🚗 Ford’s Big May, Amazon Bails, Meta Bets AI

🚙 Cut Shuttle Costs and Boost CSI?

June 04, 2025

TOGETHER WITH

Howdy Fam!

We've got news, and you've got a day to get to, so let's start.

  • Cox Automotive Inc. dropped a weekly update that ALMOST makes us want to dust off the cliche "emotional rollercoaster."

  • Ford is showing off its brilliant new revelation: You sell more things if they cost less.

  • If you've never had an Alexa device, you may be heartbroken to hear Stellantis and Amazon have scrapped their SmartCockpit project. If you have ever found yourself screaming "Alexa, volume down!" you may be pretty ok with the news.

There's plenty more to dig into below, so check it out and go make the most of your day. 👇

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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Ford’s Mighty May, Cox Cooling Forecast, and Stellantis + Amazon = Nah

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Ford crushed it in May, reporting a 16.3% year-over-year sales increase. The gains were driven by a 29% spike in hybrids and strong demand for ICE vehicles (+17%). While EV sales slipped 25%, Ford’s “From America, For America” employee pricing campaign clearly struck a chord. The program continues through July 4th, and dealers are seeing the results.

But don’t expect that momentum to last forever. Cox Automotive forecasts a cooling period ahead. After a tariff-driven buying frenzy in March and April, Cox expects May’s SAAR to settle around 16 million, down from April’s 17.3 million pace. That’s still healthy, but it signals a return to a more typical demand curve. Vehicle purchase intent is rising, and household balance sheets are strong, but inflation, pricing, and rate sensitivity remain friction points.

And in the tech corner, Amazon and Stellantis are officially breaking up. The SmartCockpit project — meant to bring Alexa-enabled, AI-personalized dashboards to millions of Stellantis vehicles — has been shelved. For dealers, that means a reset in Stellantis' in-cabin tech strategy, and more opportunity for you to guide confused customers through what is available today.

We’ve got more on these and several other stories in our Daily Digest.

🥊 Quick Hits

  • In case Canva is just too easy, Adobe just released Photoshop free for Android. 📸 

  • Most Americans are aware of the tariff talks, but 40% have made no change to their spending habits. 🛒 

  • An “AI” company has filed for bankruptcy after being exposed as a 700-member team of Indian engineers. No robots at all. 🤷 

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TECHNOLOGY

Meta’s AI Ad Ambitions

Meta plans to fully automate ad creation with AI by the end of 2026, letting brands feed in a product image and instantly generate a full ad campaign, personalized in real time based on location. That’s a big shift from today’s AI tools that only optimize existing creative.

What it means for dealers:

  • Lower costs: Small and mid-size stores may soon get agency-level ads without agency-level budgets.

  • Hyper-local targeting: Think dynamic visuals showing your car on your local streets, not just generic stock imagery.

  • More control—or less? Meta will own more of the process, which has some brands worried about transparency and creative quality.

With 97% of Meta’s revenue tied to advertising, it’s betting big. But a $7B lawsuit and industry skepticism suggest caution is warranted.

Still, AI-generated ads are coming fast, and smart dealers will figure out how to test, track, and tactically use them first.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

More Than Cars

ICYMI

We’ve made a docu-series focused on the real, human, and day-to-day stories of Retail Auto’s most powerful asset: People.

Check out the show on Tubi for free, buy season one on Amazon, or catch the episodes and some behind-the-scenes content from our premiere on YouTube

🔁 Today in History

  • 1896 – Henry Ford drives the Quadricycle for the first time 🚲️ 

  • 1924 – The ten millionth Ford 👩‍🏭 

  • 1959 – American Honda Motor Company is established 🇯🇵 

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