TOGETHER WITH :
Yo!
Quick one before we jump in.
Across the country, dealers are feeling it from every angle. Higher costs. Slower decisions. More questions from customers who are trying to make the numbers work.
It would be easy to read that as a slowdown.
But that’s not what’s happening.
People still need cars. They’re just thinking harder before they move.
Now, let’s get you caught up.
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
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The Pattern Showing Up Right Now
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Costs are rising. Confidence is getting harder to earn.
Ford and White House disagree on how hard automakers pushed for tariff relief
Ford has pointed to major cost pressure after aluminum supply disruptions tied to fires at Novelis’ New York plant, which produces material for the F-150. The disruption could cut up to 100,000 trucks from production and cost Ford as much as $2 billion.
To keep production moving, Ford has been importing aluminum from overseas, where it’s now subject to tariffs as high as 50%.
But here’s where the story shifts.
A White House official said automakers, including Ford, have not made a strong push for tariff relief, despite raising concerns about supply constraints.
Same situation. Two different interpretations.
Automakers say pressure is real. Policymakers aren’t treating it as urgent.
That gap is where uncertainty lives right now.
New vehicle prices jump as tariffs add up to $8,900 per unit
The impact is already showing up on the lot.
Imported vehicles are now costing $5,000 to $8,900 more on average, while even domestic vehicles have increased by $1,600 to $2,000 due to higher material costs.
That’s not theoretical. That’s on window stickers today.
Pitch Perfect
Every dealership runs on a mix of decisions that stack up fast. The tools you choose, the vendors you trust, the systems you rely on to keep everything moving.
The Shop by FordDirect brings clarity to that.
It’s a curated marketplace built for dealerships that want to operate with more intention, giving you access to solutions that actually support how your store runs, from lead flow to inventory to the details that shape the customer experience.
When everything lives in one place, decisions get sharper and execution gets faster.
At ASOTU CON, they’re taking that same approach as our Pitch Tank sponsor, backing the ideas and operators pushing the industry forward.
Make time to connect with The Shop by FordDirect while you’re there. You’ll walk away with a clearer view of what your store could look like when everything finally lines up.
Automakers are absorbing costs instead of passing them through cleanly
Across the industry, companies like Ford and GM have already absorbed billions in tariff-related costs while trying to keep pricing competitive.
They can’t fully pass those costs on without risking demand.
So instead, they adjust:
what gets built
where it gets built
how much gets pushed into the market
That pressure doesn’t disappear. It shows up in margins, incentives, and inventory decisions.
Inventory consistency is getting harder to maintain
Modern vehicle production depends on a global supply chain, where parts, materials, and assembly often cross multiple countries before a vehicle hits the lot.
When one part of that system breaks or gets more expensive, the effects don’t stay contained.
That shows up as:
uneven model availability
unexpected delays
shifts in what actually arrives vs what was planned
The idea of a “balanced” inventory mix is getting harder to rely on.
Where rubber meets the road:
Customers don’t see tariffs.
They don’t see aluminum supply disruptions.
They don’t see production shifts.
They just see:
a higher price
fewer options
and a decision that feels harder than it used to
That’s the gap.
Here’s how you can close it in real conversations today:
“A lot of what you’re seeing right now comes down to supply. Some materials got harder to get, so certain vehicles are just more expensive to build.”
“That’s also why some models are easier to find than others right now. It’s not demand alone, it’s what’s actually getting produced.”
“The good news is, there are still strong options. It just takes a little more clarity to find the right fit.”
You don’t have to explain everything.
You just have to help people make sense of what they’re already feeling.
👉 The dealer who connects the dots earns the trust.
Mobile service is becoming a core part of how dealerships manage capacity, capture recall volume, and meet customers where they are.
At NADA, we sat down with Curbee CEO Amit Chandarana to unpack how that shift is playing out inside real operations.
The conversation gets into the mechanics behind it all—technician sourcing strategies, the true cost of vehicle up-fitting, and how dealers are turning mobile service into a profitable, load-leveling extension of the shop.
With recall volume climbing and service lanes under pressure, this is becoming a lever more teams are pulling with intention (and success).
🤖 AI: College professors are using oral exams to combat LLM use. Rough news for students (who will someday have to earn their living using LLMs, no doubt) but great news for dentists…who do oral exams.
💰 Economy: The “situation” in Iran has the Fed hesitant to cut rates. Anybody surprised?
👽 Weird: Your leftover Easter candy may be a gamble. Some chocolate in California is being recalled because it has Viagra bits in it.
1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the first known recording of an audible human voice.
1947 – The Journey of Reconciliation, the first interracial Freedom Ride begins through the upper South in violation of Jim Crow laws. The riders wanted enforcement of the United States Supreme Court's 1946 Irene Morgan decision that banned racial segregation in interstate travel.
2009 – Honda wins award for fuel-cell vehicle.
Thanks for reading, Friend!
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