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Ford found a fresh way to say something good dealers have known for decades: a strong used-car operation is the secret sauce.
This week, Ford passed Toyota as the top certified pre-owned brand, and it’s positioning CPO as a bridge, a way to get shoppers into a certified Ford today and a new one down the road.
Sure, some CPO buyers will step up to new later. But calling it a bridge is a big claim, and we’d like to see the data behind it.
So here’s an invitation: if your store tracks how many certified buyers come back for a new vehicle, hit reply and tell us what you’re seeing. We’d love to share what the real numbers look like.
In today’s email...
New-car affordability slipped in September
Ford passed Toyota in certified pre-owned sales, but is CPO really a bridge to new?
Subaru’s first in-house EV, Carvana’s soccer play, and Porsche’s no-EV supercar
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
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New-Car Affordability Slipped in September
Buying a new car got a little harder last month. Higher prices outweighed strong income growth and slightly lower interest rates, according to the Cox Automotive/Moody’s Analytics Vehicle Affordability Index.
Numbers to know:
Weeks of Income Needed to Purchase a New Light Vehicle
Typical payment: up 0.8% to $776, the highest since December 2023
Weeks of income to buy a new car: up from 35.5 to 35.7, the least affordable reading since January
Average price: up 0.9% to $50,562, just shy of December’s record
Average loan rate: down slightly to 9.45%
Incentives: up 2.6% to about $3,359
There’s a silver lining. Compared with a year ago, when it took 36.5 weeks of income to buy a new car, affordability is actually better, thanks to higher incomes and lower rates.
Where are shoppers finding value instead?
The used market shows where budgets are heading. In Manheim’s mid-October report, wholesale compact car values were up 5.6% from last year, while pickups remained soft and luxury slipped slightly below last year.
Shoppers haven’t stopped buying. They’ve started buying smaller and smarter.
Know where your affordable inventory is, and make sure your team can talk payment and value in the same breath.
Used EVs Need a Different Playbook
Plug was built for one of the trickiest parts of today's used-car market: EVs.
CEO Jimmy Douglas spent years inside Tesla's used EV remarketing operation before launching Plug, a marketplace built to help dealers, lenders, fleets, and automakers buy, sell, and value used EVs with better data.
That's why we're excited to have Jimmy speaking at ASOTU CON West on November 18, with Plug also hosting the event at its newly renovated West LA headquarters.
If used EVs are becoming a bigger part of your inventory mix, get to know Plug and hear Jimmy's perspective in person.
Ford Passed Toyota in Certified Pre-Owned Sales
Ford’s Blue Advantage became the No. 1 certified pre-owned brand in the third quarter, with sales up 44%, and Ford wants the full-year crown in 2027. It widened eligibility to vehicles up to 10 years old with 150,000 miles, and about 300 more Ford dealers joined the program over the past year.
“We’ve talked about certified being our big affordability strategy as we transition to the end of the decade.” Rob Kaffl, Ford
Is certified pre-owned really a bridge to new-car sales?
That’s Ford’s thesis: get shoppers into a certified Ford they can afford now, and they’ll come back for a new one later. It’s a reasonable idea, and plenty of dealers have seen it happen. But we haven’t seen the data showing how often it actually does.
If CPO is your affordability play, track it like one. Measure how many certified buyers come back for new, and you’ll know whether your bridge holds weight.
Subaru unveils its first in-house EV prototype.
After building its current EVs with Toyota, Subaru showed its own next-generation prototype, developed in roughly half the usual time.
It features all-wheel drive and a Panasonic battery 25% lighter than its previous design, with some of the technology reaching production around 2029.
Carvana extends its youth soccer sponsorship.
Carvana will stay on every Rush Soccer jersey and is launching a $200,000 scholarship fund to help more kids play.
It’s a move into community spaces where local dealers have long had the edge, and a reminder that the edge only holds if dealers keep showing up.
Porsche says there’s no demand for an electric supercar.
Apparently, even backflips can’t sell one.
A week after Tesla’s Roadster flipped through the air, Porsche CEO Michael Leiters said its upcoming flagship above the 911 won’t get a fully electric version.
“There won’t be a BEV on that platform because there is no demand, in this segment, for an EV there,” he said.
Enthusiasts largely cheered, with one Reddit thread drawing hundreds of comments in a matter of hours.
🏁 Fast Lane
Europe’s EV sales jumped 70% in September, as fully electric cars reached a 32.6% market share across 17 key markets, driven by high fuel prices, subsidies, and more affordable models.
Foxconn is buying half of Mitsubishi Electric’s auto parts business for about $727 million, its biggest step yet toward building EV platforms for Japanese automakers.
1803: The US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase treaty, nearly doubling the size of the country.
1818: The US and Britain agree to set much of the US-Canada border along the 49th parallel.
2004: The first version of Ubuntu is released, helping bring Linux to everyday computer users.
Thanks for reading, Friend!
I get it, you still have questions about ASOTU CON West and want answers before you buy your ticket. Just @Tag Paul J Daly, Kyle Mountsier, Michael Cirillo, or More Than Cars on LinkedIn and demand an answer. We’re waiting.
