Wolters Kluwer’s latest Auto Finance Digital Transformation index finds U.S. econtracting volume declined by 1.5% from Q1 2025 but “significantly” outpaced new vehicle sales. +

Cox Automotive and Moody’s Analytics report higher incomes, steady interest rates and increased incentives offset a near-$50,000 average transaction price in March. +

Optimism is down and pessimism is up among U.S. franchised dealers — as well as manufacturers and suppliers — in Automotive News’s latest quarterly Auto Industry Confidence Index. +

Sales of full-size SUVs and pickups — and a decreased appetite for small cars — pushed the average U.S. new vehicle transaction price to $49,275 in March. +

Analysts say strong product sales, back-end profits and F&I income helped U.S. dealers offset an average front-end gross that fell to a nearly four-year low in the fourth quarter. +

U.S. dealers sold more than 233,000 full-size pickups in December, propelling the average new vehicle price to a record $50,326 as incentives helped offset affordability concerns. +

The latest new vehicle sales reports show U.S. dealers sold more vehicles in 2025 than in 2024 but performed better in the first three quarters of the year than in Q4 and December. +

Protective’s Rick Kurtz urges dealers and agents to maximize F&I product sales by treating every presentation as an opportunity to help customers manage affordability and mitigate risk. +

Edmunds reports the average transaction price for a U.S.-sold pre-owned vehicle increased by 5% to $31,067 in the third quarter, accompanied by a four-day uptick in lot times. +

Each of America’s six largest publicly traded dealer group say gross profit per new vehicle retailed declined on a year-over-year basis in the third quarter, some by double digits. +