Tim McCarthy on Teaming Up with Constellation to Dominate in an Age of AI

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week marks a special milestone for the show as Jamie Butters and Diana Lee sit down with Tim McCarthy, CEO of The McCarthy Companies, to unveil a new partnership between McCarthy Companies and Constellation, bringing together three decades of dealership advertising expertise with cutting-edge AI capabilities. In the conversation, Jamie, Diana, and Tim explore how Tim built The McCarthy Companies from a cold-calling hustle in the ’90s into an agency with 100% client retention since COVID, why the company has never had a single salesperson and instead built its roster of respected industry names entirely through referrals, and what the new Constellation partnership means for dealers as AI and CRM data help clients respond to market shifts in real time rather than waiting until month-end. They also discuss why car dealers are among the most resilient businesses in America and how a “fire first, aim later” mentality has helped the industry navigate every major crisis since 2008.