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- 🚗 Last Week’s News, Thread-by-Thread
🚗 Last Week’s News, Thread-by-Thread
🚙 Skimmable recap, real implications, and three Monday moves you can act on right away.
Howdy Friend!
We tried something a little new this Saturday. Instead of giving a day-by-day look at the week’s news, we did it thread-by-thread.
Have a look, and let us know what you think.
What do you want in tomorrow's email? |
Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris, and Kristi
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Reading time: 4 mins
ICYMI
Last Week in Retail Auto
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The Daily Pushback Email
The market is still moving, but affordability pressure, policy swings, and shifting powertrain demand are forcing dealers to win with clarity and acquisition.
What We Saw
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1) 2025 finished up, but December softened.
Retail sales grew for the year, but late-year demand cooled. Transaction prices stayed high, which means every opportunity costs more and every close takes more skill.
2) EVs didn’t collapse, they recalibrated.
EV share fell year over year and Western automakers continued easing off aggressive EV timelines, leaning into hybrids and margin-stable ICE. Post-incentive EV demand is still settling, and Tesla’s forecast decline is a useful category barometer.
3) Used is stabilizing, but the market is pickier.
Wholesale values softened seasonally, and conversion dipped. The bigger story is liquidity: it takes more work to get a yes, even when the product is right.
4) Buyers are splitting into two tracks.
Prime customers can still buy newer cars. Payment buyers are stretching terms and aging down to make deals work. That makes financing strategy, protection products, and trade math even more central.
5) Policy and retail models are shifting fast.
Tariff moves and cost pressure keep reshaping OEM strategy. Add Scout’s Colorado direct-sales win, and it’s clear the rules are evolving quickly. Trust and transparency arguments are becoming legal arguments.
2026 will reward dealers who build clarity and acquisition systems early: tighter appraisal pipelines, faster speed-to-lead, cleaner website promises, and sales teams trained for payment-first conversations.
More on these stories here.
PODCASTS
Automotive State of the Union
Happy New Year! Last week, we celebrated by looking back on the biggest themes that dominated the retail auto landscape in 2025 and prognosticating the future by looking at the big things we think the industry will face in 2026.
The Dealer Playbook
What if the reason things didn’t click in 2025 has less to do with your tools and more to do with your willingness to change?
In this solo review episode, our very own Michael Cirillo slows things down to reflect on what 2025 actually taught us.
The hard conversations, the uncomfortable growth, the moments where leadership, culture, and discipline mattered more than any shiny new strategy.
If you’re heading into 2026 feeling pressure, uncertainty, or opportunity, this episode will help you recalibrate your focus and attack the year with clarity and conviction.
AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE
NADA Parties
NADA is a month away, and it’s time to prepare. Flight, hotel, horse-shoe-shaped neck pillow thing, AND, a full schedule o parties after the day’s work.
Check out NADAParties.com to make plans now.
Quick Hits
Beyoncé has become the fifth musician ever to reach billionaire status. 💰
The IRS is increasing the optional standard mileage rate for business use of automobiles to 72.5 cents per mile. 🚘
A $400K shipment of lobsters has been stolen on its way to Costco stores in Illinois. 🏴☠️
Maybe this year at ASOTU CON, I’ll start the day by telling you in person all the things I read the previous day, but for now, we have email, so I’m grateful for it. And grateful for you. Have a good one!
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