Auto Remarketing and Used Car Week are showcasing the dealers who are changing what it means to be an auto retailer through a new program called “Game Changers in Auto Retail,” presented by Conversica.

The inaugural honorees will be recognized on site next at UCW during an awards program and several will participate in a panel discussion during the event. They will also be spotlighted in the December issue of Auto Remarketing.

Next up in our Game Changers honoree Q&As is Ed Roberts, chief operating officer & general manager at Bozard Ford Lincoln.

What does it mean to be car dealer in 2026 and how has that definition changed since you’ve been in the industry?

It’s challenging! I love a challenge, and the years following COVID has brought us new challenges every year. The challenges keep us focused on what we can do, that focus allows us to push through most any challenge.

Bozard Ford Lincoln was one of the early pioneers of providing mobile service and implementing a system to make that happen. What inspired/prompted the dealership to get into mobile service?

Our industry is dreaded by our consumers to visit. That dread has allowed more convenient competitors to enter the market. We have chosen to enhance the ownership experience through convenience, the path we chose was through mobile service. Mobile service also allows us to create unparalleled loyalty that we all chase after.

What have been some of the keys, lessons learned, challenges/opportunities that have come up in the years since you’ve been doing mobile service?

As I said earlier, I/we love a challenge. With mobile service we are able to test and push boundaries, when we push them boundaries at times we push to a point to where it causes friction, we learn from that friction and develop strategies that allows us to continue to elevate every element of Mobile Service.

What has to happen for mobile service to be a more widespread offering across all dealerships, industry-wide?

Unfortunately, dealers get stuck in the way they’ve always done things. Another element is, mobile service part of fixed ops, and fixed ops is not the glamor within a car dealer. Most dealers chase the sales side and that becomes the glamor. But if we look at it through a customer’s lens, the glamor is the ownership experience when it’s convenient and elevated beyond anything they’ve experienced previously. This in itself creates loyalty and reduces the amount of spend on new conquest customers.