AI Search Is Rewarding Transparent Dealers. Are You One?
AI search engines are increasingly citing objective, auditable pricing data over customer reviews when answering "where should I buy a car." Most dealers doing things right are already positioned to win that visibility, they just haven't checked the boxes yet.
🚙 A 70-store dealer group just admitted out loud that they're "a data company that sells cars," and we can't stop thinking about it. Also today: China's quietly running the R&D show for half the industry, Ram's out here carrying Stellantis on its back, and we sat down with someone who thinks your next ad should stop talking about money.
Retail Workers Are Happier Than You'd Guess. Was Auto Retail Even Counted?
A new workforce study shows retail employees near the top for shift happiness, driven by autonomy and predictable schedules rather than pay. Nobody can confirm auto retail was actually part of the sample.
Ken Garff Just Proved Data Infrastructure Isn't Optional
A 70-store dealer group rebuilt its data backbone and immediately clawed back 400 hours of employee time a month. That's a number every dealer group can benchmark against.
For decades, Detroit exported its engineering to China. Now GM, Volkswagen, and Renault are increasingly sending the hardest problems there first, and letting the answers flow back.
🚙 A new dealer survey shows short-term profit fear paired with long-term confidence, and where the smart money is already moving. Also today: Toyota bets big on staying close to home, and Slate proves a pricing story is only as strong as whatever protects the number.
Slate's $25K Truck Proves Its Own Point by Skipping Canada Entirely
A record share of buyers are signing 84-month loans to make today's payment work. Dealers are the ones who'll feel it when those customers don't come back.
84-Month Loans Aren't a Payment Solution. They're a Can Being Kicked.
A record share of buyers are signing 84-month loans to make today's payment work. Dealers are the ones who'll feel it when those customers don't come back.
Dealers Are Nervous About Next Year and Confident About the Next Three
A new survey of 269 dealer executives shows short-term profit fears rising while long-term confidence in store values holds steady. That split is worth understanding before reading either number alone.
The Number One Reason Shoppers Skip EVs Doesn't Match the Data Anymore
A five-year-old Tesla Model 3 with 247,000 miles recently completed a 260-mile road trip across England without stopping to charge. That's not a lab result. That's a car that's been driven hard for years, still performing.
