🚗 Are Extended Range EVs the Future?

TOGETHER WITH

Today we’re pulling on a thread that runs from Volkswagen to global markets, a story about scale, strategy, and how the modern auto industry keeps reorganizing itself around technology and efficiency.

But before we get into the news, a moment to celebrate something worth remembering.

Automotive was one of the earliest major industries to recognize women as leaders, professionals, and decision-making consumers.

As early as 1909, women weren’t just being marketed to; they were shaping what mobility meant for families and communities. Long before most industries acknowledged women as economic decision-makers, automotive was already putting them in the driver’s seat—literally and professionally.

Even today, retail automotive remains an industry where people can build independence, support families, and strengthen local communities.

Just one more reason retail auto is worth fighting to get into.

Keep Pushing Back
-Chris with Paul, Kyle, & Kristi

_{Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe here!
Reading time: 4 min}

TOGETHER WITH CURBEE

The16: Customers Pass 16 Independents Before They Reach You

With 300,000+ independent repair shops and only 18,300 franchised dealerships, the math is simple. There are roughly 16 independents for every 1 dealer in the U.S.

Curbee calls that The16.

Every time your customer needs service, they drive past 16 other options before they ever reach your service drive. No surprise retention is slipping.

Curbee helps dealers flip that script. Mobile service is one of the tools that makes it easier to:

• Meet customers where they are

• Schedule and route mobile service vehicles intelligently

• Keep customers coming back

Want to see how Curbee M.A.R.S. would work in your market? Schedule a quick 20 minutes with Curbee.

THE NEWS

It’s my goal to keep you making choices that serve your team and their families so they can keep serving the community. So, I went digging into the headlines and came back with the stories below. After pressure-testing the ideas, I proudly present today’s news.

What’s VW’s New Plan for the EV Market?

Last week, Paul and Kyle asked: “What’s VW’s new plan to participate in the EV market?”

Volkswagen’s answer looks less like doubling down on pure battery-electric vehicles and more like a pivot toward electric vehicles that still carry a small gas engine to generate electricity and extend range.

AKA: range-extended EVs
(AKA pt. 2: EREVs).

Why VW Is Betting on Range-Extended EVs (EREVs)

That shift matters because VW’s recent U.S. EV momentum has been uneven:

• Plans for the ID.7 in North America were scrapped

• The ID. Buzz has underperformed expectations

• Some models have swung from markup territory to deep discounting

All reminders that the EV story on the ground is being written in showrooms, not press releases.

For VW dealers, and really, any franchise store watching the category, the EREV conversation signals a clear priority: reduce buyer risk without abandoning electrification.

Range anxiety, charging reliability, and total cost of ownership remain the objections that stall deals, especially outside major metro markets and for customers without easy home charging.

In some ways, this feels like a return to the safe zone of hybrids, just with more steps.

The Affordability Reality Check: Used Cars Are Still Winning

If VW’s EREV move is about reducing buyer risk, the next question is simple:
What cars are buyers choosing while automakers recalibrate?

Cox Automotive’s latest data suggests the answer is affordability.

What the Latest Used-Car Data Is Telling Dealers

In November:

• 1.39 million used vehicles were sold at retail (franchised + independent)

• Sales rose 1.9% year over year and 2.3% month over month

• Used days’ supply sat at 50 days

The takeaway is telling. Inventory is building, sales are steady, and easing prices, combined with improving credit conditions, are pulling buyers back toward used.

For dealers, this is the connective tissue: while new-vehicle tech strategies get rewritten, the market still rewards what feels safe, a payment customers can handle, a vehicle they understand, and a path to ownership that doesn’t require a leap of faith.

Maybe the tiny-car revolution will work out after all. Looking at you, Fiat.

EV Demand Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Uneven

Zooming out, the EV market isn’t “over.” It’s diverging.

Global EV Sales vs. the U.S. Reality

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence data cited by Electrek shows global EV sales up 21% year-to-date, with Europe up 33% and North America down 1%.

That reframes the EREV hedging. This isn’t just a product problem, it’s a market-structure problem. Incentives, charging economics, and policy stability are shaping where EV growth shows up most reliably.

For U.S. dealers, that helps explain the lived reality: even if EV demand remains resilient globally, showroom outcomes are being driven by local affordability and local policy, not just how good the vehicle is.

Regulation Whiplash Is Forcing Automakers to Hedge

Now, let’s layer in policy.

Europe’s 2035 ICE Ban May Be Softening

Reuters reports that EU leaders are signaling a move away from the planned effective 2035 ban on new combustion-engine vehicles, toward an alternative framework pitched as “technological openness.”

Why “Technology Openness” Matters to Dealers

Whether you agree or not, the dealer-relevant takeaway is simple: uncertainty is becoming the strategy.

Automakers are hedging with hybrids, plug-ins, EREVs, and, depending on the region, synthetic fuels and other options.

That’s why VW’s “hybrids, but with more steps” moment lands. It’s not just a reaction to sales charts. It’s OEMs responding to a world where rules, incentives, and buyer psychology are all moving at once.

Pulled together, the thread is clear: when technology, affordability, and policy all shift at once, the market rewards strategies that reduce risk, for buyers and for dealers.

AROUND THE ASOTU-VERSE

Dealer Conferences and Industry Events (2026)

• February 3-6: NADA Show 2026, Las Vegas, NV

• May 12-15: ASOTU CON 2026, Hanover, MD

Thanks for reading, Friend. It’s a real joy to spend time serving you, your team, and your family. Together we will all thrive!