Auto Collabs

What happens when you've spent nearly 30 years seeing the automotive industry from every side of the table? You start realizing that some of the biggest dealership problems have less to do with technology and more to do with how people understand each other. Dan Gaughan, General Manager at AutoHub, joins Auto Collabs to share what he's learned working across Toyota, dealership operations, automotiveMastermind, and now automotive technology. Along the way, he's developed a perspective on leadership, communication, and why the best solutions often come from understanding someone else's challenges. The conversation gets into the friction surrounding trade valuations, the importance of consistent customer experiences across departments, and a dealership group that spends six weeks introducing new hires to every part of the business. Dan also shares why he believes leaders should spend more time working on their businesses, how genuine listening changes dealer-vendor relationships, and why developing people ultimately drives performance. And because it's Auto Collabs, there's also a Taylor Swift hoodie, a questionable coffee-and-chewing-gum diet, and some unexpected career advice along the way. Chapters 00:00 Why trade valuations create so much friction 01:33 Dan's Taylor Swift hoodie and family story 04:11 From Toyota to dealerships to automotive tech 08:02 Why dealers and vendors struggle to understand each other 11:14 Real conversations, leadership, and growing people 13:40 Making the dealership customer experience consistent 16:15 What successful dealers do differently with training 19:15 Why employees need to understand every department 21:11 Working on the business instead of in it 22:42 Simplifying service drive acquisition with AutoHub 25:51 How experience across the industry creates better leaders Links Dan Gaughan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-g-692b81100/ AutoHub: https://www.autohub.io/ More Auto Collabs: https://daily.asotu.com/auto-collabs Subscribe to the Automotive State of the Union Daily Email: https://daily.asotu.com/

What do cruise ships and car dealerships have in common? More than you'd think, especially when it comes to making people feel welcome. Andy Steinhauser, Director of Sponsorship and Business Development for the LA Auto Show, joins Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, and Michael Cirillo to share how nearly nine years working on cruise ships shaped his approach to hospitality, leadership, and creating memorable experiences. From managing an 85-person team at sea to helping bring one of America's largest auto shows to life, Andy has learned a thing or two about getting people excited. The conversation starts with four simple hospitality standards from Andy's Royal Caribbean days: greet and smile, own the problem, look the part, and deliver the wow. The guys dig into what those principles could mean for automotive retail before turning their attention to Automobility LA and the opportunities it creates for dealers, automakers, and industry partners to connect. They also get into the changing automotive landscape, the balance between EVs, hybrids, and gas-powered vehicles, and why getting people into the same room still matters in a relationship-driven industry. Plus, Paul and Kyle share what surprised them most about attending Automobility LA for the first time, and the crew debates whether working at a dealership is basically like being stuck on a cruise ship. Timestamped Takeaways 00:00 – Intro with Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier and Michael Cirillo 02:21 – Andy's unexpected path from Georgia to cruise ships 04:35 – Becoming a cruise director at 28 05:47 – What cruise ships teach us about automotive hospitality 09:10 – How Automobility LA brings the industry together 12:46 – Why dealers should experience the competition firsthand 14:17 – The unexpected value of being in the right room 16:51 – Creating experiences beyond traditional sponsorships 19:49 – Finding the balance between EVs, hybrids, and gas vehicles 21:32 – How auto shows help drive dealership sales 23:02 – Connecting ASOTUCON West and Automobility LA 24:53 – Is working at a dealership basically a cruise ship? Links LA Auto Show and Automobility LA: https://laautoshow.com/media-and-industry-day/ ASOTU CON West: https://asotuconwest.com/ Andy Steinhauser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andysteinhauser/ More Auto Collabs: https://daily.asotu.com/auto-collabs Subscribe to the Automotive State of the Union Daily Email: https://daily.asotu.com/

A mobile service van can look like an expensive side project—right up until it starts bringing back customers the dealership hasn’t seen in years. Amir Alahwal shares how Mercedes-Benz of Temecula turned mobile service into a real retention strategy after losing a significant after-sales loyalty bonus. The launch wasn’t easy. The service team was skeptical, adoption was slow, and Amir admits they didn’t really know what they were doing at first. But instead of judging the program by instinct, he went to the data. By September, the store had booked 37 mobile appointments in its biggest month yet, and 70% of the customers served remotely had not been back to the dealership in at least a year—some since 2021. That approach fits Amir’s career. He entered automotive in 2016 wearing his high-school prom suit to interview for a job that didn’t technically exist, started as a receptionist, and eventually learned to see the dealership across departments instead of through one silo. Later, he was asked to build a consolidated receptionist call center and hire a team while still in his early twenties—an experience he says taught him to be “universally resourceful.” Paul, Kyle, and Michael dig into what happens when data challenges experienced operators, why mobile service can change both retention and trust, and the surprisingly useful lesson hiding inside one almost-perfect four-star review. YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT How Amir talked his way into a dealership that told him it wasn’t hiring Why starting at reception gave him a view of the entire dealership Building a call-center operation while still early in his automotive career Why losing an OEM loyalty bonus pushed the store toward mobile service How mobile service brought back customers who had been gone for years Why Amir believes changing processes based on feelings is dangerous What a four-star review revealed about customer retention and convenience CHAPTERS 00:00 Data over feelings, a prom suit, and becoming “universally resourceful” 02:43 Amir’s unconventional start in automotive 04:19 From Wells Fargo to a dealership that wasn’t hiring 06:34 Why receptionist became one of Amir’s best training grounds 08:16 The advantage of seeing the dealership beyond one department 10:11 Building nontraditional roles—and a receptionist call center 12:01 How a lost loyalty bonus led to mobile service 14:13 Launching the first van without knowing exactly what would work 15:17 The numbers that changed the team’s mind 18:07 Getting buy-in when experienced operators are skeptical 19:21 Why managing by feelings can be dangerous 20:27 Winning back a customer who moved 50 miles away 22:26 How mobile service changes the dealership retention path 23:12 Removing service-lane friction and building trust 24:25 Finding the right technician for mobile service 26:12 Why the four-star review may have been better than five 27:19 The hosts start imagining what mobile service could become LINKS Amir Alahwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amiralahwal/ ASOTU CON West: https://asotuconwest.com/ More Auto Collabs: https://daily.asotu.com/auto-collabs Subscribe to the Automotive State of the Union Daily Email: https://daily.asotu.com/

Amazon has trained consumers to expect convenience, transparency, and fulfillment. But when it comes to selling cars, Carlos Mojica sees one important difference: Amazon still needs the dealer. Carlos, Senior Manager of Retail Development at LaFontaine Automotive Group, joins Paul Daly and Michael Cirillo to explain why a group with 43 stores across Michigan decided to lean into Amazon Autos instead of treating it like a threat. He walks through the customer experience—from syndicated inventory and financing to deposits, vehicle holds, and delivery—and explains why LaFontaine views Amazon as an addition to its marketing ecosystem rather than a replacement for existing channels. The conversation also gets into the comparison with Carvana, why Carlos believes Amazon’s model is fundamentally dealer-driven, and what LaFontaine learned from its first Amazon transaction. That customer arrived to find the vehicle actually there, with the transaction matching what they had completed online down to the penny. And Carlos isn’t expecting Amazon to suddenly become LaFontaine’s biggest source of traffic. He sees something potentially broader: Amazon can put dealer inventory in front of shoppers on a marketplace they already trust—and give the dealership another way to meet customers wherever they’re comfortable buying. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 00:55 How Carlos found his way into automotive retail 03:03 Learning internet sales before it became the norm 04:23 Growing with LaFontaine from 10 stores to 43 05:35 What has—and hasn’t—changed about internet leads 06:52 Why LaFontaine leaned into Amazon Autos 09:53 How an Amazon Autos transaction actually works 12:29 Why Amazon is an addition, not a replacement 13:11 Is Amazon a threat to dealerships? 16:34 What happens when the Amazon brand meets the dealer brand 19:38 What LaFontaine learned from its first Amazon transaction 20:13 Why Amazon traffic isn't the whole point 21:19 Turning Amazon presence into a dealership trust signal LINKS Carlos Mojica: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlitomojicajr/ LaFontaine Automotive Group: https://www.familydeal.com/ Amazon Autos: https://www.autos.amazon/ More Auto Collabs: https://daily.asotu.com/auto-collabs Subscribe to the Automotive State of the Union Daily Email: https://daily.asotu.com/ Carlos Mojica's appearance on Auto Collabs is sponsored by Amazon Autos.

Your Dealership AI Is Only 90% Right. That’s the Problem. AI can make messy data look usable. But AJ McGowan says that gets a lot more dangerous when you expect AI to actually run dealership workflows. AJ, VP of Research and Development at Reynolds and Reynolds, joins Paul, Kyle, and Michael for a conversation about what changes when dealership AI moves beyond chatbots and analysis into truly agentic systems. His argument cuts against an increasingly common assumption: just because AI can figure out relationships between disconnected data doesn’t mean you should make it solve that problem every time. At scale, fuzzy matches become a trust problem—and a 90% answer isn’t good enough when software starts taking action. AJ explains how Reynolds is approaching that challenge with Rey, an AI software agent designed to work across the Reynolds ecosystem, pursue a user’s goal, and pull together information from multiple systems. Today, Rey is being used to answer questions and perform analysis. The bigger step ahead is giving an agent the ability to affect action. Along the way, AJ traces his builder mentality all the way back to coding a game in first grade and building computers for his parents’ friends in sixth grade. It’s a fitting origin story for a conversation about why the next era of dealership technology will still require something surprisingly old-school: understanding the fundamentals well enough to know when AI’s answer can actually be trusted. YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT Why AI can turn a 15-day learning curve into 15 minutes How dealers’ thinking about unified CRM, DMS, sales, service, and inventory data is changing Why messy data becomes more—not less—important with autonomous AI The difference between getting an AI system to 90% and trusting it at 100% How Rey can pursue answers across the Reynolds ecosystem What changes when dealership AI moves from analysis to taking action Why getting your reps in with new technology still matters CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro with Paul J Daly and Michael Cirillo 03:40 AJ’s first software project—and his sixth-grade computer business 06:31 How AI changed the way technologists build 08:13 Compressing 15 days of learning into 15 minutes 11:25 How quickly are dealers actually adopting AI? 12:18 Why unified dealership data matters more with agentic AI 14:29 DAGs, data structure, and whether AI can handle the mess 16:42 Why AJ thinks messy data is still a problem 19:31 The danger of the 90% AI answer 20:29 What Reynolds’ Rey AI can actually do today 23:01 When AI starts taking action inside the dealership 24:31 The next big step for dealership AI—and why reps still matter LINKS AJ McGowan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajmcg/ Reynolds and Reynolds: https://www.reyrey.com/ More Auto Collabs: https://daily.asotu.com/auto-collabs Subscribe to the Automotive State of the Union Daily Email: https://daily.asotu.com/