🚗 Picky Picky...

Howdy Fam!

Our friends at Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights spent last year proving loyalty goes both ways.

The dealership gave over $25K to local schools, first responders, and nonprofits, with efforts that went beyond writing checks. From a Teacher of the Year lease giveaway to school fundraisers, police and firefighter support, charity walks, and even gym membership giveaways, their approach met people where they are.

There is no single playbook for showing up in your community. This is what it looks like when you pay attention and follow through.

Great work by the team at Lithia.
Shoutout to NADA’s Mike Cavenaugh for sharing the story.

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

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This week’s Black Book Market Insights shows a wholesale market that is still healthy, but far less forgiving. Overall prices rose modestly, with cars up +0.16% and trucks/SUVs up +0.33%. Auction conversion held at 64%, signaling steady but disciplined buyer activity.

The key shift is not in the averages. It is in the spread.

Demand continues to favor full-size SUVs, well-equipped units, and late-model inventory. Meanwhile, less desirable vehicles are seeing weaker bidding and softer outcomes. Even segments that had been climbing, like mid-size cars and minivans, are now showing signs of cooling or uneven performance.

Black Book’s takeaway is clear: the market is no longer lifting all inventory equally. The right vehicle, positioned correctly, is winning. Everything else is working harder.

Used retail days-to-turn is sitting around 35 days, reinforcing that demand is still present. But like wholesale, success is increasingly tied to alignment between price, condition, and what shoppers actually want.

According to Cox Automotive’s Weekly Summary, March delivered a strong seasonal lift, with new-vehicle sales up 17.8% month over month. Tax refunds, running about 11% higher than last year, helped support short-term demand.

At the same time, the broader environment is getting tighter.

Affordability challenges remain in place, and new pressures are emerging. Inflation jumped sharply in March, with CPI rising 0.9% in a single month, driven largely by a 21% spike in gasoline prices. That shift is starting to work its way into consumer behavior.

Data from CNBC, citing Edmunds, shows 22.9% of new-car loans now stretch to 84 months or longer, more than double the share from a decade ago. The average amount financed has climbed to $43,899, reflecting how buyers are adjusting to higher prices by extending terms rather than lowering expectations.

Average transaction prices held near $49,275, essentially flat month over month but still up year over year. Incentives increased slightly to help maintain momentum, but not enough to meaningfully lower the cost of entry for most buyers.

Income and spending data show a similar pattern. Real disposable income is slowing, savings rates are declining, and consumer spending has softened in recent months.

The market is still moving. It is just asking more from the customer to keep moving.

Recent reporting from Automotive News reinforces a theme that fits the current market. More than half of the Top 150 dealership groups that grew in 2025 did so without adding rooftops.

That lines up with what the wholesale and retail data is showing now. Growth is less about expansion and more about execution. Inventory mix, used vehicle strength, and internal operations are driving results in a more selective environment.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon’s vehicle sales platform now includes brands like Chevrolet, Jeep, Subaru, Mazda, and Kia, expanding across more than 130 cities.

The platform continues to shape expectations around transparency and ease. For shoppers already navigating higher prices and longer loan terms, a simpler buying process carries more weight than ever.

Innovation only matters when it shows up in the way a dealership actually operates.

StoneEagle drives that forward.

They work directly in the systems, data, and decisions that shape performance, helping dealers tighten processes, unlock better insights, and move with more precision across the store.

At ASOTU CON, StoneEagle takes the stage to share how top operators are putting this into practice and where the next wave of progress is already taking shape.

Find them there and discover what it looks like when innovation turns into action.