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How robots are changing car sales — and what's next
Featuring Alex Lawrence, EV Auto and Ross Tinkham, Podium
Welcome to another edition of expert insights from the Car Dealership Guy Industry Spotlight Podcast, an episode recap that breaks down the high-level takeaways from the conversation.
In this episode, Sam D’Arc speaks with Alex Lawrence, CEO of Utah-based EV Auto, and Ross Tinkham, GTM Leader at Podium. They explore the secrets behind running an EV-only dealership, leveraging A.I. to scale, disrupting the service model with mobile EV repairs, and much more.
1. Alex’s entrepreneurial journey.
The idea behind EV Auto started five years ago as an online marketplace for buying and selling used EVs, inspired by Alex’s personal difficulty finding a used Tesla. Coming from a tech background with no car business experience, he focused on learning the industry by operating as a dealer, testing tools, and selling cars to understand how it all worked.
About two and a half years ago, he transitioned to a physical dealership, starting with leasing a smaller location before building a permanent one. The shift from online to brick-and-mortar has been a steep learning curve, especially in areas like inventory management, financing, and industry regulations. Today – he sells around 100 used EVs every month.
“We have been hyper-focused on only this small niche of cars and have never deviated from that, just being right in touch with the market and trends and changes and customers and not doing anything outside of that has helped us predict a little bit some of the things that have happened and be able to react to them quicker than others that kind of dabble in it.” — Alex
2. The industry's view on EV demand really depends on the region.
"Some areas have legitimate complaints, and I’d be upset too if I were an OEM getting sent cars I know won’t sell." — Alex
He said what might be most surprising to dealers is how much money can be made on EVs in the service center. Sure — EVs don’t need oil changes or as many repairs, because they have fewer moving parts, but that doesn’t mean there’s no demand. There’s still plenty to do, especially when it comes to specialized maintenance. His team leaned into that, offering mobile services with a Tesla-equipped truck and trailer, showing that service is still a big part of the EV story.
“EVs are going to come out of warranty. And when they do, the marketplace will go to anyone who can fix them. And there's a lot of them on the road. And so it's just a big customer base being ignored.” — Alex
3. Reinvesting in technology has been key to scaling effectively.
Although it's challenging to sort through the overwhelming number of vendors in similar spaces, for Alex, the priority is finding tools that free up his team to focus on what they’re best at and enjoy most. He described his approach as “aces in their places,” making sure his employees are in roles that play to their strengths. This strategy has paid off — over five years, his dealerships have experienced zero turnover, a rare achievement in the auto industry. Alex attributes this not just to a strong workplace culture but also to leveraging technology that helps his team thrive in their roles.
“And the more I can use technology to free stuff up, the happier they are, the better they do, the more cars they sell. And so I'm always looking for things that can multiply those kinds of skills and efforts. And so it's not as easy to measure sometimes that stuff.” — Alex
4. Being an early adopter of A.I.
The real game-changer for Alex’s dealership has been how he uses technology to simplify operations and improve customer experiences. He’s used tools to handle basics like reviews, text messaging, and payments. But as someone deeply immersed in tech, Alex saw an opportunity to go further. He became an early adopter of Poduim’s A.I. agents, testing and refining the tech to ensure they matched the dealership’s personality and approach.
Now, the A.I. is integrated into daily operations, taking on tasks like responding to customer inquiries after hours. What’s impressive is how well it replicates the dealership’s voice, making interactions feel personal and authentic. And it allows the team to focus on higher-value work while ensuring the customer experience remains smooth and responsive around the clock.
Podium - Podium has transformed customer interactions with cutting-edge conversational A.I. and real-time messaging solutions. Its innovative tools provide dealerships with seamless communication, increased efficiency, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Learn more at podium.com/car-dealership-guy.
5. Not all customers want the same experience.
Some prefer zero human interaction — they just want quick answers and a seamless digital process. That’s where tech steps in. But for most people, buying a car is too big of a decision to skip the human touch. The trust factor matters, and while Tesla’s mostly-digital approach works for some, Alex believes the majority of buyers will always want a person to guide them through the process.
At his dealership, A.I. fills in the gaps where speed is critical. Their system, “Glow,” kicks in during busy times to keep deals moving, especially when a delay could kill the sale.
6. Tailoring A.I. to match his dealership’s unique tone and needs.
The process is hands-on — if the A.I. gives a response that misses the mark, Alex’s team flags it through a simple feedback system, and the engineers refine it. Over time, the A.I. learns from these adjustments and avoids repeating mistakes. Recently, it handled a customer’s question about Tesla models so well that Alex said he’d use the response for any team member. It felt authentic — light, conversational, and even sprinkled with emojis — perfectly aligned with his brand.
“Look at it as like a three-month cycle, right? Like you get it set up, you get your integration set up with your CRM and your DMS like basic, cover the basic type stuff, but then you're going to watch those conversations happen over time. You’re going to see things that you love and things that you would like to address a little bit differently. So it does require some time investment from the dealer to make it what it can be for them.” – Ross
7. How do the A.I. tools actually work?
According to Ross, it’s model-agnostic, meaning it uses the best available A.I. technology, currently OpenAI, but will adapt as better models emerge. What makes it unique is how it’s tailored for dealerships, drawing on years of conversational data and continuous dealer feedback to refine its performance.
For example, their AI once handled a joke about finding a car with a “flux capacitor” by recognizing the humor and smoothly redirecting the conversation back to the customer’s needs. The goal is for the A.I. to engage as effectively as — or even better than — a human, creating a tool that’s genuinely useful for dealerships and their customers.
8. Keeping quality standards high.
His dealership sees a lot of traffic — online, by phone, and in person — and the A.I. ensures every customer gets a quick, clear response, even during crunch times. For example, if a lead comes in at 2 a.m., the A.I. steps in, responding naturally enough that most people don’t realize it’s not a person. Alex closely monitors its performance, and its ability to mimic the dealership’s conversational tone has been a game-changer. It allows his team to focus on higher-value tasks while keeping response times fast and customers happy.
“For me, it's not decreasing headcount. I think it's slowing the increase. And so I'm able to do more with the same. And also just making sure that as we get busier and busier, that the response time and the quality of the responses stays really, really good.” — Alex
9. Always looking ahead.
One area Alex is exploring is leveraging A.I. to improve fixed operations, particularly in service departments where inefficiencies often frustrate customers. He mentioned how human error — like service advisors turning away business due to scheduling challenges — can push customers away. A.I. tools designed for service, like Estella A.I., Brook A.I., and Ornuuma, are starting to address these gaps by ensuring every call or inquiry gets a timely, helpful response.
10. Pushing the boundaries.
For Alex, the future is about pushing voice A.I. to a point where it can handle conversations as naturally as a human. While voice A.I. isn’t quite there yet, Alex sees a turning point on the horizon.
“I want it to be like Siri, except that Siri sucks. I want it to be, you know, Siri, good Siri.” — Alex
Alex envisions a tool that can analyze data and provide insights in real-time, like having a CFO on call. While voice A.I. for customer interactions is progressing rapidly, Alex sees this kind of A.I.-powered decision-making tool as another next big leap, one that could revolutionize how dealerships operate and make strategic decisions.
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