- ASOTU Daily Pushback
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- đźš— VW's Three Fronts
đźš— VW's Three Fronts
đźš™ Opening Doors, Leno's Crusade, and CTAs
TOGETHER WITH
Good morning, Friend!
If we swap the word “sale” for “conversion,” it reframes that final moment as less about discounts and more about the relationship between customer and dealership.
Every process, every team points to that fragile instant when the “lead,” the “marketing campaign,” and the “community event” converge—turning an unknown person into a known one.
Wild. And fragile.
Yesterday, Kyle showed how even a 400ms lag can swing conversion rates 24–176%. That’s how thin the margin is between shopper and buyer.
Connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube to keep up on everything we find to keep your team moving with confidence (and low lag).
Keep Pushing Back,
-Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi
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From the Automotive State of the Union
Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier don’t just read headlines; they make important connections across car dealerships, general retail, tech, and culture, all to help automotive leaders think clearly and move faster in a world that refuses to slow down.
Catch up on yesterday’s stories:
Toyota is planting seeds for the future—turning Fukushima’s scarred soil into a proving ground for next-gen biofuels. A Toyota-led coalition, joined by Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, Daihatsu, and energy giant Eneos, is cultivating high-cellulose sorghum and converting it into E10 fuel at a new $33M facility. It’s part of Japan’s “multipathway” approach, keeping hybrids, synthetic fuels, and biofuels in play alongside EVs.
Meanwhile, in California, Jay Leno’s push to exempt pre-1981 classics from smog checks hit a dead end. Despite passing the Senate, the Assembly quietly killed the bill, citing pollution concerns over preservation.
From The News w/ ASOTU
Click to read the full digest.
Check out the latest automaker announcements, market data, insights, and action, as well as More Than Cars moments, in our 5-minute digest. Today we have:
Volkswagen is working a three-front push.
In the U.S., it’s in advanced talks with Washington about major investments—including a possible Audi plant—to ease tariff pain. In Europe, it just rolled out the ID. Cross, a compact EV set to start at ~€25k, doubling down on affordability and battery innovation. And in North America, Scout Motors will source cells from VW’s Canadian PowerCo plant, securing supply for its upcoming Terra and Traveler EVs.
Meanwhile, GM is pulling back.
Even after a record August for EV sales, it will pause Lyriq/Vistiq production, delay a Bolt shift, and slow assembly into 2026. The reason? The $7,500 federal credit expires this month, and GM won’t overproduce into a softer market.
CTA Strategy? What's That?
Still slapping a bunch of call-to-action buttons on your website willy nilly? Maybe it's time to be intentional about it, because when you get it right, the results are amazing.
In this data study, conducted over 3 months, the Morgan Automotive Group saw double and triple digit gains in their website conversion with the right CTAs and the right tools from TradePending.
EVERYTHING ELSE
Quick Hits
🤖 AI: Check out the new AutoIndustry.AI issue for info and insight from today’s AI front line.
đź›’ Retail: Walmart is taking on big viral online retailers like the TikTok Shop. It should be an interesting micro-to-macro case study for other retail verticals.
🇺🇸 Policy: South Korean companies are halting Georgia investments following a massive immigration raid on one of their plants, where about 300 South Korean Immigrants were taken.
AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE
When Losing Your Job Opens the Right Door
When Hawaii’s tourism shut down, Julie Tabarejo lost two hotel marketing jobs overnight. Someone in auto tapped her shoulder: “Automotive needs your skills.” She jumped. Three years later, she’s consulting for Kia in Houston. Her lesson? Transferable skills outperform résumés.
At NAMAD and WOCAN, Julie also learned that representation isn’t charity, it’s strategy. As Stacey Abrams put it: “Even though I didn’t win, it doesn’t mean that I lost.”
👉 Read Julie’s full story of resilience, reinvention, and why dealers should rethink hiring, KPIs, and community.
Today in History
1791: Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, is named after President George Washington. 🇺🇸
1954: The first Ford Thunderbird is produced. 🦅
2014: The album Songs of Innocence by U2 is digitally released at no charge to all customers of the iTunes Music Store, appearing automatically in the "purchased" section of over 500 million users worldwide. 💿️
See you tomorrow. Peace!
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