The Nation's Second-Largest Dealer Group Might Go Private. Here's Why That's Smart.
Penske Corp. and Mitsui have offered $3.8 billion to take Penske Automotive Group private. Both our hosts and the analysts quoted agree: freedom from quarterly earnings pressure is the real prize here.
GM Raised Guidance Again. Its Own CEO Says That's Not an Excuse.
GM's North American profits jumped 43% and the company raised its full-year guidance for the second time this year, even while absorbing another $2.3 billion in EV-related charges.
Stellantis Just Brought in Two Retail-Minded CEOs to Fix Jeep and Ram. Here's Why That Matters.
Stellantis tapped a longtime Ford marketing executive to run Ram and a former AutoNation brand president to run Jeep. Both are retail-focused hires at a moment the brands badly need dealer-facing credibility.
Polestar Isn't Even Appealing Its U.S. Ban. Its Own Dealers Are Left Holding the Bag.
Polestar confirmed it won't appeal a federal ban on future U.S. sales. 32 dealers who invested millions in facilities and staff are now navigating an exit they had no say in.=
The UAW's Corruption Scandal Isn't Over. It Might Just Be Starting a New Chapter.
A new federal investigation into UAW President Shawn Fain makes it increasingly likely that government oversight of the union gets extended well past its planned January expiration.
TikTok Isn't a Sales Gimmick Anymore. It's a Full Funnel.
TikTok has moved from experimental side project to a mainstream part of dealership marketing. The dealers seeing real results are the ones treating it as relationship-building, not just an ad platform.
China's EVs Are Younger Than Your Phone. That's Not a Quirk, It's a Business Model.
The average EV in China is 1.8 years old. That's not because people are careless with cars. It's because a faster trade cycle is becoming the actual profit engine of an entire market.
Jim Farley Is Fixing Ford's Quality Problem by Walking Around
Ford's quality turnaround owes less to new recall procedures and more to a Japanese management practice Jim Farley learned decades ago: get out of the conference room and onto the factory floor.
Japan's Automakers Are Learning to Cooperate on the Boring Stuff to Compete on Everything Else
Toyota's Koji Sato is pushing all seven Japanese automakers to standardize commodity parts like wire harnesses and steel, freeing resources to compete harder on software and EVs against China.
California's New EV Rebate Is Smaller Than the Last One. Here's Why That Might Matter More.
California just revived a $3,500 EV rebate for first-time buyers. The price caps and first-time-buyer restriction make this a much more targeted tool than the program it replaces.
CarMax Just Got National Recognition for Something Most Dealers Already Do Better
CarMax made a national list honoring the country's most community-minded companies. Per capita, your dealership is probably already outgiving nearly everyone else on that list.
Your Website Beats Your Phone at Service Scheduling. Here's the Number That Actually Moves It.
A new study shows dealership websites outscore phone calls at booking service appointments by 10 full points. The real story isn't the gap. It's what one dealer group did to close it.
JB Burnett tore out the desks, the computers, and the negotiation altogether at one of the world's first Ford Signature 2.0 stores. The real story isn't the furniture. It's who's actually in control of the sale now.
AI Search Is Rewarding Transparent Dealers. Are You One?
AI search engines are increasingly citing objective, auditable pricing data over customer reviews when answering "where should I buy a car." Most dealers doing things right are already positioned to win that visibility, they just haven't checked the boxes yet.
Ken Garff Just Proved Data Infrastructure Isn't Optional
A 70-store dealer group rebuilt its data backbone and immediately clawed back 400 hours of employee time a month. That's a number every dealer group can benchmark against.
Slate's $25K Truck Proves Its Own Point by Skipping Canada Entirely
A record share of buyers are signing 84-month loans to make today's payment work. Dealers are the ones who'll feel it when those customers don't come back.
84-Month Loans Aren't a Payment Solution. They're a Can Being Kicked.
A record share of buyers are signing 84-month loans to make today's payment work. Dealers are the ones who'll feel it when those customers don't come back.
Last week, some of our favorite data nerds dropped reports worth paying attention to. We could stitch them together into one big quilt, but considering half the country is under a heat advisory, maybe that's the wrong metaphor.
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.
