The host of the new Auto Industry Podcast brings more than 30 years of dealership ownership and executive leadership to conversations with the people shaping the business.
When a dealer principal talks about growing a business, Andy Ham understands the operating decisions behind that ambition. When a vendor introduces a new technology, he can consider what implementing it will require from a dealership’s people and processes. And when the conversation turns to leadership, he brings the perspective of someone who has been responsible for hundreds of employees across multiple stores.
That experience makes Ham a compelling choice to host the Auto Industry Podcast, a new series featuring interviews with dealer principals, vendors and industry experts.
Over more than 30 years in automotive retail, Ham has owned six dealerships and held senior leadership positions including vice president of U.S. platform operations, platform general manager and chief operating officer. In his COO role, he led 16 dealerships and more than 800 associates.
His career has spanned public companies, large privately held organizations and businesses backed by private equity, with operating experience in markets including Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, New York City and Boston. Today, as president of DealerXpert Consulting Inc., he draws on that background in his work on dealership operations, leadership and technology.
For a podcast audience, the significance of that résumé is what it allows him to bring to the conversation. Ham understands how decisions about inventory, marketing, staffing, vendors and customer service affect one another. He has approached those decisions as both an owner and an executive, giving him a useful foundation for exploring the different priorities guests bring to the table.
A dealer principal’s approach to expansion, a vendor’s proposed solution or an expert’s outlook on the industry can each benefit from the same follow-up: What does this mean for the people actually running the business?
Ham’s operating philosophy provides a clear starting point.
“You have to diagnose what is actually preventing the business from performing before you start changing it,” he said.
He makes a distinction between an underperforming dealership that needs better execution and a troubled operation requiring fundamental changes in leadership, culture or process. He also believes strategies must account for the differences among franchises, markets and individual stores.
That perspective is valuable in an interview. A successful approach deserves examination: what made it work, what conditions supported it and what another dealer would need to consider before adopting it. Ham’s experience gives him the context to explore those questions in detail.
His interest in technology adds another dimension. Ham sees considerable potential in artificial intelligence across dealership operations, while emphasizing the work required to implement it effectively. His focus is on identifying the business problem, preparing the organization and determining how a tool can improve performance.
“The question should always be: What problem are we trying to solve?”
That is a useful question to bring into conversations with the vendors and innovators serving the industry. It directs attention toward practical value, implementation and the experience of the employees and customers who will use the technology.
People remain central to Ham’s thinking. Recruiting, developing managers, retaining talent and creating accountability are recurring themes in his approach to leadership. They also create opportunities for conversations that will resonate with listeners at different stages of their careers, from department managers preparing for greater responsibility to owners developing their next generation of leaders.
Ham believes effective leaders must remain curious, adaptable and willing to learn. Those qualities are equally relevant to the purpose of an industry podcast: bringing experience to the discussion while remaining open to what someone else can teach you.
The Auto Industry Podcast will bring together people with different roles, experiences and perspectives on the business. With Andy Ham as host, those conversations will have a foundation in the realities of dealership ownership and operations—and a reason to keep asking how the industry can do better.