🚗 Ram Won the Super Bowl?

TOGETHER WITH

90 days until ASOTU CON 2025 in Baltimore!

That’s just 12.8 Tuesdays.

What is 0.8 of a Tuesday? Beats us. But, we’re excited to find out with all of you.

Grab a ticket now and start making plans to be with the community in May.

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

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BUSINESS

📰 Ads, China, and Vans

📺 Super Bowl Ads Drive Huge Traffic Surges for Auto Brands—Who Won the Engagement Game?

The Super Bowl isn’t just a game—it’s a marketing arms race. RAM and Jeep crushed it, with RAM ranking #2 overall in ad engagement and Jeep snagging #7. Meanwhile, Cars Commerce saw triple-digit traffic spikes for Buick, Jeep, and RAM immediately after their ads aired.

Moral of the story? People see, people search. If you’re a dealer, now’s the time to ride that wave—because consumers are already clicking. 🚀

🌊 China’s EV Surge: Are U.S. Dealers Ready for the Next Wave?

BYD just dropped self-driving tech into a $9,555 EV, making Tesla’s $32K+ starting price look bloated. While tariffs keep Chinese EVs at bay for now, affordability and reliability could eventually break through. Tesla’s scrambling with price cuts and financing deals, but U.S. automakers still can’t match BYD’s scale.

We’re reminded of Brian Benstock’s wise warnings: pay attention. China is circling the perimeter, and if they step into the U.S. market, dealers will need a game plan (and fast).

🚐 #VanLife: Fleet Vans, EVs, and the Future of Business on Wheels

Fleet vans are the perfect EV test subjects—most spend half their lives parked anyway. Rivian just opened its electric van sales to any business (sorry, #VanLife crowd), while Renault and Mercedes are rolling out new electric workhorses.

The catch? Charging infrastructure is still a mess, and public fast charging ain’t cheap. Dealers who help fleets electrify now can lock in long-term sales, service, and software revenue. This isn’t an overnight EV revolution, but it’s a clear shift. Ignore it, and you might miss the future rolling past—in near silence.

TOGETHER WITH TRADEPENDING

🐴 From the Horse's Mouth

Three out of three sales pros agree: when their customer gets a monthly email or text that shares how their car's value changes over time, that's wayyyyy better than never hearing from them again.

Those customers keep coming back, remain loyal customers, trade-in again, buy again.

Here it direct from those pros, and check out TradePending's Value Watch, which does that, automatically and affordably.

MORE THAN CARS MOMENTS

Toyota of Surprise(ing Folks with Dogs!)

Our friends at Toyota of Surprise held a pet adoption event and saw 43 dogs adopted (not counting Larry Tabloff pictured above)!

They spread some good cheer, found forever homes for some good pups, and shared some on social media to let the community see what was going on at Toyota of Surprise, including the first adoption of the day!

Great work, Friends!

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

🗓️ Coming Soon

• 🍁 THIS WEEK, February 12-17th — 2025 Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto.

• 🦀 May 13-16th — ASOTU CON in Baltimore, Maryland. Get the app!

🥊 Quick Hits

• Apple is dropping a cheaper iPhone later this week. 🍎 

• Yo! New Minesweeper has dragons in it. Pass it on (or, play it here). 🐉 

• McDonalds—one of the last great metrics for consumer confidence—reported a sales drop at the end of last year. 🍔 

🔁 Today in History

• 1899: George Morgan became the first English motorist to die in a car crash. 🪦

• 1938: BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program that coined the term "robot." 🤖

• 1990: After promising his mother victory, Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog, knocks out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing's world Heavyweight title. 🥊