🚗 Lucid Grabs Tesla Rebounds?

TOGETHER WITH

Good Morning and Happy Monday, Friend!

Thanks for starting another week with ASOTU. We’re counting down the days until ASOTU CON in Baltimore, and we hope you’re excited, too.

We know retail auto changes lives, and those changed lives then change retail auto. ♻️ 

So, grab your ticket, bring your voice, brain, heart, and notes app ASOTU CON 2025 in 50 days to see what life-changing things await you.

Keep Pushing Back,
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi

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THE NEWS

Tesla Trade-Ins, GM’s Workaround-Workaround, and Chevy’s 615 HP EV

📉 Tesla Trade-Ins Spike, Lucid Says “Hey…”

Tesla owners are trading in their EVs at record levels, thanks to Elon’s political pivot, tumbling stock, and a vibe shift that even the faithful can’t ignore. Lucid is pouncing with a $4K discount on the Air—no trade-in required, just proof of Tesla ownership.

One person’s brand crisis is another automaker’s conquest campaign.

🚫 GM Pulls the Plug on CarPlay Workaround

GM told LaFontaine Chevrolet to shut down the only dealership-installed CarPlay retrofit for its EVs. The kits from White Automotive are now discontinued, with GM citing safety and warranty concerns. Drivers who thought they found a loophole to get their maps and music back? Nope. GM's keeping control of the dashboard—and dealers are caught in the middle.

It’s one thing to never offer a feature. It’s another to take it away and then block anyone else from bringing it back.

⚡ Chevy Blazer EV SS Goes Full Beast Mode

Chevy’s 2025 Blazer EV SS is now available to order, boasting 615 hp, 0–60 in 3.4 seconds, and up to 303 miles of range. It’s the fastest SS model Chevy’s ever built, and it’s still an SUV. Starts at $61,995 before the $7,500 credit.

Speed, space, and Super Cruise? Sounds like a showroom attention magnet.

TOGETHER WITH ACTIVATOR

Your DMS Is Hiding Something…

Your DMS might look like a list of customers—but how much of that list is actually usable? 👀

Bad data like duplicate records, spam traps, and invalid emails can quietly (but dramatically) wreck your marketing efforts. Activator’s Leads & Handraisers Calculator shows just how many of those “customers” might be junk…and how many real people are ready to buy, sell, or service with you again.

Just enter how many customers are in your DMS, and Activator will crunch the numbers. Then their Advanced Data Management Layer goes to work—cleaning and unifying your data so you can actually engage hand-raisers who are raising their hands right now.

Wondering how much bad data is holding you back?

Check out the calculator now!

Webinar w/ Activator!

After you give the calculator a try, sign up for a 30-minute webinar with our friend Bobby Gaudreau of Activator. Trust us, it will be worth you time.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

You’re Invited!

Tomorrow, we celebrate 1,000 episodes of The Automotive Troublemaker!

We’re sure you’ve heard the story—one day, Paul and Kyle were talking. Whatever they were talking about made them think they should be recording, so they recorded and released the talk. As of tomorrow, they have done that 999 more times.

It's crazy where consistency can get you!

RSVP for the livestream on LinkedIn and join us, our guests, and some fun things we’ve got cooking!

🥊 Quick Hits

• American job anxiety is at a ten-year high. 😨 

• Meta is testing an AI to comment on content. Soon the apps won’t even need us anymore. 🤖 

• DoorDash is working toward letting folks eat now and pay later (as if people don’t already regret DoorDash almost every single time they use it). 🥡 

🔁 Today in History

• 1882: Robert Koch announces the discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis. 💉 

• 1944: In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, seventy-six Allied prisoners of war begin breaking out of the German camp Stalag Luft III. ⛏️ 

• 1970: The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona breaks 200 MPH. 🔉