🚗 Dealers: affordability is shifting the market. Here’s how to respond

We’re so close to ASOTU CON 2026, Fam!

Every show has a focus. Ours is the dealer.

The stages, the panels, the speakers, the sponsors, even the swag. It’s all built to bring expert operators together so they can drive more profit, reach more customers, and grow stronger stores.

It’s simple. Easy to overcomplicate, but simple.

We’re not here for the automaker, the technologists, or the AI crowd. They’re welcome.
But we’re here for the dealers.

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

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Affordability, energy, and policy are all showing up in how cars get built, priced, and sold

Automakers are sitting on more EV battery capacity than the market can absorb right now. That’s pushing a shift toward energy storage, but it’s not a quick fix. Converting factories can take over a year and cost hundreds of millions, and even with rising demand from data centers and grid storage, it won’t fully soak up the excess.

At the same time, Tesla has already built a lead here. Its energy storage business is growing fast and, in some cases, outperforming its vehicle side.

Alongside that, Rivian is showing what the next step could look like. It’s using retired EV batteries to power its Illinois plant, storing about 10 MWh of energy and reducing its reliance on the grid during peak hours.

As Kyle and Michael put it, this starts to answer a question the industry has been asking for years: what happens to these batteries when they come out of the car?

Now we’re seeing the beginning of that answer, and it looks a lot like a second life, not an endpoint.

Nissan made it clear this week that it cannot move production of key entry-level models like Sentra and Kicks to the U.S. without breaking affordability. A 25% tariff on Mexican imports changes the math too much, and those vehicles are core to staying competitive under $30,000.

CarMax is leaning further into older, higher-mileage vehicles, now about 35% of its inventory, while working with more stretched buyers and expanding credit access.

Investors didn’t love it. The stock dropped 14% after earnings.

But the move itself tells the story.

“There’s so much profitability in higher-priced vehicles,” Michael said. “When you go lower price and take on more credit risk, that’s where questions start.”

And still, the shift is happening.

“If I’m a dealer, I’m just trying to match inventory to where the customer actually is.”

Volume is sitting lower on the price curve, even if margin prefers it higher.

That lines up with broader resale trends, where more than half of secondhand buyers eventually move into new vehicles from the same brand, reinforcing used as the entry point, not the fallback.

Ineos Automotive is pushing for 30% to 35% growth in the U.S. and exploring local production to avoid tariffs. What stands out is the approach. This isn’t an EV-first startup chasing scale at any cost. It’s focused on profitability, controlled growth, and a clear niche.

At the same time, the autonomy conversation is shifting toward scale. Tesla, Waymo, and Uber are emerging as the leaders, not just because of the tech, but because of their ability to operate networks, manage fleets, and meet demand in real time.

The race is less about building the future and more about running it.