AI Is Squeezing the Middle of the Workforce. Here’s What Dealers Can Do.
Dealerships are full of talented people who have done one job well for years. Kramer’s point isn’t that those people are in trouble. It’s that standing still has become riskier than it used to be.
GM Is Bringing Eyes-Off Driving to Its Best-Selling Trucks and SUVs
GM’s bet is different because of where it’s putting the technology: in the vehicles that make up the heart of its sales. That means dealers will need salespeople who can explain clearly what the system does, where it works, and where the driver still has to take over.
Honda Is Redesigning Cars to Be Built by Humanoid Robots
They aren’t alone. Tesla ended Model S and X production to make room for its Optimus robot, Renault is targeting 350 humanoids by 2027, and Mercedes-Benz aims to use them on assembly lines by 2030.
Subaru Unveils Its First In-House EV Prototype as It Steps Out of Toyota’s Shadow
On Oct. 18, Subaru showed reporters its first independently developed EV prototype at its test course north of Tokyo, according to Automotive News. Engineers developed the technology in roughly half the usual time. Some of it could reach the market around 2029.
How Tesla’s Flying Roadster Won Over Our Resident Skeptic
A car drove up a wall, flipped through the air, and convinced our most doubtful teammate that Tesla’s long-delayed Roadster is worth a dealer’s attention.
Why Dealership AI Works in One Store and Stalls in Another
The report, produced in collaboration with Impel, is built on interviews with dealership leaders using AI in sales and service between June and August 2026. Pasch says most AI coverage stays at the level of data and technology. He wanted to ask dealers directly what worked, what didn’t, and why.
Chip Motors Wants a $15,000 Electric Golf Cart to Be Your Family's Next Car
Chip Motors, founded in 2024, is developing what it calls a "Life Utility Vehicle," an electric neighborhood vehicle designed to handle a family's everyday errands.
Connected Cars Are Sharing Data With Third-Party Trackers
Researchers at Northeastern University found that 19 of 21 vehicles they tested contacted at least one third party over Wi-Fi, including known advertising and tracking domains, according to their "Automatic Transmission" report.
Hyundai and Tesla Are Taking Very Different Roads to a Robot Future
The contrast showed up on the same day. Tesla's Roadster, first shown almost a decade ago and originally expected in 2020, was delayed again. Meanwhile, Hyundai revealed its newest Tucson in New York. Hyundai has also been redesigning vehicles faster than the industry average, helping it gain US market share during what one analyst calls the industry's slowest stretch of new releases since at least the 1970s.
Ionna Doubled Its EV Charging Network by Removing the Hassle
Few EVs on the market today can charge above 350 kW, even briefly, so the hardware is built ahead of the cars. Ionna is also expanding Plug & Charge, which bills a driver's account automatically when the vehicle plugs in. Volvo, Toyota, and Lexus drivers get access in October, joining Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and GM. A new Driver's Dashboard shows real-time session details with no downloads, subscriptions, or logins.
America.gov Just Put an AI Front Door on the Federal Government
Launched Tuesday, America.gov puts a generative AI chat interface in front of federal information and services. It says it pulls answers from 29,000 government websites, with links back to the original sources.
This Columbus Dealer Grows Its Own Technicians. That's Not a Nice-to-Have Anymore.
A Ford F-150 runs on more than 100 million lines of code, more than a Boeing 787 or an F-35 fighter jet. That comparison, offered by Ricart Automotive CEO Jared Ricart, isn't really about which machine is better engineered. It's about what a modern service technician is now actually being asked to do.
GM released a blog post Tuesday detailing the new infotainment system debuting in the 2027 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, and buried inside the feature list is the real headline: Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are coming back.
A platform manager overseeing several stores had built an automated pricing dashboard for used cars across the whole group. When leadership asked how, the answer was simple: "I gave Claude my IMS credentials." That's a dealership's inventory management system handed directly to a frontier model, with no IT governance in the loop at all.
Two AI Executives Say the Old "Wait and See" Strategy Won't Work This Time
Traylor and Adomitis joined the show to make the case that AI adoption in dealerships isn't following the same timeline as past shifts, and that the dealers waiting for a settled "right way" to do this may not get the runway they're expecting.
Dispatch from Istanbul: Global Dealers Are Asking AI the Same Question American Dealers Asked a Year Ago
"Show me it actually works." That was the pushback in the room this week at a major automotive gathering in Istanbul, and it's a question worth sitting with, because a fresh piece of research suggests the skepticism is earning its keep.
AI Search Traffic Converts Better Than Anything Else. OpenAI's Ad Business Might Ruin That.
OpenAI just hit $1 billion in annualized ad revenue in under 200 days. The more interesting number isn't OpenAI's, it's the one showing up in dealer data: AI-referred traffic is converting at rates regular web traffic has never touched.
Robots Just Broke Usain Bolt's Record. Most of Them Also Broke Themselves Doing It.
Humanoid robots surpassed the human 100-meter sprint record at this year's World Humanoid Robot Games. A number of them also couldn't figure out how to stop running once they crossed the finish line.
Walmart's EV Charging Network Just Hit 100 Stores. It's Not Even the Fastest-Growing One There.
Walmart's charging network now spans 20 states, with most sites offering 8 to 16 stalls and chargers capable of delivering up to 400 kW. The retailer wants thousands of Walmart and Sam's Club locations equipped by 2030, leveraging a footprint that puts a store within 10 miles of roughly 90% of Americans.
A Michigan Ford Dealer Just Delivered Auto Parts by Drone
Jack Demmer Automotive Group is testing drone delivery between its Ford dealership, warehouse, and service center in Wayne, Michigan, aiming to move smaller, time-sensitive parts faster while avoiding the traffic and road delays that can leave a vehicle sitting in a service bay.
AI Agents Are Coming to the Dashboard. Automakers May Not Get to Own the Experience.
AI agents in the car are moving beyond better voice assistants toward actually completing tasks for drivers, which could make the cabin dramatically more useful. ABI Research estimates AI-driven in-cabin experiences will grow from about 5 million vehicles today to 70 million by 2035.
Tesla is reportedly preparing to put its purpose-built Cybercab into public service in Austin as soon as this month. The steering-wheel-free robotaxi is central to Elon Musk's autonomous future. Whether the technology underneath it is ready for that role is still very much an open question.
A Truck the Size of a Mini Cooper Can Tow More Than a Cybertruck
Telo's compact MT1 electric pickup is about the length of a two-door Mini Cooper, but the startup says it can tow 8,000 pounds, more than a standard Cybertruck.
Toyota Built an AI Version of Its Chairman. Here's the Line It Shouldn't Cross.
Toyota created a digital twin of Chairman Akio Toyoda, an AI avatar built to teach management philosophy at scale, and it already got basic facts wrong in its first public interview.
