TOGETHER WITH:
Howdy, Fam!
Happy Veterans Day! On Monday, Heritage Toyota Owings Mills handed keys to ten Maryland veterans through its fifth annual vehicle giveaway with our friends at Vehicles for Change. Army veteran Joshua Finkley will use his to drive his son to school, and the other recipients need reliable rides to work, appointments, and family responsibilities.
Heritage | MileOne Autogroup and Vehicles for Change have been at this together since 2017. In that time, they've awarded more than 240 vehicles worth over $1.5 million, and they also back a training program that gives people a path into automotive careers.
That's what showing up year after year looks like. Today's stories are about the same idea from the business side: the relationships a store builds early, and where they lead.
In today's email...
Why 38% of GM's used shoppers buy new
Hertz walks away from its stores
Honda's $3 billion hybrid plant
Five straight quarters of shrinking new-car gross
Keep Pushing Back,
—Chris with Paul, Kyle & Kristi
First-time reader? Subscribe Here!
38% of GM's used-car shoppers end up buying new.
General Motors has rebuilt its certified pre-owned program, CarBravo, into an online portal where Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC dealers list certified used vehicles for shoppers nationwide. GM now certifies other brands' vehicles too, many of them trade-ins that would otherwise go to auction. About 1,615 of its 3,700 dealers are enrolled, and GM is targeting 250,000 CarBravo sales this year.
The bigger value is who the program brings in. About half of CarBravo buyers are new to GM, and 70% had never visited the store they bought from.
How does a used shopper end up in a new car?
Usually through the monthly payment. CarBravo's program lead described a shopper looking at a used F-150 for about $500 a month who finds a new Chevy for $510 to $515.
Program | What it's reporting |
|---|---|
GM CarBravo | 38% of used shoppers buy new |
Toyota | About 40% of used shoppers buy new |
Ford Blue Advantage | On track for 450,000 sales in 2026 |
Honda CPO | Buyers return for service about 18% more often |
Treat every certified used buyer as your next new-car and service customer from the first conversation.
Where does a car's story get lost before it reaches the shopper?
A used car passes through recon, pricing, merchandising, and follow-up before a shopper ever sees it. Every handoff is a chance for something to slip: a reconditioning detail that never makes the listing, a price that doesn't match the car's story, or a shopper who never hears back.
On Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. ET, Josh Levine of iPacket joins Paul and Kyle to trace one vehicle's journey through the dealership. They'll show where visibility breaks down and what it costs you in time on the lot, margin, and shopper confidence.
Can't make it live? Register anyway, and we'll send you the replay.
Hertz is closing every Hertz Car Sales store.
For years, online-first used-car retailers have been warming up to physical stores. Hertz just went the other way. It's closing all of its Hertz Car Sales locations, with closures reportedly final Nov. 20, and will sell through HertzCarSales.com, Amazon Autos, eBay, and TestDrive+ at more than 300 rental counters. We dug into it on Tuesday's Automotive State of the Union.
"They must just think that it is less expensive for them to lean into digital[,] because nothing's stopping them from leaning into digital and still having the physical locations."
Paul J. Daly
What does a closing Hertz store mean for nearby dealers?
Hertz has always played the national brand and never fought for a local market the way a dealership does. Its shoppers still need a local place to see a car and talk to someone who'll be there next month.
If a Hertz Car Sales store near you is closing, this is a strong moment to launch or push an independent used-car brand.
Honda is committing $3 billion to a new Ohio plant.
Demand for large hybrids like the Pilot, Passport, and MDX is outrunning what Honda can build, and its plants are nearly maxed out. The new plant opens in 2029, adds about 240,000 vehicles of annual capacity, and can switch between hybrid, gas, and electric production.
Honda dealers should expect large-hybrid supply to stay tight until then.
NHTSA opened a recall query into 2,895 Waymo robotaxis.
November 2025: Waymo says its school bus software fix is complete.
Since then: Austin logged 19 violations and Atlanta six more, most of them after the fix.
Monday: NHTSA opened a recall query to find out why.
Our team rode robotaxis in LA last week and saw how they hesitate at walking speed. Here's why the standard at a bus stop should be zero.
New-car gross per unit has fallen five straight quarters.
That's from the latest Presidio-NCM dealership benchmark, and it lines up with this week's market data.
Going up:
F&I income per vehicle: up 3.5% to $1,738
Fixed ops gross profit: up 5%
Average new-vehicle transaction price: topped $51,000 for the first time, up 2.1% from last year
Going down:
Net pretax profit: down 9.9% in Q3, after an 11.8% drop in Q2
New-vehicle gross: down 10.5% to $1,741
Used-vehicle gross: down 4.5% to $1,286
Retail share of October new-vehicle sales: from 83.2% to 81.5% as fleet grew
Wholesale car values: down 0.75% last week, from 0.35% the week before, as auction conversion fell 3 points to 56%
🛞 On the Lot
Lucid expanded its credit line from Saudi Arabia's PIF by $1.75 billion, lifting liquidity to $3.75 billion and funding operations into late 2027.
Nexperia says it's "totally oversubscribed" as chipmakers move capacity from car chips to AI data centers.
☕ Off the Clock
U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, above forecasts, after a 0.6% rise in September.
Washington becomes the 42nd state. (1889)
The armistice ending World War I takes effect, the origin of Veterans Day. (1918)
The American Association of State Highway Officials approves the U.S. Numbered Highway System, including Route 66. (1926)
Thanks for reading, Friend!
