16 • October 2026 • Powersports Business

FROM THE EDITOR

go particularly well. We dropped off the car, explained the problems and expected to hear something reasonably soon. Instead, the next communication we received was an automated message telling us that the service writer handling our appointment was no longer with the dealership. That was a huge red flag, but we were stuck in the middle now.

By that point, I wasn’ t thinking about the car anymore. I was thinking about the customer experience. It doesn’ t matter how good your AI is, and it doesn’ t matter how slick your website is or how impressive your showroom looks. If the customer experience is bad, that’ s what the customer is going to remember.

And that’ s the lesson I think powersports dealers need to consider as more AI tools enter the dealership. I’ m not anti- AI. Quite the opposite. I’ ve seen enough examples in this industry to understand why dealers are using it. An AI system can respond to a lead at midnight, answer basic questions, schedule appointments and follow up with customers who otherwise might fall through the cracks. It can help a dealership do things that simply weren’ t practical when every interaction required a human being.

But AI should be the tool that helps your employees provide better customer service. It shouldn’ t become the customer service department.

The irony is that the more technology we put between ourselves and customers, the more valuable the human interaction becomes. A customer who buys a motorcycle is buying something emotional. They want to ride it. They want to talk about it. They want to know when it will be ready and what the technician found. Most importantly, they want to know that somebody at the dealership actually knows who they are and cares about their situation.

That’ s why dealerships need to be careful about measuring the success of new technology solely by how much work it takes off an employee’ s plate. The better question is whether it makes the customer’ s experience better.

We eventually got the car situation sorted out. But the service experience is what I’ ll remember most, and it won’ t be a fond memory.

I think that’ s an important lesson for powersports dealers. The sale isn’ t the customer experience. It’ s the beginning of it.

INDUSTRY PODCASTS

POWER HOUR: SONIC AUTOMOTIVE PRESIDENT JEFF DYKE TALKS ABOUT ITS EXPANDED HARLEY- DAVIDSON FOOTPRINT Already one of the nation’ s largest automotive retailers, Sonic Automotive is rapidly growing its powersports business, recently acquiring five Harley- Davidson dealerships in California, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina to bring its total portfolio to 20 stores nationwide. During a recent Power Hour podcast with Powersports Business, President Jeff Dyke explained how the acquisitions strengthen Sonic’ s presence in key year- round riding markets and support the company’ s aggressive powersports growth strategy.

POWER

HOUR: YOUNG POWERSPORTS’ RAD GLADFELDER DISCUSSES HIS NEW ROLE WITH THE DEALERSHIP GROUP On this episode of the PSB Power Hour, Brendan sits down with Rad Gladfelder, director of powersports at Young Powersports, one of the industry’ s fastest- growing dealership groups. Fresh off multiple PSB Honors awards last year— including a PSB Leadership Award— Gladfelder shares his journey from a family- run dealership to helping lead an 11- store operation, and how the group is expanding while others scale back.

BOATING INDUSTRY INSIDER: BRUNSWICK MEDIA DAY 2026 What does it take to win in a marine market that continues to test even its strongest players? At Brunswick’ s Media Day in Brooklyn, New York, Boating Industry sits down with three of the company’ s top leaders: Brunswick Boat Group President Brenna Preisser, Mercury Marine President John Buelow, and Brunswick Chief Technology Officer and Navico Group President Aine Denari. They talk candidly about the highs and lows of 2026, the changing consumer, and the technologies, strategies and market forces that will define success in 2027 – and well beyond.

THE

DEALER LAB: JAYSON DAVIS, NPDA CHAIRMAN AND DP OF POWERSPORTS OF GREENVILLE Max Materne and Danny French interview Jayson Davis, Chairman of the NPDA and Dealer Principal of PowerSports of Greenville, about how motorcycling creates common ground across people and politics, and about his path from riding an XR80 as a kid to working his way up from grocery bagger to dealership leadership. Davis describes learning finance processes, partnering with Doug Rudd, and his long- term commitment to improving the industry through NPDA.

THE DEALERSHIP FIXIT PODCAST: WHY YOUR DEALERSHIP KEEPS HIRING THE WRONG PEOPLE Host Jacob Berry brought two powersports recruiters together who come at hiring from opposite sides of the table. Jaye Sanders is a Talent Partner at Dream Team Referrals and Managing Director at Powersports Listings on the M & A side. Kevin Vaughn, who goes by Elvis, just founded Coreline Search and was a General Manager at House of Harley- Davidson until a few months ago, after coming up from the sales floor to the GM seat.

OPE

PEOPLE: PLANNING THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR YOUR DEALERSHIP From family transitions to third- party acquisitions, succession planning has become one of the biggest conversations shaping the dealership landscape. OPE People sits down with Pat Albero of Performance Brokerage Services to discuss dealership valuations, buysell activity and what owners should be doing today to prepare for the future.