TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
Nearly half of dealers expect profits to dip this year. Most still expect their store values to hold or climb over the next three. Both of those are true at once, and today's issue is about the gap between them.
Also in today's email:
Where dealer profit is actually shifting, and whether your store's numbers match the industry's
Why Toyota's $3.6 billion bet is bigger than one factory
A few quick hits from the store floor to the customer's wallet
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
Reading time: 3 min and 23 sec
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Dealers Are Nervous About Next Year and Confident About the Next Three
pexel
A new survey of 269 dealer executives shows short-term profit fears rising while long-term confidence in store values holds steady.
Nearly half of dealers surveyed by The Presidio Group expect profits to decline over the next year, while most still expect their store values to hold or climb over the next three years.
Profit focus is shifting toward departments dealers control more directly: 80% cited parts and service as a top driver, 57% cited F&I. Buy-sell appetite remains strong, with 64% interested in buying stores and 78% expecting values to stay stable or rise.
❝ Not all brands are equal. ❝
If profit really is shifting toward fixed ops and F&I industry-wide, that's worth checking against your own store's actual numbers rather than assuming it's already true for you.
🎙️ Want the full conversation?
Listen to today's Automotive State of the Union episode for the complete discussion, additional context, and the conversations that shaped our perspective.
The Calendar Built for Car People
If you always find yourself asking, "What’s the next auto event I should attend?" we’ve built something just for you.
Retail Auto Events puts the industry's conferences, webinars, trainings, and meetups in one searchable calendar. No more bouncing between websites or hearing about an event after it happened. Browse what's ahead, read recaps, and sync the calendar so you never miss the next gathering.
Toyota Is Bringing Tacoma Production Home.
pexel
Toyota will move Tacoma pickup production to its San Antonio, Texas campus from Mexico, part of a $3.6 billion investment adding 2,000 jobs.
The move sidesteps ongoing uncertainty around U.S.-Mexico trade policy on one of the country's best-selling trucks.
It won't change anything on your lot tomorrow. It's still worth knowing about before a customer asks.
$3.6 billion total investment
2,000 new jobs in San Antonio
Factory footprint doubling by 2030
Slate's $25K Truck Proves Its Own Point by Skipping Canada Entirely.
Slate
Slate's minimalist electric pickup starts at $24,950 in the U.S.
It won't be sold in Canada, where 25% tariffs on its Indiana-built trucks would erase the exact number the whole pitch depends on.
A pricing story built around one hero number is only as strong as whatever protects that number.
🚘 At The Store
Rivian's stock fell 9% after the company launched a 75-million-share offering to help fund a Department of Energy loan, even after forecasting Q2 revenue above analyst estimates.
Canada and China struck a deal letting in up to 49,000 Chinese EVs a year at reduced tariffs, in exchange for relief on Canadian canola and pork exports.
Stellantis opened orders for the Fiat Topolino, a $13,995 electric "quadricycle" capped at 19 mph (25 with a conversion kit).
💰 In The Customer's Wallet
Walmart is cutting prices on thousands of items as inflation keeps household budgets tight.
Trump Accounts launched over the holiday weekend, giving eligible children a $1,000 federal seed deposit and Wall Street a fresh pool of future investors.
Giant Eagle is set to join Kroger in a $1.65B acquisition covering 197 supermarkets and 11 pharmacies.
📀 On The Tech Stack
The FAA has proposed new rules that would legalize supersonic flight across America.
Illinois signed into law the Artificial Intelligence Safety Measures Act this week establishing new governance and transparency requirements for the largest developers of advanced AI models.
Anthropic's Claude Cowork AI agent is now available on mobile and web.
1776: The Liberty Bell rings at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, calling citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. 🔔
1889: The first issue of The Wall Street Journal is published. 📰
1948: The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into the Women in the Air Force (WAF) program. ✈️
