🚗 Beyond the 9 to 5

Welcome to Saturday, Friend!

We lost an American icon this week.

And in the days since Dolly Parton passed, we've been struck by just how much people adored and admired her.

She accomplished an almost absurd amount in 80 years. Thousands of songs. Grammys. Movies. Businesses. An entire theme park with her name on it.

And yet, what we hear most is people talking about how kind she was. How generous she was. The way she championed other people and stayed wonderfully, unmistakably herself through all of it.

Dolly didn't just do a lot in her life, she did a lot with her life.

May we all rack up a few Dolly-level accomplishments in our lifetime. But even more, may we leave people with Dolly-level stories to tell about who we were.

Keep Pushing Back,
—Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

_{Reading time: 3 min and 47 sec
First-time reader? Subscribe Here!}

Missed a day (or five)? Here's the gist of everything that mattered this week.

Used EV sales climbed more than 10% year over year in July, with supply outpacing used gas vehicle supply for the first time since February. Rising gas prices and growing lease-return inventory are quietly reshaping which used vehicles are actually moving fastest off dealer lots.

Trump escalated the Canada trade fight directly into automotive, threatening to double tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, and auto parts to 50% starting January 2027. The risk cuts both directions: U.S. and Canadian manufacturing is deeply integrated enough that a tariff meant to pressure Canada could just as easily stall American assembly lines depending on Canadian parts.

Polestar told U.S. dealers it never saw its U.S. market ban coming, even as Volvo, a corporate cousin building nearly the same car on the same production line, got approved. One New Jersey dealer's $25 million lawsuit tells a different story: that Polestar had already planned its exit and used the ban as cover. The timeline of Polestar's public confusion, arriving weeks after that lawsuit, makes neither version easy to take at face value.

Jack Demmer Ford became the first dealership in the country to complete a drone delivery of auto parts, running small critical items like O-rings and sensors between its Wayne, Michigan campus without fighting local traffic. Also that day: Honda's EVP said the company may skip building its eighth North American plant entirely without a USMCA extension, while Hyundai made the opposite bet, accelerating a $26 billion U.S. investment plan in the same uncertain environment.

Mark Miller Subaru launched a Carvana-style purchase path that lets buyers skip the salesperson entirely while keeping a human on call, Walmart's EV charging network hit 100 stations tied directly into its loyalty app, and Google's $10 million bid for Spirit Airlines' internal employee data is facing a legal fight from the airline's former workers over whether "anonymized" really means anonymous.

A shopper can learn a whole lot about your dealership without ever becoming a lead.

Chad Graves, CRO at Reunion Marketing, joins Auto Collabs to explore what that means for the marketing numbers dealers have relied on for years. As AI handles more research upstream, lead volume tells a smaller piece of the story.

The conversation gets into what deserves more attention now, including the dealership stories AI can find, interpret, and eventually repeat to shoppers.

Watch the full episode before your next marketing review.

There’s a section inside your Google Business Profile built for promotion, and most dealers barely touch it.

Michael Cirillo breaks down how dealers can use Updates to feature fresh inventory with quick salesperson videos. No studio setup. No script. Just useful content placed where shoppers are already looking.

Steal the format, hand it to your sales team, and put the next vehicle video somewhere it can work harder.

If you had a six-figure regional ad budget, where would you put it?

Paul, Kyle, and Michael take turns answering that question with ideas dealers could actually use in their own communities.

Catch the full episode to snag an idea for your own market.

Lamborghini has officially entered the stroller business, and naturally, it costs more than some used cars.

The Silver Cross x Lamborghini Reef AL Giallo is priced at $4,999 and limited to just 500 units worldwide. It comes trimmed in automotive-grade leather and Alcantara, with bright yellow stitching, exposed suspension springs, and a brake pedal styled after Lamborghini’s cars.

There are practical touches too: multi-terrain wheels, full suspension, rain covers, a sun sail, cup holder, and mosquito net. Each stroller also gets a numbered plaque, because even diaper duty deserves provenance.

The practical takeaway here is pure luxury logic. Parents already spend on comfort and convenience. Add scarcity, craftsmanship, and a badge with emotional pull, and suddenly the stroller becomes part baby gear, part lifestyle statement.