AI and car sales, October 14. California requires the full price in the first reply to a lead

It is Wednesday, and this is world news from the last day. Today I cover a price law, brand loyalty in the UK and a dealer who sells 600 cars a month. I also cover Australia, Korea, car loans in the US and new data on used cars. I added what I think about each story.

California now requires the full price in the first written reply to a lead#

On October 1, the CARS Act on price transparency started in California. A dealer must show the full vehicle price in ads and in the first written reply to a customer. The full price includes the document fee, which is capped at $85, and the required state fees. CDG News reported this on October 13.

When a deal reaches a price proposal, the dealer gives three disclosures. These are the full price, monthly payment options based on the full price, and the price of add-ons and F&I products as optional items. Records of these deals stay for two years. Buyers of used cars under $50,000 get the right to return the car within 3 days.

Dennis Gingrich is the sales and finance director at The Niello Company, a group with 10 stores. The group checked its websites and listing sites and updated prices in its inventory feeds. It worked with vendors such as Reynolds and Reynolds and DriveCentric. The full price now goes into the first reply to a lead, even if the customer asked about something else. The group added seven new forms.

My opinion. The first reply to a lead is now a legal document. A salesperson who writes "come in and we will talk about the price" at night now breaks the law. An agent that replies in seconds must know the full price of every car in stock.

I would start with a check. I would take the last 20 first replies and see where the full price with all fees appears. Then I would give the agent one rule. Every first reply shows the full price with fees, even when the customer asks about the color.

No record of every reply means no sales department, and now no calm talk with the regulator.

Source CDG News

In the UK, one buyer in three returns to the same brand, and one in five for electric cars#

Mark Palmer leads strategy and insights at Autotrader. He spoke about the UK market on the Car Dealer podcast.

Autotrader says Chinese brands bring almost all growth in new car sales in 2026. Other brands are flat since January. Audi and Kia grow. BMW and Nissan lose.

About one third of buyers return to their previous brand. In the past, this was 40% to 50%. Among electric car buyers, about one in five stays with the brand.

Autotrader describes the typical buyer of a Chinese car as a young family with a middle income. A monthly payment of £300 to £400 attracts them. They also want space and reliability.

Autotrader expects about 10.2 million new and used car deals in 2026, the most since 2019. It tells dealers to check the forecast retail value 60 days ahead before they take extra year-end stock from a brand.

My opinion. Brand loyalty no longer keeps the customer. Two thirds leave, and four of five leave with electric cars. A dealer who waits for old customers to replace their car waits for one third of them.

I would stop treating the customer base as mine. For every customer with a three-year-old car, the agent prepares a trade-in offer and a monthly payment in advance. The buyer compares the payment, and Autotrader says this directly. A person calls and meets the customer. But the numbers must arrive before the customer visits a Chinese brand.

Source Car Dealer Magazine

A Hyundai dealer in Florida sold 606 cars in a month and keeps every trade-in#

Hyundai of New Port Richey in Florida sold 606 vehicles in September. The store belongs to the Lithia group since 2021. It sold about 1,700 used cars in 2024 and 2,800 in 2025. It expects more than 3,000 in 2026. CBT News reported this on October 13.

Store manager Parth Donda stopped wholesaling cars. The store sells every car it takes in at retail, no matter how cheap. Last month it sold about 40 cars under $5,000. They bring little profit, but customers come back later for a lease or a certified used car.

The managers and salespeople have stayed the same since 2021. Lithia hires through local universities. In 2025 and 2026, it moved four salespeople into finance manager jobs.

My opinion. The most interesting part is the $5,000 car. Most stores send it to auction because it takes too much work. Donda sells it and gets a customer for years.

I would count how many cars under $5,000 went to auction last quarter. An agent can answer leads on these cars by itself, at night, with photos, price and a booking for a viewing. A person closes the deal. A cheap car brings a customer who comes back in three years for a more expensive one.

Source CBT News

Honda Australia raised the price of scheduled service by 40%, except for its electric car#

Honda Australia raised the fixed price of scheduled service for petrol and hybrid cars from AU$199 to AU$279. The first five services for the Civic, Accord, Prelude, HR-V, ZR-V and CR-V now cost $1,395 instead of $995. The new prices apply to cars bought from October 1, 2026. The Super-One electric car stays at $199. CarExpert reported this.

This is the first increase since 2022, when the price went up almost 60%. Honda did not give a cost reason. Since 2021, Honda in Australia works on an agency model. The brand owns the cars, and there is one national price with no negotiation. Sales are up 1.5% this year, but the target fell from 18,000 to 15,000 cars.

My opinion. The cost of ownership is now part of the car price. Buyers compare five years of service, not only the list price. In the same article, the BYD Atto 1 costs $1,528 for five years.

I would give each salesperson a five-year cost for every model, with service and a comparison with the main competitor. The agent prepares it for the first reply to the customer. The question "how much is service?" must get a number, not "I will ask the service team."

Source CarExpert

US car loans are the easiest to get since 2015, and 57.8% of deals carry old debt#

The Cox Automotive Dealertrack Credit Availability Index shows that lenders approved 73.9% of applications in September. This is the easiest month for a loan since 2015. The share of subprime borrowers grew to 17.4%. Loans longer than 72 months reached a record 31.8%. Negative equity, when the debt on the old car is higher than its value, appears in 57.8% of deals.

On October 13, CDG News asked two dealers how they protect the customer after the sale. Eric Frehsée, president of Tamaroff Group in Michigan, gives three free oil changes and three free tire rotations. This brings the customer to the service department. Spencer Webb, general manager of Audi Salt Lake City, has not sold an 84-month loan this year. He says there is no ban, and the local market does not want them.

My opinion. Loans are easy to get now and hard to pay later. A customer with debt on the old car will come back in three years with the same debt. If you sell eight years of payments today, this customer will go to the dealer who helps them in three years.

I would record the loan term and negative equity in the file of every deal. After two years, the agent reminds the salesperson about customers whose debt is almost closed. This is a ready list for a call with a trade-in offer.

Source CDG News

Research#

Buyers with good credit also choose a car by monthly payment#

FlexPath DXP makes online finance tools for dealer websites. On October 12, it published its first study of shopper behavior. It was not a survey.

The company looked at what people did on dealer websites from January to September 2026. The sample is 4,773 shoppers with a known credit tier, out of 17,218 verified shoppers. The company says the data does not represent all US shoppers.

Shopping by monthly payment was used by 78% of shoppers with good credit and 80% with poor credit. Shoppers with good credit were 1.5 times more likely to prequalify for a specific car, 44% against 30%. Of these requests, 81% came from search results or vehicle pages, and 7.5% from finance pages. One in four payment shopping sessions started between 9 PM and 8 AM.

My opinion. Every buyer cares about the monthly payment, not only a buyer with poor credit. And they ask about it on the vehicle page, not on the finance page. One in four does it at night, when nobody is in the store. Our measurements at dealers in different countries show that 40% of inquiries come outside working hours.

I would put a payment calculator on every vehicle page. The agent answers the night question "how much per month?" at once, with terms and a booking for the morning. In the morning, the salesperson calls and talks about the car, not about the number.

Source FlexPath DXP

Used diesel cars in the UK lost 6.9% in a year and sell 9 days slower than hybrids#

Valuation company cap hpi published October used car values for the UK on October 12. A three-year-old diesel with 30,000 miles lost 6.9% of its value in 12 months. In October, three-year-old diesels with 60,000 miles lost 0.6%. Hybrids gained 0.5%, and electric cars gained 0.3%.

A litre of diesel costs about 195p, which is 23p more than petrol. In September, a used diesel took 41 days to sell on average. A hybrid took 32 days, and an electric car took 33 days. Diesel has had the weakest values for five months in a row.

My opinion. Nine extra days in stock cost money, and diesel values keep falling. A diesel trade-in valued with last month's numbers is already an overpayment.

I would update diesel valuations every week and give them a short time before a price review. For a customer who trades in a diesel, the agent prepares a hybrid offer with a yearly fuel cost in advance.

Source Car Dealer Magazine

UK used car sales grew 7.9% in a month, but cars take longer to sell#

Data company Brego published its market report for September on October 12. Used car sales grew 7.9% compared with August. The average time to sell grew 10.6% to 42.9 days. The number of adverts grew 1.8%, and adverts for pre-registered cars grew 15.3%. The article does not say what data the report uses.

A used electric car sold in 38.2 days on average, faster than the market. The best-selling used car of the month was the Tesla Model Y Long Range, with 1,254 sales. Rupert Pontin from Brego says a busier market does not mean every car sells faster.

My opinion. There are more sales, but each car stays longer. This means buyers choose from more adverts and compare more.

I would not look at total sales. I would look at cars older than 45 days in my own stock. For each one, the agent prepares a weekly comparison with similar adverts nearby. The manager changes the price, not the software.

Source Motor Trader

Floods damaged up to 48,000 US vehicles this year before Hurricane Isaias#

Carfax estimated flood damage from 2026 storms on October 13. Before Hurricane Isaias, water damaged up to 48,000 vehicles in the US. In total, more than 500,000 water-damaged vehicles are on US roads. Florida has the most with 75,000, then Texas with 67,100.

Carfax cites police data. It says these cars are often sold far from where the flood happened. After cleaning, a car can look fine outside.

My opinion. One flood car on the lot hurts a dealer's name more than any discount helps it. A salesperson cannot see the damage with their eyes.

I would add a rule. Every used car from flood states gets a history check before we buy it. The agent does this by VIN and marks the result in the file. A person decides whether to buy.

Source Auto Remarketing

In short#

BMW sold 6.3% fewer cars in the third quarter and 24.8% fewer in China. BMW Group delivered 551,072 vehicles, including 114,355 in China. BMW and Mini sales grew 2.5% in the US and 2.7% in Europe, and electric car deliveries grew 7.2%. All German brands lose in China, so a European dealer should prepare salespeople for Chinese models in the store next door. CBT News

In Korea, Tesla sold 89,148 cars in nine months, and BYD grew seven times. Data from the importers' association KAIDA shows imports grew 24% to 279,729 cars in nine months. Tesla has 32% of imports, and BYD sold 20,137 cars and moves to hybrids because it did not get electric car incentives. Local brands lost 7.6%, so a Korean dealer should check now which customers look at imports. Just Auto

Stellantis sold 10% more in Europe, and 44,000 of these cars were Leapmotor. Stellantis shipped about 1.3 million vehicles in the third quarter, down 1%. North America fell 12% to 357,000, and Europe grew 10% to 588,000. A Chinese brand is already in the range of a European Stellantis dealer, and I would train salespeople to present it. CBT News

Li Auto will start selling the Li 6 in the Netherlands and Norway in the first quarter of 2027. The Chinese crossover appeared in Paris, and its screen menu works in 8 European languages. The article gives no price and no sales model, and the car sold 152,842 units in China in eight months. A new brand in Europe needs sales and service, and as a dealer I would ask for its terms now. CarNewsChina

UK dealer group Chorley closes stores and keeps Nissan and MG. Chorley Group lost £995,000 before tax in 2025 on a turnover of £272 million. The group left Hyundai and sold a Kia store, and the directors blame pressure from new brands, mostly Chinese. A store without new customers in a crowded area does not survive, so I would count how many buyers come from competitors. Car Dealer Magazine

The UK court case on car finance compensation moved to February 2027. The FCA scheme covers about 12.1 million agreements from 2007 to 2024, with an average payout of £829 and a total of about £9.1 billion. The finance arms of Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz challenge it. Customers wait another half year, and I would keep the records of every old finance agreement ready. Car Dealer Magazine

US mower maker Dixie Chopper stops production and closes its dealer network. The owner, Alamo Group, will end the product line and the network by April 1, 2027. The company has not confirmed parts or warranty plans, and a dealer in Indiana promises service on his own. When a brand leaves, the customer stays with the dealer, so I would write to every owner about who will service the machine. Powersports Business

Indian brand Royal Enfield sells the new Bullet 650 in North America for $7,799. The motorcycle appeared at the Audrain Concours in Rhode Island and is already at dealers, who got demo bikes for test rides. The first Bullet came out in 1932. A ride sells a $7,799 motorcycle, so I would offer a test ride in the first reply. Powersports Business

Hype of the day#

These are headlines without analysis. They have the most coverage, or the source did not open.

• Al Jazeera. Saudi-born engineer for OpenAI arrested for planting listening bug, 60 outlets
• Forbes. Paris Car Show; Europe Accelerates, But China Is Winning, 18 outlets
• The Japan Times. Legacy carmakers risk losing mass market to Chinese rivals, 10 outlets
• The Guardian. AI in your oven? Anthropic warns models 'months away' from self-replication on smart devices, 8 outlets
• Reuters. Nvidia buys stakes in French tech startups Doctolib, Genesis AI, 7 outlets
• The Information. JPMorgan Blocks External AI Agents From Accessing Client Accounts, 5 outlets
• Reuters. Stellantis CEO sees eventual US EV shift, says auto industry becoming more regional, 3 outlets
• Bloomberg. BYD's Denza Eyes Europe Car-Finance Unit to Rival BMW, Mercedes, 1 outlet