.

He's a quick talker.

You can spot a salesperson tomorrow, especially when they start talking.

So what do you say to a critic that says, hey, you know what?

You're a quick talker.

I actually think you're high energy.

And I think that the cadence with which you talk,

I think it connects probably well with the consumer.

But that's a danger also of social media and putting yourself out there.

You also put yourself in front of haters, right?

And you open yourself up to criticism that way.

What do you say to somebody that says, hey, you know,

I'm a little bit nervous to get that criticism?

Yeah.

First of all, I was not a salesperson.

I have zero desire to sell any one of my stuff who doesn't want to do it.

But I'm enthusiastic.

And I truly believe sales is just the right sort of emotion.

And if you feel the emotion I have about this,

we can work together.

And if you don't, that's totally okay.

Then to find the right person for you.

Yeah.

Right?

So we did a contest here as part of the Cardiola ship guy.

We launched it and we announced the winner last week.

Yeah.

It was the 2026 dealer video contest.

We crowned the winner.

First place was Cavender Auto Group.

It was an awesome video introducing a customer to a vehicle

and connecting with a call to action of come in to buy the vehicle.

About this episode

Broadcasting live from NADA 2026, the episode captures the vibrant energy of the convention floor, featuring key discussions on the automotive industry's current challenges and innovations. Host Sam Dark engages with industry leaders like Dennis Gingrich and others, focusing on the impact of social media, AI, and the evolving dealership landscape. Topics include profitability strategies, the shift in consumer demand for electric vehicles, and the importance of adapting to new technologies. The episode also highlights significant industry news, including dealer acquisitions and regulatory discussions.

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Original notes

Today's show features: - Dennis Gingrich, Sales and Finance Director of The Niello Company - Marion Cain, Managing Partner of Bell Auto Group - Russell Richardson, Russ Flips Whips This episode is brought to you by: Lotlinx – ChatGPT can write emails, plan trips, even tell jokes… but it can’t tell you which VINs are at risk of sitting too long, how your dealer performs against your competition, or how to improve your VDPs. That’s where LotGPT comes in. It's the only chatbot built exclusively for car dealers. It knows your market, dealership and inventory. LotGPT is free for dealers, but invite-only. Join the waitlist now at https://lotlinx.com/LotGPT/ Reynolds & Reynolds – Have you seen Reynolds’ AI assistant Rey yet? With one prompt Rey can answer questions, analyze sales trends, generate reports, or even tell you which cars to buy next. Learn more at http://reyrey.com/reyai. — Check out Car Dealership Guy’s stuff: CDG Circles ➤ https://cdgcircles.com/ CDG News ➤ https://news.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Jobs ➤ https://jobs.dealershipguy.com/ CDG Recruiting ➤ https://www.cdgrecruiting.com/ My Socials: X ➤ https://www.twitter.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 ➤ dealershipguy.com

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