

“Once you learn sales, it’s a fun business – you get a game every day and you either win or lose it.”
Starting when he was 18, Joe Cardinale was hooked on the business of selling cars. He opened a dealership of his own for the first time in 1980, and now Cardinale Auto Group has 22 locations throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona, and the family-owned and operated business is planning to open several more soon.
On this episode, Joe Cardinale chats with Derek D about his near-lifetime of experience in the automotive industry and how that has led him to react to the rapid changes of recent years. He also opens up about hiring – and firing – family members, Cardinale Auto Group’s responsibility to their nearly 1,000 employees’ families, how he manages to fit in two workouts during a working day, and more.
LISTEN NOW:
Episode Highlights:
- What indicates which stores to buy up when Cardinale Auto Group has expanded
- What happens when a dealership group experiences its fastest-ever quarterly growth – in a quarter where Joe says he thought he definitely wouldn’t buy a new location
- The most effective ways that Cardinale Auto Group has developed to run meetings
- How predictions on the factory side from manufacturers have gotten it wrong, and how to plan anyway
| Dealer News Today is a DCG Media Production