🚗 Slate Shakes the Industry?

TOGETHER WITH

Tuesday! One week from early registration and the welcoming reception for ASOTU CON 2025.

Check out the agenda for more great content coming on Wednesday, the 14th, and Thursday, the 15th.

And if you haven’t already, grab your ticket now.

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

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THE NEWS

Slate, Tesla, Hyundai, and Scout

New day, new news.

We saw a headline claiming Slate Auto's $20K EV "shook the industry." So, we’ve gotta ask: Are you shook? Are your customers asking when they can order Bezos’s new adult Power Wheels?

Yeah…didn’t think so.

🚨 Slate Drops a $20K DIY EV Truck

The price is real, the buzz is loud, and the thing’s basically a modular Tonka. Crank windows, optional second row, 150–240 mile range, and wrap kits starting at $500. Slate says they’re putting power back in customers’ hands. Okay, but until they’re in driveways, let’s keep the champagne corked.

📉 Tesla's Discounts Say the Quiet Part Out Loud

After a $2K discount, Tesla’s now pushing 1.99% APR or $0 down on the refreshed Model Y. Why? Because it’s not moving. Soft demand, short wait times, and rising inventory tell the real story. And when Tesla starts discounting, everyone else feels it.

⚡ Hyundai Ioniq 5 Is Tax Credit Eligible Again

The Alabama-built Ioniq 5 reclaimed its $7,500 federal credit — for now. Between that and Hyundai’s own $7,500 rebate, dealers have a short-term double-whammy to work with. Push while it lasts.

🛠️ Scout’s EVs Will Sip Gas (Sorta)

Scout’s off-road EVs will include a tiny gas generator — not for driving the wheels, just charging the battery on the go. Think Volt vibes, but with more mud and flannel.

🌎 Tariff Trouble Ahead

Audi and Volvo are sweating Trump’s new tariffs. GM’s prepping for a $5B hit. European MSRPs are about to go up, and allocations might get messy.

➕ More

More on all these stories in our daily digest. Check it out and let us know if you’re feeling “shook” by all this Slate talk. 😆 

🥊 Quick Hits

• RIP Skype. 🪦 

• Stats show Warren Buffett delivered more than a 5,000,000% return to investors. 📈 

• Tariffs hit Hollywood. 🎥 

TOGETHER WITH IPACKET

iPacket is Bringing the Power of Automation to ASOTU CON 2025

Built inside the dealership, iPacket continues to revolutionize how vehicles are presented and sold, turning paperwork into powerful, CRM-integrated Digital Vehicle Presentations.

From VIN-decoding OEM stickers to lightning-fast recon tools, iPacket delivers the speed, trust, and transparency today’s dealers demand.

We’re pumped to welcome them back to ASOTU CON 2025 in Baltimore!

Don’t miss their featured panel:
“Set It and Sell It”
A deep dive on how automation is transforming lead nurturing, follow-ups, and marketing—without losing the human touch.

Hear from panelists Andrew Breedlove, Jeremy Nowling, and moderator David Kain as they unpack the future of doing more with less.

This is automation with a soul. You’ll want a front-row seat.

MORE THAN CARS MOMENTS

Rick Case Shares Lifesaving Training

Because selling cars is great, but saving lives? That’s next-level.

Rick Case Automotive Group is driving more than sales in South Florida. Through a powerful partnership with the American Heart Association, they’re helping turn bystanders into lifesavers—distributing CPR Anytime kits to schools, hospitals, libraries, and families across Broward and Miami-Dade.

Led by CEO Rita Case, the initiative equips the community with tools to respond to cardiac arrest, especially in kids and infants, where every second counts.

“Together we can save lives,” Case said. “We want people to have the training, the tools, and the confidence to act.”

From NICUs to libraries, school staff to housing authority residents, Rick Case is proving once again that dealerships do more than move metal—they move communities.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Check Out Avery AI

Have you ever wished you had a robot to do your laundry? Take out the trash? Price your….vehicles? It’s not quite a robot, but that’s exactly what Avery AI from AutoVision can do.

Avery uses market data and your own sales history to let you know:

• What to buy a car for.

• What to price a car at.

• Which store should stock it.

Use Avery within AutoVision and on auction and third-party listings to research potential profits, recon costs, and days to sell. In the long run, we think that’s WAY cooler than clean socks and empty trash cans.

🔁 Today in History

• 1527: Spanish and German troops attack Rome. Many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance. ⚔️ 

• 1889: The first car in Paris is outshone by the Eiffel Tower opening. 🇫🇷 

• 1928: Chrysler announces DeSoto. 🏎️