Welcome to Saturday, Friend!
It’s the last day of the month.
And it’s your last shot at Early Bird pricing for ASOTU CON 2026.
Lock in the lowest rate of the year before it’s gone!
Keep Pushing Back,
-Paul, Kyle, Chris, and Kristi
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ICYMI
The Weekly Recap
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The Daily Pushback Email
On Monday, we unpacked the used car story: inventory is improving, but affordable options under $20K keep shrinking. Average used prices and payments remain elevated, even as tax refunds could spark March demand. Dealer count is steady, though consolidation continues quietly. Meanwhile, Carvana’s push toward 3 million units reminds every store to sharpen appraisal discipline and recon speed in a payment-driven market.
On Tuesday, we decoded the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling, clarifying what changed and what still affects dealer pricing. Most auto-related tariffs remain in place, meaning no quick MSRP relief. We broke down VIN-level price impacts, what to watch in incentives, and how to explain it to customers. Plus: Stellantis resets its EV strategy and eyes-off driving raises fresh cost and liability questions.
On Wednesday, we looked at spring momentum building in the U.S. market as affordability improved, loan rates dipped, and tax refunds ran higher year over year. Wholesale values and auction conversions showed healthy early-season patterns, though tariff-related pricing risk could surface later this year. We also covered Lamborghini shelving its EV, BMW manuals nearing sunset, and Bronco’s steady-as-she-goes strategy.
On Thursday, we focused on today’s pressure points: $800 average payments, policy uncertainty, and China’s structural cost advantage. We outlined how affordability gaps create opportunity for new entrants and why partnerships or U.S.-based production are the likely path. The practical takeaway: lead with the monthly number, clarify five-year ownership costs, and anchor conversations in what applies right now.
On Friday, we covered CarEdge’s new Dealer Transparency Index, which publicly grades pricing clarity using verified out-the-door quotes. With doc fees, add-ons, and markups under the microscope, consistency is becoming searchable. We also hit Stellantis’ full-year loss and zero profit sharing, rising U.S. auto debt, active buy-sell moves from Asbury, and Tesla’s labor tension in Berlin.
PODCASTS
Auto Collabs
Third-gen dealer. Three stores. TIME nominee.
And still, Emily Marlow Beck leads like she has something to prove.
She talks about humility as a competitive edge, becoming essential to customers, and guiding a team through AI-driven change without losing the heart of the business.
The Dealer Playbook
Dealers are spending more on advertising than ever, yet a lot of that money is still moving through disconnected channels that don’t actually work together, which makes performance feel harder to scale no matter how much you increase the budget.
Subi Ghosh’s take is simple but uncomfortable: the issue isn’t effort, it’s structure. As AI reshapes discovery and search behavior shifts, the advantage goes to dealers who treat media as coordinated infrastructure instead of isolated buys.
If your results feel stuck, this conversation connects the dots.
NADA 2026
The parts department might be the most overlooked profit center in the dealership, even though it represents one of the largest owned assets on the books.
At NADA 2026, Kaylee Felio and Allie Peters talked about what’s really happening behind the service drive: aging inventory, missed fill rate opportunities, and parts managers buried in data that’s hard to act on.
Before chasing more traffic, more techs, or more marketing, it might be worth asking what’s happening in the parts department.
Catch the full interview to hear how they’re approaching it.
AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE
TTACD x Rohrman Automotive Group
Every dealership has a story. Few have one this big.
From humble beginnings to massive growth, the Rohrman legacy is well known in across the country. But the most powerful stories inside the automotive group today aren’t about volume, they’re about restoration, generosity, and showing up for people when it matters most.
It’s honest. It’s personal. It’s worth the watch.
Bring your tissues.
SOMETHING FUN
Serious Monkey Business
If Punch the Monkey hasn’t shown up on your feed this week, we need to talk about your content diet. Because the rest of the internet has been collectively melting.
Punch is a baby Japanese macaque born last July at Ichikawa City Zoo. Abandoned by his mother at birth, he was raised by caretakers who gave him a large orange IKEA stuffed orangutan for comfort. Macaques are deeply dependent on their mothers in early life, so when footage surfaced of Punch clinging to that plush, it hit people straight in the chest.
IKEA leaned in. The company’s Japan’s president visited the zoo and donated 33 additional stuffed animals, including more orangutans (just in case). Regional teams amplified the attention creatively, tying their advertising efforts back to themes of comfort and belonging.
Then came the retail ripple.
IKEA’s Djungelskog plush began selling out across Japan and in several international markets. Resale listings climbed sharply, with listings on eBay reaching as high as $350. A long-standing children’s toy suddenly became the most emotionally loaded object on the internet.
The virality was organic, but the follow-through was strategic.
A baby monkey sparked global attention. IKEA turned that attention into momentum.
Quick Hits
FedEx joins the more than 1K companies who have filed suit with the U.S. Court of International Trade to force a refund for tariffs after they were deemed illegal by SCOTUS. ⚖️
If a Venti just isn’t cutting it anymore, Dunkin's new drink size is so large it comes in a bucket. 🪣
Employees at Google and OpenAI share their support for Anthropic after the Pentagon demanded unrestricted access to the AI company’s technology. ⬟
