TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
Dealers have never lost money in 50 years. Not once.
That's the chart Automotive Ventures' Steve Greenfield opened with at Amplify 2026, and it set up a real question: is AI about to push that streak permanently higher, or does the industry just drift back to the mean like it always has?
Also in today's email:
Why the sale isn't the finish line, live insight from NAMAD 2026 on what actually keeps a customer for the life of an 84-month loan
GM's $4.5 billion move to protect its own supply chain, and Hyundai and Kia's dual bet on volume and affordability
The wholesale and jobs numbers worth knowing this week, plus a $100K jump in used Porsche prices
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
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Dealers Have Never Lost Money in 50 Years. AI Might Be the Reason That Streak Gets Even Better.
Automotive Ventures' Steve Greenfield opened a keynote panel at Reynolds and Reynolds' Amplify 2026 with a fifty-year chart: the average American dealer has never lost money in a single year.
The question on stage was whether AI creates a permanent step up from the historical 1.5%-2.5% profit range, or whether the industry just drifts back toward the mean like always.
We're like cockroaches. We're resilient. We keep changing, and you have to adapt.
Three dealers showed three different answers. Jeff Swickard's stores price over 80% of used inventory with AI, lifting volume 20%, with an auto-replenishment system now buying auction vehicles with zero human touch.
Howard Henneman is holding the line that "cars are sold, not bought," no AI has replaced the person closing the deal. John Keoughan swapped bulk texting for personalized outreach and nearly doubled his open rates.
None of them are using AI to cut headcount.
They're using it to make the people already on payroll generate more per person than ever. Whether that adds up to an industry-wide new normal, or just an edge for whoever moves fastest, is the real question.
From Outbound Text to Signed Deal
What usually happens when an after-hours lead comes in? It waits for the morning BDC shift.
With 24/7/365 coverage from Mia, it doesn't. Here's what happened when Mia got this lead instead:
📲 Sent a personalized text within seconds
📞 Handled the customer’s callback
✅ Confirmed vehicle inventory & booked the appointment
The next day, the customer showed up, traded in his car, and drove off in his new ride. From after-hours lead to a signed deal, powered by AI.
Book a demo to see how Mia can cover your after hours.
Your Customer Relationship Doesn't Start at Delivery. It Starts After.
Live from NAMAD 2026, CarRx president Shane Wilson told Paul and Kyle that with auto loans stretching toward 84 months, the sale is the opening handshake, not the finish line.
Consider this today
Introduce every buyer to the service department before they leave the lot, and track repeat RO visits instead of email opens, the first service visit is the one that determines whether a customer builds a habit with you or with someone else.
Kyle's addition is the real math: a retained customer is nearly free to keep versus what it costs to acquire a new one, which should change how a store spends its marketing budget entirely.
Also From NAMAD 2026:
GM Locks Down $4.5B to Protect Its Own Supply Chain
GM struck a unique parts-financing deal with a bank syndicate to prepay suppliers on rare or critical components, keeping inventory costs off its books while insuring against the chip and rare-earth shortages that have rattled the industry for years.
Hyundai and Kia Are Both Betting Big on Volume and Affordability
Hyundai plans 36 new or redesigned vehicles by 2030 as part of a $26 billion U.S. push, while sibling brand Kia just launched its EV3 electric SUV starting at $29,890, the clearest sign yet the Hyundai Motor Group is chasing both breadth and price.
This Week's Numbers to Know
Black Book
Auction conversion climbed to 58%, up 4 points, even as wholesale depreciation accelerated to -0.57%, more than double the seasonal norm. Real buying window right now.
Minivans cratered, down 1.39% in a week, worst since 2023.
Incentives fell $270/unit to $3,192, dealers holding margin despite July sales missing at 16.3M SAAR.
Hybrid share hit 21.8%, up from 13.3% a year ago.
July payrolls fell 23K against an expected 80K gain; labor force participation hit a 50-year low.
🚘 Car Stuff
Nigeria approved tax waivers for nearly 4,000 EVs this year, but a national grid serving 200 million people is forcing dealers to rely on diesel generators.
EV transaction prices rose for the first time since December as automakers shrink discounts, now averaging $56,126, over $6,000 above the industry as a whole.
A three-year-old used Porsche 911 now costs nearly $100,000 more than in 2019, the biggest jump of any vehicle in a new luxury-pricing study.
💰 Not Car Stuff
Sheep's wool is showing promise as a bone-regeneration material. Scientists extracted keratin from wool and used it to help regenerate more naturally organized bone in animal testing than traditional collagen scaffolds, a genuinely sustainable use for an agricultural byproduct.
92% of U.S. adults say they've delayed or skipped medical care over cost, according to a new survey, with 18-to-28-year-olds the most likely group to put off treatment they need.
Google apologized after a customer's purchased "Lord of the Rings" movies vanished from his digital library, initially refusing a refund before admitting the denial was based on incorrect information.
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1899: Director Alfred Hitchcock, the "Master of Suspense" behind films like Psycho and Vertigo, was born in London.
1960: NASA's Echo 1 satellite relayed the first two-way telephone conversation via space, a major early milestone in satellite communications.
2016: Michael Phelps wins his 23rd and final Olympic gold medal, capping the most decorated career in Olympic history.
