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- 🚗 Lithia's Record Q1
TOGETHER WITH
Look at that, it’s Friday again.
Which means you have this weekend, one week, and one more weekend to prepare for ASOTU CON 2025.
If you were planning to walk to Hanover, MD, from around Nashville, where I live, you’d need to start walking this morning and not stop for food, sleep, or smelling roses until you arrived.
It’s 259 hours on foot.
Good thing you know exactly where to find cars. 😉
Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi
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Lithia Q1, Ford’s Ax, and the Used Car Market
Hey hey, sometimes skill beats size. Just ask karate. 🥋
But other times — like monster trucks, pizza, or auto groups — size helps the job get done.
Lithia & Driveway are both skilled and massive, and they just showed us how to win in a weird market. Record Q1 revenue. Big profit jumps. Spooky tariff talk? They made it work.
So yeah, there is a way through this. Skill, size, courage, luck?
Find your combo and your crew at ASOTU CON 2025, just two weeks away.
💰 Lithia Crushes Q1 with Record Revenue, Big Profit Gains
While others brace for impact, LAD just dropped a Quartar with a capital “Q’.
Lithia posted $9.2B in Q1 revenue (+7% YoY) and a 28% net income jump. Adjusted EPS hit $7.66, up 25%. Even a dip in its Pinewood investment didn’t slow the roll.
Dealer Takeaways:
Scale works — when you run lean and smart.
If they can profit, so can you. Stay aggressive.
Fixed ops and digital are still big levers.
🚨 Tariff Whiplash: Automakers Scramble as Costs Surge
Trump-era tariffs are back with a vengeance — and everyone’s got a different play.
Tariffs are shaking up the playbook across the industry. GM just slashed its 2025 profit forecast by $3B, citing a $4–5B tariff exposure. Mercedes is moving SUV production to Alabama by 2027. BMW warned U.S. dealers it’s pausing EV builds in May, with prices likely to rise after June. Meanwhile, Rivian prepped quietly, stockpiling Chinese and Korean batteries late last year to blunt the blow.
Dealer Takeaways:
Expect pricing weirdness. Educate your customers now.
Inventory flow could get choppy, especially for EVs.
Rivian may look like a genius in hindsight.
📈 Used-Car Boom: Tariffs Drive Up Prices, Sales Spike
Trucks led the way (+$660), followed by luxury SUVs (+$600). With new-car production getting squeezed, the used lot is the next best bet.
Dealer Takeaways:
Move those aged units. It’s your moment.
Monitor trades and auction trends — spreads are tightening.
Hit the gas on marketing while affordability’s top of mind.
🧠 Ford Axes Ambitious Software Project, Retreats to Reality
Ford’s dream of a “vehicle brain” just flatlined.
Its “fully networked vehicle” initiative (FNV4) is toast, sunk by delays and costs. Ford will absorb the lessons into its existing systems.
Dealer Takeaways:
Fewer tech headaches (for now).
OTA updates and subscriptions will roll out slower.
ICE and hybrid inventory just got more important.
➕ More
Check out more on these stories in our Digest. And leave a comment. We like reading your words too, you know?
Meet Urban Science at ASOTU CON!
Take out the guesswork, prepare with certainty.
Most dealers are just trying to keep up, but what if there were a way you could get ahead? Knowing your defection data is the key to outperforming the competition.
In Urban Science’s mini-keynote session. their expert, Dave Karasick (who happens to be a previous General Sales Manager), will dive into compelling insights so you can find out how Past Performance Predicts Future Behavior.
Learn more at Urban Science!
Or plan to meet them in person at ASOTU CON 2025, May 13-16 in Hanover, MD.
🥊 Quick Hits
Tesla is denying accusations that it would like to replace Musk as CEO.
Even McDonald’s is feeling the economic squeeze.
A college student with AI is rewriting regulations. Neat.
AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE
Renew Energy: Powering the Future at ASOTU CON 2025
Renew Energy isn’t just helping dealers go green, they’re helping them grow. With decades of experience in residential and commercial solar, Renew Energy brings transparency, reliability, and serious ROI to EV charging solutions. Their expertise ensures dealers can turn home charging programs into margin-boosting profit centers, not cost centers.
Don’t miss their mainstage panel “EV Power For Life: The True Economics of EV Charging” at ASOTU CON 2025, May 13–16 in Hanover, MD, where they’ll show how smart charging strategies can fuel loyalty, revenue, and your dealership’s future.
🔁 Today in History
1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker. 👑
1918 – General Motors buys Chevrolet 🤑
2000 – Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military. 🛰️
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