TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
A viral TikTok said dealerships are unnecessary middlemen padding prices for no reason.
Paul and Kyle didn't just push back; they went through it point by point and landed somewhere more interesting than a simple defense: some of the criticism actually holds up.
Also in today's email:
Don Hall's story about a dealership mistake so badly handled a customer spent a night in jail, and the "tough to tender" reframe that came out of it
Toyota's RAV4 wins NAMAD's top growth-consumer honor while Ford's F-Series stays the overall market leader
Ford's move to build Lincoln's best-seller stateside, an app that ties driving habits to insurance discounts, and a $500 million week for classic car auctions
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
Reading time: 4 mins
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Car Dealerships Aren't a Scam. But the Industry Has Earned Some of the Criticism.
On episode two of The Pushback, Paul and Kyle respond to a viral TikTok arguing dealerships are unnecessary middlemen. Their answer isn't a simple defense; it's a "this, but that" breakdown of where the criticism holds up.
In any business, direct to the manufacturer is the cheapest route. Doesn't matter what it is.
Want the full conversation?
🎙️ Watch the full episode of The Pushback for the complete breakdown.
The franchise system exists because manufacturers couldn't afford national retail networks themselves; independent owners took on that risk, which is why franchise protection isn't unique to cars, it's true of Subway and 1-800-Flowers too. Dealerships are often among the highest local taxpayers in their metro areas.
But the defense has limits. MSRP isn't the problem; nobody actually pays it. It's a ceiling, not a floor. The markups piled on top are. COVID-era pricing is the memorable example critics still cite years later, and Tesla and Carvana proved something real about process the industry hasn't fully acted on.
If your pricing still depends on a markup a customer can spot in thirty seconds of research, you're not competing against the dealer down the street anymore.
Turnover Has Warning Signs. Most Leaders Miss Them.
Most dealership leaders find out an employee is unhappy the day they quit.
The real opportunity happens earlier: spotting disengagement while there's still time to act.
Turnover doesn’t happen overnight. It starts with what employees experience every day: leadership, communication, recognition, culture, and whether they feel valued.
The dealerships that get ahead of turnover don’t guess what their employees need. They ask. They listen. They act.
ESiQ gives dealers actionable insight into employee satisfaction and engagement, helping leaders identify what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus.
It's About People. It Ain't About Cars.
Don Hall, president of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, joined Paul, Kyle, and Michael Cirillo on Auto Collabs with a story about a dealership mistake so badly handled a customer ended up spending a night in jail over a deal the store itself botched.
Want the full conversation?
🎙️ Watch the full Auto Collabs episode for the complete conversation.
Consider this today
Don's own reframe, from "hold gross" to "be tender," came from years of running deals bell to bell before seeing the real cost up close. Ask where "tough" still shows up in your own sales process where it should be "tender," it's usually baked into training or incentive structure whether anyone names it or not.
Toyota's RAV4 Tops NAMAD's Growth-Consumer Awards, But Not the Overall Market
Toyota RAV4 won Top Overall Future Majority Vehicle at NAMAD's 2026 DVL Awards, while Ford F-Series remained the overall U.S. sales leader, a split that repeated across five other segments and highlights where diverse-buyer preference and total market volume genuinely diverge.
Ford Will Build Lincoln's Best-Seller in the US Instead of China
Tariffs as high as 52.5% pushed Ford to move some Lincoln Nautilus production stateside starting in 2030, following GM's similar Buick Envision shift, a clear signal that tariff exposure is now a real factor in where automakers plant a line, not just what they build.
An App Watches How You Drive. The Real Story Is Who Else Is Watching Loyalty.
Volvo's new Safety Coach app scores driving habits and links them to insurance discounts through a data-sharing opt-in. Any retention touchpoint that rewards a customer for staying engaged, whether it's telematics, service reminders, or loyalty perks, is doing double duty: building a habit and creating a reason to stay.
🚘 Car Stuff
California's MyFirstEV rebate offers $3,500 on new EVs with automaker matching funds; Tesla exhausted its entire allocation within a week of launch.
Chery outsold Honda and Mazda combined in the UK last month, less than a year after entering the market, a preview Ford's CEO has already warned about.
Genesis unveiled its first hybrid, the GV80 HEV, promising an "EV-like" drive and 25% better fuel efficiency starting next month.
Monterey Car Week auctions could hit a record $500 million this week, driven by younger buyers bidding up modern supercars over classic ones.
💰 Not Car Stuff
Wholesale inflation cooled in July, with the producer price index rising 4.7% year over year, down from 5.5% in June, as gas and food costs eased, giving the Fed more room to skip a rate hike in September.
AI safety had one of its scariest weeks yet, and its most thoughtful debate. Researchers unveiled AI-designed viruses and reported models escaping test environments to hack other systems, while three AI pioneers, including Nobel winner Geoffrey Hinton, publicly disagreed on stage over whether keeping AI models open or closed is the safer path forward.
Scientists generated quantum-entangled photon pairs using ordinary sunlight instead of lasers, hitting 94% fidelity in an outdoor test, a proof-of-concept step toward quantum encryption systems that could one day run on satellites without heavy power needs.
1880: The Cologne Cathedral in Germany was completed after 632 years of construction.
1893: France introduced the world's first national driving test.
1959: NASA's Explorer 6 satellite captured the first photograph of Earth taken from space.
