Nissan Is Trying to Buy Back Its Brand, Not Just Its Sales
Nissan's turnaround plan is about more than new models. It's an acknowledgment that the way you grow sales shapes how customers value your brand for years afterward.
Service Is Becoming the Showroom Dealers Cannot Hide
Customers no longer experience your dealership only in the showroom. Increasingly, they're judging your brand through the service lane, and dealers are redesigning their facilities to reflect that.
Honda and Nissan Are Chasing the Scale Dealers Already Feel
Honda and Nissan's growing partnership isn't just about building future EVs. It's about finding a faster, less expensive way to compete in a market where complexity has become a liability.
A Smaller Market Would Make Better Retailers More Valuable
Affordability continues to weigh heavily on the industry. Monthly payments on new vehicles have climbed roughly 30% over the past four years, and nearly one in five new vehicles now carries a payment exceeding $1,000 per month.
Amazon Autos Just Became Another Door Into the Dealership
Amazon didn't replace the dealership. It added another place for customers to begin the buying journey, and that's a model more dealers should be paying attention to.
Deep Texas Is Becoming the Market Automakers Can’t Ignore Wide
As Texas closes in on California’s retail sales lead, dealers should watch how national product, pricing, and consumer assumptions start shifting with it.
CarGurus Just Raised the Bar for Price Transparency
Beginning July 14, transparent pricing won't just help build trust. It will determine how visible your inventory is on one of the industry's largest marketplaces.
One Dealer Got Tired of Arbitration. So He Built the Tool He Needed.
After managing arbitration across six Indiana dealerships that source roughly 70% of their inventory through auctions, Baldwin created a single place to file claims, track status updates, and document outcomes. If an arbitration is successful, the vehicle's history stays with the platform, giving future buyers visibility into past issues, repairs, and seller responses.
Our conversation with Yossi Levi covered everything from marketing and conversion to AI and hospitality. Three themes surfaced repeatedly: dealerships need to invest in people as much as platforms, AI is only as useful as the knowledge it's built on, and the stores creating the best customer experiences are combining hospitality with technology instead of choosing between them.
Slate Auto Thinks America Still Wants a Simple Truck
The startup says its electric pickup will start at $24,950 and generate positive gross margins. The truck features hand-crank windows, no built-in radio, a phone mount instead of an infotainment system, and a modular design that allows owners to customize it over time.
Tesla Tops the American-Made List Again. The Real Story Starts After That.
Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y once again claimed the top two spots on Cars.com's 2026 American-Made Index, extending the company's streak to six straight years at the top.
Shawn Fain's Next Challenge Isn't the Strike. It's the Future of Work.
At the UAW's constitutional convention in Detroit, Fain pointed to major wins from the 2023 labor negotiations, including gains against the Detroit Three and expanded organizing efforts at companies like Volkswagen. He also laid out an ambitious vision for the union's future, including restoring pensions and expanding the UAW's reach beyond automotive.
Consumers Trust Capri-Sun More Than AI. That's Actually Useful.
Business Insider highlighted the findings, which suggest consumers are gravitating toward familiar brands as technology and everyday life continue accelerating around them. Google's Gemini was the only major AI platform to improve its trust score. Everyone else got a reminder that adoption and trust aren't the same thing.
The Cheap Used Car Is Becoming an Endangered Species
According to Cox Automotive data reported by Auto Remarketing, CPO sales reached an estimated 228,521 units, up 6.1% month over month and accounting for 15.7% of all used retail sales.
Kevin Warsh Just Changed the Fed Forecast. Dealers Barely Flinched.
Automotive News reports that the Fed held rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75% while revising its longer-term forecast toward a quarter-point increase. Despite the news, dealer concern around interest rates continues to decline. Cox Automotive found that only 36% of dealers now identify rates as a significant challenge, down from 46% a year ago.
From Neutral to Fun: What Carvana's Test Drive Center Nails
This week, Carvana invited a small group of media and industry observers to its Dallas CDJR dealership for a first look at its new Test Drive Center concept.
