Glenn Lundy frames dealership leadership as an “investment” mindset: focus time and energy on what creates ROI, and treat team collaboration as prepared, intentional work. He argues dealers must see themselves as “the catalyst” behind change, not just rely on tools or strategies. Turning to market forces, he predicts a “bloodbath” for many small stores as floor-plan costs rise and volume gaps widen versus Carvana and CarMax. Carvana’s expansion is tied to certified pre-owned pricing power.
In today's rapidly changing automotive retail landscape, are you positioning your dealership for unprecedented growth or an inevitable decline? Many long-standing car dealerships are facing a market that’s poised to create a “bloodbath for many,” while simultaneously launching others to unprecedented success. The question isn't 'if' the market will change, but whether you're ready to be the catalyst.
Here’s what you’ll get from this episode:
Rethink your time: Understand the critical difference between 'spending' and 'investing' time in your dealership operations and personal life to drive higher returns.
Embrace the catalyst mindset: Discover why you are the biggest factor in your dealership's success or failure, regardless of external circumstances.
Navigate the coming shift: Get a direct, unvarnished prediction of the market forces that will separate the thriving from the struggling in the next 12-24 months.
Future-proof your dealership: Learn what foundational shifts are necessary to compete against major players and maintain relevance in a consolidated market.
Glenn Lundy, President and Founder of the 800% Elite Automotive Club, shares his hard-won insights on the foundational principles that truly move the needle in dealership leadership.
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"Some are gonna die on the vine and some are gonna be like unbelievable amounts of growth and success... Is it a acquisition spree or is it just like when you say die on the vine, it's like they just disappeared..."
It’s an expression meaning something fails because it can’t grow or compete. Here, the host is saying some dealerships will shut down if they can’t increase sales volume.
“Die on the vine” is a metaphor meaning a business fails gradually without being able to recover or scale. In the segment, it’s used to describe smaller dealerships that can’t raise sales volume and therefore can’t survive rising costs and competition.
"everything's more expensive. Floor plan is more expensive. The building is more expensive."
A floor plan is the financing used by dealerships to pay for inventory (cars) while they’re sitting on the lot. The segment argues that when floor-plan costs rise, smaller dealers get squeezed because they can’t turn inventory quickly enough to cover those expenses.
"Give me a bloodbath. They don't get their volume up... You're trying to go against Carvana selling 40, 50 cards a month."
Carvana is a company that sells used cars mostly through an online process. The host mentions it to compare how many cars big players can sell versus smaller dealerships.
Carvana is an online-first used-car retailer that sells vehicles through a digital shopping experience and delivers cars to customers. In the segment, it’s used as a benchmark for how many used cars a dealer can sell per month.
"You're trying to go against Carvana selling 40, 50 cards a month. You're trying to go against Carmax 40, 50 cards a month."
CarMax is a big used-car seller with many stores. The point in this conversation is that it can sell a lot more cars per month than small dealerships can.
CarMax is a large used-car retailer known for high-volume sales and a standardized, store-based buying experience. Here it’s referenced alongside Carvana to illustrate that smaller dealers struggle to compete on monthly unit volume.
"You're trying to go against Carmax 40, 50 cards a month. You're trying to go against Tesla. You're trying"
Tesla is a car company that sells cars directly to customers rather than through the typical dealer model. The host is using it as an example of a company that can move a lot of units and pressure traditional dealers.
Tesla is an automaker that sells vehicles direct-to-consumer and is often discussed as a disruptor to traditional dealership models. In this segment, it’s grouped with Carvana and CarMax to emphasize competitive pressure from high-volume, non-traditional sales channels.
"You brought up Carvana. I saw my first Carvana CDJR store. Oh yeah. Popping up in Dallas."
CDJR is a shorthand for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. It’s basically a way of saying which car brands are being sold through that dealer setup.
CDJR is an industry shorthand for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram—brands under Stellantis. The host’s mention suggests Carvana is partnering with or operating alongside dealer networks that sell those specific brands.
"I think obviously Carvana has multiple different reasons for it, but I think their biggest reason is certified pre-owned... Want a certified pre-owned car because it's basically a brand new car, but it's used."
Certified pre-owned means a used car gets checked and approved under a program, often with extra coverage or a warranty. The big idea is that it lets sellers charge more because the car is treated as more reliable than a regular used car.
Certified pre-owned (CPO) is a program where a used car is inspected and backed by an official warranty or guarantee from the seller/manufacturer. The host’s argument is that CPO status makes used cars feel closer to “new,” allowing higher pricing and more margin than typical used-car sales.
"You have to own a franchise in order to do a certified pre-owned vehicle. So my belief is they're going to pop up all these different stores and all these different markets."
A franchise is an official permission to sell a brand’s cars under that brand’s rules. The host is saying that certification programs often require that kind of authorized setup.
In auto retail, a franchise is the authorized dealer relationship that lets a business sell and certify vehicles under a brand’s rules. The host claims CPO programs require franchise ownership, so Carvana’s retail expansion is framed as a way to gain the ability to certify more cars.
Concept
stock prices
"which you can charge more for a certified pre-owned, which will increase their stock prices, increases their revenue... I didn't buy shares when they went down to like a buck 15 a piece."
Stock price is what investors are willing to pay for a company’s shares. The host is basically saying: if Carvana makes more money, investors may value the company higher.
Stock price is the market value of a company’s shares, influenced by investor expectations about growth and profitability. Here, the host links higher revenue from CPO pricing to higher stock prices, arguing that the strategy could improve Carvana’s market valuation.
Intro
Invest Time Mindset
Dealership ROI Meetings
You Are the Catalyst
Morning Routines and Control
Why Stories Before Strategies
Industry Bloodbath Ahead
Carvana Franchise Strategy
Fighting for Opportunity
Connect and Closing
Podcast Outro
Select text to request an explanation
All right, gang, sit down with my good friend Glenn Lundy. We're here at the auto media
marketplace booth. We're hosted by auto media marketplace and I heart media automotive.
Glenn Lundy is the president, the founder of the 800% elite automotive club. And look
he's right here. I can touch him. Thanks for joining me on the dealer playbook.
I heart media, bro. That's a big name. Look at you. Look at moving up in the
world. Yeah, I'll leave bro. I come a long way since I've heard in British Columbia.
For real, dude. I heard that's a big deal. Hey, you had a packed room yesterday. Bro.
You had a packed room. Tell me though, bring me inside that room because I didn't have the,
I didn't have the credential to get in that room. I need to know what you told a packed
room of people yesterday. Okay, I told them three stories and three strategies. And then
from those three stories and three strategies, from the three stories, they had a takeaway.
And then from the three strategies, they had three things they could actually implement.
So I can't give you the whole stories because we don't have time for all that,
but I can give you the takeaways from each story if you'd like. Yeah, tell me.
So the takeaway from the first story was never spend time, effort or energy on everything.
Instead, invest time, effort and energy in anything worthwhile. With an investment,
we expect to return when we spend. It's a minus. So let's stop spending time with kids,
spending time on social media, spending time with family. Instead, invest time with kids,
invest time with social media and invest time with family. That was one. That's a mindset hack.
Huge. You've talked to me about that before in the past. Yeah. What does that do to the psyche
to say, I'm not spending time anymore. I'm investing it. Well, I mean, once you understand
the definition of the words and the power they have over you, like to know that the word spend
by definition is a minus. And then as a father to say, I'm going to go spend time with my son.
Like if you're any kind of a father, you're like, thanks dad. You can't. You know what I'm
saying? Like you mentally, because you know it's a minus. So just knowing it's a minus versus
invest is a plus changes everything. So now when I invest time with my son, not spend time,
like I might, someone might spend time with their kid doing what they want to do. Oh,
dad wants to go to Lowe's, want to come spend time with me. An investment would be, hey Joel,
what do you want to do? Oh, you want to go play soccer? Okay, let's, let's go. We're going to
go do what you want to do. So it's an investment with a return on investment versus spending.
So it just changes everything. Bring that now into life in a dealership operation. Yeah, yeah,
yeah. I mean, you've been an executive leader. You've grown a dealership in a small town,
9,800% over five years selling all the stuff. Yeah. To invest in your team versus spend time
with your team. Yeah, you want to invest in your team, which means you should have the expectation
of an ROI from them, and they should have an expectation of an ROI from you. So example,
you're going to have a morning meeting. Okay, let's not spend time together in the morning.
So where it's a minus for them, they don't want to be there. And it's minus for you because you
don't want to be there. Instead, let's be intentional to make it an investment of time,
which means they get a return, you get a return that requires preparation that requires
planning that requires intention versus over just going to have a meeting every day.
Like most people don't want to do meetings because meetings fricking suck because no one's
intentional and it's not purposeful and nobody's getting anything out of it. Yeah, that could have
been an email. Yeah, right, exactly. But daily investing in coming together and equipping your
tool with the tools in your team with the tools they need to succeed and inspiring them to be great
gets your return. If that was takeaway number one, now I understand why your room was packed
yesterday. Oh, it was packed. It was crazy. Takeaway number two, I needed to know. Takeaway
number two was you take yourself wherever you go. Sounds like a fortune cookie, right?
You take yourself wherever you go. There's a song. You take yourself wherever you go.
Yeah, you take yourself wherever you go, man. Basically, there's a whole story behind it,
but the intention and purpose is that you understand that if going and getting another
job ain't going to change nothing for you, moving to a different city is not going to change anything
for you. Getting even a different, like a girlfriend, wife, boyfriend, husband, it's not
going to change anything because you take yourself wherever you go. Now, if you know and understand
that you are actually the catalyst for whatever results you're getting in your life, and then
you go move to a different city, or you go move to a different job, or you go move to a different
relationship, but you understand that you're the catalyst, right? The city's not going to
solve your problem. The job's not going to solve your problem. A person's not going to solve your
problem. You take yourself wherever you go, and I just learned that through years of I kept getting
the same result, even though I lived in different places and was around different people, the result
was always the same. And once you realize you're the catalyst of all things good and bad in your
life, then now you can start taking control. So you take yourself wherever you go, mate.
What I think about is, and you're big on this, I mean, you have your morning five,
your five morning, I don't want to call them rituals, but sort of your personal ritual on how
you start your day. We call them routines in America. Routines. Oh. Pesky. Canadians.
Okay, fine. Your five morning routines, you are the catalyst makes me think about this idea,
like you're big into manifestation, goal setting, you're big into these sorts
of things. Does that tie into, is that part of the practice of catalyst, like recognizing you're
the catalyst? Yes. You have to go through a lot of these habitual routines that cause you to invest
time in self in order to believe that you are the catalyst, right? Like someone just didn't walk up
and say, Hey, you know, everything that sucks in your life, it's your fault. Just so you know,
a lot of people don't really get to that. But if you invest time with self every day doing these
morning things like I do, then you start to realize like, Oh, wow, I'm, I have a lot more say
in the outcome than I thought I did. And every outcome, I play a part in in some way or another,
whether I like it or not, you know, I'm sitting at a, a stop light. And I'm completely
stopped. I'm completely parked. Car rear ends me 40 miles an hour blows up the back of my car.
Most people's response would be like, I was completely at a stop. I have nothing to do with
it. I was just minding my business hands at 11 and one, and this car, they weren't paying attention,
they were on their phone, they were texting, but what they forgot is that if they would have left
the house two minutes earlier, they wouldn't have been at that stoplight. If they would have left
two minutes later, if they would have turned left instead of turn right, if they would have
took this path versus this path, like we still play a part even though that particular moment you
might not have control of, there were a series of events that led you to that moment. And that's
really what it means to be the cat like to understand that you're the catalyst, you play a
part in every outcome, good or bad, whether you like it or not. Based on all of the subject matter
that we tend to hear about at events like this, what's the motivator for you to bring this message
to the dealer audience? Well, it was really important because in this particular talk,
I gave them three stories with takeaways followed by three strategies. So I've been successful in
this business for a very, very long time. I could have walked on stage and given them
six strategies. The likelihood of them executing on the six strategies would probably be slim to
none. Like they'd be like, that was fun. And that was exciting. And he's a dynamic speaker.
And then 12 minutes later, they're like, well, you want to grab lunch like their minds in a
whole different place. But if I start with you having to like get an understanding that, hey,
you're the catalyst behind the change, it's not the tool, strategy, like you are the
catalyst behind the change. And if you invest time understanding that not spend time, but invest
time, then now the strategies that I'm giving you actually make an impact. And I'm not interested
in standing on a stage talking to a full room without making an impact because I need an ROI on
my investment of time also. So I love to start with, let's connect the dots so they understand
who's actually in charge. And then now we can layer some strategies on top. The root of what
matters most in any circumstance. And then tactics. That's right. Talk to me about 800% elite
automotive club. You guys are doing some pretty crazy stuff. Yeah. I mean, congratulations. You've
been you've been accepted into some new programs. You were just hanging out with the minority
dealers the other night. And I saw all the pictures and I was feeling FOMO. I'm like,
does a Canadian Italian Portuguese dude qualify to be in that room?
Because it looked like a bunch of fun. I mean, what's your sense of where's the industry at
right now? You're I don't want to say bringing it back to basics because these are not these are
not basic principles you're teaching. They are foundational. They are critical mission critical.
So marrying that to the state of automotive right now, what are you seeing? Where are things headed?
I believe things are headed towards a bloodbath for many and
a increase in wealth and and and success that's been unprecedented in this industry for others.
Like like a extreme gap. Some are gonna die on the vine and some are gonna be like
unbelievable amounts of growth and success. Is it a acquisition spree or is it just like
when you say die on the vine, it's like they just disappeared or did they get acquired?
Walmart came through. Walmart came through when Walmart first got there started rocking and rolling.
95% of groceries were bought from family owned and operated supermarkets. Walmart came in.
People fought against them said whatever. Some people let them in. Some people didn't want to
let them in. Some people bought into it. Some people said buy local, buy local. Some people that
you know all of those things happened. Now fast forward 95% of groceries are bought
from a chain from Walmart. So they completely flipped the script right? We see that happening
now in this industry. The privately owned and operated, the family owned and operated,
the small hometown type dealership. Give me a bloodbath. They don't get their volume up. If they
don't understand the used car game and get their volume up, it's not long that these stores are
everything's more expensive. Floor plan is more expensive. The building is more expensive.
Everything's more expensive and they're still trying to operate selling 40, 50 cards a month.
You just can't. You're trying to go against Carvana selling 40, 50 cards a month. You're
trying to go against Carmax 40, 50 cards a month. You're trying to go against Tesla. You're trying
to go against Amazon. You're trying to go against Apple selling 40, 50 cards a month like you just
can't anymore. Right. Volume's got to get up. So I was I was headed to the airport the other day.
You brought up Carvana. I saw my first Carvana CDJR store. Oh yeah. Popping up in Dallas. I think
they're doing. Interestingly enough, I have a little secret thought, but other people have
difference and most people don't agree with me on this particular one. I think obviously Carvana
has multiple different reasons for it, but I think their biggest reason is certified pre-owned.
So Carvana is known to be in the used car place. There's a huge market of buyers
that can't afford a brand new car. Want a certified pre-owned car because it's basically
a brand new car, but it's used. It's a little bit cheaper. A lot of dealers do really, really
well with certified pre-owned. You have to own a franchise in order to do a certified
pre-owned vehicle. So my belief is they're going to pop up all these different stores and all these
different markets. Obviously having a retail facility, whatever benefits come from that from a
service side, but it gives them the power to start certifying free-owned vehicles, which
you can charge more for a certified pre-owned, which will increase their stock prices, increases
their revenue, right? Increases revenue increases stock prices and opens them up to a market that
currently they cannot tap into at all, which is basically the last market they can't tap into right
now. Dude, they're not even, they're not even playing chess right now. They're playing, they're
not playing chess. They're not playing checkers. They're playing some other game. What are they
playing? Majung? What are they playing? Dang. I mean, you know, and I would say like, I don't want
anyone to think we are not two guys that are advocates for the dealer body because we very
much are. I mean, you wouldn't be going to the lengths you are to train and change, help change
or facilitate change. I wouldn't be doing this show if we weren't advocates for the dealer body,
but I also can't help but think that I'm really annoyed. I didn't buy shares when they went down
to like a buck 15 a piece. Yeah, a lot of shares. They're what, 430 now? 440? 430, 440? Yeah, it's
crazy, bro. And that's the thing, like I love this industry and I'm fearful of what the future
looks like because a lot of people that are in this industry now that have been successful in
this industry were given an opportunity when they probably shouldn't have been. Like when they hired
me, bro, I would not pass any type of background check for any corporation. I guarantee you,
right? I was down on my luck. I had bad credit. I had all the things, criminal record, all the
things. Auto industry says, come on, bro, we will evaluate you based on who you are today
and the performance with which you show up now, not who you were before and the performance used
to show up with them, right? Like in the auto industries like that and has been and a lot of
these people that have been very successful all across this freaking building is because they
were given an opportunity they probably didn't deserve or an opportunity they wouldn't have
gotten anywhere else. That's going to get squashed out. In the future, if we keep going in this
direction, the more and more publics, the more and more huge change, the more and more guidelines
and laws and the more and more of that, the less opportunity for a dumb kid like me that made a
few mistakes to be able to completely transform his life. That's who I'm fighting for. I'm fighting
for that young Glenn. Dude, now I'm going to like throw on a kilt, get on like a shield,
like you just, it's like a battle cry. Yeah. But it really is a battle cry. This is something I love
so much about my pal, Glenn Lundy, who's joining me here on the dealer playbook at the Auto Media
Marketplace and iHeart Media Automotive booth here at NADA. We're bringing the real talk. Guys,
you need to be paying attention. You need to be paying attention because listen,
it's changing with or without you. You need to be the catalyst of change. You need to start
investing heavily. Glenn, how can those listening or watching connect with you? Yeah, just go to
800.life. Everything's there. 800, 800 percent spelled out. Do you have a jingle? Do I have a
jingle? Yeah, you need a jingle for that. No, we don't have a jingle. Brandon, he needs a jingle
for the 800. Well, we have like a slogan, right? Like we rise, evolve. Well, that needs to be,
we need Tony with the keys to do the song for that. Yeah, we could probably get Tony to do that.
But we need a jingle. 800.life. Oh, we do have the one from
Darien. That sounds pretty good. Darien Sanders, my buddy. He did one, but it was pretty good.
800 percent. But we had it perf. We had a dealership for a little bit, so he mixed in
dealership stuff. We got him. It was solid. I heard it. Oh yeah, that's right. You did
here. You're the man. You were there. Bro, thank you for being a great friend. You know, I love you.
Thanks for joining me on the show. Appreciate it. Yeah, love you, bro. Thanks for having me.
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