🚗 Cleveland?

Howdy Fam!

We’re one more day closer to ASOTU CON and with it, excellent sessions with excellent folks.

Just look at this list:

This is just part of the speaker list. Grab your ticket and come join the conversation.

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

_{Reading time: 4 min and 31 sec
First-time reader? Subscribe Here!}

Carvana’s latest dealership acquisition adds a seventh CDJR rooftop, this time in the Cleveland area, and continues a pattern that has been steady since early 2025.

Seven stores across one OEM group is not accidental. It reflects availability, pricing, and timing. CDJR rooftops have been more accessible in today’s buy-sell market, often trading below broader dealership averages. At the same time, Stellantis’ new policy limiting acquisitions to one per year may slow further expansion inside the brand.

But the bigger signal is operational.

These stores are not just retail endpoints. They create local distribution, reconditioning capacity, service lanes, and access to new and off-lease inventory. That infrastructure is difficult and expensive to build from scratch.

This looks less like a shift into “being a dealer” and more like tightening control over the full lifecycle of inventory.

Seven stores are not a scale yet. But it is enough to test a system.

The question: Is Carvana building a dealer group, or reinforcing its core machine?

Amazon Autos is now live in more than 130 cities, with multiple brands and vehicle types on the platform.

Adoption is growing. Results are mixed.

Some dealers report selling only one or two vehicles per month through the platform. Others have seen short-term lifts tied to incentives or increased promotion.

That gap highlights where the platform sits today.

Nearly 70% of buyers say they purchased from a dealership they hadn’t previously considered, and a similar share plan to return for service.

That matters. Even low transaction volume can still generate incremental business.

This behaves more like a discovery engine than a replacement for your current sales process.

For now, most stores are treating Amazon as a lead source. Not a primary channel.

Two developments this week show how uneven EV demand has become.

GM is delaying development of its next-generation electric trucks, pushing timelines closer to 2030 as it reallocates investment toward hybrids and ICE platforms.

At the same time, Volvo is ramping production of its new EX60 electric SUV after demand exceeded expectations, with plans to build up to 40,000 units this year.

Same category. Different outcomes.

The difference is where the customer is ready.

This is not a pullback from electrification. It is a shift toward aligning product with real demand.

Inventory strategy is getting more complex, not less. The mix matters more than the headline.

Kia unveiled the Vision Meta Turismo, an electric sports car concept that leans into performance and immersive in-cabin technology.

The design includes augmented reality displays, gaming-style controls, and multiple driving modes that change how the vehicle feels and responds.

It is not headed to showrooms tomorrow. But that is not the point.

Concept vehicles like this shape expectations. They give customers a sense of where design, technology, and experience are going next.

Buying used EVs takes more than just looking at miles and condition.

Plug brings the details into view that dealers actually need, like battery health, charging network access, and software-enabled features that can affect value and ownership.

That kind of information changes how you buy.

You’ll find Plug at the Recharge Lounge during ASOTU CON.

Stop by and see how they’re helping dealers make smarter EV decisions.