TOGETHER WITH :
Howdy Fam!
You know, I have friends who say things that boil down to “I have a good job, but I wish I had a meaningful job.” It’s easy to sympathize with.
Which is why I feel lucky we’re surrounded by stories like this one from MileOne Autogroup.
On Saturday, March 1st, they’re inviting the community to come by and get a baby car seat for free. Any expecting parents or folks with a baby up to 6 months old can come by their stores and go home with a safe seat.
That’s a pretty legit way to see your work’s deeper meaning.
Keep it up, MileOne!
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
Reading time: 4 min and 54 sec
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What’s Changing After the FTC Warning Letters
The FTC’s letters to 97 dealer groups were the headline. What is taking shape now is the response.
Dealer associations are moving quickly to turn that warning into a practical direction for stores. The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association (VADA) has already published a detailed compliance roadmap, giving dealers a clearer picture of what to review now.
The Response Is Getting Practical
Their guidance is all about tightening day-to-day operations, including how prices appear online, how rebates are applied, how fees are handled, and whether the in-store process matches what customers saw.
As Ted Smith (President of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association) said on today’s show, “This is not a new subject. This has been going on for several years at the state level.”
More Than a Compliance Issue
“What’s wonderful about our marketplace is we are intensely competitive,” Smith said.
That competition benefits customers, but it also creates pressure. When some stores stretch how pricing is presented, it affects trust across the board.
It can also impact other dealers. Regulators are “(watching) those dealers that might not be doing it right, impacting the ability of the other dealers to survive in the marketplace.”
What Dealers Are Being Told to Do
Audit advertising. Align pricing. Train teams.
As VADA’s guidance reinforces, the expectation is straightforward: if it’s advertised, it must hold up in the real buying process.
We Want Your Take
How are you reading this? In favor, opposed, somewhere in the middle, or just tired of hearing about it?
Hit reply and send us your perspective.
Defined Beats Deployed
By now, AI has likely already found a home in your tech stack.
But many operators still skip how intentionally it’s being used.
In this 30-minute session, Scott Traylor and Thuy Adomitis walk through how AI fits into the actual day-to-day flow of a store, including where it takes over during customer conversations, how it keeps things moving when volume picks up, and how it gives your team something useful to act on after the interaction is over.
There’s a structure to it that makes the whole thing feel more connected once you see it.
Mazda turns the CX-5 launch into a five-film campaign
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Mazda is launching the 2026 CX-5 with “5 Sides of the CX-5,” a branded entertainment campaign built around five short films in five genres. The work, created with director Paul Hunter, also ties into the Academy Gold program, bringing in aspiring filmmakers for grants, mentoring, and on-set experience. The vehicle itself gets new features including an available 15.6-inch touchscreen and more second-row space.
House transportation chair wants EV fees back in the road-funding mix
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House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves said he wants EVs to help pay for highway repairs in the next multi-year surface transportation bill.
A prior Republican proposal included a $250 annual EV fee and $100 for hybrids, though it did not make the cut last year. The pitch is simple enough: gas taxes fund roads, EVs skip the pump, and Congress wants its turn at the charging cable.
Nissan will export U.S.-built Muranos to Japan
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Nissan plans to begin selling the U.S.-built Murano in Japan in early 2027, marking the first American-made Nissan sold there since the 1990s.
The move follows looser Japanese certification rules that now allow U.S.-spec vehicles to be imported with less rework, including left-hand drive. Toyota and Honda are making similar moves, though analysts are not exactly betting the farm on Japanese buyers rushing to embrace wrong-side steering wheels.
Bentley keeps its first EV on track, pushes the rest into the fog
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Bentley says its first fully electric model is still due to go on sale in early 2027, but any follow-up EV will not arrive before 2030. CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said the brand’s broader EV plans were disrupted after VW Group dropped its SSP platform.
In the meantime, Bentley is leaning harder into plug-in hybrids, and even leaving the door open for more gas-powered exclusives. Luxury, apparently, still likes options.
March 31: NY Auto Forum
May 12: AutoIndustry.AI Summit
May 13-15: ASOTU CON 2026—get ready for the Year of the Human
1933 – Studebaker goes bankrupt.
1968 – The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back U.S. currency.
1990 – In the largest art theft in U.S. history, 12 paintings (collectively worth around $500M) are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Thanks for reading, Friend!
