Welcome to Saturday, Friend!
Somewhere on your lot today, a customer is going to remember one small thing: the door held open, the water bottle handed over before they thought to ask, the seat adjusted just right before the test drive starts. Those little touches are what turn a transaction into an experience worth talking about later, and you're the one in the middle of it all.
What a pleasure.
Keep Pushing Back,
—Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi
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📼 This Week, ICYMI
Monday — Volvo's China sales fell 35% in a single quarter, BMW's fell 30%, and Chinese-made vehicles are already flooding into the UK. If you carry a European premium brand, this pressure doesn't usually stay contained to one region. We also flagged Toyota's $3,000 conquest cash on competitor EV trade-ins, worth pulling your CRM for before August 3.
Tuesday — The UAW's federal oversight was supposed to end in January. A new investigation into President Shawn Fain just made an extension look likely instead. Meanwhile, Jeep's sitting on 160 days of inventory and still won't budge on price, a real opportunity if you're carrying similar Stellantis stock.
Wednesday — Polestar won't even appeal its federal ban, leaving 32 dealers holding the bag with no say in the matter. We also broke down the new ACSI rankings: Toyota's #1, Buick just had its worst year in the industry, and hybrids are now outscoring both gas and EVs in customer satisfaction.
Thursday — Penske Corp. wants out of public markets entirely, betting freedom from quarterly pressure beats the $3.8 billion price tag. We also watched that viral "dealerships are a scam" TikTok so you didn't have to, and broke down exactly what it gets wrong.
Friday — Tesla posted its best quarter ever and the stock dropped anyway. Ford's going the opposite direction of GM, keeping Apple Maps instead of building its own ecosystem. And four major companies just teamed up to fix the same technician shortage every dealership already knows firsthand.
ASOTU Unscripted
What if your dealership became one of the most valuable gathering places in town?
That's the kind of question Linda Nguyen spends her days exploring. She shares how housing, retail, wellness, and automotive can work together to create developments that serve customers, employees, and entire communities, all while helping dealers get more from the land they already own.
Tune in to the conversation and rethink what's possible beyond the showroom.
The Dealer Playbook
One chart. Two questions. A much shorter list.
Gary Ladue breaks down the framework his team uses to rank projects by effort and impact, making it easier to spot the wins worth chasing first. It's one of those ideas that's simple enough to sketch on a whiteboard and useful enough to change how your team makes decisions.
Catch the full episode and give your next planning meeting a better starting point.
Mercedes-Benz Threads the Needle Between Showroom and Studio
Mercedes-Benz AG
Mercedes-Benz opened its first U.S. Studio in Los Angeles this month, joining a global network already running in Tokyo, Toronto, Munich, and ten other cities (with seven more launches planned later this year).
The first floor is like a cultural showroom, with exhibitions, music, and collaborative collections. But he second floor is where the real magic happens.
It's the first American outpost of MANUFAKTUR Made to Measure, Mercedes' by-appointment atelier for S-Class, G-Class, AMG, and Maybach builds. Clients can choose from 20K exterior colors, hundreds of Nappa leather options, and embroidery down to the stitch, working one-on-one with a product expert in a private room.
The numbers explain the investment. Mercedes' top-end sales climbed from 11% of global volume in 2019 to 15% today, with the U.S. now claiming roughly 30% of that top-tier share—the largest of any market.
Plus, other brands have already proven this strategy works. Cadillac House turned a Meatpacking District storefront into a gallery and members' lounge. Genesis House runs a café and event calendar next to its Manhattan showroom floor. And Audi City swapped their physical lot entirely for a wall of screens.
Each format solves the same problem: a customer picking a six-figure build wants an experience to match the stakes.
That's the piece any dealership can borrow. Consider what avenues your customers actually have for a bespoke or atelier-style purchase, and create a dedicated space with swatch books, finishes, and samples. Give one team member ownership of every high-end build, start to finish, so the buyer feels they are working with a trusted consultant instead of whoever's free. Treat the delivery as a special reveal, the moment a customer meets the car they designed.
The build is personal. The path to it should feel that way too.
1854: Walter Hunt receives the first U.S. patent for a paper shirt collar, enabling workers to maintain a clean "white-collar" look without high laundry costs. 👔
1945: American automobile company, the Kaiser-Frazer Corporation, is founded (eventually becoming part of Stellantis). 🚘
1965: Bob Dylan performs with an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival for the first time, dividing fans and hard-launching the era of folk rock. 🎸
Thanks for reading, Friend!
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