TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
Yesterday we covered GM sitting out the hybrid boom and the Fed's first rate hike since 2023. Worth a read if you missed either one.
Also in today's email...
GM finally shared power figures for its new V-8s, and Reddit has some thoughts about whether reliability will keep up
A question for you: how are you and your team leveraging AI?
Three quick reads: Volvo's 13-model plan, Lucid's restructuring wrap-up, and Cox's latest tariff sentiment data
By the way, you got your ASOTU CON West ticket yet? One day, LA, November 18. Don't sleep on it.
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
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The 2027 model year is shaping up as the newest round of Detroit's truck wars, and the battleground this time is V-8 engines. GM followed Ford this week in detailing new gas and diesel options for its full-size pickups.
5.7L V-8: 402 hp / 428 lb-ft, up from 355 hp / 383 lb-ft
6.6L V-8: 481 hp / 501 lb-ft, up from 420 hp / 460 lb-ft
Tow ratings climb as high as 13,700 pounds
Reliability, Not Power, Is Where the Skepticism Lives
GM President Mark Reuss framed the stakes plainly: "If we don't stomp the competition with these trucks, then I'd be very sad and questioning myself."
Enthusiasts on r/cars were less concerned with the numbers and more concerned with GM's track record getting there. One of the top comments went straight at it: the old 6.2L "shredding its crank," the old 5.3L "gobbling its lifters," before the new figures were even worth celebrating.
Consider this
The power numbers get customers in the door. Reliability is the question your team needs a real answer for before a customer who's already read the comments brings it up first.
One Dealer Cut $740,000 From Their Ad Spend. Same Volume. Same Year.
The idea is simple: quality leads, driven by local organic search and targeted advertising that actually outperforms the lead sources most dealers default to.
Roper Kia in Joplin, Missouri put that to the test, walking away from a 12-year-old squeeze-page model that made shoppers hand over their name, email, and phone number before they could even see inventory. FlexDealer rebuilt it from the studs instead.
We wouldn't have been able to do that without an incredible partner in our marketing... staring at every small dial, making sure we had them turned to where they needed to be.
The result: $740,000 saved in advertising spend in year one, while hitting the exact same volume target as the year before, real proof that trust in the system beats volume of leads.
How Are You and Your Team Leveraging AI?
We've now covered Istanbul twice this month, once from the research, once from Michael Cirillo's own account of standing in the room. Both landed on the same number.
Average AI maturity score among 27 surveyed dealership groups: 47 out of 100. More than half are stuck with tools they bought but barely use. 59% couldn't say what AI did for their bottom line last quarter.
That gap isn't unique to a room in Istanbul. It's the same measurement gap a lot of American dealer groups are sitting in right now, just further down the same road.
So here's the actual question, put back on you: how are you and your team leveraging AI right now? Not whether you've bought a tool. Whether you can point to what it's doing and what it's worth.
Volvo Wants to Double Its Market Share With 13 New Models by 2030
Real talk: how many of these new models will be limos, tho?
Six models for China, seven for Western markets, aiming to lift pre-tax margin from 3.5% to above 8%.
The harder part: threading the needle between deeper parts-sharing with parent company Geely and keeping enough separation to keep selling in the US, where sister brand Polestar already faces a sales ban.
Lucid Wraps Up Restructuring, Signs a Second Robotaxi Deal
CEO Silvio Napoli confirmed work with restructuring adviser AlixPartners has concluded, part of a push toward $1.4 billion in cash savings this year.
A day earlier, Lucid signed a deal with Bolt to deploy at least 25,000 autonomous vehicles across Europe, its second major ride-share partnership this year.
Dealers Are Less Worried About Tariffs Than Last Year, Except in One Spot
Don’t worry. Be Happy.
Cox Automotive's August survey shows tariff concern easing across both franchised and independent dealers since March 2025.
The exception: concern about parts, reconditioning, and service operations actually increased, the one corner of the business where the exposure is quietly getting worse.
BYD upgrades top-selling small electric SUV with more range, now starting at about $11,000 (electrek)
Jobless claims drop, but there's more to the story (Linkedin)
American, United, Southwest scale back schedules as fuel shock reshapes flying (Reuters)
Dolly Parton Posthumously Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award in Newly Released Video Message, Recorded Before Her Death (People)
T. Rex, King of the Dinosaurs, Had a Body Temperature of 97 Degrees (NYT)
1896: Inventor Stephen M. Balzer patents a rotary-engine automobile design, decades before rotary engines would show up in production cars.
1960: Robert McNamara becomes president of Ford Motor Company, the first person outside the Ford family to hold the role.
2014: Alibaba's IPO on the NYSE raises $25 billion, the largest initial public offering in history at the time.
Thanks for reading, Friend! See the speaker list for ASOTU CON West yet?
