The Weekly

How Lasco Auto is keeping customers loyal through Ford’s recall storm

“If you don’t have a mission, it’s kind of hard to have a goal of what everyone’s trying to strive for,” said Kelsey Riley, operations director at Lasco Auto Group in Michigan. (3 min. read)

Ash Savage

Governor Newsom signs California’s CARS Act into law

The CARS Act represents one of the most sweeping consumer-protection laws to affect California auto retail in decades. (3 min. read)

Carney, Trump clash over auto trade, putting USMCA’s future in question

“For America to be fully competitive, to be globally competitive in autos, you need USMCA,” said Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. (3 min. read)

Ford, GM walk back plans to extend EV tax credits on leases

CDG News alert (1 min. read)

Podcast Recaps

Stop bleeding margin: 3 red flags in dealership ops—and how to turn it around

Featuring Jim Roche, CEO of WarrCloud

The 10-day onboarding program behind Principle Auto’s culture-first growth

“We want to have a great first impression and say, ‘Hey, we’re here to support you, we’re here to give you some structure, and we want to make sure that you thrive in that environment,’” said Director of Learning and Development at Principle Auto Group, Fabiola Mathis. (4 min. read)

Ash Savage

Auto lenders hit by coordinated fraud attacks amid rise in identity theft — report

Auto lending fraud often originates through dealer-assisted or online app flows where phone/email changes and document forgeries occur. (3 min. read)

Automakers could lose billions under potential DOE funding cuts

The potential rollback comes as automakers are already scaling back EV production with the repeal of federal EV tax credits. (2 min. read)

Atlanta Luxury Motors scoops up two stores from Hennessy

CDG News alert (1 min. read)

The Breakdown

Why dealers are betting on a brand many abandoned—and what that means for auto retail

Only up from here?

Anna del Villar, +1

Inside the repeatable systems powering Bill Jacobs VW’s used car business

“I'm on Stockwave, which is a Cox Automotive product...I'm on Mannheim. I'm on ACV. I'm on OPENLANE. I'm in our service drive, just trying to find the next best used car,” said Malik Hussain, GM at Bill Jacobs VW. (3 min. read)

Ash Savage

Ford applauds Trump’s 25% tariff on medium and heavy-duty trucks

How the Trump administration defines the geographic scope of the new tariff will ultimately determine its impact. (2 min. read)

In a tighter market, F&I is keeping dealers profitable

“In these times when other challenges are out there, you know, there's an opportunity for our dealers to generate profit from the F&I products. And I think they realize that,” said Cox Automotive’s Andy Mayers. (3 min. read)

Anna del Villar, +1

Amazon Autos offers new financing options from Chase, Santander, Wells Fargo

CDG News alert (1 min. read)

Ken Ganley adds two Ohio Lexus stores

CDG News alert (1 min. read)