
"Copy the Best!" Rick Hendrick's #1 Business Decision in 50 Years (And Why Zeigler Just Copied It) | Industry Spotlight
From Car Dealership Guy Podcast by Car Dealership Guy
June 11, 2026 · 32 min
About this episode
The episode discusses Zeigler Auto Group's transition to a dealer-owned warranty program and insights from Rick Hendrick on successful business strategies.
In this episode of the Industry Spotlight, joining host Sam D'Arc are Aaron Zeigler, President of Zeigler Auto Group, and Johnny McKellar, who leads NationsGuard for Hendrick Automotive Group, to discuss why Zeigler is leaving its third-party warranty provider to stand up its own dealer-owned program, Zeigler Guard, and what Rick Hendrick himself says has been the single best decision in his 50 years in the car business. Rick Hendrick joins the conversation to explain how his dealer-owned warranty company became the financial reserve that let him avoid layoffs through COVID, recessions, and 20% interest rate cycles. Aaron and Johnny break down what it actually takes to transition a 41-location group onto a new program, why two groups that compete on paper chose to partner instead, and why Hendrick is selective about who gets access to this platform at all. Topics: 02:45 The Defining Moment For Zeigler. 04:10 Why Hendrick Started AutoGuard. 05:35 The Secret Sauce To Growth. 07:40 Controlling Your Own Destiny. 09:50 Three Times More Likely To Buy. 12:20 It's Your Program, Not Ours. 14:20 Why Hendrick Opened The Door. 16:00 We Won't Do This With Just Anyone. 17:30 The Best Thing We…
People in this episode
Host: Sam D'Arc
Guests: Aaron Zeigler, Johnny McKellar
Topics covered
- dealer-owned warranty program
- business decisions
- automotive industry
- financial strategies
- partnerships
- growth strategies
Keywords
- warranty program
- Rick Hendrick
- Zeigler Auto Group
- Hendrick Automotive Group
- business decisions
- COVID impact
- financial reserve
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Zeigler Auto Group, Hendrick Automotive Group, NationsGuard, Zeigler Guard, AutoGuard
More episodes of Car Dealership Guy Podcast
- This Dealer Got Burned on a $8,000 Trade-In. Here's How He Now Catches Every Hidden Repair | Industry Spotlight · June 13, 2026 · 23 min
- Fixed Ops Friday w/ Love, Golightley, & Carlstedt | Daily Dealer Live · June 12, 2026 · 1h 2m
- Cottone on Growing Used, Cox/Fullpath on Integration, Duncan on Retention | Daily Dealer Live · June 10, 2026 · 1h 2m
- "You're Sitting on Gold!" Why Most Dealerships Are Sitting on Hidden Fortunes & What Top Operators Know | Vic Keller, Founder and CEO at Experience Ventures · June 9, 2026 · 42 min
- Stein on 3Xing His Rooftops, Benstock on Driving BYD in Kazakhstan | Daily Dealer Live · June 8, 2026 · 1h 5m
- Fixed Ops Friday w/ Rogers, Kaminski, Coyle, and Skinner | Daily Dealer Live · June 5, 2026 · 1h 13m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Car Dealership Guy Podcast podcast page.