September 2026
Every Automotive Under 5 episode from September 2026.
All episodes
September 2026
- Wednesday, September 30, 20264:02
The Fuel Rule Goes Final
NHTSA has posted the signed Federal Register rule and the Final Regulatory Impact Analysis covering model years twenty twenty-two through twenty thirty-one. The Drive has found a twist inside those numbers that changes how the rollback reads. The episode also covers what CBT News, Auto Remarketing and Collision Repair Magazine are filing today: a Chevrolet store changing hands, CarMax's second quarter rebound, an ASE accreditation webinar, and Experian's look at six months of subprime growth. Digital Dealer's case for incrementality testing sits alongside a separate piece asking where service department revenue is going missing. None of it tells a dealer what to do with Monday's numbers, only what changed by Tuesday.
- Tuesday, September 29, 20264:03
A Cheaper Fuel Rule, A Wider China Footprint
NHTSA has cut the fuel economy target for model year twenty thirty-one almost in half, and CBT News has the number that matters to a buyer standing on the lot. Toyota's China numbers keep sliding, and Mercedes is weighing the exit Volkswagen already took in Germany, per CarExpert. Hendy and Marshall both add Chinese-brand franchises in the UK this week, according to Motor Trader, the same week a Senate bill to ban Chinese vehicles stalls in Washington and Nissan says the threat it targets is already arriving.
- Monday, September 28, 20264:18
German Plants, A Recall Wave, One CEO's Ranger
Three German manufacturers now point to the same number: Volkswagen's profit margin is heading toward one percent. MotorBiscuit and CarBuzz report plant closures under discussion at two of them, driven by pressure from Chinese exporters. Elsewhere on the wire, a steering recall spans two continents, Ford halts its best-selling truck over a parts problem, and Crowe puts a price on Toyota's automation bet. Ford signs a comedian for its service ads, Stellantis's Brampton standoff runs on, and California moves on how insurers price unmarried drivers. None of it resolves by air time, and the figures involved, from four million recalled vehicles to a six billion dollar automation estimate, are the kind that move a Monday morning meeting.
- Saturday, September 26, 20262:59
Biggest Day, New Owners, Delayed Buzz
Today is the last Saturday of September, the single biggest day of the month for most stores, with four selling days left to close it out. This episode covers new ownership on the ground, CBT News reporting Agere Automotive's purchase of BMW and Audi stores in Washington state, alongside Asbury's expanded Toyota opening per Simply Wall Street and Auto Remarketing's note on its revamped Boston location. Product news moves too: Volkswagen's in-vehicle gaming rollout, a delayed ID. Buzz return, a Canadian battery plant pushed to twenty twenty-nine, and a Mercedes-AMG V eight selling out before it lands, all from CBT News, Motor Illustrated and Automotive Dive. A ninety-eight thousand vehicle Rivian recall and a brake story from Motor1 close out the morning wire.
- Friday, September 25, 20264:04
Used-Car Steady, Brampton Plant Goes Permanent
Auto Remarketing's read on used-car pricing carried across three separate wire filings this morning, and VantageScore finds consumer credit resiliency showing up again in August. Automotive News tracks buy-sell activity moving through Lamborghini, McLaren and Infiniti stores, while Car and Driver writes that Honda is eyeing a second Ohio plant. The World Socialist Web Site has it that Stellantis has permanently closed its Brampton plant, with Unifor keeping remaining workers on the job. Motor Trader covers Bentley's showroom redesign and Mazda's new service-plan partnership, and a run of recalls, from Jeep's tire pressure lights to Land Rover's Defender, keeps service departments busy. None of it changes what's owed Monday, but it shapes what gets priced, staffed and fixed.
- Thursday, September 24, 20264:03
Two More Deals, One Bigger Rogue
Two more entries land on the buy-sell ledger this morning. Walser Automotive Group has closed its largest acquisition to date and brought Ford back into its portfolio, Auto Remarketing reports, while Crossroads Automotive Group has made its first Florida move with the purchase of Bartow Ford, according to CBT News. Elsewhere on the wire, CarBuzz and Motor Illustrated both have Honda sizing up a larger flagship SUV, Automotive Dive prices the twenty twenty-seven Nissan Rogue Hybrid, and Motor Trader tracks UK dealers reporting faster EV demand alongside falling used petrol prices. A Credit Acceptance settlement adds new disclosure paperwork to the finance desk, and General Motors opens a technician recognition program. A rural North Carolina college breaks ground on a twenty-two million dollar automotive facility.
- Wednesday, September 23, 20264:05
NADA's Nine-Day Window on Repair Data
Nine days separate NADA from either killing or losing the REPAIR Act, and CBT News lays out what's riding on it. A telematics mandate NADA prices at over a hundred million dollars a year in new rulemaking and reporting alone. The same wire has CarMax cutting one hundred forty-five corporate jobs, a CDK study finding most F&I offices juggling four or more systems, and a new board seat at Group One tied to Conifer's stake. Auto Remarketing and Digital Dealer track an inride-ACV integration and a new AI call receptionist. Automotive News tracks a further slide in US-built vehicles crossing into Canada. None of it resolves before the calendar does.
- Tuesday, September 22, 20264:20
DARCARS Ordered to Refund Over a Million
A million-dollar refund order out of New York puts a number on how far state regulators will go over dealer fees, and that leads a morning with plenty else moving. CBT News covers a fresh Go Auto acquisition and a buy-sell advisor calling this a record year for dealership transactions, while Automotive Dive has Cox Automotive raising its sales forecast and Volvo naming a new global chief executive. Auto Remarketing and Car Dealership Guy News track a run of AI tools landing on the call desk and in the service bay, and Motor Trader files a batch of UK retail moves. Stellantis's Brampton sale remains open, and a European battery rule could add real cost to EV stickers.
- Monday, September 21, 20264:33
Wholesale Turns Negative, Toyota Sends Dealers to Washington
Wholesale used values just went negative year over year for the first time in twenty twenty-six. Cox Automotive's mid-September numbers show the drop running harder than a normal September decline. This episode covers that reading alongside Toyota's push to get its dealer body lobbying Washington on tariffs, per The Drive, and a Windsor Star update on Stellantis and Unifor's Brampton standoff. The FTC's price transparency FAQs, welcomed by NADA and distributed by NIADA, now put franchised and independent pricing under one published standard. A Fed rate hike lands on F&I desks, per CBT News, and a run of UK franchise moves from Motor Trader round out a morning with more than one number to check before the week is out.
- Saturday, September 19, 20263:16
Brampton Holds, One Recall Lands This Morning
Automotive News keeps Brampton in its weekly Canadian roundup this morning, alongside GM's return to V-8 pickup power and a Flavio Volpe warning on Canada's own tariff response. Automotive Dive has a two-hundred-thirty-nine-thousand-unit Ram recall for a backup camera fault, and Auto Remarketing covers Corpay's hundred-million-dollar FTC settlement over seven-year-old fuel card allegations. The Drive carries Hyundai's chief executive on China's ambitions, CarProUSA has Ford at odds with Washington over battery sourcing, and CBT News notes a new Mazda store and one dealership's ninety-seven-thousand-dollar donation. One line from it might get repeated at the sales meeting before the doors open.
- Friday, September 18, 20264:05
Credit Acceptance Settles Six Years of State Scrutiny
Seven hundred million dollars closes six years of state scrutiny into one of the industry's biggest subprime lenders, and it lands the same week the Fed raises rates again. Auto Remarketing has the settlement, Automotive Dive has the Fed, and together they frame where used-car credit stands heading into fourth quarter. Automotive News aggregates four outlets on Acura dropping the MDX Type S, and Digital Dealer files on AI agent platforms moving past the pilot stage into the deal desk. A Jeep recall, new investment in UK manufacturing, a run of new-store openings, and two dealer-side commentary pieces on fixed ops and AI round out the morning. None of it tells a dealer what to do about financing costs. It just says where the line is now.
- Thursday, September 17, 20264:21
Diesel Record, FTC's Fine Print, Brampton's Next Move
Diesel sits at a record six dollars thirty-one cents a gallon this week, up seventy percent from a year ago, and Auto Remarketing says the run-up is pushing repossession agents toward the brink. The episode tracks affordability, inventory and used-vehicle demand across CBT News and Auto Remarketing, a JD Power study on infotainment complaints, and a Casa Auto Group rundown of AI results from Automotive Dive. On the governance side, the FTC has put its price-advertising warnings into formal guidance, NHTSA has proposed delaying some safety-rating tests, and the Canadian import ban tied to counter-tariffs gets a start date. Brampton's plant fight moves to Ottawa, and a Nebraska fraud case shows what the FTC's guidance is aimed at.
- Wednesday, September 16, 20264:44
Ford's Bundle, Toyota's Cuts, Brampton's New Objector
One CBT News headline touches three parts of the store at once this morning: an expanded F-One-Fifty Carhartt package, a stalled path for Chinese vehicles into the US, and faster service scheduling. Toyota preps cost cuts per the South Coast Register, GM misses the hybrid run Reuters says the rest of the industry is on, and Nissan and McLaren both commit UK plant money. LaFontaine and UVeye extend free diagnostic checkups to Michigan drivers, Carvana builds out ADESA Charlotte, and the FTC's new pricing FAQs land the same week a Ford dealer sues GM for twenty million dollars. In Ontario, the Brampton plant sale picks up a new objector.
- Tuesday, September 15, 20264:08
Brampton's Buyer, Beijing's Merger Push
A buyer for Stellantis's Brampton plant is on the table, and the fight over what that plant becomes next is already underway. Automotive Dive has the sale, Carscoops has the union's reaction, and Motor Illustrated reports the site could end up building armoured vehicles instead of cars. Auto Remarketing flags a recall problem sitting inside a quarter of rideshare fleets across sixteen markets, and covers new hires and honors across the wholesale and finance side of the business. Motor Trader covers a Cazoo tool putting AI on the dealership call desk, alongside Kia's new electric van and a fresh read on kiosk demand at the counter. Beijing's push to merge its state automakers is still just a push, according to the outlet that's been carrying it for weeks.
- Monday, September 14, 20264:35
China Sales Slide Deepens for Japanese Brands
Toyota's China sales dropped more than twenty percent in August, and Honda and Nissan each fell close to fifty, according to finance dot biggo dot com, a figure that also landed on the Dealer Vendors feed this morning. Global Times asks how sincere Washington's openness to Chinese automakers building U-S plants actually is, a question sharpened by Beijing's own new oversight rules, per China Daily. Recalls stack up across Ford, Toyota and Lexus, GM commits to a domestic battery supply chain, and Business Insider notes slower twenty twenty-seven shipments mean more twenty twenty-six stock on lots. Germany's IG Metall calls for protests over cuts, a UK termination case moves in Motor Trader's franchise coverage, and China's NEV exports keep climbing.
- Saturday, September 12, 20263:06
Credit Loosens, Brampton Plant in Play
Cox Automotive puts auto credit availability at its highest point in almost nine years, even as Automotive Dive finds affordability worries damping dealer optimism for the fourth quarter. The episode covers a Nebraska buy-sell from CBT News, a slowdown in used vehicle prices from Automotive Dive, and a fight over Stellantis's Brampton plant running through CBC and CityNews Toronto. Recalls touch Ford's fuel tanks and Toyota's C-HR and older models, and product news covers Volvo dropping its cheapest EV while Cadillac brings combustion back. A Saturday morning note on what the credit and pricing numbers mean for the buyer standing on the lot right now.
- Friday, September 11, 20264:14
Copart Buys ACV as Ford Bets on Kentucky
One point nine billion dollars opens the week's remarketing story, as Copart moves to buy ACV, per Auto Remarketing. The same morning, Ford commits a billion dollars to its Kentucky truck and SUV plant, a move Automotive Dive and CNBC tie to pressure over Ford's China sourcing, while Hyundai raises its own local sourcing target. Kelley Blue Book has the average transaction price back above fifty thousand dollars, Digital Dealer reports, and Car-Mart's retail count for the quarter points to a capital squeeze, per Auto Remarketing. Group One is routing twenty thousand part-exchange vehicles a year through BCA, Chery is expanding its UK lineup, and CarGurus names Britain's fastest-selling used cars.
- Thursday, September 10, 20265:10
Trump Signs Five Tariff Proclamations on Canada
Five new proclamations from the White House land on Canadian vehicles, dairy and alcohol, with one set of duties widening September fifteenth and an outright import ban following September twenty-ninth. Canada's own retaliation is already in force, matched dollar for dollar against roughly eight hundred seventy-four tariff lines. NIADA Dashboard and the Department of Finance Canada carry the mechanics, while CBT News, Automotive Dive and CNBC all cover a parallel pressure campaign on Ford's China partnerships. Auto Remarketing has a private equity deal, a fresh dealer hire and a look at EV transport myths, Motor Trader flags a fifteen percent drop in used diesel sales, and The Drive covers Honda's engine strategy and Volvo's cheapest SUV getting an update. None of it changes a landed-cost sheet by itself, but the dates on this one are close.
- Wednesday, September 9, 20264:40
Dealer Sentiment Slips as Ford Faces China Pressure
Dealer sentiment just turned lower, and Cox Automotive's own survey says so. That is this morning's most-filed story, and it lands the same week Jaguar Land Rover's four-thousand job cuts get confirmed and Ford draws direct pressure from Washington over its business ties to Chinese firms. Auto Remarketing tracks a run of dealer group expansion, from Lithia's new Texas store to Dilawri's Audi build in British Columbia. Motor Trader covers a wave of UK platform launches, from Apple Pay reservations to a new VW Financial used-car site. None of it changes what a Monday morning at the store looks like on its own. Together, it is a fuller picture of where margin, labor and politics are headed into fall.
- Tuesday, September 8, 20264:03
JLR Cuts Four Thousand Jobs as Tariffs Bite
Jaguar Land Rover is cutting about four thousand jobs, and its own suppliers are telling The Guardian the cuts threaten their survival too. Volkswagen sells a German factory into defense production the same week, and Canada answers Washington with a fresh round of tariffs. Away from the pressure, Honda brings back a familiar name to run its US business, Group 1 Automotive prices a large notes offering, and UK dealer groups keep opening stores, per Motor Trader. A Jeep Grand Cherokee recall lands on over three hundred thousand vehicles, and China tightens payment rules across its own supply chain. None of it changes what a service drive looks like Monday morning, but the numbers behind it are worth having straight.
- Monday, September 7, 20264:25
SAAR Hits Its Best Month of the Year
August closed at a sixteen point eight million selling rate, the strongest month of the year and the sixth straight above sixteen million, per Cox Automotive. Ford's overall sales fell ten percent even as its EV volume dropped nearly eighty percent, Ford Authority writes, and four automakers combined to recall close to half a million vehicles this week. CBT News covers a new bill aimed at foreign automakers' security risk, filed as the US-Canada tariff dispute over Toyota and Honda stays unresolved. Motor Trader has the UK government meeting Jaguar Land Rover this week, following four thousand reported job losses, and Money dot ca finds a Chinese automaker circling Stellantis's idle Ontario plant. None of it changes what a dealer orders Monday, but it changes what that order costs.
- Saturday, September 5, 20263:12
Cox Automotive's Credit Data Gets Its First Win
Five different outlets covered the same story this week, which makes it worth trusting: Auto Remarketing and Digital Dealer report Westlake Financial is already seeing results from its Cox Automotive and Nova Credit partnership, pulling real cash flow data into loan decisions before a customer sits down at your desk. Automotive Dive covers Volkswagen pushing its restructuring plan forward and naming new North America leadership, while Volvo's sales slide continues and Hyundai preps a robotaxi delivery to Waymo built on new software defined vehicle data. CBT News has Kia's sales chief chasing a nine hundred thousand unit year, and Auto Remarketing flags fresh dealer buy-sell activity in Arizona. None of it waits for Monday.
- Friday, September 4, 20264:32
Cox Wires Credit Data Into Dealertrack
Four outlets picked up the same story this morning: Cox Automotive is embedding Nova Credit's cash-flow data into Dealertrack, and it lands right inside the CRM ownership fight this show has tracked all week. Volkswagen's move to hand North America to its Audi sales chief, reported by CBT News and Automotive News, arrives the same week Ford Super Duty hit a twenty-year production high. CBT News also flags aging vehicles straining service departments, and Auto Remarketing covers a new CarDr tool built for exactly that problem. Add a fresh Idaho buy-sell deal and a privacy-notice warning from Auto Remarketing's Ignite panel, and Monday's to-do list gets longer before it gets shorter.
- Thursday, September 3, 20264:30
Volvo's Sales Slide Hits Its Own Tech Hub
Volvo's sales are down seven point four percent globally, and the company just closed its own flagship tech hub to help pay for it. That's the kind of connected story a five minute brief exists for. Honda is asking suppliers for price cuts steep enough to make any fixed-ops director nervous, and CBT News says Kia just set a sales record with no number attached yet. Auto Remarketing tracks three more dealer buy-sell moves and a marketing study aimed at where dealer ad dollars actually go, while Automotive News lays out exactly which two brands take the biggest hit if Canada's tariff proposal on vehicles goes through. None of it waits for your allocation sheet to catch up.
- Wednesday, September 2, 20264:29
Hyundai's Worst Month in Four Years
Hyundai just posted its worst month in four years, and the reason is a Korean labor strike that cut home production by more than forty percent. That lands the same week the broader OEM sales split shows Honda, Kia and Subaru gaining ground while Toyota, Hyundai and Mazda slip, and hybrids keep climbing, per Automotive News and CBT News. This episode also covers a CDK study on why newer dealership hires walk, a fresh training push from Reynolds and RockED aimed at exactly that problem, three more retail tech updates from Auto Remarketing and Digital Dealer quietly changing what your CRM costs, and a near-final fuel economy rollback that changes how incentive dollars get set on EV and hybrid units. For Hyundai and Genesis stores, the allocation question isn't theoretical anymore.
- Tuesday, September 1, 20264:24
Canada's Tariff Number Finally Moves
Six outlets filed the same story this morning: Toyota and Honda take the biggest hit as Canada's twenty billion dollar tariff retaliation lands, CBT News and others report. It's the same week Ontario's heavy duty Sierra production got worker ratification, so the plant math is suddenly an open question again. CBT News also has new vehicle sales holding at a flat sixteen point four million unit rate, a Fed chair warning that rates could rise again, and a Honda-Nissan software tie-up that will reach your service bay before your showroom does. Digital Dealer flags another CRM upgrade worth a call to your rep. None of it moved yet. All of it is worth watching before you set your fourth quarter numbers.
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