Rhett Ricart, Executive Chairman and Owner of Ricart Automotive, joined us on today’s CBT Live episode to discuss mobile service, AI adoption and the affordability pressures facing dealers today.
As a second-generation dealer, Ricart has spent decades building one of Ohio’s best-known family-owned automotive groups, which operates nine franchises across five locations in Columbus and has remained family-owned since 1953. He served as NADA Chairman in 2020 during the height of the pandemic and recently received Ford’s Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor Ford CEO Jim Farley presented in person, an honor that has only been presented to seven people in the manufacturer’s 123-year history.
Ricart was one of the early pioneers of mobile service, a strategy Ford has since invested heavily in promoting across its dealer network through the Ford Pro Elite program. According to Ricart, the dealership built out mobile capabilities through its commercial division first, which let the team refine the model before expanding it into retail. Customers increasingly expect the same convenience at home, he said, comparing it to dry-cleaning pickup and other services already delivered to their door. Dealers who offer that convenience keep the customer, Ricart said, while those who don’t risk losing them to someone who will.
AI has also become part of Ricart Automotive’s daily operations, not just a future consideration. Ricart said the dealership is folding AI into its upcoming yearlong marketing program and applying it more broadly across the business. He described it as a faster, more efficient way to communicate with customers and deliver service, positioning it as a core part of where the dealership is headed rather than a separate initiative layered on top of existing workflows.
According to Ricart, affordability and fixed operations remain the bigger structural challenges. With new vehicle prices averaging around $50,000, he argues that piling on additional safety and emissions regulations only pushes costs higher and called for a top-down affordability review spanning federal policy down to manufacturer requirements, warning that regulatory overreach has already made it easier for Chinese manufacturers to undercut U.S. pricing. On the service side, Ricart points to a bigger threat than competition from independent shops. He said most franchise brands capture only 20% to 30% of available service business, against roughly 160,000 independent service stations nationwide, and that right-to-repair efforts that prioritize customer data over repair access could make it even harder for dealers to retain the service volume needed to keep their fixed operations profitable.
