Rising vehicle prices, high interest rates and shifting consumer habits are testing dealers across the country in ways few other industries face today. For an outside perspective on how to navigate that pressure, retail automotive turned to one of the most recognized dealmakers in business.
CBT News attended the NAMAD 2026 Conference, held this August in Miami Beach. There, CBT News co-founder Jim Fitzpatrick sat down with Daymond John, known widely as “The People’s Shark,” in front of a group of NAMAD dealers and vendors to get his read on the state of automotive retail today.
John built his reputation as an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank, a role he’s held since the show’s first season in 2008. Before that, he founded FUBU in 1992, growing the streetwear brand into a global company with more than $6 billion in lifetime sales. He now runs The Shark Group, a branding and marketing consulting firm, and has written several bestselling business books, including The Power of Broke, Rise and Grind and Powershift.
Daymond John’s framework for growth
Technology can improve a lot about the customer experience, but it can’t replace trust, according to John. He argued that dealers succeed long term by finding where the customer feels friction, then closing that gap.
"You cannot buy trust, legacy, history, and things of that nature."
Early success doesn’t guarantee long-term relevance, he added. Blackberry, Kodak, Blockbuster, Party City, Pier 1 and Bed Bath & Beyond all built major followings before disappearing, because they stopped adapting their brand to the market in front of them. That same instinct for trust is why some of the biggest companies in the world launched during downturns rather than strong markets. Uber and Airbnb both came out of a recession, and FUBU came together as the market was crashing, John said, because uncertain buyers gravitate toward businesses with a track record.
John shared his simple framework for growth. He said there are only three ways to grow a customer base:
- Acquire a new customer
- Upsell an existing one
- Get that customer buying more often
Acquiring a new customer costs roughly 20 times more than retaining or upselling one already in the fold, John said.
Culture and reaching Generation Z
Dealer groups today are managing a workforce spanning baby boomers, Generation X and Generation Z, and John said building the right culture starts by listening to employees rather than dictating from the top down.
"If you're invisible, you're vulnerable. If you're vulnerable, you are replaceable."
He pointed to ABC’s own audience data to make his case. The network’s core demographic is 18 to 35 years old, a group that increasingly influences purchasing decisions even when they aren’t the one signing the paperwork. That audience values community and a seamless purchase experience, John said, and dealers need to show up in the digital and physical spaces where that audience already spends time.
He also warned dealers about the speed of reputational risk in a social media environment. A single frustrated employee with a large following can create a fast-moving crisis, and dealers without a strong public voice struggle to respond before the story spins out of their control.
Growth without expansion
Growth doesn’t have to mean opening another rooftop, John said. Dealers should think about growth in terms of moving more units, more service work or more parts volume, each of which can expand a business without the overhead of a new location. He also pointed to softening conditions in some markets as an opening for creative deal-making, including real estate arrangements and revenue-share partnerships.
Today’s buyers increasingly turn to social media and AI chat tools early in that process to find which dealer has the best reputation for a specific vehicle, John said. Once they reach that point, the deciding factor becomes how little friction stands between interest and delivery.
That expectation extends to any professional relationship, John said, comparing it to his doctor or financial advisor. If someone he works with doesn’t know an answer, the right response is a commitment to find out, not a shrug. The product has to be right first, but branding is what convinces a customer to choose one dealer over another before they walk through the door.
