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Paragon Honda's Brian Benstock: “Dealers who use AI will replace those who don’t”
At Paragon Honda, AI-powered assistants are already setting appointments, selling parts, and running the store after hours. (4 min. read)
Anna del Villar & Marcus Amick
May 14, 2025
Brian Benstock
At a recent Ontario Dealers Association meeting, Brian Benstock, partner, general manager, and vice president of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura, silenced the room with a simple demonstration.
"I played a call being handled by an AI bot, and it was being handled better than 80% of the people at the average dealer's BDC could handle," Benstock told Daily Dealer Live hosts Uli De’ Martino and Sam D'Arc."
Then, he played four more. In a matter of minutes, AI applications were setting appointments and converting leads. All at zero cost per sale.
"Many dealers are still asking if they should use AI," said Benstock. "But that's the wrong question. The right question is how quickly you can implement it before your competitors do."
Why it matters: Dealerships have historically been limited by human capacity. Some examples include the number of calls staff can answer, how many customers they can help, and how many hours the business can stay open.
These constraints create a (somewhat) level playing field where even inefficient operations are still competitive. But AI implementation is shattering those limitations.
And for an industry with thinner margins and high fixed costs, this efficiency gap could prove existential for dealers who delay adoption.
"You've got 100,000 people going to your site, and you've got about 10,000 transactions. What's happening with those other 90,000 people that you're missing?" Benstock asked.
At a high level, AI now analyzes this untapped traffic at Paragon to identify browsing behavior and forecast purchase timelines. Data that was impossible to extract at scale by human BDC agents before AI.
Yet, this technology extends far beyond the BDC. Benstock's service department now uses AI to contact owners about recalls proactively.
"Imagine an AI agent calling your recall customers, setting appointments for those recall customers, and driving them into the store," Benstock said. "That could be done 24 hours a day."
But the biggest difference AI is making for Benstock is in database marketing.
"Think about taking a DMS, which is a data management system, and mixing that with AI and IMS and having an intelligence management system to put the right call with the right customer at the right time by having the AI agent scour for opportunities in your data management system," Benstock explained.
Between the lines: Dealers intimidated by the scope of this transition can try a measured approach.
"I'd say start small, integrate slowly within your team. Get your team used to working with it, and then expand into areas," Benstock advised.
This step-by-step approach lets staff adjust as they handle compliance, like robo-calling laws that carry heavy fines.
"You're responsible for whatever that bot says, just as you would be for a person," Benstock added.
Bottom line: While many dealers debate whether AI is practical for their business, Benstock's operation is already capturing customers that competitors can't reach. The question isn't whether dealers will eventually adopt this technology, but whether they'll do it soon enough to remain competitive.
"The optimists win every time in the end," as Benstock put it. "There are about 45 statues in Central Park, and not one of them was built for a pessimist."
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