Executive Profile with Jim Fitzpatrick, Powered by CBT News

Cars and Compassion: The Troy Duhon Story

• CBT News • Season 1 • Episode 7

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When Hurricane Katrina submerged everything Troy Duhon had built at age 39, he made a life-altering promise: "Lord, if you get me through this, the rest of my career will be giving back." That watershed moment transformed a successful car dealer into one of America's most impactful automotive philanthropists.

Troy takes us behind the scenes of his dual passions—running Premier Automotive Group's 39 dealerships and operating the Giving Hope Foundation, which feeds 10,000 people daily through food banks in five states. With remarkable efficiency (90 cents of every donated dollar goes directly to services), his foundation has expanded globally to build nine orphanages across countries like Brazil and India. The joy in Troy's voice is unmistakable as he describes former orphans now attending college thanks to these efforts.

But this isn't just a charity story—it's a masterclass in purposeful business leadership. Troy's innovative partnership model allows managers to own 10-49% of individual dealerships without the predatory management fees that plague many dealer groups. This approach has attracted top talent who appreciate both the business opportunity and connection to meaningful community service. As Troy explains, "When a dealer sees the joy on their employees' faces because of what he's done and what he allows them to do, they're not going anywhere."

Troy offers candid insights on pressing industry challenges, from EV infrastructure limitations to technician shortages. He shares how AI is revolutionizing dealership operations by handling tedious but crucial tasks like orphan owner follow-up and safety recall notifications. His first-month experiment with AI generated $10,000 in incremental service sales from previously untapped customers.

Whether you're a seasoned dealer or just starting in automotive, Troy's fundamental question will resonate: What's your why? "When you sow into your community," he promises, "watch how your community responds." Ready to transform your dealership culture while boosting your bottom line? Troy Duhon's approach proves you can achieve both simultaneously.

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Jim Fitzpatrick:

This is the Executive Profile exclusively on CBT News. Today's episode has been sponsored by The Presidio Group. Good morning everyone. I'm Jim Fitzpatrick. Thanks so much for joining me on another edition of the Executive Profile sponsored by The Presidio Group.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Troy Duhan, a distinguished automotive entrepreneur and philanthropist, has dedicated his life to both the automotive industry and humanitarian efforts. As the president of Premier Automotive Group, he oversees a network of 39 dealerships across the US. Beyond his business achievements, troy is the founder of the Giving Hope Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to feeding thousands daily and building orphanages worldwide. His unwavering dedication to community service earned him the 2024 Time Dealer of the Year Award. In this episode of the Executive Profile, Troy shares his inspiring journey from a young car porter to a leading figure in both the automotive and philanthropic sectors. He discusses the profound impact of Hurricane Katrina on his life and how it catalyzed his commitment to giving back. Troy also delves into the mission of the Giving Hope Foundation, highlighting its global initiatives and the transformative power of community involvement. Join us now as we explore the life and legacy of Troy Duhon, a man whose passion for cars is only surpassed by his dedication to making the world a better place.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Troy Duhon, thank you so much for having us here. My pleasure, this is a. I'm so looking forward to today's interview with you. You guys do you do, specifically, such great work? For those that are not familiar with Troy, troy is the founder and owner of Premier Auto Group, but really I think his passion, it's safe to say, is the fact that you're the co-founder of Giving Hope, new Orleans, right, yes, and I'm so excited to talk to you about that. So let's kind of start there, because you just took me on a tour, and our crew here, of all of the great things that you're doing with Giving Hope. So let's start right there. Why Giving Hope? What caused caused that when you go?

Troy Duhon:

through a katrina. Yeah, and you're 39 years old and everything you have goes underwater. You think you're done? Yeah, like literally I thought I was done. Yeah, I got 35 million insurance receivables, I don't know. And then we were actually supporting another food bank at the time and I told the mayor at the time. I said, listen, you give me electricity to my Honda store and I'll start feeding people, because FEMA wasn't set up. The water had gotten so high in New Orleans East that water didn't reside, so we started feeding people. Ok, twelve hundred cars a day, twelve hundred and I'm watching my employees.

Troy Duhon:

Jim come in Wasn't pulling sheetrock at their homes. They're actually serving these people.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

And their homes are underwater.

Troy Duhon:

A lot at their homes. They're actually serving these people and their homes are underwater. A lot of their homes are underwater. Yep, wow, and I saw the joy on their face. Sure, and I now remember. I'm thinking I'm BR, I'm BK, right, and I'm thinking to myself okay, you know, I'm a faith guy. So I said, lord, if you get me through this, the rest of my career will be giving back. Wow, and guess what happened? I had five dealerships at the time. Now I have 39. Wow, and I do give back a lot.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah so every car we sell. Yeah, we donate money to Giving Hope. Wow, think of again. Like I said, think of all the people that make money on me. Sure Toyota.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

General Motors Honda, you know.

Troy Duhon:

Chrysler. All the vendors, Allied Bank, Capital One, Cox Automotive Petra.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Oil Sure.

Troy Duhon:

They all support Giving Hope because they believe in what we're doing Right. So today we operate food banks here in New Orleans, kansas City, monterey, california. We've got a big one opening up in Escondido Through Brady Smith and his team. We operate in Hawaii, so we feed about 10,000 people a day.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Oh my gosh, that is incredible. That is incredible. Well, you know, when I talk to you about the auto industry, you kind of, you know, push it off and get back to giving hope. I mean, that's really your passion, right?

Troy Duhon:

It's my why, you know every dealer has to have a why, yeah. So am I building this up to give it to my children? Am I building this up to sell it? Am I building this up to go public? Am I building it up? There's got to be a why, sure. So when you go through a katrina it kind of changes your why, because obviously my vision was build it up, sell it. You know, play golf, yeah, get 200 foot boat fly around in g6.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

We don't know any dealers that do that.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah, but I fell in love with the cause because when you're feeding that many people, you begin to ask yourself what would happen if I stopped Right. So, as a car dealer, we have bad days. Yeah, of course, january was a tough month with the freeze. Even New Orleans got snow. I had to shut down for a week, which I never did in my life?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, and if anybody went to NADA, you know what he's talking about.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah, so I, when I have a bad day, I just walk outside, I look at that food bank line and then I realize that's my why? Right, because these people have nowhere else to turn to, right? So, and then the beautiful thing we do too is do too. Is you look at this wall behind you? It's incredible, so impressive. We build orphanages around the world Now. We now build nine orphanages or placement centers, so it's just something we have a passion about. So, like Petro Oil partnered with us in Brazil, capital One Bank partnered with us in India, I mean a lot of these are vendors who have a presence overseas, partners with Giving Hope, and we together go and do something in the community that otherwise it's life-changing.

Troy Duhon:

Life-changing, I mean there are more infant orphans in India than the rest of the world combined. Oh my gosh really. So Capital One helped fund that with me and now 16 of those kids last year went to college.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Wow, oh my, my gosh. That is fantastic. And so much of the donation, as you were saying. I think you're in the top five because so much out of every dollar that's donated goes to the actual cause yeah, so they rake through charity navigator.

Troy Duhon:

They rank every non-profit because it's a business.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, just like the car business sure, sure raising money in, sure Raising money in the nonprofit.

Troy Duhon:

world is a business. The beautiful thing is, all the food that we get is donated. Okay, so I have trucks that go out to the local supermarkets Winn-Dixie, Walmart, Rouse's and when they don't sell that piece of meat, they can't put that meat back in the freezer.

Troy Duhon:

So I pick it up Right. So I get a value of $1.65 per pound, Okay. Then every high school kid, every college kid, every kid who's required to do community service, they come and volunteer. I get minimal wage, Okay. So when you look at our charity navigator score, right. For every dollar that comes into Giving Hope, 90 cents goes out Incredible. That ranks top 5% in the country, Wow.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Wow, that's very impressive. Very impressive when some dealers you know there's a lot of dealers and they're very charitable, they give back to their communities, they build hospitals, they do so much, why didn't you just say let's make a donation to every car that's sold is going to make a donation and we'll. We'll make a strong donation to a charity of our choice, and let me focus on the car business it's. You are where the rubber meets the road. You're in the trenches doing this. I mean, the tour that you just took us on behind the facility here is unbelievable and you're right there, front and center, working with those people.

Troy Duhon:

When a dealer sees the joy on their employees' faces because of what he's done and what he allows them to do, they're not going anywhere. They're not leaving me for a better pay plan. That mechanic ain't leaving me for a signing bonus. Because the mechanic's wife says oh no, no, no, no, you're not going anywhere because, mr Duhon, you're giving hope, is feeding people. We want to be part of that. They come with their children as a family and they serve Wow. So you're right, it's easy just to write a check. I get it.

Troy Duhon:

I felt like I was called to be that one dealer that took it to a whole new level. You know, I got told one time by Penske you have raised the bar. Yeah, because no one thinks like this. Right? So at the end of the day, what is the legacy? That a dealer wants to leave? Because, like my dad said, son, you'd be dead and long gone and somebody else's name won't be in that dealership quick. So for me, the legacy is giving hope. So I want to show my employees especially, like we talked about the millennials, the Gen Zs they're into human rights, they're into giving back. I want to show them that we are different and that we do feed people, we do build orphanages and we work with substance abuse and we work with special need children and they love it. So for me it is my passion.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Right, Right. Where do you? What are your hopes and dreams for the organization If we were sitting here 10 years from now? Where do you want Giving Hope to be, and what will it look like then?

Troy Duhon:

Well, our structure is that my partners have the ability to buy out the dealership when I die. Okay, so I'm going to designate a certain percentage of those dealerships to giving hope. Okay, I want to make sure that I leave enough liquidity for giving up to last 100 years. Okay, and like I told my children, so the end of the day, your daddy is not flying in a private plane, your daddy doesn't have a 200-foot boat, but your daddy is building orphanages and your daddy is feeding people.

Troy Duhon:

When I die, you're going to be so proud to say that, yeah, of course. So for me, the legacy is as my partners buy me out and they buy out my estate, do they continue to do it to their kids and their grandkids? So for me, that's the goal. The goal is to create enough values that giving up can last 100 years, sure, and then let the guys who buy out the estate keep doing it in their local community, right. As a young child whose daddy was in the car business, I can remember my dad going to the local church or going to the local playground, and I can remember the dealership sponsoring things like the old grassroots Sure, sure, so are going to the local playground, and I can remember the dealership sponsoring things like the old grassroots Sure, sure. So I want to make sure that lives on yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Is that a prerequisite for your partners that they are as focused on giving as you are? I mean, is that in the part of the DNA of the Premier partners?

Troy Duhon:

I would say this to you A lot of my partners are very good, so they have options. Okay, they chose my partnership. Okay because of giving hope. Okay because when their wife and their children say, wow, premier automotive does all that, yeah, that's where I want you to work, right, that's who I want you to partner with. A wife and a children they want to see daddy giving back.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

You know I'm saying yeah, of course they want to see we're making a difference.

Troy Duhon:

So you're right, it's not in writing that it's requirement, but that's why they're with me.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, for sure, for the dealers that are watching and watching, obviously, the videos that they're seeing right now of the incredible food bank and the kitchen that you've got operating, and they hear this incredible story. What is your message to them to get involved in their communities on this type of a level?

Troy Duhon:

I would do this If I'm a single dealer or I'm a dealer of a couple stores. I'm going to put a little focus group together.

Troy Duhon:

I'm going to pick someone from the service department, someone from the park department, from the sales department, and say go in the community and tell me where the biggest need is, because as an organization, we want to make a difference. Now they're going to it could be Children's Hospital. It could be like me, it could be food. They're going to. It could be children's hospital, it could be like me, it could be food. They're going to come back to you. They're going to say these are the three areas that this city needs help in.

Troy Duhon:

Then, as a dealer, pick an area and then make it a dealership initiative that, yeah, we're going to write a check, right, but more importantly, we're going to go serve as a dealership. And then, when you do that, all of a sudden you just sent a whole new culture to your dealership. You're letting them know that, yeah, it's important to sell cars and service cars and make money, but you know what? We're going to have fun giving some of it away, right, right. And you'll be shocked to see the transformation of the employees toward you as a dealer.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I bet I know you're not doing it for this reason, obviously, but you must hear from your customers right that come in and say I'm buying a car here because of all you do you do have some people who say I know Mr Duhon feeds people Right, and I appreciate that, so I'm buying my car from you, right?

Troy Duhon:

That's not why we do it, I know.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I know I mean the food bank line.

Troy Duhon:

They're not coming in and buying a car. Right, you with me. So the Giving Hope Retreat Center is a partnership with the New Orleans Mission. It's a 60-acre drug facility. It's the number one heroin facility in the United States. Oh my God.

Troy Duhon:

It graduates, 61% of heroin addicts Wow, 61%, jeez. Now what I do there is yes, I do employ some of them. Okay, because I want to give them a second chance. Sure, a lot of them, have you know police reports. We second chance. A lot of them, have you know, police reports. We want to give them a second chance.

Troy Duhon:

So, sometimes there is a motivation to take someone and give them a second chance. It's a good motivation, though. Yep, we also take people out of Angola, so some of the state institutions, some of the state prisons offer mechanical HVAC plumbing, so we do hire them because they have. They're felons, yeah, and some people won't hire a felon, but we do right, right, wow, that's incredible.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

So let's, let's pick up there um, talk to me about your journey in the car business, because that probably is a few people that might not know your story. It's really fascinating. How did you get started in the business?

Troy Duhon:

well, my daddy was in the car business, so I was a 14, 15, 16 year old kid who would come home and daddy would have a new demo Like in those days he'd bring home a Superbird.

Troy Duhon:

You're like, wow, that's like a spaceship, right. So I got enamored with cars, right. And then back in the 70s, guys who'd been around that long would tell you it's like they drink yeah, they drink on the showroom floor. So my daddy ended up becoming what I call a social alcoholic. Okay, so he was a functioning alcoholic and they would work and drink. Sure, it was very common, and most alcoholics are numbing pain, yeah. So disappointment pain, sure, but the anger would still come out. So he would show anger. My mother wasn't going to deal with that. My mother filed divorce. And then my daddy loved my mother. He was told by his used car manager really love her, take her to church. So they didn't take my dad to a Catholic or Baptist church, they took my dad to a Pentecostal church. He goes these people are crazy. But what he saw was happy people. So the second time he went and asked the preacher to pray for him and my mama said I saw your dad do something I'd never seen him do. I said, mom, what did Daddy?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

do? Your father started crying, my dad was a hard man.

Troy Duhon:

He would never cry. He started crying. Your dad cried for an hour, which told me that your daddy truly repented. Next day my dad woke up and went cold sober, didn't do AA, didn't do 12 steps. So wherever that addiction was, the prayer removed. It Made him believe this God thing is real, got out of the car business and became a preacher. So now he's a poor preacher because they don't make money. So I want to go to college.

Troy Duhon:

So at 18 years old son, I'm going to teach you how to sell cars so you can pay for college. So at 18, I got a job selling cars what kind? At that time it was Chrysler, which was a tough sell, but I didn't know. And so every summer I sold cars to pay for school. Ok, so then I fell in love with the car business. So when I graduated from LSU I said I'm going to be a car dealer by the time I'm 30. So I just hustled. I was a lot lizard.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I was a hustler, a lot lizard.

Troy Duhon:

I was a lot lizard, I mean I told some guys that y'all love this social media stuff. Let me tell you what I used to do. Right, I'd give the operator a hundred bucks.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

All the sales calls would come to me Absolutely.

Troy Duhon:

I played the game and you know, I ended up realizing that in the car business no one tells you what you can make.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, You're not on salary, you're on commission.

Troy Duhon:

That's right. So the more you hustle, the more you sold, the more you make. And then I got into a situation at a very young age. I got a 10% buy-in, okay, and my goal coming out of college I had my own dealership by 30. Yeah, wow. So in December 15th 1995, I opened up Toyota of New Orleans. Wow, as a hundred percent owner.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Oh my gosh, wow, that's fantastic. Your first store was the Toyota store. That's incredible. Yeah, that was a gift from God. That was a gift from God. You've gotten many gifts from God, I think.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah so Toyota told me I was. At that time I was the youngest Toyota dealer in the country.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Wow, that's something. That is really something Backing up a little bit that situation, or your father's experience going into a Pentecostal church and giving himself over and his giving up alcohol. What kind of impact did that have on your spiritual life?

Troy Duhon:

Well, think of it this way. Any child or any man listening to this video knows what it's like if they lived in an alcoholic family. It's tough, that's right. There's yelling, screaming, fighting, so one day it stops. You're like whoa. I couldn't argue with that. I used to see my mother and daddy argue, throw things at each other, scream, yell, curse, and all of a sudden it stopped. Then all of a sudden, I started going to church and I saw my mom and daddy not get divorced and stay together. So for me that made it real. So I couldn't argue with this God thing because it saved my family.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Sure, sure. So that was your driving force from that point forward. So let's talk about the growth of the company, because Premier, 39 stores later here we are only since really 1995. So it's more than a store a year that you've picked up right. Talk to me about your philosophy in growing the company, because I understand you've got partners in these stores, right.

Troy Duhon:

So my daddy taught me a long time ago. He said, son, sometimes 10 percent of ownership better than 90 percent of management. So if you're going to grow, you need to find people that you can plug in the store yeah, as an owner, so you don't have to be there every day, right, which is true. So, yes, we have parted pretty much in every store, and they own anywhere from 10 percent to 49 percent OK, two of them have 51 percent because they're in the minority program OK, ok. 49%, okay, two of them have 51% because they're in the minority program Okay, okay. So the beautiful thing is, if they didn't have the money, I'd loan them the money. Okay, a lot of them had saved up some money, right, sure? So when the word started getting out that I was giving back to the community, that I was allowing partnerships and I run a management company that doesn't pack anything, I don't pack rent Wow, I don't pack rent. Wow, I don't pack F&I products Wow, I charge an allocation of expenses on the men, so there's no packs.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

They're not feeding a management company. Does that make sense, which is often the case? I've seen some of the management company bills.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah, so I treat them like a true partner. So they can partner in the reinsurance company. If we set one up, ok, right, so we reinsure service contracts or gap, they can partner in that if they want to participate in the rent or they want to participate in real estate they can Some of them don't because you're better off taking your retained earnings and go buy another store because you have a better ROI there.

Troy Duhon:

Sure, right, so the fact that I treat them like a partner, that I treat them with respect and dignity, they have the right to buy out my estate when I die. Okay, right, and it's a make it, take it so they can declare distributions quarterly, so I don't stop them from doing that either. Okay, so I treat them like a true partner.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, and that's a big deal to a lot of these guys because they see the other organizations, they know what they have to go through, right, okay, right, yeah, no question, a number of friends of mine, uh, you know, have been in that situation where they're they gave their million dollars or two million or whatever, to get into a partnership and get just feed to death, you know, from the management company, as you were mentioning, and uh, however, you know there's many success stories out there as well, right, so it's interesting to hear you say that. Um, what if, if a deal, if one of your partners wants to buy another dealership, do they come to you and say, hey, troy, I have this opportunity?

Troy Duhon:

to pick up a. I got a gentleman in eric gentry in kansas city with seven partners, seven owner interests okay uh, vincent castro, my high school childhood best friend, he got five or six, so I don't limit them. Yeah, that's great, you know, that's great. As long as they have the emotional capacity and we got the financial capacity, then the deal makes sense yeah, yeah you know, not every deal works out the way you wanted to.

Troy Duhon:

Don't get me wrong yeah, yeah sure you know if all 39 deals should be making money, I wouldn't have to get on my knees every night, right, but but I'm on my knees, so uh, unless you want another 80 stories yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no Be careful what you pray for. That's right, I'll tell you that too.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right. That's right. How much of your time is spent each day on giving hope versus?

Troy Duhon:

You know, right now, obviously I need to give a lot of my attention to automotive. It's a little bit different. This ain't like COVID, right? Yeah, so we have to go back to work and 30% foundation, but understand, the cool thing about the foundation is a lot of the people that support us are our vendors, so it allows me to stay in touch with those vendors and, like at NADA, I'm being pulled everywhere because everybody can imagine they want to come over here and do a Giving.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Hope Day.

Troy Duhon:

A lot of our vendors come in and they serve, which is great. So, like I told you, cox Automotive, allied Bank, capital One Bank.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

And these are executives, I mean. You even mentioned people like jack hollis and others that came in and served um chrysler.

Troy Duhon:

Come in and serve nissan kia hyundai. Yeah, they all. They all participate because they love they get to see it right. Like I said, the difference is I didn't write a check to red cross and I didn't see where my money went right. I wrote a check to give me hope and I went and saw feeding people. I saw that's right, we fed people, yeah, yeah I don't.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I know you don't do it for this reason, but I will tell you. It's always, you know, difficult getting a point awarded to a dealer, right, a new point that's open, or you know, to make sure that if you're going to acquire, acquire a store, it's got to get approved through the OEM, as you know. I've got to believe that what you're giving and so charitable, has got to help and influence.

Troy Duhon:

No, I don't mind telling you a true story. I never thought in my world I'd be a Subaru dealer, but Subaru in the Northwest does really well. So we put in a package for a big Subaru store, open Point, fremont, california, and I made it to the finals and giving hope was the reason I won.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I was going to say that's perfect for Subaru, right?

Troy Duhon:

Because their tagline they even went back, and so our tagline is giving hope where love changes everything. Oh my gosh, it's one word off of their tagline.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I was going to say so they went back and said wait a minute, troy.

Troy Duhon:

When did you? I said, when did you do that? You're in the following 2013. That's great, so that's right and and it was a good thing for them because that store now remember I went into Fremont, I did dog lover weekend, I did Christmas. I mean it set a first year, all time record 1785 new.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Subarus wow, first year. Oh my gosh, that's incredible. Congratulations on that. Yeah, wow, that is really something. So let's talk a little bit about today's uh business, the car business and uh, we see so much change out there in the industry, certainly even over the last 10 years. You've got evs to deal with. You've got ai now coming on strong. You've got franchise laws, so let's kind of start there in terms of the franchise laws. You've got AI now coming on strong. You've got franchise laws, so let's kind of start there in terms of the franchise laws. You've got other disruptors, so to speak, like Tesla and Rivian and now Scout coming into the marketplace saying move over, franchise dealer, we think we can do a better job of taking care of the customers than you can, and we're going to do that. What's your take on that? Well, two, things.

Troy Duhon:

So obviously the state of Louisiana is one of the few states that fought Tesla. So actually Tesla's lawyer is a childhood friend of mine, so I know a little bit about that issue.

Troy Duhon:

And of course, in a small world and I have an office in Fremont that's right across the street from Tesla I totally disagree that a manufacturer can do what I can do and I can sit there and debate them all day. Yeah, because I'm going to get involved with that customer and their kids and their grandkids. And they don't have service centers. So if I'm a Tesla owner and I have to get my car serviced, I got to mercy, that's right. I got to wait. Yeah, I can't go to different locations. No-transcript, you're not going to represent the dealer body and do what they do.

Troy Duhon:

And Tesla has been successful because the government, you and I taxpayers are subsidizing the credits. Now, canada just took the credits away and the speculation is that we're going to take them away. And the reason that we should take them away? They were given to Tesla because we believe that these cars were safer for the environment. Right, toyota has cars coming out, hybrid combustion cars that they can prove are safer for the environment than a Tesla. Because here's the bottom line what are you doing with the used battery? That is a bomb, I know, and you're going to give people an opportunity to take a battery and create a home bomb. Yeah, yeah, who's going to give people an opportunity to take a battery and create a home bomb? Yeah, yeah, who's going to police that?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, and Tesla don't have an answer for it. That's right. That's right, no question. What's your take on Scout, you know, coming in, I mean, is it? Obviously you feel passionate about the fact that OEMs cannot do what Troy does with his dealerships, but Scout's coming in there really as a legacy auto, as an OEM, saying, well, we're going to carve out this one brand, that's the beginning, the domino comes after it.

Troy Duhon:

You've seen Ford Motor Company try it, right? Yep, I would tell you this it gets back. What do we pay NADA dues for? To protect the franchise system? Right, scout is a threat to the franchise system, that's right. Do not be misled here. Yeah, right, allowing rental car companies to own car dealerships is a threat to the franchise system. We have to protect the franchise system because we pay the blue sky, that's right. We go in the community and feed the people. We go in the community and do things at Children's Hospital. We help the local people. They're not going to do that that's right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, there's no question about it. And so where do you think that this is going to end up with, scout?

Troy Duhon:

I think that NADA needs to step up.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah.

Troy Duhon:

I think the dealer body needs to support it financially and you need to just punch the bully in the nose.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, do you have a Volkswagen store?

Troy Duhon:

in the group. Yes, just punch the bully in the nose.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Do you have a Volkswagen store in the group? Yes, Okay. Do you ever pick up the phone and go? What the hell are you doing?

Troy Duhon:

I'm not there yet, but I've been asked to do that. Yeah, and at the right moment, in the right location, the right opportunity, I would sit there and say tell me how you would handle this situation with Scal. Yeah, I'm going to give them situations that they can't handle. You would handle this situation with Scout. Yeah, I'm going to give them situations that they can't handle, right, because at the end of the day, the customer is the king, and does the customer really want Scout or does the customer really want a good car dealer Right?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That make sense? Yes, of course. Of course. Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about you know, I know you're at NADA and we had a chance to catch up there. Man, every single solution out there said we got AI, we got AI. Ai is going to rule this business. And we talked a little bit before we started recording and I thought your take on AI was spot on. Talk to me about that.

Troy Duhon:

Well, I have friends that are in the AI world so I get a lot of inside scoop. Sure, you know AI is a threat to certain industries, and it's a big threat. Yeah, because AI in the wrong hands can do a lot of damage. And you're starting to see that In the automobile business, ai solves two of our biggest problems and every dealer would agree with me, because I talked to a lot of them at NADA. I said do you agree with this? They go absolutely. Issue number one we have lazy salespeople, right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Issue number two we have lazy service riders.

Troy Duhon:

So AI comes behind a salesman and he does follow-up. They do prospecting. Ai can't sell the car, ai can't demo the car, but AI can take an average salesman and make him a superstar because it takes away the tedious stuff that I don't want to do. I told you I was a lot lizard. I told my team that if I sold 25 cars a month I thought I was a superstar. Right, I said if I had AI, when I was a lot lizard, I sold 50 cars a month. Yeah, because I didn't want to fail, I didn't want to prospect, I didn't want to ask the customer for the CIC.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

You were just out on the point with that fresh customer.

Troy Duhon:

Troy pick up line one, Right. So AI does the things that most good salesmen don't want to do Prospect follow up, service riders. How many dealers wish service riders would set the first appointment? How many dealers wish that they get the rider when there's a special order part to follow up so we ain't got to write that part off, right? How many of us wish that the service right was set the second appointment? Yeah.

Troy Duhon:

So the good thing about ai it does all that, yeah. So there's a company I do business with calling pell and and I. I took them to the mat on this, okay, and they did exactly what I wanted, okay. So we start a campaign on orphan owners. Now your service manager can argue with you uh, well, you know what that's a warranty, a warranty customer that come in anyway. Right, it's an open recall, they got to come right. Or that's a customer pay customer. They come in three times a year.

Troy Duhon:

But the orphan owner we ain't seen in a year. You done something to him off, that's right. That you don't even know about. Are you? Are you? You're not communicating with him. He ain't responding to nothing. You do my first to nothing. You do, yeah, my first month at one of my stores. Ai, on the orphan owner, generated 10 000 in the incremental sales. Oh my god, one month, wow. So when I showed that to the manager, he goes holy crap, yeah, because I. So what happened is ai does reminders and stays in front of consumers, right? The other thing that's a big issue is safety recall. Remember, the manufacturer is only required to make one notification. Yeah, so a safety recall is something that has to be fixed, of course, because it involves the drivability and the viability of the automobile. That's right. So AI can go after them and say hey, your vehicle is involved in a safety recall. We can get you in at Thursday at three o'clock, yeah, and they keep doing it and eventually the customer's like this must be real, because I got five emails.

Troy Duhon:

That's right, because they took the letter from the manufacturer and they threw it away. That's right If they even saw it. But all of a sudden, when that car gets in an accident and someone gets killed, the lawyer is going to do what. He's going to sue me. He's going to sue the OEM because, because the recall safety recall caused the accident.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, very good point. Very good point. Not to mention, we all know that a safety recall, when one is in effect and those customers bring them in, up goes your dollars in service.

Troy Duhon:

Well, historically what? We've seen is when someone doesn't do the recall, there's other deferred maintenance so yeah, most of those line items, most of those ROs, are not single lines, right right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Also, the customer that comes in and obviously the service writer says, hey, we need all of this, you know, but you only really need this. But what about the unauthorized? You know?

Troy Duhon:

work. I can follow that up after. Yeah, and you're starting to see a lot of video upselling, even by technicians. So, like in the state of California, if I'm going to do an oil change, I tell my technicians shoot the brakes. Yeah, you know, shoot, shoot everything underneath the vehicle. You know, shoot everything underneath the vehicle, right. And I pay and incentivize my technicians on any upsells that are done by videos, right?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Right yeah, speaking of service advisors and the service department, man, is it hard to get good technicians? It's hard to get any technician.

Troy Duhon:

What's the? So you have a father. There's another great company out there called Sky, who we've seen this in F&I when I put cameras in the F&I department what happened Did my numbers go down or go up. They went up. They went up because all of a sudden I'm on camera right, I'm showing that menu to 100%.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I got a 100% menu.

Troy Duhon:

Well, sky puts cameras in the shop, okay. So what's happening is you're seeing about a 20% lift in technician production. Because they're on camera, oh my God. Production because they're on camera, oh my god. And it monitors when the car hits the lane right. It looks at the ticket and sees it's a brake job, or a brake job takes an hour and a half right. So the car got here at noon. It's three o'clock and the car's still in the lane. The car's still in the stall right. It notifies the service manager you got a problem, right, service manager. Comes now all of a sudden, every technician is being on the spotlight, that's right. Held accountable, that's right. So the production goes up. So that's one of the solutions. Bottom line is if you want more techs, you better go your local community college and start yeah, start playing.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, no question about it. We have a huge turnover, uh, specifically in the on the variable side of the business. Obviously, I think it's almost 70 percent, nada says, which is crazy. It's been there for a while. I don't know what it is at your stores, but it is a problem out there. What can the industry do to attract and keep good people in their organization? And you touched on some of it already, so let me give you a great example.

Troy Duhon:

Think of the Nissan brand, which is really struggling. Yeah, they are, and they have a program called Invest in the Best. Okay, so what they do is and I think Volkswagen did the same thing what they do is take a certified salesman who passes all the tests and he can get anywhere from 50 to 150 per vehicle. Okay, so when the manufacturer buys into the salesman to the brand, now he can change dealership, but he can't change brands and get the money. I've seen that work. So even in my Nissan store here in New Orleans does very well, still sells over 2,000 new and used, makes money Wow.

Troy Duhon:

I got eight salesmen that are top tier, investing the best. They're not going nowhere, right? Because?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

they don't want to lose their money Right.

Troy Duhon:

I had a sales pick up 50,000 from the manufacturer Wow, not from me from the manufacturer. So I think that OEMs need to understand that we are in this together, no question. So, even if we have to co-op this program of certification, product qualification volume.

Troy Duhon:

CSI. Let's do it together. I think it's time for us to come together to give them something. So if the average guy sells 10 cars, he can pick up $1,500 to $2,000 from the OEM. Wow, so then there's no pressure on them to try to full sticker every customer like we did in COVID. That's right. Right, that's right. He's getting $1,500 to $2,000 just from the OEM, that's right. Does that make sense? Two grand just from the OEM? That's right, that makes sense. It makes total sense. I think there has to be a collaboration. I think NADA and maybe a representative from most brands come together and say let's see what this really costs, because I would put up $100 a car. Yeah, manufacturer puts up $100 a car. That guy provided a CSI, provided that he had product. You know all the tests. Getting $200 a car, yeah, guess what. He ain't never leaving me, right, right right, he ain't leaving me Right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

The salespeople that you had that joined you post-COVID and they saw these incredible grosses, incredible paychecks and obviously in the last year we've seen those come right back down, as we see now a race to the bottom again in terms of gross profit. Did they stay, Did they leave? I mean outside of the Nissan.

Troy Duhon:

Listen. The problem was everybody for three years built a lifestyle on that income level. So managers went out and bought Ferraris and Benzes and big homes.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, everyone thought, even though you told them don't do that, don't do that, right?

Troy Duhon:

And, yes, certain salesmen. Now there are other salesmen who build the brand. So, like I told you, we live in a video world, oh yeah. So one of the things I do here is I train all my salespeople to build a video brand. Okay, troyduhoncom, okay, okay. And then when you build a brand, your volume is going to go up.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

You mean an individual brand for that salesperson, like we see on TikTok. He has a digital business card.

Troy Duhon:

The beautiful thing is that when a consumer inquires about a vehicle, instead of sending he sends a video and is linked to his digital business card. So on his digital business card you can see he's a Saints fan. He's a Patriots fan, whatever it is, and you can look for common ground. He's a dog. You know. He's a Patriots fan, whatever it is, and you can look for common ground.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Right, he's a dog lover, she's a dog, so you're okay with that. You're okay with them building their personal brand under the premier, absolutely.

Troy Duhon:

Okay, because that is what's going to separate them from the next salesman. And the other thing is when they build a brand, let's say, hypothetically, they got 3000 Facebook followers, right, I pay them to sell cars. I also pay them to buy cars. So I'll pay a salesman $300 to $500 through his social media when he goes to market and says, hey, if you're looking for a car and you think CarMax is the answer, they'll make you wait 10 days to get your check. We'll pay you today and we're going to indemnify you against all legal issues after the sale. Right, carmax won't do that, wow. So I train them to buy cars. I got a Texas platform that knocks the ball out of the park. They buy over 130 cars a month on five dealerships. Wow, how many states are you doing business in? Pretty much eight California, texas, louisiana, mississippi, kansas, missouri, virginia and Georgia.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Oh my gosh, do you find any? What's your favorite state to do business in? Well, I mean, obviously you were sitting here in your home.

Troy Duhon:

No, no, no.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

But obviously California. No, no, I can tell you about California. I'm glad you brought up that question.

Troy Duhon:

So when I said I'm going to go to California, my partner thought I was crazy because I had to make a move from Mandeville to San Diego. But my daddy said, son, why California? I said, daddy, it's really simple Lots of people with lots of money that drive lots of miles, right, yeah, of course that's the good side of it. Yeah, the bad side of it is the regulation. Yeah, so you better have some really good lawyers. Right, and I do Believe it or not, I like California.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, but a lot of dealers in here that go why bother? You know why I don't want attorneys.

Troy Duhon:

Everybody wants to be in Texas. Yeah, everybody wants to be in Florida. Everybody wants to be in Arizona. That's right, go try to buy a Toyota store in Miami. Forget it.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Or more.

Troy Duhon:

So my daddy told me a long time ago son, you're not in the car business, you're in the people business and it's not about what you make, it's ROI. I want a Mercedes door, put up $100 million to make eight. So you get an 8%, whereas we've had a lot of success with Eric and his platform in the Midwest. Because you buy some of these little rural Chevrolet stores, some of these little rural Chevrolet stores, and they're selling 40 new and used. You come in, you do a better job, you start selling 100 new and used. Those little stores are returning their money the first year. So whatever blue I put up, I got it back the first year.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

It doesn't get much better than that. That's right. That's right. The partner program that you've got really does work, because to grow a chain of stores you got a crooked GM in place. You got somebody that doesn't have your best interest as a dealer. It just it can cost you a fortune right. It can, but when you've got a partner sitting right there.

Troy Duhon:

He's looking at it as it's his money too. Right, right, Exactly. Now don't get me wrong. Some of these guys they forget, and I tell them like one call, that's all. All you got to do is call me. So before you make a dumb decision, just call me, because the minute you call me you have plausible deniability. That's right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Because you could say boss, I called you and you said to do it.

Troy Duhon:

So when the attorney general comes in or the FBI comes in, mr Dillon, you got to fix this problem. That's right Now. I'm going to obviously check with corporate counsel. I'm going to check with the motor vehicle department. Sure, bottom line is some of them still do knee-jerk reaction decisions and, yes, you get your butt handed to you.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Right right, no question. One of the areas in California. They always lead the country in EVs. Now there's been a lot to talk about on the EV situation and last year we saw EVs really jump up in terms of sales. What's your take on EVs? You think the consumers are ready? If we're sitting here 20 years from now, what percentage of EVs? I would say this to you.

Troy Duhon:

The reason California is embracing EVs is because they pay seven bucks a gallon of gas. So in Trump's last administration, because I'm in oil country, this is oil country right. So they were building a pipeline from Canada all the way down to Gulf Mexico. Right, and they were gonna come across and go into California. Right, you're gonna drop gas prices to $4 a gallon, right, right now. This morning I paid two dollars and fifty nine cents a gallon. Okay, and I get my gas anytime anywhere, right, right, right. The problem with EVs is who is going to pay for the electrical grid? Yeah, to be enhanced in the state of California, because the governor's already telling you certain times, in the middle of summer, you can't charge your car. Unbelievable, think about that.

Troy Duhon:

And you're only what's the percentage of cars in california? That ev, that's right. He wants to go to 30 percent at 30, la san diego, sacramento, right. San francisco, yeah, who is paying for the electrical grid to be enhanced?

Troy Duhon:

because the load can't handle it. Yeah, and then that's trillions of dollars. Then where's the solution for the dead bomb? Yeah, because the battery in the wrong hands, yeah, can become a bomb. Yeah, so you got to solve those two problems. So I don't think until you solve those two problems, yeah, right, I think what you're going to see, like I said we'll tell you earlier, you're going to start seeing, like I said we'll tell you earlier, you're going to start seeing OEMs with combustion hybrids prove to the American government that this car is safer than that car, because that battery is a problem, right, right, whereas this car look what we're doing with the emissions, yeah, look what we're doing.

Troy Duhon:

And the United States is a combustion. We're fossil fuel addicts, right, we have enough oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico for the next 400 years. Wow, think about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now China and India that's a bigger problem. They don't have the gas we have, right, so they have to go EV, ok, but United States doesn't have to, because nobody wants to pay for the infrastructure to be enhanced, because you're going to have to enhance it.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. Are your customers coming in and asking about evs, or you know? Actually, surprisingly, what's hot right now is hybrids. Hybrids, yeah, because they don't like, yeah, the, the uncertainty of where I'm getting my car charged. Yeah, and now, don't get me wrong, technology is really going up, so the new cadillac comes out, escalate, right, I'm in carl fad, which is ev heaven. Yeah, believe it or not, they're buying them. But who's buying them? Transportation companies, not, they're buying them, but who's buying them? Transportation companies, right, because they're saving $7,000 a month in gas. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure, because these are black EVs or black Escalades.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Right, right, right. Yeah, it costs you a fortune for sure. Talk to me about succession. There's a lot of dealers that are listening right now that are family-run organizations like yours, and you've got your son and daughter I believe in in the organization.

Troy Duhon:

Um, what does that? What does that look like? Do they take over the company? You know, I would say this to every dealer, and we've bought a lot of stores from second generations yeah sure, don't force your son or daughter to do something they're not really called to do. Okay, are they called? Are you calling them? Because?

Jim Fitzpatrick:

we, as dealers, want to call them.

Troy Duhon:

So, believe it or not, my son is a great example. So he's analytical, he's a lawyer, so he went to law school. So I brought him in as what's the biggest risk? I got Compliance, ftc, osha, so he's my lawyer, one of my lawyers, and he oversees all that and he doeses all that Okay, and he does a phenomenal job. Yeah, so if he comes to me and says, daddy, I want to take over the business, I'm going to be like any other dealer, I'm going to put a board around him.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah, a good money guy, yeah, a good parts and service guy and a rainmaker Right, because, I don't allow your second generation or third generation be in a situation where they can make an individual decision. Right, that's what I would say. Okay, and make sure you know they're called Okay, because there are some of our kids that are called and some that are not called, and we're forcing them.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, that's right and you can tell. You kind of know that as soon as that parent is no longer here, that store is for sale or that group is for sale. Right, that name is going to change real quick, that's right. That's right. Let's talk about the M&A activity out there that we see. We saw just record highs of transactions and some crazy numbers that are being paid.

Troy Duhon:

I say crazy affectionately but do you get a call every week from somebody that says Do you get a call every week from somebody that says I get calls from brokers all the time because they'll find a store right with an acting GM that the dealer wants to sell because the kids don't want to be in the business, right, right, so they love the GM. The GM's a rainmaker, yeah. And they say, well, look, you need to meet Troy Dewan because he'll let you stay in the store and be a partner. Okay, gotcha, so I get those calls you get that call.

Troy Duhon:

I get that call. Okay, you get that call. And you're right, covid caused a lot of people to tap out because of the multiples. Yeah, of course, yeah. And now you, you know, automobile business is the most cyclical business.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I know, I know.

Troy Duhon:

Yep, but the good news is, cars are at a 14-year high, old, probably on the road, old as they've ever been. Right, technology is coming in to where production can go down. You're starting to see more shared platforms Hyundai, kia. So when they build Telluride, they build Palisade. So instead of producing $150,000, they produce $250,000. So, as shared platforms occur, there's some communication between Nissan and Honda. As shared platforms occur, toyota, subaru, right, gmc, chevrolet, you can bring production costs down. Okay, if you bring production costs down, cars are built better. Lenders are now going longer. So your average loan is now 75 months right, because the car can justify it. Right. Whereas when I was in the car business it was 48. K cars, yeah, k cars. So I think you have to bring that monthly. People buy based on monthly payments. I know, I know they were paying $550,000. Now it's like $750,000. So what's giving up the $200,000? That's right, right. And the good thing about us, these old cars the wheels do eventually fall off.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

It ain't system and the roof, the wheels do fall off. That's exactly right. Yeah, there's no question about it, I think rates have got to come down.

Troy Duhon:

I think rates need to come down. Another point, and I think the housing industry will shoot to the roof and you'll start seeing these 800 beacons who are driving these cars at 2.9 loans, 3.9 loans.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

They're going to come in? Yeah, yeah, Do you ever get calls from the big guys, the publics, the Lyfias out there that say they like to buy the whole?

Troy Duhon:

No, because they've watched these interviews and they know what my exit strategy is.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they know you're in for the long haul.

Troy Duhon:

Yeah, now I've been approached to roll up and go public, but I'm. That's not the. That's not the agreement I made my partners. Right, right, when I go, you take over, right? I only ask it's a great deal for them. I only ask that what you learn through giving hope you pass to your children and your grandchildren.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

There you go, there you go. In terms of the industry as a whole, will it be a good year in 2025?

Troy Duhon:

I think 2025 will be about a 16-8 year.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's a good year.

Troy Duhon:

I think 2026 is going to blow your mind. Okay, I really believe that you're going to see rates come down. Right, wheels are going to start falling off. Yeah, banks are going to ease up credit. Yep, and I say it's 2026. It could be a 17-3, 17-5 year. Wow, wow, there's no used cars out there. Yeah, no, I know. And the manufacturers that are struggling, I've seen it. So I just got noticed. So Chrysler, all these municipalities need new cop cars, right? So, because the Super Bowl was in town, the feds gave New Orleans money and I sold them 560 new cop cars.

Troy Duhon:

So when you drove down the street and you saw these crazy-faced-looking cop cars. We sold them. That's fantastic, and I was told that almost every city Department of Agriculture, police Department, levee Borge all need new fleet vehicles. Yeah, department levy boards all need new fleet vehicles, yeah, yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

So watch what happens there. Yeah for sure Next year. Final thoughts from you on the industry, the family, everything that you've put together with giving hope. What do you want to leave the viewers with?

Troy Duhon:

The car business is still the greatest business in the world. Because no one tells you what you can make. That's right. The question I would challenge every dealer is what is your why? Yeah, why do you do what you do? Yeah, and you may say, troy, I don't know my why. Here's what I would tell you what's the injustice that angers you or the passion that inspires you and that's what you're called to? Yeah, because the minute you make your dealership and your culture about a why yeah, watch what happens, yeah, remember we live in a world of sowing and reaping. So when you sow into your community, it could be simple things, little things. It doesn't have to be as big as giving hope, but when you sow into your community, watch how your community responds, because everybody needs a why. So I hope they understand it. They watch this interview. I am in the greatest business in the country. I need to know my why and I need to make my why part of the culture of my story.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Yeah, yeah. What would your dad say if he was here with us?

Troy Duhon:

He'd be very happy because he knows that I'd have sold it. I'd be playing Pebble Beach, I'd be playing Monterey right.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

Oh, that's funny. I'd be on Augusta, right.

Troy Duhon:

No, no, he'd be proud because he sees that when God can get it through you, he'll give it to you.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

I love that. That's great.

Troy Duhon:

What he sees is that I'm feeding. I'm taking the basic commodity of food in the richest country in the world and I'm feeding those that the government can't feed Right right. So, in his mind, I'm being hands and feet. That's right. I'm not preaching, I'm not trying to preach. I'm not trying to preach, I'm just trying to show unconditional love Because I don't have to do this. And that woman you met today who looked at me and said thank you. I'm feeding people that are never going to buy a car for me, but it gives me a why, it gives me purpose.

Jim Fitzpatrick:

That's right, troy Duhon. Thank you so much, sir. Thanks for watching the Executive Profile exclusively on CBT News. Today's episode has been sponsored by the Presidio Group.