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Kia is reportedly offering some EV lessees up to $9,900 to buy out their vehicles, and the move raises a bigger question about affordability, residual values, and how customers are making decisions in today's market.
We dig into that story below, along with what Toyota's RAV4 shortage tells us about demand, why Lucid is cutting staff again, and what commercial EV demand might reveal about where electrification is actually gaining traction.
Keep Pushing Back,
—Paul, Kyle, Chris & Kristi
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We Examined Something Weird Going On at Kia
Kia is reportedly offering some EV lessees up to $9,900 to buy out their vehicle instead of turning it in.
Most lease-end incentives are designed to get customers into another vehicle. This one is designed to keep them where they are.
Eligible EV6, EV9, and Niro EV customers are being directed back to their originating dealership to complete the transaction, while dealers receive a $300 incentive for each buyout.
Some see it as a customer retention play. Others wonder whether it's also a way to keep more off-lease EVs from heading to auction at a time when EV residual values and battery health remain under close scrutiny.
Why Customers Might Say Yes
According to Lease End's 2026 Annual Lease Buyout Report, customers saved more than $73 million through lease buyouts in 2025. The average buyout payment was about $100 less per month than starting a new lease, and many customers had thousands of dollars in positive equity sitting in their vehicles.
Consumers are doing the math and realizing that keeping the car they already know can be the most affordable option available.
What's interesting is that EVs still represent just 1.8% of lease buyout transactions. Hybrids are growing quickly, but the broader market is still working through questions around EV value retention and ownership economics.
Automotive State of the Union’s Take
On the show, Kyle's first reaction wasn't about residual values. It was about the customer.
Regardless of why Kia is running the program, the result is the same: customers are being sent back to dealerships. That's a chance to strengthen a relationship, discuss financing, earn future service business, and better understand the needs of the household.
Paul's takeaway was that stories like this often reveal where the industry is headed. Battery health, residual values, ownership costs, and long-term EV value are becoming customer-facing conversations, not just finance-company conversations.
So while the headlines are about Kia, dealers should pay attention to what customers are telling us.
In a market where affordability is still the biggest pressure point, more drivers are deciding that the best next vehicle might be the one already sitting in their driveway.
Pop Quiz: What's Your Trade Score?
Every dealership wants more opportunities. The question is: are you getting the most from the traffic you already have?
Take Protomiq’s quick Trade-In Scorecard and see how your process measures up. You'll get a personalized score and a few ideas that could help turn more website visitors into serious buyers.
A couple minutes now could uncover your next opportunity.
😍 Cars And The People Who Love Them
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Global companies push electrification as an economic strategy
More than 100 companies, including Uber, Volvo Cars, Ikea, and Nestle, are urging governments to make electrification central to economic policy. Their argument is less about vibes and more about exposure: fossil fuel volatility raises costs, delays investment, and shakes supply chains. For dealers, it’s another reminder that electrification is still being framed as a business stability play, even when consumer demand feels uneven.
Lucid cuts 18% of U.S. workforce
Lucid is laying off roughly 18% of its U.S. workforce, eliminating its COO role, and cutting a second production shift in Arizona. The company says it needs to align production with demand and reduce inventory. Translation: premium EVs may have strong technology, but the market is still asking the oldest retail question in the book: who’s buying, how many, and at what margin?
Toyota ramps U.S. RAV4 production to chase demand
Toyota started building the all-hybrid 2026 RAV4 in Kentucky as dealers face waitlists, presold units, and inventory measured in hours instead of days. RAV4 sales are down because supply is tight, not because customers disappeared. For dealers, this is the good kind of problem, unless you’re the one explaining the wait.
Cox says rate relief is unlikely soon
Cox Automotive says elevated financing costs are likely sticking around, with the Fed focused on price stability and inflation still running hot. For dealers, affordability pressure remains the operating condition, not the exception. Payment creativity, trade strategy, and disciplined inventory are still doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Kia’s electric van gets rationed overseas
Kia’s PV5 electric van is seeing stronger-than-expected demand in markets like Europe, Korea, Australia, Japan, and Canada. Supply is now being rationed. The dealer takeaway: commercial EVs may become the sleeper category, because plumbers, florists, and delivery operators do math faster than Twitter debates.
🤖 Humans, Meet Consequences
Vibe coding is creating a new security problem. AI makes it easy for anyone to build software, but security experts are finding that many of these quickly built apps are exposing data, skipping authentication, and creating risks their creators never intended.
Alphabet stock dropped as AI concerns and talent departures piled up. Google is facing fresh pressure after losing key AI researchers to competitors, adding to investor concerns about whether massive AI spending will translate into lasting advantages.
Five Eyes intelligence agencies warned that advanced AI risks may be arriving faster than expected. Cybersecurity leaders from five allied nations say increasingly powerful AI systems could create serious risks for governments and businesses within months, not years.
🛒 People Are Going To People
Prime Day is shaping up as an inflation test for consumers. Amazon, Walmart, and Target are all betting shoppers will keep spending, but this year's focus has shifted toward essentials and value as household budgets remain under pressure.
A Michigan man won $1.05 million because he accidentally bought the lottery ticket he usually avoids. After forgetting to tell the cashier not to print his least favorite game, he woke up the next morning holding a seven-figure jackpot.
GLP-1 drugs are reshaping consumer spending habits. As more people use weight-loss medications that reduce appetite and change eating behavior, retailers and consumer brands are adjusting expectations around everything from grocery purchases and restaurant visits to portion sizes and household spending patterns.
1868: Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for the QWERTY typewriter, which permanently altered how business correspondence and modern keyboards are designed.
1903: Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft officially registered the "Mercedes" name as a trademark. It was named after the daughter of Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek.
1997: The historic United States Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency Act in a 7-2 vote, ruling it a violation of free speech and protecting early internet expansion.
Thanks for reading, Friend! Tuesday is waiting for you!
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