Capital Auto Group

A Family-First Dealership Approach

This leading automotive group is building Careers, not Just headcount

Walk through any Capital Auto Group store and the first thing you’ll notice isn’t a piece of equipment or a digital kiosk. It’s tenure. People know each other, love working as a team and they stick around. In a labor market where employees “vote with their feet,” Capital’s people keep voting to stay.

“We’re a family—on good days and hard days,” says long-time leader Ronnie. “There’s not a lot of ego here. Our creed is simple: employee and customer satisfaction. Everything else follows.”

That culture starts with owner Tim Michael, whose name comes up in every story—quietly, persistently. “He makes sure we stay humble and true,” Ronnie adds. “Our company has a soul, and that soul is Tim.”

The Operational Picture

Capital Auto Group is one of the Southeast’s most established auto retailers, with flagship operations like Capital Ford Raleigh and a growing footprint across North Carolina. The service department at Capital Ford alone tops 100 people; the overall dealership runs about 375–400 employees, and the broader group accounts for over 2,000 dedicated employees.

Although Capital Auto Group boasts a large and loyal employee base, it is the time that some of its employees have given to the thriving organization that tells the story. Ronne notes that across the group, 89 employees have more than 20 years of service, 105 have 10–15 years, and 230 have 6–10 years.

At Capital Ford Raleigh specifically, 55 people have 20+ years with the dealership, he elaborates. Several leaders on today’s team have been here three and four decades. One laughs that he’s been asked when he’ll retire. “What will I do tomorrow?” Michael jokes. “I can’t fish every day.”

A Culture People Feel

It’s in the details, both Micheal and Ronnie highlight; birthdays get balloons, cookouts happen often and the staff are offered T-shirts because a manager wants people to have nice gear—and look like a team.

“We’re sounding boards, not just managers,” Ronnie says. “If someone’s not right at home, they won’t be right at work. There’s a person behind every number.”

That care shows up in small moments—and in big ones. When long-time employees pass away, families sometimes choose Capital apparel for the service. Two were buried with their 10-year awards. One humble delivery driver’s funeral was quietly covered by Mr. Michael. “He doesn’t want anyone to know those stories,” Ronnie says, “but they’re why our tenure is what it is.”

Career Planning You Can Touch

Capital talks about careers on Day One. Not hypothetically—step by step. Today’s early-career hires want to see the ladder, and the company lays it out, Ronnie explains.

“We tell people where we started and the path we took,” Ronnie says. “I show them our tenure as a selling point. If you’re 25 and ambitious, our long-timers mean something else: mobility’s coming. People do retire—eventually.”

Promotion from within is the default, not the exception. Delivery drivers become parts wholesalers. Warehouse staff become assistant parts managers, then managers. Deal auditors and billing clerks in the corporate office grow into junior accounting managers, then run the books for their own stores.

On the technical side, apprentices become Senior Master technicians and team leaders. And leadership? It’s homegrown. Dean started in a co-op with Wake Tech in 1980, became a shop foreman at 24—over technicians twice his age—and now runs one of the largest service operations in the region. “Hard work, worth it,” he says. “We built the bench.”

Loyalty goes both ways. “When we lose an employee, Mr. Michael feels like we’ve let that person down,” Ronnie says. “Even if they left for a great chance, we ask what we could have done better.”

Workforce Development: Three Strong Pipelines

When it comes to workforce initiatives Capital Auto Group has driven success. Ronnie notes that the workforce question is addressed in three primary ways that included Apprenticeships with Wake Tech Community College (and beyond).

Capital’s partnership with Wake Tech—one of the nation’s largest community colleges—runs deep, especially through Ford ASSET. The group is already sponsoring five ASSET students for next year, months before the cohort fills. “Competitors ask how that’s possible,” Dean says. “It’s years of showing up, funding programs, hiring events, and delivering careers that last.”

The state also funds accounting apprenticeships, which the group taps to grow corporate finance talent while apprentices complete their degrees.

As a second workforce approach, after a set tenure, corporate employees can pursue a bachelor’s or master’s at Strayer University tuition-free while they work. The result: a steady stream of motivated people earning credentials and promotions in house.

Thirdly, Capital Auto Group focuses on military recruitment. Ronnie highlights that North Carolina is a military state—Fort Liberty (Bragg), Camp Lejeune, Pope AFB—and Capital has a dedicated recruiter cultivating relationships on base and through the SkillBridge/transition ecosystem.

“We love hiring military talent,” Ronnie says. “They know teams. They know standards. They want a mission.”

The Result: People Who Stay—and Grow

Tenure isn’t nostalgia here; it’s capacity. It’s why Capital can commit to balanced schedules and time off (even if it’s difficult to manage in a 100-person service shop). It’s why a shop foreman of 20 years can mentor a 22-year-old apprentice and see himself in the kid. And it’s why customers get a consistent experience—people who know the product, the process, and each other.

“Everyone wants our technicians, our parts people,” Ronnie says. “Recruiters call all the time. Our folks pick up—and then they stay. That’s culture.”

Innovation Without the Buzzwords

Curtis, a 20-year Capital veteran on the variable side, frames the technology ethos this way: “Mr. Michael expects us to be on the cutting edge. That doesn’t mean chasing shiny objects. It means trying new ways to serve customers—and learning from the ones that don’t stick.”

Post-pandemic, when buyers flocked online, Capital launched a standalone e-commerce company—a full digital storefront with home delivery. “It was a big swing,” Curtis says. “As habits normalized, we decided the standalone model wasn’t the future. But it wasn’t a failure. We took what worked—processes, tooling, consumer expectations—and pulled it back into the stores.”

That “test, learn, integrate” loop runs constantly. Curtis spends his weeks at conferences and on demos with vendors. So does Mr. Michael. “Half the time, he’s sending me new companies before I hear about them,” Curtis laughs. “Our job is to figure out what actually improves the customer’s experience—and our team’s.”

Where the Industry’s Headed (and Where Capital Already Is)

If there’s a single bet, it’s this: omni-channel. Not in the marketing cliché sense, but in the operational one.

“We can’t decide for our customers how they want to do business,” Curtis says. “Some want to start online and finish in-store. Some want to do everything in person, but text with us for updates. Some want a fully digital path—until the last five minutes. Our job is to meet people where they are—seamlessly.”

That means investing in the tech stack—but also in training and process so sales, service, parts, F&I, and BDC teams can switch channels without dropping the ball. It’s less about a single platform than it is about building teams who are fluent in many.

Customer Satisfaction: The Other Half of the Creed

Employee satisfaction isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the first half of Capital’s two-part creed. The second is customer satisfaction. The link is obvious. Tenured teams deliver faster, smoother experiences. Apprentices paired with masters fix it right the first time. Corporate pathways keep finance and accounting operations clean and responsive. A culture of trying—and measuring—new ideas gives customers more ways to say “yes.”

Even the experiments that didn’t become permanent products left useful residue: stronger digital retailing tools, tighter logistics for off-site delivery, a clearer picture of what customers actually want. “We pivoted, we integrated, we grew,” Curtis says. “That’s the point.”

Why People Choose Capital (and Stay)

Because careers are planned, not promised. Because leadership is visible and human. Because the company funds your growth—whether it’s Strayer tuition, an ASSET sponsorship, or a SkillBridge placement. Because the organization’s first reflex isn’t “policy”; it’s “person.”

And because the shop floor jokes and the corporate balloons aren’t surface acts. They’re signals of something deeper: a place where you can do serious work, with people who take that work—and each other—seriously.

“I’ve had opportunities to go elsewhere,” Ronnie says. “I never entertained them. Our company has a soul. You don’t walk away from that.”

AT A GLANCE:

Name: Capital Auto Group

What: A leading group of highly successful car dealerships that focus on supporting their employees, treating them like family and taking the steps to add new talent to its pipeline.

Where: Dealerships across North Carolina

Website: capitalautogroup.com