MADA’s Nextgen Committee Prepares the Next Wave of Missouri’s Automotive Leaders
The retail automotive industry faces challenges on nearly every front. Electric vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), tightening federal regulation, and a new-car affordability crisis are reshaping the business from the ground up. Meanwhile, the average American new-car dealer is more than 70 years old, and manufacturer consolidation continues to put pressure on independent, family-owned dealerships. The Missouri Automobile Dealers Association saw the leadership gap coming and built its NextGen program to close it. On this episode of CBT News’ Inside Automotive, we’re joined by MADA President and CEO Doug Smith; Chairman Nick Anderson, who also serves as Chair of the NextGen Committee; and Committee Members Kyle Weymuth, Alex Thompson, and Megan Sinclair Rosso. MADA represents 368 new-car dealerships across Missouri. Roughly 80% of those are multi-generational, family-owned operations. As average dealer age climbs, MADA president and CEO Doug Smith says the association wanted a structured way to bring younger dealers into the fold. “Getting them to come to our events was pretty easy. It just simply took an invitation, a personal invite from us. And these guys have hit the ground running,” Smith said. Click here for the full interview.
What Dealerships Should Do When Customers Use AI to Negotiate Prices
Dealerships have long competed on price with rivals down the street. Now, they’re facing a new challenge: vehicle shoppers armed with advice from artificial intelligence tools. Even with AI in the mix, human conversation is necessary, experts say. Dealerships can beat AI recommendations — and gain trust — by reminding customers about the services they offer that ChatGPT searches don’t find. According to Automotive News, a customer at Beaver Toyota of Cumming agreed in April to pay $19,750 for a new Toyota Grand Highlander, including trade-in. She called the store back the next day and insisted on paying $18,000 based on advice from AI tools ChatGPT and Claude. She nearly walked away when the dealership wanted to stick with the higher price. A quick-thinking salesperson at the Georgia dealership highlighted the benefits the dealership provides such as a lifetime powertrain warranty, oil changes and roadside assistance. The customer accepted, settling on $18,500, said Daniel Govaer, Beaver Toyota’s loyalty project manager. The AI-related negotiations are “going to become more and more common,” he said. Click here for the full story.
Mitsubishi Stores Get Scarcer as Brand Cuts Low Performers and ‘Fed Up’ Dealers Walk Away
Mitsubishi Motors North America is aggressively reshaping its U.S. dealer network, cutting low-volume stores while recruiting stronger, “new-car-focused” operators. The Japanese automaker’s U.S. dealership count has fallen 16 percent since before the pandemic as its sales slid roughly 20 percent.Mitsubishi began 2026 with 56 fewer dealerships than it had in early 2019 — a bigger decline than any other mainstream brand except much larger Ford and Chevrolet, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center. Its network shrank every year during that time except in 2024.In the past 18 months, the company terminated about 35 franchises, CEO Mark Chaffin told Automotive News. He acknowledged the network could shrink further before it grows. At the same time, Mitsubishi added 12 dealerships in the past year and has roughly 30 more in the approval pipeline. These new stores are expected to deliver three to five times the volume of the stores that have closed, Chaffin said. “We’re focused on quality over quantity as we evolve our franchise,” he said. “It’s all about the right stores run by new-car-focused operators in the right areas.” Click here for the full story.
Volkswagen Is Not in Talks with Chinese, CEO Says in Bid to Calm Workers
Germany’s Volkswagen is not currently in talks with Chinese manufacturers regarding overcapacity at its car plants in Europe, although the problem does have to be addressed, CEO Oliver Blume told a general assembly of workers on Wednesday. The meeting comes amid heightened speculation over the future of Volkswagen’s German factories as falling profits, weak demand and intense competition put Europe’s biggest carmaker under pressure to scale back its sprawling network, reports Reuters. “We still have excess capacity at our plants in Europe and Germany. We need to address this in order to remain competitive,” Blume said in Wolfsburg, adding that there were “currently no plans or discussions with Chinese manufacturers”. The CEO said three years of belt-tightening – including 50,000 job cuts in Germany, with cuts at its Audi and Porsche – had made it robust for uncertain times rocked by steep tariffs and shifting markets. However, he warned that the carmaker would not return to pre-pandemic sales in Europe, and that the group’s decades-long business model of exporting cars to the world from Germany was being replaced by a need to localize in key markets like China, where Volkswagen operates via joint ventures with locals. Click here for the full story.
Rising Auto Insurance Costs Are Raising Stakes for F&I Teams
A new LexisNexis Risk Solutions report reveals that a shifting auto insurance landscape is reshaping the vehicle ownership journey, with significant implications for F&I operations. The analytics and tech company’s 2026 U.S. Auto Insurance Trends Report—based on a survey of 3,000 U.S. auto insurance consumers—outlines five key trends shaping the current market as coverage costs become a bigger factor in vehicle purchase decisions. “After four years of continued rate increases, U.S. auto insurance consumers have become less loyal and more price sensitive,” reads the LexisNexis report. “Meanwhile, driving risk is no longer confined to high-risk violations and high-risk drivers, BI claims are reshaping claims outcomes and the changing composition of vehicles on the road is shifting the underlying risk landscape.” According to CDG, insurance affordability is becoming a bigger friction point in the buying process, making it increasingly tougher for dealership to close deals with a growing number of buyers who are already payment-sensitive about purchasing a vehicle. The changing insurance landscape reinforces the need for sales and F&I teams to prioritize insurance as part of the broader affordability discussion, with ownership costs continuing to climb. Click here for the full story.
Federated Insurance’s Question of the Month
Q: We have a question about our nonexempt employees. We require them to arrive 10 minutes before their shifts start so they’re ready to go as soon as their shifts begin. They don’t really perform any “work” during these 10 minutes; they just hang around and wait for their shifts to begin. Our employees have been complaining that we should pay them for this time, since we require them to be here. Do we need to pay them for this time, since they aren’t actually “working” yet?
A: The federal Fair Labor Standards Act defines the term employ to include the words suffer or permit to work. Suffer or permit to work means that if an employer requires or allows employees to work, they are employed, and the time spent is probably hours worked. An employer may hire a person to do nothing or to do nothing but wait for something to do or something to happen. A person hired to do nothing or to do nothing but wait for something to do or something to happen is still working.
Thus, as a general matter, if an employer requires employees to report to work before the start of their shifts, the employer might create a duty to compensate employees for this time. Additional federal, state and/or local laws may also apply. Employers wondering whether they owe employees compensation for any specific amount of time that they were at work (including before the start time of their shifts) should contact local counsel for a specific legal opinion. Click here to learn more.
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