🚗 The Spring Market Equation

Happy Pi Day, Friend!

Today’s the one day where math and dessert share the same stage.

If that’s not a reason to slow down and enjoy a slice of something sweet, we’re not sure what is.

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

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Used prices up. Incentives back. EVs getting cheaper.

Spring showed up with a little momentum. Used values climbed, dealer sentiment improved, and OEM incentives returned to help shoppers doing careful math. Meanwhile, Chevy cut Equinox EV pricing and shipping risks near the Strait of Hormuz reminded everyone that global events can still ripple straight into showroom conversations.

The market has an affordability problem. But also a perception problem.

Many shoppers are ruling themselves out before the numbers even hit the table. Strong EV incentives are still out there, yet old assumptions about pricing are slowing conversations. Meanwhile, companies like Zoox keep betting on a future where transportation feels simpler than ownership.

Wholesale prices are climbing again.

Auction activity stayed strong, tax refunds added buying power, and the spring market kept building steady momentum. At the same time, Scout pushed its launch timeline to 2028, and Toyota showed that affordable EVs can still win big volume when pricing lands closer to the mainstream.

Inventory is back. Affordability still isn’t.

New-vehicle supply passed 3 million units, but higher prices mean many middle-income buyers are still leaning toward used. Meanwhile Honda is rebuilding its brand image in Japan, Mercedes is sending a luxury EV van to the U.S., and Jim Farley doubled down on keeping the Mustang manual alive.

Used pressure, digital expectations, and rising gas prices.

Retail competition is heating up as CarMax and Carvana push faster online experiences. Credit availability improved, but risk factors like negative equity and longer loan terms are rising. And as gas prices climb past $3.50, shoppers are asking more questions about hybrids and efficiency.

In this episode of Auto Collabs, Ted Smith gets into the forces shaping the business behind the scenes: direct sales, Chinese automakers, Amazon entering the space, and the role associations play in helping dealers stay ahead of all of it.

What stood out most is how he thinks about the job. Stay just far enough ahead to see what’s coming, but never so far ahead that your dealers lose sight of the road.

It’s a smart conversation about policy, pressure, and who’s really protecting the future of retail automotive.

Catch the full interview here.

What happens when marketing is expected to drive growth, but never gets invited into the conversations that shape the outcome?

That’s the thread running through our chat with Ashley Cavazos, recorded live from the NADA show floor.

Ashley gets into a gap a lot of dealerships still haven’t closed. Marketing gets handed goals, cleanup duty, and pressure, but not always a real seat at the strategy table. She also makes the case that alignment across leadership, sales, service, and marketing is a competitive advantage, especially as AI and new tech keep changing the playbook.

It’s a smart conversation about process, communication, and what actually has to change.

Watch the full episode.

Twenty-five years ago, The Fast and the Furious turned street racing into mainstream car culture. Paul Walker’s bright orange Toyota Supra and Vin Diesel’s black Dodge Charge helped define an era of import tuning and movie-car obsession.

To celebrate, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles has opened “A Fast & Furious Legacy: 25 Years of Automotive Icons,” a new exhibit featuring one of the largest collections of screen-used vehicles from the franchise.

Highlights include Brian O’Connor’s candy-orange Toyota Supra, Dom Toretto’s Dodge Charger, Letty’s Nissan 240SX, the green Mitsubishi Eclipse from the original film, and Suki’s pink Honda S2000 from 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Many of the cars are the actual vehicles used during filming, displayed alongside their stunt doubles so you can see what handled the close-ups and what survived the chaos.

The exhibit opens today and runs through next spring, giving fans a chance to see some of the most recognizable movie cars ever built up close.