Goodyear Just Turned an Oil Change Into a Destination
Goodyear opened its first destination-style concept store in Detroit on Aug. 15, timed to coincide with the Woodward Dream Cruise, an event that draws roughly 1.5 million people and 40,000 classic and custom cars. The Motor City Garage blends service, brand history, and car culture as Goodyear works to refresh its retail strategy and reverse a stock price down nearly 32% year-to-date.
Amazon's Toaster-Shaped Robotaxi Just Started Charging for Rides
Amazon's Zoox has started charging for rides in Las Vegas and operating in San Francisco, becoming the first robotaxi company to offer paid rides in a vehicle built without standard driver controls.
BMW Just Found the Line Between a Connected Car and a Connected Billboard
BMW put a Spider-Man promotion on dashboard screens in more than 70 countries for two weeks. Owners who paid premium prices for premium vehicles did not receive it as a nice surprise.
NADA Is Renting Out an Entire Universal Theme Park for Its Orlando Welcome Reception
The NADA Show is heading back to Orlando for the first time in 13 years, and the exhibit floor already sold out with a waiting list before registration even fully opened. The welcome reception detail is the one worth sitting with: attendees get the run of Universal's brand-new Epic Universe.
Teenagers Are Already Smarter Than ChatGPT's Guardrails
OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT for Teens this week, built to help students learn without simply doing the work for them. It took one reporter three messages to get it to write a full essay anyway.
An 87-Year-Old Just Paid $40 Million for a $640,000 Car. The Real Trick Is the Math.
Ferrari's first production-spec Luce arrived at Monterey Car Week with an estimated auction value around $1.1 million. It sold for $40 million instead.
"Work Slop" Is the New Leadership Risk, and Most Executives Don't See It Coming
Nearly three-quarters of executives now trust AI's business advice more than that of their own colleagues or friends. A growing number are letting it make the call outright.
A 14-Year-Old With No Job Is Out-Creating Your Dealership's Content
Peter McKay can't legally drive a car yet. He also can't legally work in most states until he's older. What he can do, apparently, is out-hustle your entire social media strategy from the passenger seat of his mom's minivan.
LinkedIn Is Fighting AI Slop With More AI. Here's Why Your Content Still Needs to Sound Like You.
LinkedIn is adding an "AI slop" flag that lets users report low-quality, AI-generated posts, using AI to detect AI in an attempt to keep the platform's feed from drowning in it.
This Is How You Make Kids Fight to Join the Industry
Sinclair College just ran a three-day automotive camp for middle schoolers, and it's doing more for workforce recruiting than most dealer job postings ever will. Paul's take on why is the real story here.
Shoppers Are Fine With AI Touching Your Photos. They're Not Fine With It Touching the Truth.
A new survey shows 70% of consumers are comfortable with AI-enhanced product photography, but only as long as it doesn't misrepresent the actual product. Disclosure alone makes a brand meaningfully more trustworthy.
Ford, BlackRock, and Google Just Teamed Up on the Problem Every Dealership Already Has
A new coalition is pairing major companies with labor unions and trade associations to expand apprenticeships, directly addressing the same technician shortage dealerships have been fighting for years.
A Viral TikTok Says Dealerships Are a Scam. Here's the Actual History It Leaves Out.
A satirical video attacking the entire dealership model is making the rounds this week. The real history behind franchise law, and the comment section reaction, is worth unpacking directly.
A Department Store Built a Shopping App Nobody Needed. Then 470,000 People Joined It Anyway.
South Korean retailer The Hyundai built a digital platform around discovery and entertainment instead of speed and price. The results suggest real appetite for the exact opposite of frictionless e-commerce.
Parents Are Spending More on Back-to-School. They're Also Getting Pickier About Where.
A new survey shows back-to-school budgets up nearly 12% this year. Parents are also consolidating trips and rewarding retailers that remove friction, not just the ones with the lowest price.
A Novelist's Warning About AI Isn't Really About Writing. It's About Everyone Who Talks to Customers.
Author Dave Eggers argues that outsourcing your voice to AI is "a crime against yourself." A story from Paul's own flight last week shows exactly what he means, and why it matters well beyond writing.
Malls Are Busier Again. Here's the Lesson Hiding in Why.
Shopping center foot traffic is up across every format in 2026, driven by a broad mix of consumers, not just high earners. The reason people are coming back has a direct lesson for how a dealership uses its own physical space.
He Bet the Farm, Literally, to Buy His First Dealership. Now He Owns the One Where He Started.
Missouri dealer Eric Gentry just bought the dealership where he sold his first car in 1994. His approach to growing it is a clean blueprint for small-group growth.
Europe Wants Your Car to Physically Refuse to Speed. Here's Why That's Harder Than It Sounds.
The EU wants new cars electronically capped at the posted speed limit by 2030. The technology behind it is currently wrong about one in every four times the limit changes.
Nobody Booked a Flight to See Your Waffle House. They're Obsessed With It Anyway.
Millions of World Cup visitors have turned Walmart, Buc-ee's, and Waffle House into must-visit destinations. There's a real lesson in there about what actually makes a brand memorable.
Retail Workers Are Happier Than You'd Guess. Was Auto Retail Even Counted?
A new workforce study shows retail employees near the top for shift happiness, driven by autonomy and predictable schedules rather than pay. Nobody can confirm auto retail was actually part of the sample.
Why Hometown Athletes Are Becoming Dealers' Best Brand Asset
Former Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser is investing in a Chino, California dealership now rebranded Orel Hershiser Chevrolet, partnered with 30-year auto retail veteran Eddie Allizadeh. More than 5,000 people showed up to the store's May 28 grand opening.
I Went on CDG and Ended Up Thinking About Brand (Big Surprise)
Most dealerships start by asking who they should market to. Instead, we should pump the brakes and ask “who are we?” Brand isn't something you create with a logo or a campaign. It's what customers experience every day and technology is only amplifying what's already there.
