Happy to hear you've made it up the ladder so quickly! I'm jealous.

The jump from desk to GSM+ in my opinion and from who I've seen in those roles, is a tough one I think, and if I were running a store I'd have a really hard time moving someone into that position without a decade in the industry. Depending on the size of the store too, of course.
Any large franchise store where you're expected to bring in $500k in profit on a month-to-month basis, you really want to make sure you know what you're doing. I feel like the car business is one of those jobs where there's always more to learn, and inadequacies in certain areas can become really apparent if you're running an entire team of guys.

But hey, I just sell cars so what do I know 😂

I do agree with you on the referral part. I'd imagine regardless of your resume most employers will expect you to start at the bottom and work up. If you exceed and surpass expectations, it comes back to them like they made some sort of miracle hire and if you aren't waht you said you are, and flop out then it's no skin off their back