New-vehicle inventory rises sharply while sales stall
As of July 1, 2025, U.S. dealer lots held 2.83 million new vehicles, up 14.5% from June but still 1.4% below year-ago levels, according to Cox Automotive. Days' supply climbed to 82 days, reflecting a growing gap between inventory and consumer demand. Despite ongoing tariff discussions, average new-vehicle listing prices held steady at $48,749, with minimal impact from trade policy so far. Automakers remain cautious on price hikes as shoppers await clarity, and next-model-year vehicles are gradually entering the market with varied strategies across brands. Here's why it matters: For auto dealers, the current market signals an inflection point. Inventory levels are building across nearly all manufacturers, but consumer demand is not rising in step, leading to a significant jump in days' supply.
Source: CBT News
Ford breaks annual record for safety recalls within first six months
Ford Motor has recorded more safety recalls in the first six months of 2025 than any car company ever has in an entire calendar year. Through the end of June, Ford issued 88 safety recalls, according to federal data. The next closest manufacturer this year, at 21, is recreational-vehicle company Forest River, which has been plagued by manufacturing errors. Since 2020, Ford has either reported the first or second most recalls in the industry. Ford said nine of its recalls this year are expansions of earlier recalls. In March, the automaker said it was conducting an audit of past recalls that included software fixes as part of the remedy. So far, 33 recalls—about 37% of the total so far this year—have been issued as a result of the continuing audit, Ford said. On Thursday, Ford said it would recall an additional 850,000 pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles because of a potential fuel-pump failure.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Pickup truck sales surge
The first half of 2025 saw double-digit growth in U.S. pickup sales and some shuffling in the rankings of the companies that make them. Toyota, behind an 89 percent gain for its midsize Tacoma, sold more pickups than Stellantis from January through June. And Ford Motor Co. is on pace to sell more pickups than archrival General Motors in a calendar year for the first time since 2019. Overall, GM produced its best first half in seven years, with U.S. sales up 12 percent. The Ford brand, with a 6.5 percent first-half gain, has a chance to sell more light vehicles than Toyota for the first time since 2020, though it trailed by about 5,200 at midyear.
Source: Automotive News
Ford's latest sale may be just the start of car-buying deals
Just when you thought buying a new vehicle would be out of reach due to President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts inflating prices as well as the economic uncertainty clouding your financial picture, experts say: Hold on! This summer may yield big deals on new cars after all. There's already near-fire sales for electric vehicles, experts said. "The price gains everyone is scared of haven't materialized for consumers yet. So, don't be scared," Cox Automotive spokesman Mark Schirmer told the Detroit Free Press. "If inflation starts to return, that means the market will slow down and that means the only thing you can do as an automaker is lower your prices. I imagine (General Motors CEO) Mary Barra and (Ford CEO) Jim Farley are kind of nervous right now."
Source: Detroit Free Press
Volvo takes $1.2 billion charge over tariffs and EV model delays
Volvo Car AB is taking an impairment charge of $1.2 billion due to delays to some of its electric models and the escalating cost of tariffs. Past development setbacks and duties in the United States have hit Volvo's battery-powered models, the EX90 sport utility vehicle and ES90 sedan. The effect of the one-time non-cash charge on net income will be $936 million in the second quarter, the carmaker said Monday. Its shares declined 4.4% at the close in Stockholm, the steepest drop since April. The stock is down around a quarter this year. “Due to import tariffs the company is currently unable to sell the Volvo ES90 profitably in the United States, while ES90 margins are also under pressure in Europe for the same reason,” the company said in a statement.
Source: Bloomberg via The Detroit News
Used cars under $20k have almost vanished from the market
Here's What's Behind the Surge
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half the used cars for sale in the nation were 3-year-old vehicles priced for $20,000 or less. Today, those same type of vehicles comprise only 11% of used cars. In fact, most shoppers who are in the market for a used vehicle would be hard pressed to find a 3-year-old model below even $30,000, forget finding one for $20,000. According to a new study from research website iSeeCars.com called: "The sub-$20,000 used car is almost gone," the average list price for a used 3-year-old vehicle is now $32,635, that's $9,476 more than it was six years ago. "There's very little negotiation going on for used cars because demand is so high," said Karl Brauer, executive analyst with iSeeCars.com, which is based in Woburn, Massachusetts. "The price of used cars was dropping for the last two years, not dramatically, but going down a little bit every month. The last three months it's gone up again.”Source: Detroit Free Press
A CRM issue – untraceable sales
A new report from Autotrader, completed by Perficient using Clarivoy data, has revealed a critical issue in automotive sales tracking. According to the whitepaper, “From Click to Car Sale: How Multi-Touch Attribution Improves Marketing Measurement for Auto Dealers,” a staggering 92 percent of car sales were untraceable in dealership CRM systems, exposing significant inefficiencies in current attribution methods. The study underscores a disconnect in the car-buying process, where complex consumer journeys are rarely reflected in the data dealerships rely on. From a dataset covering 875,000 sales, only eight percent could be tied to traditional lead metrics such as inquiries or form submissions.
Source: Digital Dealer
GM, LG to produce low-cost LFP EV batteries at Tennessee plant
General Motors (GM) and LG Energy Solution will upgrade their Spring Hill, Tennessee, battery cell facility to manufacture low-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells, aiming for commercial production by late 2027. The move is part of a broader $2.3 billion investment in U.S. battery manufacturing through their joint venture, Ultium Cells. The upgrade reflects GM's strategy to diversify EV battery chemistries, lower costs, and offer consumers more affordable electric vehicle options. Here's why it matters: Lower-cost LFP batteries could allow GM to offer more competitively priced EVs, making them more accessible to a broader range of consumers. Dealers can expect an expanded EV lineup with varying performance and pricing options that better match different customer needs.
Source: CBT News
Tariffs will be a bigger burden for auto industry in second half of 2025
The effects of U.S. tariffs will become more acute in the second half of the year as automakers process new-vehicle inventory and work with suppliers to mitigate billions of dollars in new costs, auto executives and analysts said. The industry thus far has largely weathered the tariff storm, with anticipated steep new-vehicle price increases and sharp production slowdowns not yet coming to pass. Automakers and suppliers attribute that relative stability to tariff exemptions for many North American vehicles and parts and proactive measures they took to import products ahead of the higher levies. That's expected to change in the coming months as costs add up, said Jennifer Safavian, CEO of Autos Drive America, which represents international automakers' U.S. operations. But it is difficult to pinpoint when significant price increases or supply chain issues will become more commonplace, she said.
Source: Automotive News
Summer squeeze: margins tighten as prices diverge
New-vehicle prices crept higher in June, even as consumer affordability flatlined and the industry braced for a changing electrified-vehicle landscape shaped by new policy and evolving customer demand. Dealers are navigating what Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Erin Keating calls “the big squeeze,” with margins threatened as costs rise faster than what consumers are willing to pay. “The months ahead are shaping up to be 'the big squeeze,' as the real headline this summer will be the growing disconnect between rising costs for automakers and dealers and relatively flat consumer prices,” Keating says. “As average MSRPs continue to climb, the modest increase in transaction prices suggests the businesses are absorbing more of the burden and not passing the added costs to consumers – something that will impact profitability if the trend persists.” According to just-released data from Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book, the average transaction price (ATP) for a new vehicle in June was $48,907 – up 0.4% from May and 1.2% higher than a year ago, marking the largest year-over-year increase in 2025 so far.
Source: WardsAuto
SRT revival offers stellantis chance for much-needed halo models
Although Stellantis disbanded its Street and Racing Technology performance division in 2021, the unit's high-octane spirit helped fuel the resurrection of the Hemi V-8 in the Ram 1500 this summer. Other vehicles could soon get similar treatment as the automaker brings SRT back to life. In years past, SRT gave power surges to models including the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler 300, and Dodge‘s Charger and Challenger muscle cars. The 710-hp Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat is the only vehicle in today's lineup that still bears the SRT badge. Dealers are excited about the prospect of more speedy halo models to drive interest in their brands, though the new SRT era is likely to look a bit different.
Source: Automotive News
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