Automotive Under 5
Five minutes on what actually moved in automotive retail, dealer marketing, and the rules that touch a store. Hosted by Naomi Hale, Monday to Saturday, first thing.
Latest episode · Tuesday, October 27, 2026 · 3:42
Tariff Talks Resume, Lexus Recall Hits 68K
The scheduled jump to fifty percent on Canadian-built vehicles still hits January first, and nothing changes that yet. Reuters reports Washington and Ottawa are back at the table on steel and auto tariffs, months after the last round of talks broke down. NHTSA has widened a Lexus NX recall to roughly sixty-eight thousand vehicles over an instrument cluster fault that can hide engine overheating, ABC27 says. Group 1 Automotive has closed its one-point-three-billion-dollar purchase of Hennessy, Cox Automotive flags suspicious activity tied to VinSolutions, now contained, and Auto Remarketing runs a full slate of dealer-tech moves. None of it changes a stocking decision by itself, but the tariff number is the one worth checking before year-end orders go in.
In this episode
- US and Canada in talks to ease steel and auto tariffsThe Japan Times (Reuters)
- Lexus NX recall hits 68,356 units, dealer software fixABC27 / AOL (NHTSA)
- Group 1 closes $1.3 billion Hennessy dealership acquisitionAuto Finance News
- Don’t let old beliefs cap your own sales, use AI to break out of your zoneCBT News
- Building a more efficient payment experienceCBT News
- Jaguar Land Rover Recalls 170,000 Vehicles For Loss Of Power Issues - Motor1.comOEM output + recalls (GN)
- How GM plans to maintain record pickup fleet sales after Silverado, Sierra redesigns - Automotive NewsUS auto industry (GN)
- David Spisak says dealers must audit for AI, launches new show on CBT NewsCBT News
- Cox Automotive spots ‘suspicious activity’ connected to VinSolutions that was ‘quickly contained’Auto Remarketing
- Mercedes-Benz USA approves NETSOL as a digital retail provider for its dealershipsAuto Remarketing
All episodes
October 2026
- Monday, October 26, 20264:04
FTC Settles Over Pricing, Audi Picks Georgia
The price on the ad and the price on the order are not always the same number. This month two regulators and one state law all landed on that gap. CBT News covers the FTC's settlement with Greenway Auto Group and its parallel case against Lindsay Automotive Group, alongside California's Combating Auto Retail Scams Act, now in effect. WTVB has Audi's four billion dollar Georgia plant, Auto Remarketing has Asbury selling a Kia store in Maryland, and Car Dealership Guy News reports a judge keeping the Scout and Volkswagen suit alive. Recalls round out the morning from Ford, Toyota and Hyundai, and the production wire runs long on Chery, Subaru, Canada and South Korea.
- Saturday, October 24, 20262:54
GM Adds Hybrids, Volvo Cuts Jobs Over Loss
Saturday's wire splits between a quarter that just closed and a model year still a year out. The Detroit News tallies the third quarter's sales winners and losers, while Edmunds previews full-size trucks that will not reach lots until the following year. GM confirms new hybrid models and fresh Michigan money, CBT News reports, and Cadillac opens orders on a two hundred thirty nine thousand dollar Escalade. Volvo cuts twenty five hundred jobs after a quarter in the red, and Congress's new kill-switch law gets a plain-English breakdown. Chery, Leapmotor and Foxconn all move on overseas production, Motor Trader has new car demand holding steady, and a Bain survey weighs in on dealer value. One price on that list gets repeated back word for word on the floor this morning.
- Friday, October 23, 20263:57
October Pace Holds, Payments Hit Record
Sales volume isn't moving much this October, but the money underneath it is. J.D. Power's forecast has the industry buying its way to flat, with a record average payment and incentive spending up more than thirteen percent. The episode covers that math alongside a buy-sell in Asheville from CBT News, a quarter-million-vehicle power steering recall from Automotive Dive, and NADA's election of only its second female chair in the association's history, reported by Auto Remarketing. Marketing gets its own stretch too, from a dealership discoverability story to Sytner's UK profit slide and Copart's expanding reach into commercial consignment. A run of manufacturing moves, from Ford Canada's new chief executive to a Michigan plant closure, rounds out the morning. None of it changes what a desk does Monday morning, but it tells you where the margin is thinning.
- Thursday, October 22, 20263:56
NADA Elects Second Woman Chair Ever
NADA has elected Sandy Fitzgerald Angello as chairman for twenty twenty seven, the first woman in the role since two thousand eight. Auto Remarketing and NADA dot org both carry the handover, with Jeff Weber named vice chairman. Elsewhere, The Drive details GM's plan to run its future on one central computer and an AI-rebuilt OnStar, while Automotive Dive has Super Cruise revenue up sixty percent. CBT News returns to hidden dealer fees and to negative equity past twenty nine percent of trade-ins. Buy-sell keeps moving in California, Wisconsin and Manchester, Motor Trader and Auto Remarketing note, and Unifor members at Stellantis Canada have voted to authorize a strike.
- Wednesday, October 21, 20263:49
CarGurus Named in NYC Pricing Suit
A city consumer agency has decided a marketplace's price badge counts as an advertising claim. That puts dealer fee structures into the evidence file of a lawsuit they are not even named in. CBT News and Yahoo Finance cover New York's suit against CarGurus over its "Great Deal" ratings, built around a Honda listing. The Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association has the date for the federal fuel economy rollback, Automotive Dive has Volkswagen's widened ID.4 recall, and Automotive News Canada has Unifor's strike vote against Stellantis. Smaller items on buy-sell, auction and vendor moves round out the wire. None of it changes what is due on a dealer's own listings this week.
- Tuesday, October 20, 20263:42
Carolinas Dealer Group Changes Hands
Larry Cloninger is out, Capital Automotive Group is in, and seven locations across two states now answer to new ownership. CBT News and Auto Remarketing both file group-sale stories the same day, one in the Carolinas, one running from North Carolina to Nebraska. Elsewhere on the wire: Lincoln's dealer count keeps shrinking toward a number Ford already set for twenty twenty-seven, AutoNation adds two outside executives to its board, and a Toyota store's decade-long zombie ad campaign finally wraps, per Automotive News. The FTC's personalized pricing proposal gets a fresh look from Digital Dealer. Stellantis workers move a step closer to a strike, and Volvo's answer to the Tesla Model Y hits a delay on its way to US buyers.
- Monday, October 19, 20264:18
Prices Climb Again, Wire Stays Busy
Average transaction prices just posted their fourth consecutive monthly rise, landing a few dollars short of December's record, Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book data show. Incentive spending is climbing with it, and mix shift toward cheaper segments is doing more work than discounting. Electric vehicle sales had their best quarter since last year's record run, right as Subaru unveils its first in-house EV prototype and steps back from Toyota's platform. Hyundai's seat-motor recall climbs past ninety-four thousand vehicles, Rivian adds a second recall of its own, and Peugeot, Stellantis, and the UK's ZEV mandate all move through the wire. None of it changes what's on the lot Monday morning, but it changes what it costs to move, and what dealers are on the hook to fix first.
- Saturday, October 17, 20263:17
Credit Stretches, Nissan Cuts EVs
A quarter of new-car buyers are now signing seven-year loans to make the payment work, Edmunds data cited by CarProUSA shows. The episode tracks that thread alongside Nissan's pullback from U.S. EV plans in favor of trucks, Copart's closed acquisition of ACV, and a New York City lawsuit targeting CarGurus over its pricing claims. Colorado regulators are weighing an end to an eighty-year ban on Sunday auto sales, while Stellantis shipments, the UAW's leadership vote, and product moves from Acura and Jeep round out the wire. None of it changes what's parked on the lot this morning, but it changes what the payment sheet looks like once a customer sits down.
- Friday, October 16, 20263:30
Penske Goes Private, Prices Stall Near Record
One of the industry's largest public dealer groups is leaving the public market. Penske Automotive is going private in a sixteen point three billion dollar deal, CBT News reports. New-vehicle prices sit fifty-two dollars short of December's record, and CBT News says buyers are trading down to cheaper trims instead of stretching for the unit they came in for. Ford has opened preorder invitations for its sub-thirty-thousand-dollar electric pickup, Lexus has shifted thirty-five thousand vehicles to US dealers as global sales slow, and wholesale prices just posted their steepest weekly decline in months, according to Auto Remarketing. Edmunds' latest financing data shows payments and loan terms both climbing, Lotlinx has a new chief commercial officer, and Automotive News finds dealers less confident heading into next year than the automakers they buy from.
- Thursday, October 15, 20264:17
A Recall With No Fix Yet
Hyundai is recalling about ninety-five thousand vehicles this morning over a seat motor that can overheat and catch fire, and NHTSA's instruction to owners is simply to park outdoors, because no parts fix exists yet. Reuters carries that filing, while Motor1 and the Supercar Blog track two different twenty twenty-seven product dates for Volvo and Dodge, and Automotive Dive follows Geely's new Canadian retail push. Motor Trader runs a string of UK network stories from Donnelly, Vertu and Arnold Clark, and Auto Remarketing and CBT News cover a wave of BDC and credit-data tools from ProMax, Motorway and OfferWerks. None of it changes what a service advisor tells an owner calling about a car with no remedy and an open recall.
- Wednesday, October 14, 20263:49
Credit Loosens, Loan Terms Stretch Out
Credit access just reached an eleven-year high, CBT News reports, and the loan terms behind it are longer than dealers have seen before. That lands the same week wholesale values barely moved and Carfax counted tens of thousands of flood-damaged vehicles entering the used pipeline. The episode also covers a Volvo EV shortage running deep into twenty twenty-seven per Automotive News, Honda and Porsche telling Automotive Dive two different stories about where profit comes from next, and a Porsche franchise lawsuit that CBT News says exposes how much risk sits inside a standard dealer agreement. A UK group opens a new Geely store, Bentley opens its next apprenticeship round, and Auto Remarketing covers a new chief operating officer and a breast cancer campaign from two separate dealer groups. None of it tells you what to do with it.
- Tuesday, October 13, 20263:49
Cox's Own Numbers Pull Two Ways
Cox Automotive put out two numbers this week that do not sit easily together: a seven point seven percent jump in US EV sales, and a lowered year-end outlook citing the same quarter's headwinds. CBT News and Auto Remarketing carry both halves. The brief also covers a Polestar sales record set while the brand fights a US ban, a battery fire at a Connecticut Porsche store, and Renault's UK finance arm booking two hundred nineteen million pounds against motor finance claims. A new EU cap on Chinese hybrid imports lands the same week China's own carmakers lean harder on overseas sales. None of it changes what is on a dealer's lot this morning, but it changes what the next order looks like.
- Monday, October 12, 20263:42
Jeep's Showroom Push Stalls
Jeep spent heavily pushing dealers into costly, brand-focused stores. Automotive News reports the bet isn't paying off, with no figure yet on what reversing course costs Stellantis or its network. The same morning, recalls widen on three fronts, Mercedes, Ford, and Chery, while the Wall Street Journal has China's auto sales falling despite the traditional peak season, right as BMW's new platform borrows cost-cutting tactics from Chinese manufacturing, per CarBuzz. A California Ford store changes hands, Audi's next flagship may share bones with a Porsche, and Colombia opens talks with Mazda on returning vehicle assembly. Motor Trader covers a Paris debut, a UK diesel pullback, and an ad agency rethinking streaming spend.
- Saturday, October 10, 20262:50
Six Percent Up, Sixty-Seven Jobs Down
Saturday opens with the Stellantis strike vote still unresolved, CBT News and Automotive Dive both report. Jaguar Land Rover posts a six percent global sales gain. A Lansing-area supplier shutdown puts sixty-seven jobs on the line, per WILX. Electric vehicles caught fire at a Fort Worth dealership overnight, WFAA reports. Auto Remarketing ties fuel prices to used-vehicle pressure, and eight Ford dealerships changed hands in September. GM rolls out an AI fleet-management platform, and Greenway settles with the FTC over hidden fees. The brief closes on a dealership passing hands after sixty-six years under one owner, and on what that kind of handoff does and does not change on a Saturday lot.
- Friday, October 9, 20263:51
Mercedes Gains While China Drags Global Sales
Mercedes-Benz U.S. sales rose six percent in the third quarter, CBT News reports, in the same package that has China pulling global sales down eight percent and wholesale used-vehicle prices falling. Automotive News ties that pricing move to a new-vehicle inventory count that just crossed three million units, with truck supply climbing fastest. Honda's next CR-V slips to spring of twenty twenty-seven, per CarBuzz and Motor1, and Cox Automotive's VinSolutions folds Fullpath's AI data platform straight into dealer CRMs, CBT News says, the latest entry in a run of desk-side AI tools this month. A CBT News column argues F&I now carries more of the load as front-end margins shrink. Auto Remarketing covers a Privacy4Cars update, a fresh bankruptcy count, and an auction capacity expansion, while Motor Trader reports a UK group's turnover past a billion pounds.
- Thursday, October 8, 20264:13
Asbury Clears, Dealer Pricing Law Draws Notice
A regulatory case against a public dealer group closes quietly this morning, while labour talks in Canada stay stuck. CBT News reports the FTC has dismissed its complaint against Asbury Automotive. BNN Bloomberg has Unifor's strike authorization vote against Stellantis moving forward with no new session set. Motor Trader covers a UK retail split, with Group One Automotive posting a loss while three-year-old EV values climb against falling diesel demand. Auto Remarketing tracks a run of desk-side technology additions, and CBT News flags California's CARS Act putting new focus on dealer pricing disclosure. A pair of local court and police stories round out the morning from Illinois and Arkansas.
- Wednesday, October 7, 20263:54
Nissan's Worst Stretch in Decades
Nissan posts its worst global sales pace in twenty-three years as a Unifor local weighs a strike against Stellantis. Hyundai's new infotainment system, a two and a half percent pullback in used pricing, and a tax deduction that is disappointing dealers round out the morning. SOURCES: [19], [40], [20], [6], [7], [9], [14], [21], [12], [11], [8], [13], [27], [28], [31]
- Tuesday, October 6, 20263:51
Loan Terms Hit a Record, Trucks Hold the Line
The average new-car loan now runs forty four thousand six hundred and sixty four dollars, and the payment behind it just cleared seven hundred eighty seven, according to Edmunds data carried by CBT News. Terms past seven years now make up about one in four deals. Autoevolution and Ford's own quarterly filing cover the full-size truck fight, where Ford holds share with the least incentive money on the hood while Chevrolet and GMC outsell it combined. Auto Remarketing and ICIS add wholesale pricing and September retail numbers, and two new AI products built for dealers surface this week, one from CMe Automotive and one from IgniteUps. None of it changes what a payment sounds like at the desk on Monday, only how long it runs.
- Monday, October 5, 20264:30
Hybrids Carry Q3 While Hyundai Hits a Low
Third quarter sales data splits two ways this morning. Automotive News has hybrids and crossovers carrying the market as costs squeeze buyers, while kedglobal reports Hyundai's own sales just hit a six year low despite a twenty six billion dollar US investment plan. The same quarter, two different stories, and both land on the same showroom floor. Elsewhere, i.g. Burton closes its acquisition of Willis Ford, The News Journal has it, and Ilderton Automotive marks a full century in High Point, per WXLV. On the spend side, Carwow's turnover crosses one hundred million pounds against a wide loss, Motor Trader says, and two recalls out of Europe show regulators and automakers moving on steering and software from different directions.
- Saturday, October 3, 20263:07
Financing Records and a Flagship Opening
Saturday's wire carries a stack of numbers before the doors open. Edmunds finds six new records in financing terms for the third quarter, Auto Remarketing reports, while VinFast adds US dealers despite a steep sales decline. Automotive Dive covers a new Ford manufacturing initiative with JPMorgan Chase and Michigan, and a separate investment in battery production. In the UK, Motor Trader tracks a record month for Chinese brands and electric registrations alongside new store openings from HR Owen and Carsupermarket.com. On the vendor side, DriveCentric and myKaarma both add new tools to the service and acquisition stack, and AutoNation names a new technology chief.
- Friday, October 2, 20264:20
GM Slips, Toyota Closes the Gap
GM's third quarter closed down five and a half percent, and the number hiding inside it is worse: Equinox EV sales fell over ninety percent. Toyota moved the other way, up eight percent in September, and Automotive News puts the two automakers within about one hundred thirty-six thousand units of each other for the quarter. Today's episode tracks what that split looks like on the ground, from a fifty-seven thousand unit inventory build at GM stores to Edmunds finding that financed amounts, payments and loan terms all hit new highs in the same quarter. A Senate bill on connected vehicle security moves forward, and a downtown Los Angeles buy-sell closes. None of it says which way October goes, but the inputs are on the table.
- Thursday, October 1, 20263:58
A Twenty-Six Billion Dollar Week for Hyundai
Hyundai is putting twenty-six billion dollars into US manufacturing this week, and five hundred million of it has a zip code: Alabama, for hybrid and extended-range EV production. The same week carries a run of other industrial commitments, from GM and LG's Tennessee expansion to Ford's three-billion-dollar tie-up with JPMorgan and the state of Michigan, all reported by CBT News and Automotive Dive. Walser Automotive Group closes on three Twin Cities stores, and California's full-price disclosure law takes effect for dealers statewide, NBC Los Angeles reports. Nissan's hybrid push gets its own notice from CarBuzz, and Auto Remarketing flags fuel costs already moving used values. Across the Atlantic, Motor Trader logs three separate UK store openings in a single news cycle. None of it changes a deal desk by Monday morning, but all of it sets the terms for the next one.
What is Automotive Under 5?
Automotive Under 5 is AUTONOMi's daily automotive news podcast. Each episode is five minutes on what actually moved in automotive retail, dealer marketing, and the regulations that touch a store — hosted by Naomi Hale.
How often is Automotive Under 5 published?
A new episode publishes every weekday morning, Monday to Saturday, first thing.
Who hosts Automotive Under 5?
The show is hosted by Naomi Hale of AUTONOMi.
Where can I listen to Automotive Under 5?
You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music, or subscribe with the RSS feed in any podcast app. Every episode is also on this page with links to the articles it references.
How long is each episode of Automotive Under 5?
About five minutes — the show is built to be caught up on in under five.
In any other player using the RSS feed. Every article referenced in an episode is linked on its page.
