Explore every episode of the podcast vAuto Podcast

In this vAuto podcast, vAuto’s Derek Hansen, Patrick Janes and Micah Tindor discuss the innovations vAuto will debut at NADA 2025 in New Orleans. They discuss how the new solutions help dealers and dealer groups implement a more consistent appraisal process with customers looking to sell or trade a vehicle, and centralize inventory management decision-making to improve rooftop-level performance.

In the Q4 Live Market View, Derek Hansen and Chris Stutsman discuss used vehicle sales, inventory and depreciation trends in Q4. They also share how predictive data science and AI-driven solutions from Cox Automotive help you identify each vehicle’s unique profile of investment risk and opportunity, price each vehicle to move in its ROI-optimal timeframe, and create more targeted engagements with current and prospective customers.

In this vAuto podcast, vAuto founder and Cox Automotive Executive Vice President, Dale Pollak shares a sneak peek of his new book, Invested: The New Science, Strategy and System of Used Vehicle Investment Management. Pollak shares: Why he believes market conditions now require dealers to adopt investment management principles to contend with higher vehicle costs and declining front-end grosses. How the book gives dealers a way to establish strategic, investment-minded objectives for vehicle acquisition, appraising and pricing. Where he thinks the market will head in 2025 (hint: mostly favorable, with some uncertainty).

This webinar, “Don't Let Historic New Vehicle Troubles Haunt You Today” presented by Bethany Johnson and Alicia Rudowyj, gives you the tools to work smarter, not harder, in this new era of new vehicle incentives. Get best practices from top-performing dealers and the tools they use to help you accurately and efficiently apply the right incentives to the right vehicles faster.

In this vAuto podcast, Lee Segal, general sales manager at Rodland Toyota, Everett, WA, details how the dealership uses a blend of online and physical auctions to efficiently wholesale roughly 100 vehicles a month. Segal details how the dealership’s multi-channel wholesaling strategy strengthens the store’s ability to acquire vehicles from customers and feed their retail inventory. Segal also highlights wholesaling best practices he follows to build relationships and trust with buyers and deliver an optimal return for each vehicle they wholesale.

It’s a head-scratcher: Despite ample inventory and relatively strong demand, new vehicle sales aren’t living up to expectations. What gives? vAuto’s Derek Hansen and Chris Hanna provide answers and practical next steps in the Q3 edition of vAuto’s Live Market View. Get a quick view of how affordability, risk-averse lenders and more-difficult-to-manage incentives put the onus on dealers to move metal. Hear best practices to more effectively manage your new vehicle investments—all with an eye to help you capture a greater share of your market despite the headwinds.

In this vAuto podcast, vAuto Performance Managers Jim Tourigney and Patrick Wright detail best practices to help dealers avoid the five most-common merchandising missteps that result in used vehicles not moving when they should. From rethinking the role merchandising plays in your sales process to an over-emphasis on re-pricing rather than re-merchandising vehicles, Tourigney and Wright offer practical pointers to help dealers gain efficiency as they get more from their merchandising and related promotion efforts. Bonus: The pair also distill key distinctions between merchandising new and used vehicles to better engage their respective buyers.

In this vAuto podcast, Scott Crompton, Marketing Manager for Victory Automotive Group and Dustin Corder, vAuto Performance Manager, share how they work together to help Victory drive success across its nearly 45 stores in 10 states. Crompton details how Victory establishes operational guidelines and key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure individual rooftops serve the broader group’s interests as they make vehicle acquisition, appraising and pricing decisions. Crompton also outlines how he manages and measures the group’s marketing spend in traditional and digital channels to support individual rooftops and the Victory brand.

In this vAuto podcast, Alicia Rudowyj and Bethany Johnson, who work with vAuto’s new vehicle incentives and solutions teams, discuss how the new vehicle landscape has shifted to include a larger share of Vehicle Information Number (VIN)-specific incentives to help dealers move aged inventory. Rudowyj and Johnson detail how the shift away from a one-size-fits-all approach to incentives by some OEMs creates pricing and inventory management challenges for dealers. Hear their recommendations on how dealers should assess each new vehicle’s risk profile—and the vehicle’s likelihood to receive an incentive—to ensure their pricing, merchandising and inventory management decisions should combine to connect with today’s affordability-minded new vehicle shoppers and buyers.

In this vAuto podcast, general manager Walt Kelsey of Kelsey Chevrolet, Greendale, IN, shares how he and his team engineered an impressive turnaround in their used vehicle department. In early 2024, Kelsey’s inventory had nearly twice as many vehicles in stock as they were selling, with more than 100 units over 60 days old and underwater. It was a post-pandemic, wake-up moment. Kelsey outlines how he and his team attacked the distressed inventory, reasserted a more disciplined approach to pricing and appraising and faced significant financial pain as they put the department back on a money-making track. Kelsey’s experience and success offers a what-to-do roadmap for dealers who find themselves with an out-size share of distressed, over-age inventory.

In this vAuto podcast, dealer Mark McKie of McKie Ford Lincoln and Greg Plank, Senior Team Leader of dealership operations for vAuto’s Performance Management team, discuss some of the playbook principles McKie and his team enable to drive new and used vehicle success at the dealership. McKie discusses his strategies for maintaining a tight turn on used vehicles that drives his dealership’s 1.5:1 used/new sales ratio. McKie also shares how he keeps his team focused on strategic objectives through daily management meetings and collective walks of fresh trades to finalize plans to get them retail-ready. On the new vehicle side, McKie outlines how he aims to optimize allocations and keep pace with changing incentives from his OEM partner.

In this vAuto podcast, Tim Hlavenka, national sales director for Rick Case Automotive Group, shares how the organization has grown used vehicle sales while maintaining its top-tier new vehicle performance. Hlavenka outlines how the group looked inward—to fresh trades—to source used inventory for retail sale and how the group determines the rooftop that’s right to retail each vehicle from Day 1. Hlavenka also discusses how ProfitTime GPS helps his team properly identify and manage the turners and earners to grow used vehicle volume and gross, while helping the group achieve its new vehicle objectives.

Dealers are feeling a profitability pinch in new and used vehicles as new vehicle supplies grow and potential buyers face their own pocketbook pressure. In the Q2 edition of Live Market View, Derek Hansen, Vice President of Operations for Cox Automotive and vAuto, and Erin Keating, Executive Analyst of Economic and Industry Insights for Cox Automotive, share practical pointers to help dealers manage new vehicle profitability through more efficient allocation, incentive and merchandising management. They also share tips to help dealers stock, price and sell used vehicles to optimize each unit’s ROI potential in a market where depreciation has returned.

In this vAuto podcast, Christian Hanna, Associate Vice President of Performance Management for vAuto, offers an overview of the coaching role that Performance Managers provide vAuto dealers to help them achieve greater success. Hanna details his own Performance Management career, including high points and low points, and shares how the Performance Management team has begun to deliver a “One Cox” experience in its dealer engagements. Hanna also taps his new vehicle inventory management experience, offering pointers to help dealers adjust to today’s higher inventory, higher cost and lower margin environment.

In this vAuto podcast, Chris Williams, general manager at Southern Pines (N.C.) Chevrolet and vAuto Performance Manager Ted Welpott share how they teamed to connect the dealership’s sales process to new/used vehicle merchandising. Hear how this effort has tripled SRP/VDP conversions by reinventing each vehicle’s VDP carousel to provide a value-minded gateway to the cars and experience customers can expect. Find out how Williams uses new merchandising tools to cut the time required to merchandise each vehicle and quickly pivot to update merchandising as OEM incentives for new and CPO vehicles change.

In this vAuto podcast, Cebastien Chery, marketing associate at Pristine Mitsubishi, Commack, N.Y., shares how he helps differentiate the dealership’s used vehicle inventory by doing more merchandising on individual vehicle VDPs. Chery outlines how he determines specific vehicle features to call-out on VDP images and uses Vehicle Intelligence 360 to save significant time making sure each vehicle stands tall. Chery also discusses how he measures and monitors merchandising metrics to freshen up vehicles that haven’t sold.

In this vAuto podcast, Northwood University seniors Skylar Burless and Dominic Nowling share their perspectives on why they picked the car business to launch their professional careers, and their take-aways from spending time with the vAuto team at the recent NADA convention. Both outlined the challenges and opportunities they expect to encounter in their respective roads ahead and offer pointers for dealers looking to work better with the incoming generation of automotive leaders.

In this vAuto podcast, Aaron Norman, a used vehicle manager and head of vehicle acquisition for Ken Grody Ford stores in California, shares his perspective on how the new Global Search tool inside ProfitTime GPS is making the task of acquiring inventory easier and more profitable. Norman outlines: - How he uses Global Search to find and purchase more on-strategy vehicles for his inventory. - Why he calls ProfitTime GPS a “guardian angel” for his business. - How ProfitTime GPS has helped his department gain an estimated $200,000 in additional gross profit and improve inventory turn.

If you’re like most dealers we talked to at NADA, you’re looking to find ways to extend the success you’ve achieved the past few years. You also understand this success will require re-establishing the traditional disciplines of running a successful dealership. In this audio, Derek and Dale highlight how your opportunity in 2024 will take shape and where to focus to achieve the success you seek. Listen as Derek and Dale reveal three important takeaways. First, why two long-awaited shifts will put more car shoppers in a position to pull the trigger on their next vehicle purchase. Second, how to re-think used vehicle stocking to eliminate the costly pitfalls of an over-stocked inventory. Finally, the quickest, easiest way to mine every acquisition channel and put more of the “right” vehicles on your lot.

In this vAuto podcast, we detail how used vehicle market conditions will return to "normalcy," which means greater pressure on front-end grosses as dealers contend with softer retail demand. Then, hear how dealers can strengthen their profitability through new innovations featured at NADA 2024 like more global- and strategy-minded vehicle acquisition, vehicle value-specific merchandising, and a clear understanding of each vehicle's optimal exit strategy at the moment of appraisal.

In this vAuto podcast, a trio of the company’s thought leaders—Alison Spangler, Patrick Janes and Nathan Fox—outline opportunities for dealers in three distinct areas of used vehicle operations: Acquisition, your retail/wholesale exit decisions and merchandising. Get a clear understanding of how you can optimize your opportunity in each area and understand how new solutions vAuto will be featuring at the upcoming NADA 2024 convention in Las Vegas can help.

While supply remains low, consumer demand is still high. That means you need to source creatively to stock the cars your customers want. Listen to vAuto's Derek Hanson and Patrick Janes discuss how multi-channel sourcing is the key to finding inventory. They also cover how the end of the UAW strike will ignite the new car market, creating an uptick in trade opportunities.

In this vAuto podcast, Jeremiah Mowry, director of operations for independent dealer group, Atlanta Auto Brokers, shares how he’s managing his inventory and team to meet the challenges acquiring, pricing and selling vehicles in the current market. Mowry outlines how he aims to assess each vehicle’s best exit strategy in the retail or wholesale market, and the blend of art, science and technology that drives the decision. Mowry also provides an outline of the group’s efforts to reduce the share of auction acquisitions in favor of acquiring vehicles directly from customers. Looking ahead, Mowry offers a view of his key priorities for the months ahead, starting with a greater focus on supporting and scaling his team for future growth.

In this vAuto podcast, Dale Pollak, vAuto founder and Cox Automotive executive vice president, discusses how used vehicle market conditions may evolve in the face of the United Auto Workers strike and affordability issues that can weaken retail demand. Dale shares how dealers can strengthen the performance of used vehicle operations with a more strategy-minded approach to pricing, appraising and acquisition. He also details why some dealers are finding opportunities with used EVs other dealers currently avoid.

In this vAuto podcast, Daniel Salazar, corporate vice president for the Atlanta-based ALM Automotive Group, outlines how his dealership brand and marketing efforts have shifted to account for the rise of affordability challenges for new/used vehicle buyers. Salazar highlights how declining lead closing rates signaled the first signs of affordability issues and steps the group’s taken since to maintain sales volume and profitability even as it becomes more difficult to match finance customers with lenders.

In this vAuto podcast, hear from Micah Tindor of Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer and Matt Talbert of vAuto discuss how dealers build an exit-minded strategy for acquiring and disposing of consumer vehicles. Hear their market predictions for the rest of the year and how dealers can get ahead of the game by using new tools to know their profitable exit at the point of acquisition.

In this vAuto podcast, Patrick Janes of vAuto and Micah Tindor of Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer share best practices to help dealers source inventory more effectively and profitably in non-traditional acquisition channels. Get pointers to establish a standard (and measurable) appraisal process you can deploy in your service drive, private party and other sourcing channels. Find out how new tools provide metrics to manage appraiser performance and manage the money-making potential of vehicles sourced in specific channels to meet your stocking strategy and used vehicle department objectives.

In this vAuto podcast, James Skop, general sales manager at Fletch's Buick, GMC, Audi in Petoskey, MI, details the results of his experience during a 90-day challenge to maintain 85 percent pricing alignment or better in ProfitTime GPS. Hear how Skop and his team reversed a trend of low grosses and losses on Bronze vehicles, while making even better grosses on Gold and Platinum cars, during the three-month challenge. Skop also details the car-specific circumstances that he believes signal a need to go above or below ProfitTime GPS pricing recommendations to achieve optimal outcomes.

In this vAuto podcast, Jeremy Nowling, director of sales, digital retailing and implementation for Rohrman Auto Group, shares how he/his team make their new/used vehicles show up and stand out for vehicle shoppers to capture their business. Nowling details the elements that drive merchandising success—the right mix of photos, complemented by specific call-outs in billboards and overlays and more—for new and used vehicles. Plus, he outlines how he measures merchandising efficiency and effectiveness, while overseeing merchandising-focused managers at individual rooftops in the group.

In this episode of the vAuto podcast Mark Thompson, Used Car Operations Director at Bergey Automotive, joins Mike Boyd, Senior Director of Business Development and Founder of vAuto’s iRecon, to discuss how Bergey’s has reinvented itself in an unpredictable market. They’ll discuss how Bergey’s changed their merchandising approach, tightened up reconditioning and got creative with acquiring inventory – all while keeping the customer experience at the forefront.

Photos alone don't tell the story today's vehicle shoppers want to understand about your vehicles. That's a take-away from recent research into consumers' vehicle purchase processes. In this episode of the vAuto podcast, Nathan Fox, AVP Operations, Merchandising at Cox Automotive and vAuto, distills key research findings and insights to help dealers give shoppers a better and more influential experience. The research insights are part of the 2023 Consumer Merchandising Insights eBook. Download your copy here: https://www.vauto.com/learning-center/vauto-content/vat-2023-consumer-merchandising-insights-ebook-feb23-v4

In this episode of the vAuto podcast, Bruce Harrington, Used Car Director at Paso Robles Chevrolet, shares why he considers buying used vehicles in the wholesale market akin to ordering new cars from the factory. Hear how Bruce uses technology and tools to get the right cars, at the margins he expects, for his inventory and individual customers who want a specific car. Get an inside look at how Bruce spends only minutes to get the vehicles he needs and how he’s gained comfort in buying almost everything online.

In this vAuto podcast, Mike Maheras, vice president and general manager of Phillips Chevrolet, and Jack Gronner, vAuto Performance Manager, discuss how Mike's adopted a new way to wholesale vehicles that reduces risk and results in consistently profitable outcomes. Mike details why he describes Cox Automotive’s Upside solution as "legalized gambling with used cars and no downside." Hear how Mike's team now appraises every potential acquisition with greater confidence, knowing each vehicle's optimal exit strategy, and why the elimination of "no sales" when they wholesale cars through Upside makes a big, profitable difference.

In this episode of the vAuto podcast, Patrick Janes details five reasons dealers are going beyond Velocity and adopting vAuto’s new Variable Management strategy for managing used vehicles. More market variability. More margin compression. More distressed cars in dealer inventories. Janes shares how Variable Management helps dealers overcome these and symptoms of today’s more uncertain used vehicle market. The key: Knowing each vehicle’s investment value, while appraising and pricing every car, to consistently make the right decisions. Find out how dealers who have fully adopted Variable Management now outperform their peers in used vehicle gross profits and sales volumes.

Two things will define success for dealers in 2023—better operational discipline and greater trust in outcome-driven decision-making. Those are two key take-aways Derek Hansen, VP Operations for vAuto, and Dale Pollak, vAuto founder, gleaned from their discussions with dealers at NADA. Hear how dealers can achieve greater success in the year ahead, despite uncertainty about today’s more variable market.

In this episode of the vAuto podcast, Brian Langley, director of service operations for the Sam Leman Automotive Group in Central Illinois, and Mike Boyd, founder of vAuto iRecon, discuss how Langley has brought more accountability and efficiency to the group’s used vehicle reconditioning. Langley outlines two things he tracks daily to avoid a backlog of vehicles waiting for reconditioning and reduce approval times on ROs from hours to minutes. Hear Langley’s tips other dealers can use to achieve team buy-in and diligently use technology-driven solutions to get used vehicles through service, detailing and online faster with more sales-to-service collaboration and far less friction.

In this vAuto podcast episode, three vAuto leaders, Dale Pollak, Derek Hansen and Nathan Fox, offer a preview of the new solutions and thought leadership the company will bring to the 2023 NADA convention in Dallas. Hear about current used vehicle challenges and how they’ll shape the year ahead, followed by a rundown of the NADA presentations that aim to help dealers improve their used vehicle retailing, wholesaling and merchandising. Plus, you get a sneak peek at the new innovations vAuto will debut in Dallas.

In this episode of the vAuto podcast, Nathan Fox, vAuto AVP Operations, Merchandising Software, outlines an opportunity gap for dealers with the VDPs on their online vehicle listings. Fox explains that while dealers have successfully optimized listings for SRPs, their VDPs have not kept pace with consumer expectations. Fox shares how dealers should think differently about the VDP experiences they offer consumers and the steps they can take to improve VDP engagement and relevance. Fox also describes a new metric that can help dealers measuring their merchandising success beyond the SRP/VDP counts they use today.

In this vAuto podcast episode, vAuto founder Dale Pollak explains why Variable Management, a new way to manage used vehicles based on each unit’s unique investment value, drives better outcomes for dealers than Velocity Management. Dale details how the data science behind Variable Management helps dealers avoid cheap selling their best cars for the sake of volume and holding out for gross on their worst cars to avoid losses—a common problem in the current market. Dale also shares how Variable Management can help dealers become smarter and more successful as they tap non-traditional channels to source used vehicle inventory.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Vaida Presniakovaite, president of Midway Autohaus, Bridgeview, IL, shares how she and her team have adjusted to retailing vehicles in an era of historically low and high-cost inventory supply. Presniakovaite details how her retailing strategy has shifted to lower-cost inventory and why she now prefers a technology-driven method to source these vehicles through a wider network of online auctions to drive greater efficiency and profitability. Presniakovaite also outlines how she’s preparing for future market conditions by running a clean and lean inventory today.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Mike Boyd, founder of vAuto’s iRecon, and Jade Terreberry, Senior Director, Strategic Planning & Business Development (Autotrader, KBB, & Dealer.com) discuss the ever-growing importance of fixed ops in increasing customer lifetime value (CLV)—and how a consumer-focused, digitally driven strategy in service helps them achieve the goal. Hear how consumer expectations have shifted during the pandemic and how dealers must proactively engage their customers throughout their ownership experiences, providing greater convenience, relevance and transparency to capture their vehicle service business.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Brian Neeley, president of the four-store independent dealer group, Drive N-Motion, shares how he and his team have shifted to acquiring nearly 90 percent of their inventory from online auctions. Neeley outlines how he uses technology and tools to minimize the time required to find and appraise available vehicles and expand his buying team’s ability to cover multiple lanes at multiple auctions across multiple states at the same time. Neeley details how he uses CR scores and market data to purchase inventory with greater confidence and trust, which drives profitable retail deals.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Mark Strand, senior director of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive gives a data-driven perspective on how the used vehicle market will evolve in the final months of 2022. Strand shares how depreciation will continue to affect specific vehicle segments more than others, and how the relative stability of current retail prices creates near-term profit opportunities for dealers. Strand details why vehicle acquisition will remain more digitally driven in the future, and why dealers will have a tougher time sourcing near-new vehicles to feed their factory certified pre-owned sales programs and the local demand data dealers should mine to keep current with changing consumer preferences.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Brian Benstock, vice president of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura, Queens, NY, and vAuto founder Dale Pollak discuss how they believe dealers should respond to less-favorable market conditions in the months ahead—and get out of what Benstock dubs a “profit coma.” The pair also discuss why service lane acquisition will need to become an even higher priority for dealers to ensure they maintain retail sales volumes in light of ongoing inventory constraints. Benstock details the process he developed and refined over the past decade to make service lane acquisitions a primary source of used vehicle inventory. He also offers guidance to help dealers avoid friction with customers, and between their sales and service teams, as they make the service drive a larger part of their acquisition strategy.

Ever think about what other profitable dealers are doing to stay ahead of the game? Mike Boyd, founder of vAuto’s iRecon sat down with Alex Andreus, COO of Murgado Automotive Group, to talk about the steps he takes to keep his business prospering. They discuss actionable points that’ll get you thinking about your own dealership, like: - The current market and its turning point - The best tools and insights to make data-driven decisions - What’s keeping dealers up at night - Why building a good brand reputation is crucial

In this vAuto podcast episode, Paul Metrey, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, and David Regan, Executive Vice President for Legislative Affairs at NADA detail the association’s efforts on Capitol Hill to pass legislation that would provide relief from LIFO tax liabilities many dealers incurred this year. The conversation outlines why LIFO liability has become a problem for dealers, the reasons NADA’s lobbying efforts moved from the U.S. Treasury to Congress and where House and Senate bills currently stand in terms of bipartisan support. Metrey and Regan share steps dealers can take to encourage support for the tax relief legislation from their lawmakers.

In this vAuto podcast, Micah Tindor, Senior Director for Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, discusses the importance of adjusting consumer acquisition processes to better align with consumers’ changing expectations. Tune in to learn how consumers are more aggressively price shopping, what they now expect/need, and how to position your dealership to win more vehicles.

No two dealerships look the same but one thing that is constant is change is hard. Any good dealer knows that change is a necessity to keep growing and finding future successes. Join us as Mike Boyd, Founder of vAuto’s iRecon, and Sean Kelley, CEO of Car Motivators, discuss how to successfully bring change to your dealership. They’ll discuss the number one challenge dealers are facing in today’s environment (hint, it’s not what you think) and how to effectively coach to overcome this challenge. You’ll walk away with top tips on implementing change, how to measure success, and how to re-frame conversations with teams in the dealership to get everyone behind the change.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Adam Robinson, CEO of Hireology, highlights a growing disconnect between the way dealers are currently filling positions in sales and service, and the expectations of the people dealers are looking to hire. Adam shares best practices to help dealers address the disconnect—from rethinking what they expect of key sales and service team members to reinventing how they compensate new team members who aren’t solely motivated by money. Adam also outlines a multi-point game plan to help dealers ensure the candidates they seek will see—and respond to—the career opportunities dealers offer. Find out why Adam believes the hiring decisions many dealers make today will shape the level of their success in the coming year and beyond.

Think your reconditioning process is good enough? Think again. Vehicle reconditioning is often considered a necessary evil of inventory management—a cost of doing business that’s less glamorous than selling cars. It historically hasn’t received the attention and oversight it should. As a result, dealers often don’t consider how much their reconditioning process affects their ability to effectively appraise and acquire cars, merchandise them in the most transparent way possible and provide a why-buy-from-us differentiator with retail customers. In this podcast, join Mike Boyd, founder of iRecon, to understand the link between reconditioning and how it impacts all other aspects of used vehicle inventory management. Mike will walk through how a less-than-efficient reconditioning process hurts a dealer’s ability to buy cars as well as the signs that signal you should consider tuning up your reconditioning process.