“Customers are just as educated as the salespeople” || Benny Robles Jr., President and GM, Bartow Ford

Dealer News Today Podcasts

Benny Robles Jr. is an automotive industry “lifer” - he grew up around the business and took to it like a natural. Benny’s father, Benjamin Robles Sr., audited Bartow Ford when working at Ford Credit, befriended the then-owners, went to work for Bartow as a finance manager, and eventually purchased the dealership. Benny, a NADA Academy graduate, has worked many positions on the retail and service sides en route to becoming the majority owner himself and being featured in the Automotive News “40 Under 40” list in 2014.

On this episode, Benny sits down with our host Derek D to discuss finding the balance between acquiring a new location in a slow but risky market and a fast but high-priced one, how service absorption and avoiding overreliance on the manufacturer has helped Bartow Ford weather the microchip shortage, and why he prefers volume to heavy front-end gross. He also talks about why he loves the “shake-and-bake” feeling of automotive sales, holding a country music concert in the dealership lot, why growing up in the business made him paradoxically less of an auto enthusiast, and more.

Bartow Ford

Episode Highlights:

• Why Benny once had 76 tons of snow trucked in to Bartow, FL
• What the true most effective form of dealership advertising is - especially within a small community
• How a low turnover rate has benefited all of Bartow Ford’s departments
• Why Benny briefly butted heads with his father after acquiring the majority stake in Bartow Ford

“I’ve already tried to light a fire underneath the sales force to compensate for when that shift happens.”

— Benny Robles Jr.

|| Dealer News Today is a DCG Media production