What Brian Benstock Thinks About the New FTC Crackdowns

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, Diana Lee and Lucas Donat sit down with Larry Dominique, former Senior Vice President of Alfa Romeo and FIAT North America, whose four decades in the industry span Nissan, PSA North America, ALG and TrueCar. Together they discuss why oversupply, shrinking margins and decades of legacy tech debt mean AI alone can’t fix the OEMs, and how VIN-level data can close pricing gaps, like a yellow Camaro that sells in 12 days versus a silver V6 that takes 47. They also cover what California’s CARS Act and FTC scrutiny of hidden fees mean for dealers and price transparency, why Larry believes “the real relationship with customers is in the service bay,” and where the market goes from here.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, Diana Lee and Lucas Donat sit down with Fred Weick, CEO of Autonomy, to unpack why car subscriptions may finally have their moment. Diana, Lucas, and Fred discuss how Fred's belief, "mobility is a right," shapes Autonomy's approach to affordability, why Autonomy is expanding beyond EVs into gas vehicles, and what customers are asking for, how a slow-moving unit on the lot can become a subscription, or how dealers can launch the platform under their own brand, and what the TrueCar connection means for Autonomy's reach and for dealers.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, Diana Lee and Jamie Butters sit down with Steve Greenfield, General Partner at Automotive Ventures, to unpack how AI is rewriting the rules of software valuations, dealer operations, and where the smart money is headed next. In this conversation, Diana, Jamie, and Steve discuss how Steve built Automotive Ventures from a scrappy $7 million debut fund into a firm with nearly 60 investments, why SaaS valuations have collapsed from 16x revenue to 3x and what that means for founders raising capital today, how to build real defensibility in a market where anyone can vibe-code a prototype overnight, his five-bucket investment thesis spanning generative AI, robotics, autonomy, and alternative powertrains, and why Carvana's high-price, low-touch model might be the playbook the rest of the industry should study.

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.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, Jamie Butters and Diana Lee sit down with David Spisak, consultant, podcaster, and President & CEO of Disruptive Growth Solutions, for a conversation on the risks and realities reshaping dealerships in 2026. In this conversation, Jamie, Diana, and David discuss the FTC's shift from the CARS Rule to the FTC Act and the compliance traps quietly costing dealers thousands of dollars a day, why "vibe coding" AI solutions without real security or data discipline is putting dealers at risk, how AI search is rewriting the customer shopping journey and why ad spend and star ratings no longer guarantee visibility or trust, and the affordability gap squeezing OEMs and dealers alike and what Carvana-owned stores reveal about where the industry is headed.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, Jamie Butters sits down one-on-one with EV titan Jimmy Douglas to talk about the state of EVs and how his company, Plug, is becoming the go-to solution for dealers sourcing used EVs from the consumer market. Jamie and Jimmy dig into how Plug increasingly sources inventory directly from consumers, turning cars around to a new dealer owner in as little as 48 hours, why used-EV sales remain concentrated among a small group of expert dealers, Jimmy's founding story from a teenage Volkswagen service advisor to Tesla's used-vehicle and sales operations leadership, and the 1.1 million EV lease returns hitting the market through 2026 alongside Plug's $20 million Series A to meet the moment. Subscribe to Auto Titans for more conversations with the entrepreneurs and executives shaping the future of auto retail.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, we sat down with Matt Leone, CEO of DriveCentric, the AI-powered CRM platform now used by more than 3,000 dealerships across the country.Join Diana Lee, Jamie Butters, and Matt Leone as they discuss: 1. Why DriveCentric is betting the CRM and the CDP should be one and the same 2. Matt's "VUCA" philosophy for leading through tariffs, war, affordability pressure, new FTC guidelines, and a shifting dealership landscape 3. Why the "SaaS apocalypse" everyone's predicting might actually be a myth built on bad data, and 4. What Carvana's explosive growth after acquiring Stellantis dealerships means for DriveCentric and every dealer watching from the side

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, we sat down with Brian Benstock, General Manager and Vice President of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura, one of the most successful dealership groups in the nation, the #1 Honda dealer for new car sales since 2017 and the #1 Honda CPO dealer in the world for 16 years.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This week, we sat down with Chris Walsh, President and acting CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds, one of the most influential DMS companies in automotive retail and one of fewer than a thousand US corporations still standing after 160 years.

Welcome back to Auto Titans. This was one of our favorite conversations yet. This week, we sat down with Scott Painter, the serial entrepreneur who helped digitize car buying, founded TrueCar, and just bought it back for $227 million. Join Diana Lee, Jamie Butters, and Scott Painter as they discuss: Why buying a car in 2026 is still as painful as it was in 2006, How he turned TrueCar from a money-loser to a profitable business in one quarter, The truth about agentic AI, and why most of the auto industry has it completely backwards.