TOGETHER WITH

Friday already?

We’ve got an email full of goodies for you today—Ford, VW, and yet more about Nissan’s mood swings.

We promise that we cut back on the tariff talk as much as possible. Everybody was trying to get their 2 cents in. We were sitting over here with 94 pennies by Wednesday.

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

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MORE THAN CARS MOMENTS

🏈 Join the Ultimate Super Bowl Showdown for Charity!

Pick a team.
Name your price.

If they lose, you donate to Vehicles for Change, a charity training formerly incarcerated individuals as ASE-certified techs and providing cars to those in need.

We’re teaming up with NCM Associates, VINCUE, Automotive Ventures, and Stream Companies to turn some football rivalry into real impact.

Drop your pledge, honor the bet, and if your team wins, enjoy the gloating. If you donate anyway, we’ll respect you even more.

If your team loses, (which of course they won’t, your team is the best!) make good on your pledge by donating here—don’t forget to add “Super Bowl” in the notes.

Grab and share a custom team graphic here!

BUSINESS

🔋 Ford’s Forecast, Florida Dealers Push Back, Nissan on the Hunt, and Battery Investment/Divestment in 2025.

🌦️ Ford’s 2025 Forecast

Ford had a record $185B in revenue last year but expects profits to drop by $2B+ in 2025. EVs? Still a $5B+ money pit. CEO Jim Farley admits big electric trucks "don’t make financial sense"—so expect more hybrids and extended-range EVs.

Meanwhile, tariffs on Mexico and Canada could nuke profits if they stick. Dealers, take note: Gas and hybrid vehicles are still the moneymakers, EV prices are dropping (along with margins), and Ford’s future is riding on not making the wrong bet—again.

👩‍⚖️ Florida Dealers to Scout Motors

Scout Motors, the Volkswagen-backed EV brand, is facing a lawsuit from Florida Audi and VW dealers who say its direct-to-consumer model breaks state laws. The issue? Scout’s $100 deposits are considered sales under Florida law, and since VW owns over 30% of Scout, dealers argue it should play by the same rules.

Meanwhile, Scout insists its approach is best for customers. With NADA backing the dealers and other automakers watching closely, this battle could shape the future of direct sales. Stay tuned—this one’s far from over.

Also:

• VW admits they’ve fallen behind the competition, but report it is making a $20K EV. Expect a preview next month.

✌️ Nissan: "We Should See Other People"

Nissan just dumped Honda after rejecting the idea of becoming a subsidiary. Now, it's swiping right on U.S. tech firms and maybe even rekindling things with Foxconn.

Meanwhile, Nissan’s financials are in shambles, and it’s throwing cash incentives at dealers to boost U.S. sales—up to $1,000 per car if they hit volume targets. Some dealers love it, others see disaster brewing. With a 94% income drop and layoffs looming, Nissan needs a new partner fast. More details expected mid-February—stay tuned to see if Nissan finds love or just another bad rebound.

🥔 EV Battery Investments

Looking at Automakers and their battery dreams.

• Volvo: Took full control of NOVO Energy for zero dollars after Northvolt’s bankruptcy. Now they need a new investor to make the Gothenburg factory useful.

• Ford: Bracing for $5.5B in EV losses but still dropping $9.63B on battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee, while shifting focus to hybrids and delaying some EV models.

• Toyota: Finally getting serious—spending $14B on a North Carolina battery plant and launching a fully-owned Shanghai EV factory.

• GM: Selling off a Michigan battery plant to LG for $1B.

Also:

• Volvo’s EV and Plug-in Hybrid sales increase 17% in January, with Fully Electric cars making up 19% of their total sales. Gas and mild hybrids dropped 17%.

TOGETHER WITH ASCENT DEALER SERVICES

Operation: Big Fan

Ascent Dealer Services is on a bold mission to help dealers enhance every aspect of their F&I operations. Its claim to fame is a strong focus on training and development, hiring only former dealers, GMs, and F&I directors to coach dealership teams.

Ascent Dealer Services believes that while selling a vehicle today is important, ensuring a sale tomorrow is even more crucial. The approach centers on F&I departments offering products that actively engage retail customers with the service department. With a focus on retention-based selling, the company aims to create lifelong raving fans for its dealer partners.

DATA & INSIGHT

👀 Eyes on the Economy

Stocks bounced back midweek, shaking off trade drama and tech struggles to notch their second straight day of gains.

• Tech Stumbles: Semiconductors fell 7.8%, tech dropped 5.6%, but the sector stabilized as investors dialed back the panic.

• S&P 500 Follows Tech’s Lead: Even with 70% of stocks gaining, the index took a hit, showing just how dominant the Magnificent 7 (now 32% of the S&P) still is.

Americans are kicking off 2025 with solid spending driven in large part to high used vehicle demand. However, economic confidence is slipping with sentiment seeing its worst week in nearly a year.

• Spending Surge: Consumer spending posted YOY growth in three of the last five weeks.

• Auto Demand on the Rise: New retail vehicle sales are running 10% above last year’s pace, with used vehicle transactions up 15% YOY.

• Confidence Cools: The Index of Consumer Sentiment is down 1.8% so far in 2025 marking its sharpest decline in nearly a year.

Keep reading here for even more weekly market updates.

🥊 Quick Hits

• In January, Tesla YOY sales dropped nearly 60% in Germany 📉 

• Everybody’s trying to get rich on streaming services, but not Warner Bros. They’re dropping stuff free on YouTube. 🎥 

• OpenAI will drop it’s first ever TV commercial soon. Like this Sunday…at the Super Bowl. 🤖 

🔁 Today in History

• 1940: The second full-length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres. 🧵 

• 2009: A rare Bugatti Type 57S Atalente Coupe that was abandoned in a garage for almost 50 years was sold at auction for $4.4M. 🤑 

• 2013: The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certifies the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, nearly two decades after a paperwork error left its 1995 ratification unrecorded. 🇺🇸