Digital Dealer Conference & Expo 2026 is officially in the books! Thank you all for attending another great year full of rising industry voices, innovative solutions and impactful dealer strategies! We can’t wait to learn all the way attendees use what they learned and the connections they’ve made to enhance their dealerships this upcoming year. Also, don’t forget the simple benefit of all of us just getting to be in the same room together in Detroit.
#DDCE2026 was full of so many great moments that it would be impossible to capture them in just words, so let’s take a look some of the highlights in photos!
Day 1 at Huntington Place opened with badge pick up and a networking breakfast to get attendees fueled up and ready to tackle Digital Dealer! It also allowed plenty of time to meet other dealers to talk shop and share ideas.
2026 PWP Studio
After breakfast the event kicked off with a bang with the Car Dealership Guy/800% Elite Auto Keynote featuring
Glenn Lundy the Founder of 800% Elite Auto and Sam D’Arc the COO of Zeigler Auto Group and host of the Car Dealership Guy Daily Dealer Live show.
Both had plenty to say about the future of automotive with Lundy focusing on how important the next five years are for dealers looking to growth their business while D’Arc spoke about the ” level 10 problems” facing the industry and how dealers can help solve them.
2026 PWP Studio
2026 PWP Studio
After the keynote, the expo hall officially opened, letting attendees explore at their own pace, connect with solution providers and discover the tools that will help them improve and streamline their operations in Q4 and beyond.
2026 PWP Studio
2026 PWP Studio
2026 PWP Studio
Also, a staple of the expo hall is the DealerTech Live stage where attendees were able to experience sessions from industry leaders such as this insight talk “Unified, Actionable, Profitable: Building a CDP Strategy for the Modern Dealership” from Mo Zahabi, AVP Product Consulting at Cox Automotive and Christina Rosenbach, Chief Customer Officer at Fullpath.
This session cut through the buzzwords to see how dealers are using unified customer data to grow share and retention and provided a practical framework for evaluating a CDP built specifically for auto retail.
2026 PWP Studio
2026 PWP Studio
Also on the DealterTech Live stage was the “Women In Dealerships Power Session!” sponsored by Solera. Ellen Braaf, Vice President of Account Management, Dealer Solutions at Solera and Jenna Smith, Vice President, Sales and Operations at Solera shared their personal and relevant anecdotal stories as women overcoming challenges in and around the industry.
2026 PWP Studio
Throughout both days in Detroit attendees had the chance to hear from leading voices from throughout the automotive industry and build real-world strategies to put to work the moment they got back to the dealership.
One highlight was “From Rankings to Recommendations: What 1,600 Automotive Searches Reveal About Winning Google AI Overviews—Plus Content Tips to Gert More Consistently Get Cited” from Dane Saville, Director of Brand Experience at SearchLab Digital.
Those in attendance gained a framework for aligning their website, content, Google Business Profile, and brand to increase the chances of being cited in Google AI Overviews and platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. As well as learned how often AI Overviews trigger for transactional, commercial, and informational automotive searches, and where dealerships have the greatest opportunity to be cited
2026 PWP Studio
Glenn Lundy also hosted a standalone session of his own titled: “Sell More Cars. Make More Money. The Current Goldrush that Exists in Automotive.” In the session he challenged conventional thinking about what it takes to win in today’s market and revealed where the greatest opportunities are hiding—and why selling more cars and making more money isn’t about chasing the next shiny object.
2026 PWP Studio
2026 PWP Studio
Back again was the fan favorite AI Hackathon, a thrilling competitive event where teams battled it out to create innovative AI-driven marketing solutions for the automotive industry. Under the guidance of leader Brent Wees and expert table captains, participants used cutting-edge AI tools to develop comprehensive marketing campaigns.
2026 PWP Studio
Digital Dealer had a groundbreaking partnership with Car Dealership Guy this year and CDG’s influence could be felt throughout the two-day event. There was the keynote, a CDG breakfast on day 2 with Yossi Levi and of course, the Car Dealership Guy Daily Dealer Live Show right from the show floor!
Sam D’Arc spoke with mutiple industry leaders at the show including: Adam Crowell, Chief Legal & Strategy Officer at KPA, Tustin Ulrich, General Manager at Roper Kia, Scott Traylor, Vice President of Sales at Mia and more! Watch a replay of the show here!
2026 PWP Studio
There was so much more impactful outcomes and wonderful moments that came out of Detroit this year so stay tuned for more DDCE2026 recap and photos in the coming weeks!
Thank you all for attending another great year of Digital Dealer! From our team, our speakers, our exhibitors and our attendees, everyone came together to make it a valuable and exceptional experience.