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The best dealer resources from our experts to help dealers solve their toughest inventory challenges.

Car Buyer Shifts New-Car Teams Need to Act On Now

Blog Post

Car Buyer Shifts New-Car Teams Need to Act On Now

For more than 15 years, Cox Automotive has tracked how buyer expectations evolve. The 2025 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study shows a clear pattern for new‑car dealers: satisfaction is rising, but shoppers are moving faster, comparing more options, and expecting clarity earlier in the process. Those findings are visualized in the From Shopper Insight to Inventory Action: How Market-Driven Decisions Drive the Modern […]

Four AI-Driven Innovations Transforming How Dealers Work

Video

Four AI-Driven Innovations Transforming How Dealers Work

Meet the AI tools built to help your team appraise better, move faster, and stay focused on what matters. Explore Common Problems, Vehicle Journey, the Auto Assistant, and Cox Automotive Navigator — four innovations that bring the right data and next best actions to your fingertips, right inside the tools you already use.

How vAuto’s AI is Better: It Starts with Data

Blog Post

How vAuto’s AI is Better: It Starts with Data

Derek Hansen, SVP, Dealer, Lender, and Inventory Management Solutions at Cox Automotive, explains why trusted inputs matter before AI can deliver trusted outputs.

How vAuto AI Transforms Dealership Workflows and Efficiency

Video

How vAuto AI Transforms Dealership Workflows and Efficiency

Featured at Access Innovation, vAuto’s exclusive event, this session shows how dealerships can use AI and curated automotive data to make smarter inventory and pricing decisions. Reduce guesswork, increase efficiency, and drive profitability with purpose-built AI.

Podcast

vAuto Quarterly Quick-Takes: A View of Key Q1 2026 Trends

In this vAuto Quarterly Quick-Takes podcast, vAuto’s director of strategic planning, Bethany Johnson, examines key take-aways from new and used vehicle inventory and sales data from the first quarter of 2026: Get out there early with new vehicle promotion; marketing in-transit units help capture buyer interest; mind your pricing on Day 1—for new and used vehicles to […]

Driven Her Way: Bethany Johnson on Learning, Leadership, and Dealer Experience

In this episode of Driven Her Way, Susan Givens sits down with Bethany Johnson, Strategic Planning Director at vAuto, to discuss her career journey from dealership retail to the vendor side of automotive. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience, Bethany shares why hands‑on dealer experience and an always‑be‑learning mindset are critical in today’s market. The […]

Under Pressure: Car Buyer Journey Study Insights

Blog Post

Under Pressure: Car Buyer Journey Study Insights

Summary: Affordability is tightening and price scrutiny is up. According to the 2025 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study, buyers are more cautious, more analytical, and more focused on price fairness than ever before. For used car dealers, this raises the stakes. When acquisition or pricing decisions miss the mark, risk compounds quickly. These findings show how […]

A Smarter Way for Independent Dealers to Buy and Manage Inventory

Blog Post

A Smarter Way for Independent Dealers to Buy and Manage Inventory

Every vehicle you bring in sets off a chain reaction. Acquisition costs shape reconditioning spend, which directly affects time to lot. Time to lot limits pricing flexibility. And pricing pressure shows up fast when inventory starts to age. For independent dealers, your margin for error is thin. One wrong decision can take weeks to undo. At auction, those […]

HOW MARKET-DRIVEN DECISIONS SHAPE THE MODERN CAR BUYER JOURNEY

FROM SHOPPER INSIGHT TO INVENTORY ACTION HOW MARKET-DRIVEN DECISIONS SHAPE THE MODERN CAR BUYER JOURNEY For more than 15 years, Cox Automotive has tracked shifts in the car buyer journey to help dealers adapt to changing expectations. The 2025 Car Buyer Journey Study shows buyers are more informed, more price‑sensitive, and more likely to compare […]

Line chart showing the growing share of EV appraisals at dealerships, with EV trade-ins increasing from about 1.6 percent in early 2025 to nearly 1.8 percent by early 2026.

Blog Post

An Early View of the Emerging Used EV Opportunity

Last fall, when the federal tax credits for EVs expired and EV demand dropped off, our industry faced a question: Did this moment effectively mark the beginning of the end of the EV market? Looking back, this question was more about the drama of the moment than a true reflection of how the EV market would perform in the months ahead. After all, […]