AI and car sales, October 13. Volkswagen deliveries fell 14.3%

It is Tuesday, and this is world news from the last day. Today I cover Volkswagen and China, AI agents for dealer inventory, and a company where 21 agents work with three people. I also cover Toyota in Australia, the Paris Motor Show and new numbers on used cars. I added what I think about each story.

Volkswagen deliveries fell 14.3%, and 38.5% in China#

Volkswagen Group sold about 1,885,300 vehicles in the third quarter. This is 14.3% less than a year ago. CDG News, citing Reuters, calls it the steepest quarterly fall in four years. Deliveries fell 38.5% in China, 5.8% in North America and 2.8% in Western Europe.

In nine months, the group sold 6.01 million vehicles, down 9%. Electrive gives the numbers for electric cars. Europe took 209,100, up 19.6%. The US took 5,100, down 86.4%. China took 18,000, down 30.1%.

The order book for electric cars in Europe grew by more than 60%. Martin Sander, who leads sales at the group, says their share of the order book is about 40%. He called the fall in China a problem for the whole industry.

My opinion. One group has three different markets. The electric car grows in Europe and almost disappeared in the US. In China, local brands push Volkswagen out. The total of minus 14% tells a dealer nothing, so a dealer has to look at the local market.

I would show one number to a Volkswagen dealer in Europe. Electric cars are 40% of orders. A salesperson who cannot calculate charging and five-year costs with a customer loses almost half of the conversations. I would check how many electric car leads got a calculation in the reply, and how many got a price list. The agent prepares the calculation, and a person runs the meeting.

Source Electrive and CDG News

VINCUE launched 11 AI agents, and ten of them work with dealer inventory#

VINCUE is a US company from Missouri. It makes inventory management software for dealers. It presented Protos, the new base of its platform, and a layer called Protos Intelligence with 11 AI agents. CDG News reported this on October 13.

The agents work in four groups. Two plan which cars to stock and where to source them. Four help with buying and with appraisal. Four watch pricing, reconditioning, listings and cars that stay too long. One agent works with leads, test drives and open deals.

The company says the system reads more than 2,000 signals for each VIN. It compares its findings with the rules of the store, for example the store's own definition of an aged car. The launch is open to the first 100 stores. The report gives no prices and no results.

My opinion. Ten of eleven agents work with the car, and only one works with the customer. Developers go where the numbers are cleaner. These are price, days in stock and turn rate. There are no results yet, only a list of functions.

One decision here is right. The agent compares its findings with the store's rules, not with its own. So the store has to write the rules first. Which car do we call aged, and who approves the price?

Without written rules, the agent has nothing to compare with. AI prepares. A person decides and answers for the result.

Source CDG News

SaaStr runs on three people and 21 AI agents, and control takes 8 hours a day#

Jason Lemkin, the founder of SaaStr, published the October edition of his guide to AI agents in sales. It has 53 pages and it is free. The company runs sales and marketing with three people and 21 agents.

Lemkin counts $4.8 million of pipeline from agents. Of this, $2.4 million is closed deals where an agent made the first contact. One agent booked 614 meetings at one event. Revenue went from minus 19% to plus 47% year over year with the same three people. These are the company's own numbers, and nobody outside has verified them.

The result has a cost. A year ago, two agents took about 30 minutes a day, and now the agents take about 8 hours. Lemkin explains that when an agent makes decisions, a person needs an opinion on each decision. A year ago agents failed loudly. Now they hand you work that looks finished.

My opinion. The main number here is 8 hours. The three people do not rest while the agents work, they check all day. Vendors sell dealers an AI that "works on its own", and Lemkin's experience says the opposite. The more an agent decides, the more work the manager has.

I would plan the sales manager's time for checks from the start, one hour a day for the agent that handles leads. I would not read the agent's report. I would read ten random conversations.

Work that looks finished is more dangerous than work that fails in public. AI does not replace the salesperson. It shows who did not do the work.

Source SaaStr

Toyota Australia will pay $750 million to HiLux and Prado owners for a filter defect#

Toyota Australia agreed to settle two class actions. The amount is 750 million Australian dollars, CarExpert reports. The Federal Court still has to approve the settlement.

The cases cover 264,170 diesel HiLux, Prado and Fortuner vehicles bought in Australia from October 1, 2015 to April 23, 2020. Their diesel particulate filter could block. The car produced white smoke, used more fuel, and owners made unplanned visits to service. A working repair appeared in May 2020, and the company does it for free.

The first case started in 2019. The amount is almost double the record annual profit of Toyota Australia, which was $380 million. The article does not say how and when owners get the money.

My opinion. The case took seven years. All this time, the customer came to service with the same complaint, and each visit went into a repair order. A repeat visit with the same problem is a signal. Service departments often treat it as routine.

I would ask an agent to flag each customer who comes with the same complaint a second time. The service manager calls this customer personally. I would check each HiLux and Prado from those years in stock for the free repair. I would write the answer in the listing, because the buyer will ask.

Source CarExpert

China cuts the export tax rebate for electric cars from 13% to 9%#

China's Ministry of Finance and the tax authority announced this on October 12. From April 1, 2027, the VAT rebate on exports of electric cars and plug-in hybrids falls from 13% to 9%. The rule also covers electric buses and truck tractors. The authorities gave no reason, CnEVPost writes.

Deutsche Bank estimated the effect for BYD. The company will lose about 5,000 yuan, or $743, of net profit on each exported car. In three quarters, BYD sold 1,342,468 cars abroad, which is 43% of its sales. The bank expects pressure on export profit at other brands too, including Chery and Geely.

The industry association CAAM gives the background. In September, China sold 1.668 million passenger cars at home, down 27.4%. Exports were 919,000, up 64.2%. The article says nothing about prices abroad.

My opinion. Chinese brands grow through exports, and sales at home fall. Now the state takes part of the export money. The $743 per car will come from factory profit, from the price or from dealer margin. The article does not say who pays.

Here is my guess, and I have no numbers for it. The factory will try to move part of the amount to the distributor and the dealer. If I were a dealer of a Chinese brand, I would fix margin and bonuses in the contract before April 2027. I would not build the sale on a promise of the lowest price. The price can rise, and service and warranty stay.

Source CnEVPost and CnEVPost, CAAM numbers

Research#

68% of automotive companies use or pilot AI agents, and 5% have mature control#

The Capgemini Research Institute surveyed 800 senior executives in 12 countries in July 2026. The sample has 400 carmakers, 160 suppliers and 240 technology companies. The report came out on October 12. It says nothing about sales or dealers. It is about vehicle development.

33% of companies already use AI agents, and 35% run pilots. 5% report mature AI governance. 45% have no defined AI strategy for development. Trust in agents is 59% for early research and 40% for development work. Six in ten executives say delays come from processes, not from technology.

My opinion. The report is about engineers, but the picture is familiar. 68% took the tool, and 5% wrote the rules. Processes slow the work down. The technology is fine.

It is the same in a dealership. Before I buy an agent, I would answer three questions in writing. Who answers to the customer for its mistake? Who reads its action log once a week? What is it not allowed to do?

Source Capgemini, press release, PDF

US wholesale used car prices fell 1.1% in September, and the year forecast is lower#

Cox Automotive published the September Manheim index on October 7. The index tracks wholesale used car prices at US auctions. It stood at 205.9. This is 1.1% below August and 0.6% below last year.

The company cut its forecast for index growth by the end of the year from 2% to 0.2%. More cars will come back from leases. The first half of the year had about 190,000 a month, and the second half should have about 220,000. Electric cars reached a record 4.9% of Manheim sales in the third quarter. Retail sales of used electric cars were about 124,000, up 11.4%.

Jeremy Robb, chief economist at Cox, says the market is in the weakest season for wholesale values.

My opinion. The wholesale price falls, and more lease returns arrive. A car bought at auction in August is worth less in November. Each extra day in stock is money.

I would shorten the period after which a manager reviews the price of a car. I would value a trade-in at this week's wholesale price, not last month's price. A used electric car now needs its own sales script, because demand for it grows.

Source Cox Automotive, PR Newswire

A used car at a US dealer costs more than $27,000, and buyers move one class down#

Jeremy Robb, chief economist at Cox Automotive, summed up a panel at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit on October 12. Used car prices come from the vAuto service. The note does not give the sample size.

Since the pandemic, personal incomes in the US rose about 48%, and expenses rose about 53%. The average used car on a dealer lot costs a little more than $27,000, up 7% in a year. Cars that are 8 to 10 years old rose almost 10%. A new hybrid costs about $5,000 less than the average new car. Buyers aged 65 and older make about 27% of new car purchases.

Robb lists what buyers do. They choose a hybrid, a lower segment or an older car. They keep their car longer, or they delay the purchase.

My opinion. The customer did not disappear. The customer moved one step down. A salesperson who shows only the car from the request loses the deal at the word "expensive".

I would give the agent one rule. For each lead on a new car, it prepares two backup options. A hybrid of the same brand, and a used car in the same class. The salesperson gets them before the call and decides whether to offer them.

Source Cox Automotive

India's passenger car market grew 31%, and a third of cars run on gas or electricity#

JATO Dynamics published passenger vehicle registrations for India on October 7. In September 2026, India registered 423,400 vehicles. This is 31% more than a year ago. The numbers come from JATO registration data as of October 1.

SUVs took 56.5% of the market, and hatchbacks took 22.1%. Petrol powers 51% of new cars, compressed natural gas 23%, diesel 18% and electricity 9%. Maruti Suzuki holds 40.1% of the market. Its volume grew 29.3%, and its share fell 0.53 points. Mahindra gained 0.64 points and reached 13.4%.

My opinion. Gas and electricity together give 32% of the market. A buyer in India now chooses from four fuel types. A salesperson who knows only the car price cannot answer a question about running costs.

I would give the salesperson a one-page table. It shows the cost per kilometre for petrol, gas, diesel and electricity at local prices. An agent updates it once a month. The customer gets a calculation for their own mileage in the first reply.

Source JATO

In short#

BYD will bring the seven-seat Atto 8 to Europe with a 9-minute charge. BYD showed the SUV at the Paris Motor Show, and sales start in the first quarter of 2027. The company says the 115 kWh battery charges from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes, and the range is 653 km. BYD did not name the price, and it promises 6,000 fast chargers outside China by the end of 2027. Nine minutes work only at the brand's own station, so I would show the customer a map of stations near home. CarNewsChina

Xpeng wants to sell one million cars a year by 2030, half of them in Europe. Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng said this at the Paris Motor Show, CnEVPost writes, citing Bloomberg. In September, the brand sold more than 10,000 cars abroad in a month for the first time. In Europe, the Magna plant in Graz, Austria, builds its cars. Nobody sells half a million cars a year without dealers, so I would discuss terms with the brand now, while it looks for partners. CnEVPost

In Australia, two Chinese models lost safety points for controls on the screen. ANCAP gave five stars to the GAC Aion UT, the BYD M9 and the Xpeng X9. It still took points from the Aion UT and the X9, because common functions work only through the touchscreen. ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg asks carmakers to bring back buttons. On a test drive, I would ask the customer to turn on three functions while driving. CarExpert

Porsche sold 16% fewer cars in nine months, and 33% fewer in China. The German brand Porsche delivered 178,532 cars, and 21,493 of them went to China. Sales of the 911 still grew 12% to 42,217. Sales executive Matthias Becker says customers choose the most exclusive versions. A premium buyer pays for the version and the options, so I would train salespeople to talk about them. Just Auto

Vietnam's market statistics do not include VinFast, which sold 177,697 electric cars. The association VAMA counts 220,107 vehicles sold in Vietnam in nine months, up 7%. VinFast, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz are not in this number. VinFast reported separately, and its sales at home grew 71%. A market report can miss a large player, so I would check who is absent before I set a plan. Just Auto

Smart showed the two-seat electric #2 at 19,990 euros. This is the pre-order price in Europe, and Smart presented the car at the Paris Motor Show. The battery is 35.8 kWh, and the range is 410 km on the Chinese CLTC cycle. The article gives no European range and no delivery date. The Chinese cycle is more generous than the European one, so I would quote only the European number when it appears. CarNewsChina

A Bronco buyer in the US chose the salesperson who asked why he wanted the car. Matt Easton, the founder of Easton University, looked for a two-door Bronco for his son. Most dealers sent short texts with numbers and no next step, and one sent a photo of a business card. The deal went to the salesperson who asked a question and filmed a video of the car. An agent can send the price in a minute, but a person asks "why do you want this car". CBT News

A new dealership building to brand standards in the US costs $10 million to $24 million. This is the estimate for a 40,000-square-foot store at $250 to $600 per square foot. It comes from Dave Cantin of Dave Cantin Group and Julie O'Dwyer of Goree Architects. Brands refresh facility rules every 7 to 10 years, and these costs change the price of a store in a sale. Measurements at dealers in different countries show that 40% of inquiries come outside working hours, and a building does not answer them. CBT News

The US sold 266,630 electric cars in the third quarter, 38.6% fewer than a year ago. This is a Kelley Blue Book estimate, published by Cox Automotive. Sales grew 7.7% from the second quarter, and the electric share is 6.5%. Tesla sales fell 20%, and Toyota and Lexus sales grew about five times. A year ago buyers hurried before the federal incentive ended, so now I would give each buyer a five-year cost calculation at once. Cox Automotive

Hype of the day#

These are headlines with no analysis. The largest number of outlets write about them, or the source did not open.

• Automotive News. VW deliveries post steepest drop in more than four years as China weakness deepens, 142 outlets
• Reuters. Anthropic says new safeguards sharply reduce AI distillation attacks, 15 outlets
• WSJ. Europe's Biggest Auto Show Is Now Dominated by Chinese Cars, 14 outlets
• The Economic Times. Stellantis, Tata Motors ink passenger vehicle manufacturing pact for global markets, 3 outlets
• Bloomberg. Applied Materials Will Double Sales, Not Headcount, Thanks to AI, 2 outlets
• The Guardian. Stellantis and Renault back UK to get EU car industry protection, 2 outlets
• Automotive News. Guest commentary, Vehicle leasing belongs in the affordability conversation, 1 outlet
• CNBC. Automation will affect 36 million jobs by 2035, says a new McKinsey report, 1 outlet