TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
In 1922, when horse-drawn carriages were still a common sight, Peter Monaco opened a garage in Glastonbury, Connecticut. More than a century later, his great-grandchildren Chrissy and Mike run Monaco Ford, a Ford store since 1957, on the same simple philosophy: "Consumer first. Community first."
They host drives for veterans, families, and kids all year, and Mike, an Iraq veteran, was inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame this year. As Chrissy jokes, "We like to sell and fix cars, too!"
In today's email...
Ford launches the industry's first certified pre-owned program for commercial trucks and vans
Nissan wants hybrids to be its main powertrain by 2030, and Smyrna could get its third shift back
Related: Ford's pigeon-chasing hawk and GM's long game on EVs
Quick hits on Toyota's August slide, OpenAI's always-on agents, and the world's oldest peace treaty
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
First-time reader? Subscribe Here!
Ford Is Giving Work Truck Buyers a Certified Used Option
Picture a landscaper whose van just crossed 150,000 miles, pricing out a replacement while diesel sits above $6 a gallon. New feels out of reach, and a random used truck feels like a risk. That's the customer Ford is building for.
Starting in October, Ford Pro will sell certified pre-owned Class 1 through 7 trucks and vans through more than 700 Ford Pro Commercial Vehicle Centers. Ford says the program, called Ford Pro Advantage, is the first of its kind in the industry.
"We know with the affordability squeeze right now with increased fuel prices, every dollar matters to these customers," said Ford Pro President Alicia Boler Davis.
Gold tier | Blue tier | |
|---|---|---|
Eligible vehicles | Ford-brand, under 5 years and 80,000 miles | Any brand, up to 9 years and 150,000 miles |
Inspection | 172 points | 139 points |
Warranty | 7-year/100,000-mile powertrain | 90-day comprehensive |
Both tiers include roadside assistance, special financing, and mobile service access. Ford plans to source most inventory from 2- and 3-year-old vehicles coming off commercial rental and fleet use.
Why does the timing work?
Used truck values are softening. Black Book says full-size pickups posted another week of wholesale declines above 1%, with diesel-equipped heavy-duty trucks under particular pressure from fuel prices. Ford is also modeling the program on its retail CPO effort, which is on pace for 450,000 sales this year.
Working buyers need their trucks no matter what diesel costs. A certified used option gives them a way to keep working without stretching for new.
Ask Your Data Your Hardest (or Strangest?) Questions
"Which of my salespeople close more aged inventory on rainy days?"
No human is building you that report.
But the answer is sitting in your connected data, unasked.
Foureyes is doing something super cool by letting you ask these types of questions directly in Claude and get the answer you want, in any report, dashboard, or format you want.
Ask your hardest questions, and get the answers you thought you'd never see.
Jump over to www.foureyes.io/mcp to learn more.
Nissan Wants Hybrids to Be Its Main Powertrain by 2030
Kyle lives about 25 minutes from Nissan's Smyrna, Tennessee, plant, and he says locals talk a lot about when its third shift might come back. On Tuesday's show, Nissan gave them a reason to hope.
Nissan Americas Chairman Christian Meunier said hybrids will likely become the brand's primary powertrain in North America by 2030. The plan includes building the Rogue e-Power in Smyrna by 2028, adding an e-Power Kicks, and rolling out US-built V6 hybrids across a new line of trucks and SUVs.
Why does Smyrna matter so much?
The plant can build 600,000 vehicles a year and is making about 400,000. Filling it would likely mean that third shift, and Kyle pointed out those jobs ripple outward through the suppliers clustered nearby. His read on the strategy: Nissan is finally copying Toyota's homework, which is exactly what it needed to do.
For Nissan dealers, use the next 18 months to learn e-Power well enough to explain it in one sentence.
Ford's most valuable employee in Mexico might be a hawk.
After fake predator eyes failed and the first hawk flew off with a new friend, a Harris's hawk named El Charro took over pigeon patrol at Ford's Hermosillo plant in July 2025.
He's logged more than 300 flights and cut bird activity by roughly 80%, and workers regularly line up for photos with him.
Paul's takeaway: there's nothing cooler than a business pet.
GM won't "whipsaw" on EVs.
Speaking at Automotive News Congress, GM President Mark Reuss said the automaker is "in it for the long haul" even after $11B in EV-related charges over the past year.
He pointed to new V8 and diesel engines for the Silverado and Sierra as proof GM builds what customers want.
His comments come a day after new fuel economy rules that the government estimates will save automakers $1,289 per vehicle while adding more than $1,600 in lifetime fuel costs for drivers.
Toyota's global sales fell for a second straight month, down 6.4% in August, as U.S. sales dropped 4.4% and China fell 22.8%, its seventh straight monthly decline.
OpenAI launched Dots, always-on AI agents inside ChatGPT that can connect to more than 4,000 apps and keep working in the background, starting with Pro and Business Premium subscribers.
Archaeologists in Turkey identified a new fragment of the world's oldest peace treaty, signed after Ramses II's armies fought the Hittites in what may have been history's largest chariot battle.
1846: A Boston dentist named William Morton pulls a tooth using ether, one of the first recorded uses of anesthesia.
1927: Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the season, a record that would stand for 34 years.
1935: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Hoover Dam.
Thanks for reading, Friend! ICYMI, ASOTU CON West is coming up fast! One-day event in LA. See you there, fam!
