🚗 Small Fleets = Big Opportunities?

🚙 Season 2, AI Efficiency, and Used Holds Its Own

November 17, 2025

TOGETHER WITH

New season. New stories. New name.

Season 1 launched as More Than Cars.
Season 2 returns as The Truth About Car Dealers.

The show has evolved, and the title finally matches the mission.

Catch up on Season 1 now on Tubi, Amazon Prime, or YouTube, because in December, Season 2 brings a stacked lineup.

Get ready to hear from Bo Bozard, Letti Bozard Spencer, Ed Roberts, Crystal Garrison, Charlie Waters, Liza Borches, Jason Mahoney, Beth Lucchesi, Ryan Rohrman, Zac Kinch, Michael J. Smith, Kylee Thompson, Allen Gooch, Jami Langham, and more!

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

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THE NEWS

Small Fleets, Big Opportunity

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A new survey from Vehicle Management Systems shows small fleet operators, delivery, construction, service, are stretched thin. Most spend 10–30 hours a week managing vehicles, often after hours.

Half say downtime and paperwork are their biggest pain points.

Fleets operating fewer than 50 vehicles represent thousands of regional accounts that are often overlooked.

Dealers already serving them with pickup service, mobile maintenance, or quick-turn scheduling have a serious retention edge heading into 2026.

What do you think?

Is the next “fleet boom” Amazon, UPS, or every HVAC van, plumber’s truck, and local courier looking for a local partner in the service lane?

Used Market Holds Its Nerve

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Cox Automotive data shows retail used sales up 3.4% in October, with CPO up 7.5%. Days’ supply dipped to 48, healthy but not overheated.

After a soft September, buyers stepped back in, helped by slightly better credit access and sharper price discipline. Dealers who maintained pricing near market are now moving aged units without incurring heavy markdowns.

Translation: Q4’s used market still has pulse, especially under $25K. Don’t let higher-priced new-car inventory crowd out recon space for the stuff that’s actually selling.

Mazda’s Electric Patience

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Mazda’s first U.S.-designed EV is officially testing in California. It rides on the brand’s new scalable EV platform, targeting production in 2027 and sales in 2028.

The long runway signals Mazda’s methodical approach: fewer promises, more proof. It’s also a reminder that EV planning cycles now stretch across election cycles, a caution for anyone betting their whole forecast on fast adoption curves.

JLR’s Margin Hit and the China Chill

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Jaguar Land Rover trimmed its 2026 operating-margin goal to 0–2% after a cyberattack froze plants for five weeks and demand in China sagged under new luxury taxes.

Tata Motors says the event cost $228M and dragged overall volume down 24%. It’s another warning shot on the fragility of global supply and the price of digital exposure, even for a brand built on ruggedness.

China’s slowing premium market is now the through-line in nearly every Q4 report from Europe’s luxury players.

Cybersecurity isn’t just protecting convenience, y’all.

Hyundai, Kia, and the Subsidy Safety Net

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South Korea just announced a 20% bump in EV subsidies and over $10 billion in new auto-sector loans for 2026. Add in lower U.S. tariffs on Korean vehicles, and Hyundai and Kia suddenly have oxygen in a tariff-tight market.

While American policy chops and changes, Seoul is doubling down on domestic EV production and R&D, a play that might quietly keep its automakers’ U.S. momentum alive.

Call it: the global game of tariff whack-a-mole continues.

EVERYTHING ELSE

When AI Gets Audited

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Congress may soon make companies put real numbers behind their “AI efficiency” stories. A new bipartisan bill would require quarterly reports on how automation is actually changing workforces including the number of jobs lost, gained, and retrained, as well as the roles left unfilled.

If passed, this could be the first federal scoreboard for AI’s impact on employment, separating hype from harm. That matters for auto retail too: large dealer groups with centralized call centers, marketing teams, or service schedulers could eventually fall under the same reporting rules.

Meanwhile, the creative side of AI is sprinting ahead. Google’s new image tools and Gemini Creative Suite are turning text prompts into pro-grade visuals in seconds, shrinking production cycles from days to minutes.

AI is forcing transparency on one hand and total acceleration on the other. The question isn’t if it touches your store; it’s how fast.

Check out more big news from the AI front in the weekly AutoIndustry.AI email.

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