Writing
from the road.
Short, useful dispatches on the people, ideas, and forces shaping the car business.
The archive
The archive · 11 published
Aug 3, 2026 · 4 min read
Stop Using Rebates to Mask a Structure Crisis
July SAAR is up, but so is negative equity. When you use OEM incentives to bury bad deal structure, you aren't making a sale—you're locking your customers out of the market for the next four years. Learn to lead with equity, not rebates.
Jul 27, 2026 · 5 min read
Protect What AI Can't Compress
When you compress the time it takes to do the work, you risk compressing the value of the work itself. Learn why the next competitive edge in automotive isn't more automation, but the deliberate choice to slow down where it counts.
Jul 20, 2026 · 5 min read
Stop Letting Your Customers Drive Into a Retention Dead End
Retention is an operational function, not a marketing one. Stop relying on CRM automation and start operationalizing the habit of loyalty by booking the next appointment before the customer ever leaves your curb.
Jul 13, 2026 · 4 min read
Your Dealership AI Adoption is a Knowledge Architecture Problem
More than half of your staff is already using AI, but without a clear operating system, you are just buying noise. Learn how to move past tribal knowledge to build a business that is AI ready through structured data and reduced friction.
Jun 27, 2026 · 3 min read
The Knowledge Debt Holding Your Dealership Back
Stop chasing the next shiny object. If your processes are trapped in the heads of your best people, your AI is flying blind. Learn how to move from tribal knowledge to a structured knowledge graph to scale your dealership operations.
Jun 22, 2026 · 3 min read
Friction is Costing You More Than Margin
Modern retail automotive isn't about finding new ways to trick the customer into a seat. It is about removing the structural friction that kills trust and destroys efficiency through More Than Cars strategies like SPOC and Video MPI.
Jun 15, 2026 · 3 min read
Stop Chasing Transactions and Start Building a Community
Marketing that ends at the point of sale is a race to the bottom. Learn how to map the customer lifecycle and leverage community as a retention engine to lower your cost per acquisition and build a business that is More Than Cars.
Jun 8, 2026 · 4 min read
Stop Renting Your Customers
Most dealers are building their business on rented land by over-relying on lead providers. Learn how to shift toward brand-centric marketing to lower your acquisition costs and own your local market through the More Than Cars approach.