🚗 The Spotlight Is Back on Pricing

Welcome to Saturday, Friend!

ASOTU CON is right around the corner, and things are starting to get real.

Conversations lining up. Rooms being booked. Collaborators ready to bring their A-game.

May 12–15th will be here before you know it. See you there?

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

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Monday:
EV demand took a noticeable dip while hybrids and gas models picked up speed. Buyers are leaning practical, not experimental, with affordability, incentives, and daily usability leading the charge. Honda pulling back on EV plans only added to the story. The shift is not away from EVs. It is toward what feels doable right now.

Tuesday:
The FTC sent warning letters to 97 dealer groups, putting pricing practices under a brighter light. No accusations, just a clear reminder: the price customers see should be the price they get. Nothing new for most, but the spotlight is back on transparency, consistency, and making sure the deal holds up from click to contract.

Wednesday:
The response to the FTC letters got real fast. Dealer associations started rolling out practical guidance, pushing stores to tighten up pricing, rebates, and fee structure across the board. This is less about reacting and more about dialing in the basics. Say what it is. Make sure it holds. Do it every time.

Thursday:
Used EV supply is climbing, and that opens the door to a new kind of affordability play, especially with gas prices creeping up. At the same time, shoppers are still moving, just thinking harder before they do. Demand is there. Confidence is a little shaky. The stores that explain things clearly are the ones keeping deals moving.

Friday:
The EV conversation kept shifting. New fees, pulled-back investments, and more questions from customers trying to make sense of it all. Add in autonomy moves and connected-car frustrations, and it is clear the story is getting more complex.

the day-to-day work and see how everything connects.

They get into how a single role, whether on the floor, in service, or behind the scenes, ties into something bigger, and how that perspective changes the way people show up for their teams and their customers.

There are a few moments that stick with you. A story about a team member recognizing what this business made possible at home. The idea of owning your part while understanding the whole. The image of a group of people working together to carry something heavy, each person lifting where they stand.

Give it a listen, get inspired.

Ever watched a deal fall apart just a few hours in?

Customer’s all in. sales team is high-fiving, and then…finance hits a wall nobody saw coming.

Matt Lasher calls it “the great train wreck,” and this episode gets into the real cost of missing the obvious early, why affordability is quietly reshaping your entire pipeline, and how 40% of your customers are walking in with a story most stores still aren’t set up to handle.

There’s a thread running through all of it: empathy isn’t soft. It’s profitable.

If you’ve ever wondered why “time kills deals” still feels undefeated, this one’s worth your time.

Gas is up, car notes are up, insurance is…well. You get the point.

So, although a $24K bicycle might not sound like a bargain, hear us out.

Bugatti just teamed up with Factor to build a high-performance bike. It’s wildly over-engineered in the best way. Wider front fork for better aerodynamics, carbon everything, ultra-light components, all tuned so every ounce of effort you put in actually goes somewhere useful.

And visually, it’s a stunner. Exposed carbon, Bugatti Blue accents, and an attention to detail that you’d expect from a bicycle that costs as much as a two Taylor Swift tickets.

However, you’d assume it comes with some sort of motor, right? Maybe a sport mode? Perhaps twin-turbo pedal assist?

Nope. Nothing. Nada.

It’s just you. Pedaling with your own dumb feet, like a caveman (or cavewoman).

So, while it’s an incredible machine for sure, the engine can be questionable.