TOGETHER WITH :
Howdy Fam!
Did you catch Paul’s chat with Jamie Butters yesterday on the Automotive State of the Union podcast?
They talked inventory returns, Honda’s exporting imports, and everybody’s new dream job: Paid AI bully.
Check it out live and make a plan to come out to ASOTU CON 2026 for more good times with great members of the industry.
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
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New-vehicle inventory is back. Affordability is not.
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New-vehicle inventory climbed above 3M units in February, with days’ supply rising to 75, according to Lotlinx data reported by Automotive News. That sounds healthy enough heading into spring, but the added supply is not translating into an easy market.
More inventory, slower turn
Part of that higher supply number comes from a slower selling pace. Pricier vehicles are also lingering longer. Vehicles priced from $30K to $50K averaged 73 days on the lot, while units above $80K averaged 80 days.
Why car affordability still feels broken
A Reuters report adds the deeper explanation: automakers have spent years shifting toward bigger, better-equipped, higher-margin vehicles while offering fewer true budget models. That has pushed the average transaction price to about $47K and helped reshape the new-car buyer.
Too many vehicles built for the wrong wallet
Reuters reports that households earning $100K or less accounted for just 36% of new-vehicle sales last year, down from the 50% to 60% range they represented for years before this decade. In other words, a large share of middle-income shoppers has been pushed toward used.
Check out more on this in the full article here.
A 30-Second “Proof of Inventory” Video
Shoppers often worry that online listings are stale. A simple walk-around video can answer that instantly.
Record a quick clip right on the lot and post it with the same script in the caption for SEO.
Example:
“It’s March 11, and I’m here at [Dealership] looking at a [Year Make Model]. Check out the [feature], [feature], and [feature] customers ask about most. Right now we’re seeing payments land roughly between [X–Y] depending on credit, trade, and down payment. If this is the kind of vehicle you’ve been searching for, it’s here today and worth a look in person.”
Clarity for Your Customer Data
Dealers handle an incredible amount of customer data every single day.
The problem? Most of it lives in different systems, doesn’t talk to each other, and ends up being harder to utilize than it should be.
That’s exactly what Gubagoo is tackling.
Known for helping dealerships connect with customers through chat, messaging, video, and digital retailing, Gubagoo is now introducing Curator— the industry’s first Unified Intelligence Engine. Curator brings together data from across the dealership ecosystem, cleans and organizes it, and creates a single, clear view of every customer.
The result: smarter engagement, better insights, and a retail experience that feels connected from the first conversation all the way to the final signature.
Connect with the Gubagoo team at ASOTU CON 2026 to learn how they are helping dealers turn fragmented data into real intelligence.
Honda, Mercedes, Ford, and Electrek
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Honda is importing its way out of a branding problem
Honda spent years leaning hard into minicars in Japan, and it worked well enough to make the N-Box a star. The problem is that it also shrank the brand’s image. Now Honda is importing larger vehicles back into Japan, including models built in the U.S., China, Thailand, and India, to rebuild some of the sporty, aspirational identity it let slip.
Mercedes is bringing a luxury EV van to America
Mercedes is sending its new all-electric VLE to the U.S., and it sounds less like a minivan and more like a rolling airport lounge. Think a 115-kWh battery, 800-volt architecture, available rear-seat luxury setups, and a giant 31.3-inch 8K screen for second-row passengers.
Jim Farley says the manual Mustang is staying
Ford CEO Jim Farley says the Mustang stick shift is not going anywhere, using the kind of language meant to make enthusiasts cheer and product planners nervous. In a market where manuals keep disappearing from performance cars, the line lands because it taps into something bigger than transmission choice.
And yes, someone is out there telling your customer to just buy an e-bike
One take on rising gas prices argues that many people do not need an EV at all. They just need an e-bike, scooter, or small electric two-wheeler. Technically, sure. In real life, that assumes your average driver is not hauling kids, groceries, weather gear, luggage, work tools, or a drum set.
Dealer Conferences and Industry Events
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 – Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This is also the first of his "fireside chats".
1947 – The first Ferrari is completed.
2009 – Financier Bernie Madoff pleads guilty to one of the largest frauds in Wall Street's history.
Thanks for reading, Friend!
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