Welcome to another edition of the Car Dealership Guy Podcast Recap newsletter—the key lessons from top operators, founders, and execs shaping the future of auto retail.
Today’s guest is Alex Vetter, CEO of Cars Commerce.
We explore consumer shopping behavior, the evolution of used car acquisition, AI's impact on dealership operations, and how technology is reshaping the automotive marketplace landscape.
Record consumer traffic still struggles with conversion challenges.
While automotive sentiment remains strong and marketplace engagement hits record levels, dealerships face a growing disconnect between traffic and sales.
"We're setting record levels of engagement in 2025. And we are seeing a lot of same persistent volume on dealer retail websites... Conversion is harder though. We heard from dealerships, they're having a harder time to convert people to sales."
The data reveals consumers are doing deeper research online before making purchase decisions, creating both opportunity and friction in the sales process.
Speed and transparency drive successful vehicle acquisition.
The most successful dealers have cracked the code on direct vehicle sourcing by focusing on two critical elements in their appraisal process.
"The top dealers said basically two things are key to their success, speed and transparency, right? How do they appraise every car that comes into their showroom... and how can they reduce appraisal time down to mere minutes and show total transparency."
This approach transforms traditional trade negotiations by using market data rather than dealer opinions, reducing tension and increasing acquisition rates.
AI in BDCs doubles appointment conversion rates.
Dealers leveraging artificial intelligence for customer follow-up see dramatic improvements in lead conversion performance.
"We had a dealer share with us that by using AI in their BDC, they went from setting 8% of their cars.com leads into appointments to 20 plus percent."
The technology ensures 100% of customer inquiries receive responses within minutes while maintaining human oversight for premium interactions.
Authentic content builds trust better than paid advertising.
Smart retailers move beyond paid advertising to build trust through valuable content that establishes market authority.
"Smart brands are realizing that they need to tap into these trust brokers... I think this industry is obsessed with paid advertising and increasingly if you look at the consumer and what they're looking for, they're looking for authentic content and brands that they can trust."
This shift toward content-driven commerce helps dealers build lasting relationships rather than just competing on price.
Presented by:
1. CarNow - Tired of tools that promise the world but don’t deliver? CarNow isn’t one of them. One store switched to CarNow's full platform and went from a 3% to 30% close rate—in one month. Everything connects. Everything converts. Take a look at the story here @ carnow.com/performance
2. Mia - Meet Mia: Your 24/7 AI receptionist who speaks like a human, not a robot. No more "press 1" - just natural conversations for sales, service, and support. She handles everything from car shopping to appointment scheduling in multiple languages, while integrating with your systems. Never miss another lead. Check out mia.inc
3. Cars Commerce - The platform to simplify everything about buying and selling cars. Learn more at carscommerce.inc
Online reputation directly impacts customer acquisition decisions.
Consumer research behavior has shifted dramatically, with buyers actively investigating dealership reputations before making contact.
"How much reputation matters. Consumers are sourcing a lot more information online, researching the store, contacting other dealerships, and they're collecting information on what they can expect prior to visiting the dealership."
Leading dealers focus heavily on building their authority online through constant review generation and content creation across multiple platforms.
Vehicle health reports replace backward-looking accident history.
The industry is shifting from historical damage reports to forward-looking maintenance and repair predictions.
"It used to be that people looked at vehicle history reports, which is sort of a backwards looking view of like, has this car ever been in an accident? And we're trying to shift the industry towards vehicle health reports, saying here's what we need to do to repair this car to make it retail ready."
This approach helps customers understand upcoming maintenance costs and creates better timing for trade-in decisions.
Unmonitored vendors threaten dealer data security.
Dealers lose control of their most valuable asset (customer data) through relationships with vendors they don't properly oversee.
"Dealers on average have got over 40 vendors hanging on their website... We don't know what they're doing with your data... There's a lot of tech companies out there reselling audiences."
Smart operators audit their digital ecosystems to prevent third-party vendors from remarketing their hard-earned website traffic.
Content syndication across platforms drives organic discovery.
Smart dealerships distribute their inventory and brand presence across multiple digital destinations rather than relying on single channels.
"Dealerships need to syndicate their content, make sure their inventory is available in as many destinations as possible, and then also their reputations are being amplified online because the bots are looking at who are the dealerships that have the most appearance and footprint."
This multi-platform strategy increases search engine authority and drives more qualified traffic than focusing on one primary channel.
Dealer Club reverses traditional auction fee structure.
Traditional auction models that charge high fees face disruption from platforms that actually pay dealers to participate.
"Unlike some of the traditional auctions we'll pay dealers to sell on dealer club. So we're changing the game giving power and using technology of power back to the local dealer community letting them be the exchange amongst themselves."
This reversal of the traditional fee structure recognizes that valuable inventory deserves compensation rather than penalties.
Leading operators focus on controllable factors over macro trends.
Top-performing dealers maintain consistent execution regardless of external economic or political pressures.
"What I loved about this group is they don't let macro trends dictate their strategies. They are hands-on operators that are focused on what they can control, and they're leading with creating a better customer experience."
This mentality separates successful dealerships from those that get distracted by factors beyond their influence.
