Bryan Harmon

Uncle Joe's AI timesaver tip of the day. **Got Google Drive? Plug your AI into it** ChatGPT and Claude now offer "Google Connectors". AI can securely read and search your Drive like a digital assistant. Instead of clicking through folder chaos, you can just ask: “Which spreadsheet tracks recon by store?”, “What’s the latest version of our warranty upsell doc?”, or “Summarize everything in Drive about our OEM co-op rules.” This is a game-changer for car dealers juggling hundreds of Docs and Sheets. AI becomes your shortcut to answers — no more digging, no more guessing, just type the question and move on.

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Designed around dealers. One of the biggest complaints about dealer technology is that it feels like it was designed by people who have never sold a car. Connect - Powered by MAD DEVS, iTrackLEADS and iStoreDOCS were built with direct dealer input and ongoing dealership visits. Real workflows. Real constraints and real pressure points. That shows in the way the systems behave. They support sales conversations rather than interrupt them. They handle admin quietly in the background. This is not about chasing the latest trend. It is about giving dealers reliable tools that stand up under daily use. Technology should earn its place in the dealership. These platforms do precisely that. #DealerFirst #AutomotiveTechnology #UKDealers #MadDevs #Connect

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Front Page Yesterday in the Wall Steet Journal, as well reported by Chris Otts Hot take: VW trying to push Scout Motors with a direct sales model while already having a massive dealer network is the definition of “because we can” instead of “because it works.” Tesla pulled off direct sales in a different era. But let’s be honest: VinFast Fisker Rivian Lucid All tried to sell, or are currently trying to sell, in the US without traditional dealers. All out of business or are still struggling to make real, sustainable money. Meanwhile, unlike those above, VW already has a well experienced dealers who: Know their local customers Know how to sell and service Are literally built to support rollouts like this So why go to war with them? Here’s what actually fits how people adopt EVs today: they don’t want a 20-minute test drive. They want to live with the car first. Why not make it easy for dealers to sell EVs, not try to work around them? For example, with a flexible lease from Driveitaway (OTC: DWAY) brought to you by a dealer: Drivers can test-drive an EV for months, not minutes. There’s no long-term financial commitment. The OEM generates new revenue and customer goodwill instead of dealer lawsuits. OEMs why not de-risk EV launches without blowing up your own channels? Side Prediction: Scout will launch direct, stumble, and eventually come back to the VW dealer network. Everyone’s arguing about direct vs. dealers for EVs. Wrong debate. The real question: Who gives customers a risk free process to try an EV first, for as long as they want? #Mobility #CarDealers #AutomotiveRetail #DriveItAway

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Here is what happened in the industry this week. -The REPAIR Act Just Cleared Committee — With ADAS Standards Attached If you’ve been following this story in the Shop Floor Report, you know the REPAIR Act has been through the wringer. Two weeks ago it got gutted — the telematics mandate stripped out. Last week, Trump called out automakers at the White House for blocking independent repair. This week, the bill took another step forward.... - GM Is Dumping LFP Batteries. Here’s What’s Replacing Them. GM’s VP of Batteries, Kurt Kelty, said this week that lithium iron phosphate batteries — LFP — are likely out of GM’s long-term EV plans. That’s a big reversal. GM had announced plans to build LFP batteries at a jointly owned plant in Tennessee starting in late 2027. Now they’re pivoting to lithium manganese-rich chemistry — LMR..... - Ford Puts AI Inspectors in 17 Plants Ford installed IBM’s Maximo Visual Inspection AI at 17 North American manufacturing plants. The system uses iPhones to photograph vehicle components on the assembly line and a cloud-based AI platform to detect defects in real time. It’s not a pilot program anymore — Ford added 40 new inspection systems in 2026 alone...... - Tech Life: The #1 Career-Ender Nobody Talks About Until It’s Too Late We’ve done boots. We’ve done gloves. We’ve talked money. We’ve covered diagnostic fundamentals. This week we’re talking about the thing that ends more technician careers than flat rate, tool debt, and burnout combined. Your back...... See more of these stories and others at Apex Tech Nation

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Tariffs have cost automakers at least $35.4 BILLION since 2025. That’s the headline making the rounds in the auto industry this week. But the real question isn’t just the cost. What did the United States get in return? According to Automotive News, tariffs have already hit manufacturers hard: • Toyota alone projects $9.1B in tariff costs for its fiscal year ending March 2026 • The Detroit 3 absorbed roughly $6.5B in 2025 • BMW, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Subaru, and Volkswagen each face $1B+ tariff bills And that’s happening while the industry is already dealing with nearly $70B in EV restructuring costs. So the financial pressure on automakers is real. But tariffs were never just about cost. They were designed to do three things: 1. Generate revenue for the U.S. government Tariffs collected roughly $287B in federal revenue in 2025 and are projected to bring in about $171B in 2026. However, with a federal deficit approaching $2 trillion annually, tariff revenue only covers a small portion of government spending. 2. Encourage manufacturing to move to the United States We’re starting to see some shifts: • GM moving a future Buick crossover from China to Kansas production in 2028 • Porsche evaluating potential U.S. manufacturing • Imports from outside North America falling nearly 8% in late 2025 But building plants and supplier networks takes years and billions in capital, so the full impact isn’t immediate. 3. Reshape global supply chains Tariffs are forcing companies to rethink where vehicles and parts are built. But supply chains are complicated. Sometimes production moves to the U.S. Sometimes it moves to Mexico, Vietnam, or other lower-cost countries instead. Which means the results are still unfolding. One reality most economists agree on: Tariffs are usually paid first by U.S. companies importing goods, which means the cost eventually flows through to prices, margins, or both. And we’re starting to see that ripple through the industry. Some models are disappearing. Some production is moving. Some prices are rising. So the real question for the industry is this: If tariffs have already cost automakers $35B… How much manufacturing investment and job creation will they ultimately bring back to the United States? Because that’s the metric that will determine whether the strategy worked. Sources Automotive News – “Trump tariffs have cost automakers at least $35 billion since 2025” AlixPartners Automotive Analysis AutoForecast Solutions Reuters – U.S. trade deficit and tariff revenue reporting Congressional Budget Office / Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget tariff projections

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