TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
AI keeps getting louder, but our own Kyle Mountsier is pointing dealers toward the work that may decide who actually gets value from it.
Today we’re starting with his latest piece on why dealership documentation, process clarity, and institutional knowledge may be the real AI advantage.
Also in today's email:
Why Texas may be the market automakers start watching closer.
What cautious Prime Day shoppers tell us about car buyers.
Why Toyota’s China slide is bigger than one bad month.
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
Reading time: 3 min and 46 sec
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We’re Skipping a Step With AI
The stores that understand themselves best may get the most value from AI.
Kyle’s point is simple and sharp: before AI can improve how a dealership communicates, recommends, automates, or follows up, it needs context.
Most stores already have inventory data, transaction data, customer data, and service history. But the real operating knowledge often lives in people. How decisions get made. Who handles exceptions. What standards shape the customer experience? What gets said in coaching sessions, meetings, and hallway conversations.
That knowledge is already there. The question is whether it is documented well enough for people and technology to use consistently.
For dealers, this is the work before the tool. Clear SOPs, role definitions, escalation paths, and communication standards are no longer just internal resources. They are becoming the foundation that future systems will need.
Read Kyle’s full piece here.
How Many Leads Does it Take to Sell a Car in 2026?
Foureyes ran the numbers on nearly 1 million sales and the answer is messier than you'd think.
The average new vehicle moves on 3.3 leads, but that average is hiding a lot.
A VW ID. Buzz takes 12.9. A Jeep Cherokee takes 2.1. EVs and halo cars eat leads for breakfast while work vans practically sell themselves.
They ranked 90 models from easiest to hardest so far in 2026, and it's the kind of thing you'll want to check your own lot against.
Texas Is Becoming the Market Automakers Can’t Ignore
Watch what sells, not just what gets announced.
Texas is closing in on California as the top U.S. new-vehicle retail market, with its share rising from 9.3% in 2019 to 10.8% today. California is still a major influence on EVs, design, tech, and trend adoption, but Texas is showing where volume, money, and mainstream consumer demand are sitting right now.
For dealers, the takeaway is practical: local buyer behavior may tell the story before national averages do. Keep sending real market feedback upstream.
Prime Day Shows the Buyer Is Still Buying, Just More Carefully
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Participation is not the same as confidence.
Prime Day is still expected to set records, but average order size and household spend are down from last year. That feels familiar for auto retail. Customers are still shopping, comparing, clicking, and raising their hands, but they are less casual with money.
Dealers should assume the buyer is active, but more selective. Payment clarity, trade clarity, fee clarity, and follow-up clarity all carry more weight when shoppers are cautious.
Toyota’s China Sales Slide Shows the Pressure on Global Product Strategy
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Even Toyota is feeling the pull of China’s fast-changing buyer.
Toyota global sales fell 7.2% in May, marking a fourth straight monthly decline. China was the biggest drag, with sales down 31.7% as gas prices, competition, and demand for more advanced electrified options pressured Toyota’s gas-heavy mix.
For U.S. dealers, this is worth watching because China’s pace keeps forcing global automakers to rethink product, pricing, and EV strategy. Toyota is still strong, but even the strongest brands are not immune to fast market turns.
🚘 Auto Stuff
Wayve Wants to Be the AI Driver for Legacy Automakers. Wayve is bringing AI-powered hands-free driving to Stellantis and Nissan, giving legacy automakers another path into autonomy and dealers another technology to explain. Read more here.
Volkswagen Pulls Back on Self-Driving. Volkswagen reportedly ended a major autonomous driving project with Bosch, reinforcing that many automakers may find licensing advanced technology more practical than building it themselves. Read more here.
Carvana's Cube Raises a Question. One columnist sees Carvana's Dallas showroom as a glimpse of lower-pressure retail. Do customers still want salespeople, or simply knowledgeable guides? Read more here.
💰 Tech Stuff
NASA Tries Space CPR. NASA hired a startup to boost an aging telescope before it falls to Earth. Hubble may be next on the rescue list.
Chip Fight Gets More Expensive. U.S. lawmakers want tighter export rules on chipmaking gear. ASML gets stuck playing “please everyone” with billion-dollar equipment.
AI Predicts Bitcoin. Again. Nine AI models tried to call Bitcoin’s next $100K run. One refused, making it the most relatable robot in crypto.
📀 Weekend Stuff
Comcast Hits the Unbundle Button. Comcast plans to spin off NBCUniversal and Sky because even media giants are realizing everything doesn’t need to live in one drawer.
Instagram May Let You Train the Beast. Instagram is testing more algorithm controls. Users responded with the ancient request: “Just show me the people I follow.”
Airbnb Declares War on Party Houses. Airbnb is using anti-party tech for the July 4th weekend. Somewhere, a 19-year-old with a Bluetooth speaker just felt a disturbance.
1936: Margaret Mitchell's epic novel "Gone with the Wind" is published.
1953: The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
1972: The world's first leap second is officially added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to reconcile atomic clocks with the Earth's slowing rotation, a critical synchronization for global computing systems.
