Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick, powered by CBT News

How Larson Ford Is Using Technology to Stay Competitive

• Jim Fitzpatrick

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0:00 | 16:15

Rob Larson, President of Larson Ford, discusses how his family-owned dealership has adapted to seven decades of change while preparing for the next generation of automotive retail.

Larson shares how the dealership embraced internet sales, AI and mobile service while maintaining a focus on personal customer relationships. He also addresses affordability, inventory constraints and the growing pressure from direct-sales brands and unauthorized brokers.

Key discussion points:

  • Technology adoption: How Larson Ford has integrated internet sales and AI into daily operations.
  • Customer convenience: The growth of mobile service and pickup-and-delivery options.
  • Affordability: Rising vehicle prices and the challenge of reaching younger, first-time buyers.
  • Franchise competition: The impact of direct-sales startups and unauthorized brokers.
  • Future growth: Larson’s approach to expansion and preparing the business for the next generation.
  • Adaptability: Why evolving with the market while preserving core values has helped sustain the dealership for 70 years.

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Welcome And The 70-Year Legacy

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Seventy years in business is no small accomplishment, especially in an industry that's constantly evolving. Joining us now is Rob Larson, president of Larson Ford, a third generation dealer who has helped lead the family business into its next chapter. So Rob, thank you so much for joining us on the show today. Sure. So 70 years, talk to us about that. That's the pressure's on you, right, to keep keep the legacy going.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, the can you know the percentages are very low for businesses that last to a third generation. I think it's 12% or less. So uh it's something that we're very proud of. And um, I like to think I have the same energy and enthusiasm as my grandfather did in 1956 when he got started.

Jim Fitzpatrick

So wow, Mikey, that that that is incredible. Yeah, you don't see that much, uh, that many dealers out there that have got that kind of uh history, you know, with the same family uh because of all of the consolidation that we see out there. Um there's probably you you've probably been uh bombarded with email, text messages, or phone calls, you know, we've got a buyer for your store, right? That's correct.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, there's plenty out there, no doubt about it.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah,

Keeping Great People For Decades

Jim Fitzpatrick

for sure. Um before we got recording, I asked you about some of the uh the uh associates that you've got and how long they've been with you. Share with our viewers uh some of the some of the success success stories that you've got and the length of time your associates have been there.

SPEAKER_00

Uh we have you know many over over 20 years, but our longest is is I believe 34 years. So we honored him at our 70-year anniversary event we had um a little over a month ago. And um uh another employee, um Lenny, is a uh who's over you know close to 30 years as well, is a second generation. His father uh worked most of his life with us and retired here. Uh, and then his son started while he was still here as well. So that's pretty cool. Um and we had many, many over 10 years. Uh so something we take a lot of pride in.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Absolutely. Boy, it's it's it's so nice running an operation when you can trust the associates and you feel good about them. Not, you know, you there's such a big turnover in the car business. But it's when you've built a culture like that, you it's one less thing you gotta worry about, right?

SPEAKER_00

It's for sure. It makes life a lot easier.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, you know, everybody needs quality of life to some extent, even the owners. And when you have uh great people around you that you can trust, uh yeah, it makes running a business a lot easier.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah,

The Biggest Changes In Retail Automotive

Jim Fitzpatrick

yeah. Speaking of running the business, how do you uh you know, when you look back and um I'm sure that you were probably in and around the store when your dad had the operation? Um how how do you see the how what what are the biggest changes that you've seen in the last 20 years in retail automotive from the time your dad ran it for for what you're going through right now running the store?

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god, where do I start? Yeah, I know, right? Right. This business is constantly changing. When I really started getting really involved in the operations was when the internet started to take over. Okay. Um and uh, you know, luckily I'd kind of grown up with that, so it was easy for me to deal with that transition and start an internet department and an internet sales process, and um, you know, knowing how to communicate with customers online effectively. And uh, you know, that was the I think the first huge change in our industry was the uh you know the uh internet becoming a major factor of the sales process. Yeah, yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, no question. And it still seems to be the biggest, probably the biggest driver, biggest change that we've seen. Um now we're dealing with AI, and uh everybody is turning to AI for everything, not just to buy a car, but also for dealerships to sell cars. Are you employing different AI um uh strategies and and uh technologies in your

Using AI Without Fear

Jim Fitzpatrick

store?

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, I have all my managers using AI for just about everything to assist with them. You know, it's like it's like having a personal advisor, you know, um at your fingertips. And and customers are using it as well. And um, my philosophy is don't run away from it, don't be scared of it. Let's let's embrace it, let's take it head on. And if they want to use it to buy a car, we're gonna be prepared for that, you know. Um a lot of times, believe it or not, uh it's actually justified what we're communicating to the customer.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, in a lot of cases. So I'm not afraid of it at all. I think we're gonna be okay.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Sure, sure. Are you using it uh for um uh service scheduling and outbound calls uh uh for for service recalls or things like that?

SPEAKER_00

To some extent, we're using it for the uh communication. The AI will communicate to customers on our behalf uh for recalls and things like that. Um you know when it comes to scheduling appointments, uh yeah, there's it's built into our automatic process, but um we still really like to have that conversation with the customer what whenever we can.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Build that relationship.

Service Videos That Build Trust

Jim Fitzpatrick

Right, right, right, right. Are you are the technicians sending out their videos?

SPEAKER_00

They are, they're doing a great job with that. Yes, great job. That's great. It's been a huge part of our success in our fixed operations, is the video and text and all that. It's been great.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, you know. Every store that I talk to says, well, some do it better than others. We we need we need ongoing training for the technicians to learn how to do a really good video, because not all technicians are into video, right?

SPEAKER_00

It's gonna take some time. Sure. You might have to put a couple of bonuses in place to motivate uh the guys, but uh when they start to see the results, yeah um you're you you know, your technicians will start to embrace it. Yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, no

Mobile Service And Pickup Delivery

Jim Fitzpatrick

question. Speaking of service, you've got um uh mobile service there at your Ford store, right? Ford's a big proponent of mobile service. Um how long have you had it and how's it working?

SPEAKER_00

It's it's it's going well. I mean, it everything's a work in process, it takes time, it's it's a big investment with all the vehicles and everything. Um, but uh we're seeing we're seeing good, good starting to see really good results with it. You know, the the more convenience you can offer your customers, the more loyal they're gonna be, bottom line.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah. Meet kind of the adage of meet meet people where they are. That's literally what you're doing with mobile service, right? 100%. Yes. Yeah. And uh and how many trucks do you have currently on the road?

SPEAKER_00

We have a we have five mobile service vehicles. Oh wow. Yeah, they're all they're all you know equipped a little bit differently. Um, but um, yeah, that we're we we brought probably have um enough to serve our our market right now with. We plan on growing, but um, yeah, we're we're in pretty good shape there. We have some capacity in our market.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Sure. What is your advice to those that are still on the fence about mobile service and maybe thinking about jumping into it? Any any tips or suggestions?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's it's it's not an easy task to take on because you're always looking at the ROI as a business person. You got to have one of your tech changes on the road, you gotta take into consideration all the expenses um that that go with that. Um and and there a lot of safety too. You know, you're doing repairs uh off your location. You know, there's a lot of safety and insurance concerns there.

Jim Fitzpatrick

But uh think about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Again, the the the bottom line is um you have to offer your customers more convenience if you want to survive uh and grow. Yeah, and it's it's all about serving our customers, and if they want that option, we got to be able to provide it. Sure.

Jim Fitzpatrick

You know, so when the customer calls your your shop to place uh or or schedule an appointment, are they given the opportunity or the the choice, would you like mobile service or do you want to bring it in? Or how does how does that work?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, we try to offer all those services to the customer to find what their personal needs are. Okay. Um I mean, mobile services is probably our biggest request. Customers love pickup and delivery, though. They love that option. So you have that too, obviously. Doing really well with pickup and delivery.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yes. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, that's that's great. So um I've said this before on the show for those uh trucks that show up in a cul-de-sac to fix somebody's car. Now you've got the attention of all the neighbors to go, wait a minute, but they're they're fixing the car right here at the at this at the uh house. Um that's a huge selling advantage, right?

SPEAKER_00

It really is. It's a great great way to promote your business.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Any way you can get your name out there and people to recognize you uh is what it's all about.

Affordability And Inventory Reality

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah. We do a lot, um, a lot of conversations here at CBT News on obviously this affordability issue that consumers, dealers, and OEMs are struggling with, with the price of a uh average price of a car being fifty thousand dollars now. Um talk to me about that. Is that do you hear that from consumers? Is it a concern? Is it what are you doing to combat the affordability issue, if anything?

SPEAKER_00

It's it's it's a huge concern. There's no there's no there's no way around it. Um, you know, like being a Ford dealer, they did away with cars and and uh our smaller SUVs. So um that's been a really big challenge for us to serve our market, especially with first-time buyers and uh 30 and under demographic. Um yeah, we're we're the Ford's hearing about that a lot on our dealer council and and all those things. But we have some new products that are supposedly on the way. I'm going out to Vegas uh this Sunday. I fly out, they're gonna introduce some new products. I'm really excited about that. Um so we can get back to serving that you know that that that market that we're kind of missing right now. Yeah, but affordability across the board, it it it's a big issue, and um you know it's gonna there's gonna be a lot of different factors that are gonna have to come into play to to to help change that. But I'm confident it it will, it's gonna take some time. Um, but you know, we're we're doing whatever we can to um help our customers.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Right. Do you find people switching from a new car once they come in, look at the prices to say, well, what do you got in the used lineup that might be 10,000, 15,000 less?

SPEAKER_00

Sure. Um yeah, the people are looking at different options. Um you know, we're a big truck dealer, so uh, you know, the the used trucks, you know, they're they're expensive too. So um you know, it's in there the the supply, it's not like there's a huge supply um uh out there.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And uh, you know, ever since COVID with the uh our our trade trade cycle has been diminished because of the lack of uh leasing that we have in our portfolio. Yeah. So uh um but yeah, just trying trying to have a mix a mix of product any way that we can uh to help our customers. And and you gotta you know convince them to be more open-minded about what they'll drive, you know, because the prices are high.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, for sure, for sure, for

Brokers Direct Sales And Dealer Advocacy

Jim Fitzpatrick

sure. Um, as you sit there today, Rob, what what are the greatest challenges? Uh if you had to pick one or two challenges that you're dealing with or you're concerned about right now, midway through 2026, to finish the year strong, what what would they be? What would the concerns be?

SPEAKER_00

We talked a little bit about affordability, interest rates, you know. Um, that would really help if we we can make more progress there. Um you know, I I we need some more uh some more product to offer. Um and uh, you know, I the overall economy, consumers buying power, you know, uh uh, you know, always always concerned about that as a car dealer. There's macroeconomic factors that um can really uh uh affect our business.

Jim Fitzpatrick

So uh that's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_00

As long as we see progress there. And then there's always threats to our industry. There's new startups coming out, you know, direct sales, yeah, uh things like that. That um I'm really involved with our state trade association, and we're we're always trying to make protect, you know, our our business model, and you know, we serve a lot to our community and our cut customers, and uh, you know, we bring a lot of value, a lot of tax revenue um to the states that we serve. So um, you know, the those are always um you know things that we're concerned about.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, we've spoken to uh the president of NJ Car, Laura Perata, on the show a few times about uh the topic of brokers there in New Jersey. Um boy, yeah. Yeah, that's what what's uh what's your take on all of that?

SPEAKER_00

Um so brokering's challenging. I mean, uh it's it's getting bigger, uh, which I think is what we're working we're working um very hard with our our state government and uh legislature to uh make sure that you know they our laws are protected. Um, you know, that um you know we we have a lot a ton of money invested, you know, in our communities in our facilities uh to best serve our customers, and um you know brokering's a threat to that. Um and uh it's gonna be a challenge that we're gonna continue have to have to fight, but it it's a major issue. It's a major issue here in the state of New Jersey, especially.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, there's no question. They I don't know what what it is. I think it's like all the brokers moved to New Jersey or something. I don't know what is the deal with brokers in New Jersey, but yeah, it's it's a real deal. Yes. Yeah, yeah, uh that's uh that's a tough one for sure. And um and uh obviously there were letters written from the OEMs to dealers that said, hey, we're not tolerating this, do not get caught doing it. It's gonna cost you uh at the very least some incentive money or what have you, but could also maybe cost you your franchise because you're in violation of your franchise agreement. So I think dealers have got to uh sit up and pay attention to this, right?

SPEAKER_00

It's gonna be a unified effort to um to you know to go after this.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And and and make sure that it, you know, it doesn't continue to affect our business.

Growth Plans And Family Succession

Jim Fitzpatrick

Sure. So we don't see that many single point dealers today. You know, that the average dealer's got two point five stores. Um although you guys have just the one store that you've been running for 70 years, which is incredible. Um is Rob gonna be the one to uh to acquire other franchises or in the family, or or are you sticking with the one?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm I'm I'm getting ready. I I have two sons, and if they want to come to this business, obviously scale is very important. Yeah. And um, you know, uh that's something in the next few years that I'm I'm really gonna be aggressively looking at.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah, that's great. That's great. Well, best of luck to you in in that. Uh I'm sure you're gonna find the right stores. Uh, you think they'll be in New Jersey? Do you want to keep them close?

SPEAKER_00

Sure. I mean, it really comes down to what what's the best opportunity and the right fit.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

You know, um, and I I I I think there's a lot of family-centric stores out there that uh maybe if someone wants to exit the industry, it's just that time. Yep. Um, they'll want someone to take over that can bring the you know the family values and culture that we have here to another store.

Jim Fitzpatrick

So yeah, and the Larson names has got to be uh a pretty valuable name there in uh in your area. So you put that Larson name on there, whether it be Kia or Toyota or whatever, and I'm sure that the buyers are like, great, we know that family for 70 years, right? Yes, absolutely. That that's great. Are the are the uh boys looking, uh they're showing interest in getting into the business?

SPEAKER_00

They're only seven and five, so I want them to enjoy uh sports and school. Right, you know, um that's the most important thing.

Jim Fitzpatrick

That's right, that's right. You're bringing them into the store though, right? And showing them like, come on, this is even though you're five and seven, no time like the present to start talking about this, right?

SPEAKER_00

They come to all of our events. We do a lot of community events and things like that. Yeah. So they they think work for me is just fun all the time. We're always having a party.

Jim Fitzpatrick

That's right. And I'm sure your dad did that with you, right? Sure, absolutely, yes. That is great. That's great. Well, uh, best of luck to you uh in inquiry in these other stores, whenever that might be. But uh thanks for giving us so much time here at CBT News to get caught up with you. And uh, and as I said, congratulations on 70 years in business. We don't often see that, and uh, you're knocking the cover off the ball. So we'd love to do a follow-up with you to see how things are moving along.

SPEAKER_00

I really appreciate the time and uh everything that that your news network does too, putting the dealer's voice out there in the public more um and uh people uh you know seeing everything that's going on in the car dealership world.

Jim Fitzpatrick

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for those kind comments. It means more than you know. So thanks, thanks so much. Have a great day. Thank you. You too. Thanks for watching Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.