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š Credit Tightens
š Auto Collabs and Actually Selling Cars

TOGETHER WITH
Itās here!
Today, dealers, collaborators, and automotive fanatics from around the WORLD will begin converging in Maryland for ASOTU CON 2025.
Keep an eye on LinkedIn and check in with the daily email this week for content from the ground.
Keep Pushing Back,
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi
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News to Know

š Slateās $20K EV Pickup Hits 100K Reservations
Customizable cheap EV truck? America said āYes, please.ā
Slate Auto just hit 100K reservations for its $19K-ish electric pickup (after tax credit). The kicker? It took two weeksāand just a $50 refundable deposit. Bezos-backed, startup-hyped, and promising to churn out 150K trucks a year by 2027, Slateās making noise. Bonus: the truck morphs into an SUV (Transformer style).
Dealer Download:
Could undercut everything in the entry-level spaceāif they actually build it.
Donāt bet the farm yet; weāve seen this movie (Lordstown, Fisker⦠anyone?).
Keep an eye out, especially if you're in the budget truck game.
š§ Nissanās Job Cuts Might Double
5.4% sales bump, $5.3B lossānow thatās a party trick.
Nissan may axe 20,000 jobs globallyātwice what they originally said. Losses are stacking, and incentives are doing the heavy lifting in U.S. showrooms. Meanwhile, their āsell at a loss, win a bonusā Nissan One program is still live.
Dealer Download:
Expect short-term chaos = factory delays, tighter allocations.
More spiffs are likelyābut margins might vanish in the process.
Nissan store? Buckle up.
š April Credit Access: Tighter, But Not Terrible
More approvals, but subprime? Not invited.
Dealertrack says Aprilās credit index dipped slightly. Approvals rose, but subprime lending fell off a cliff. Captives pulled back hardest; auto-finance cos opened up (just a smidge).
Dealer Download:
Fewer subprime approvals = tougher closes.
Longer terms creeping up = shoppers stretching budgets.
Train up F&Iāevery basis point counts.
š BYDās Brazil Factory Hits the Brakes
Labor probe + tropical rain = 2026 launch.
BYDās Brazil gigafactory wonāt be fully running until late 2026. The EV giant will start with imported kits next year. Goal: 150K EVs annually, built on former Ford turf.
Dealer Download:
No U.S. ripple yet, but BYDās long game is real.
Watch their battery movesātheyāre locking up lithium like itās gold.
šŗšø Fordās Employee Pricing WorksāBut Tariffs Are Creeping In
150K cars sold since April. God bless America⦠and discounts.
Fordās āFrom America, For Americaā deal = employee pricing for all. But incoming tariffs mean price hikes are hitting Mexico-made models (Maverick, Bronco Sport) soon.
Dealer Download:
Sell the patriot deal hardāthrough July 4.
Push now, price hikes land by late June.
EV buyers? Free charger + 8-year battery = tasty close.
š„ Quick Hits
How Dealers Actually Sell Cars
Letās be honestā¦
Dealers donāt need another tool.
They need a better way to actually sell cars. Enter Space Auto: the unified platform that wraps your website, digital retail, and CRM into one sleek, lightning-fast package. Fewer plugins, more deals, happier customers. Itās giving ease, speed, and control, and itās giving dealers their time back (like, 2.3 hours per day).
Weāre hyped to have Nick Askew, John Sukowaty, and Michael Wood joining the āSEO to GEOā panel at ASOTU CON 2025 to break down what really drives traffic and conversions.
Donāt miss it:
Studio One
Day 2: May 15, 2025 @ 1:45 pm - 2:15 pm
This aināt theory. Itās whatās next.
TECHNOLOGY
The 88% Problem
David Steinberg returns with the data-driven truth bomb that 88% of your leads might be telling you something you're ignoringāand it's costing you more than sales.
David Steinberg is backāand heās not holding back. From his childhood days as a SAG card-carrying actor to founding FourEyes, David brings a mix of storytelling charm and ruthless data clarity to this episode. He dives deep into why dealers are drowning in leads but still missing sales, how bad CRMs are sabotaging great salespeople, and why marketing might be the most over-served segment in auto retail.
The conversation unpacks the dangerous comfort of ācherry-pickingā leads, the myth that more traffic solves sales slumps, and the growing power of consumers in a reputation-driven market. With smart takes on AI, CRM failures, and why your sales process matters more than your ad budget, David makes it clear: the waterās rising in automotive retail, and itās time to fix the foundation.
š Today in History
1986: The Jeep Wrangler goes on sale. šŖ
1950: The inaugural Formula One World Championship race takes place at Silverstone Circuit. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina, who would go on to become the inaugural champion that year. šļø
1958: Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, travelled over 11,000 miles by sea and 39,000 miles by land during a ten-year journey. šø
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