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Good morning. Before the weekend, three conversations deserve a closer look: who makes the customer’s data choices at delivery, which inventory needs attention before another price cut, and how to separate an OEM’s long-range plans from vehicles actually coming to the showroom. Let’s get into it.
AT THE DESK
The customer needs to make the click
Florida is among the jurisdictions joining a $220 million settlement with General Motors, announced October 29, over allegations that the company sold drivers’ behavior and location data without their consent (Michigan attorney general). The dealership connection is direct: authorities allege that some employees accepted enrollment terms on customers’ behalf while GM incentivized OnStar sign-ups (Michigan attorney general).
The allegations concern the former Smart Driver program and information that reached insurers through data brokers, potentially affecting premiums (Michigan attorney general). GM does not admit liability, and the settlement does not provide consumer restitution; a separate private class action remains pending (settlement announcement and agreement).
The operational detail worth reading is in Michigan’s published agreement: its terms call for GM to establish customer-controlled OnStar enrollment, sample dealer enrollments for anomalous patterns, and develop training telling dealership personnel that customers must review and accept the disclosures themselves (published agreement, paragraphs 48 and 56). Those are settlement provisions directed at GM, not a newly announced blanket rule for every Florida dealership.
For GM stores, the next useful conversation is with the OEM and counsel about the enrollment workflow, training and evidence of customer action. For everyone else, this is a timely reason to watch an actual delivery: can the customer understand the choice, make it personally and decline without an employee quietly completing the screen? Review the process and any enrollment incentives together. A completed activation should never be your only measure of a successful handoff.
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ON THE LOT
More units moved. More needed a markdown.
Used-car sales rose 5% quarter over quarter in Lotlinx’s Q3 inventory dataset, but 47% of used vehicles sold had a markdown, up six percentage points from Q2 (Q3 Vincensus report, page 07). The measure tracks how often sold units were marked down, rather than the size of the reduction.
The same report puts half of ending used inventory beyond 30 days on the lot, its definition of aged used stock (Q3 report, pages 04 and 07). Published October 27, the research is a proprietary market benchmark, not a Florida-specific count, and it does not disclose a complete sampling methodology (report release).
The takeaway for a used-car meeting: separate “we sold more” from “we protected the turn.” Before another across-the-board price change, review which units are retail-ready, which are getting shopper attention and which have simply carried the same unresolved problem into another week. Use your own acquisition cost, recon status and local comparables to decide the next move.
More used sales needed a price cut
Share of used units sold with a markdown
Q2 2026: 41%
Q3 2026: 47%
THE OEM PICTURE
Volkswagen’s near-term test is in the showroom
Volkswagen Group’s North American customer deliveries fell 4% in the first nine months of 2026, which management attributed to lower battery-electric deliveries and model changeovers, particularly the Atlas (October 29 results call). That is a regional group result, not a reading of Florida registrations or an individual franchise’s sales.
On the same call, CFO Arno Antlitz said production of the next-generation Atlas had started and Audi’s Q9 would reach showrooms in the coming weeks (Volkswagen results materials). These are management’s production and launch statements, not store-level allocation commitments.
For affected stores, the useful planning horizon is the next inventory transition. Keep confirmed arrivals, outgoing-model exposure and customer commitments in the same conversation. A promising replacement model does not make an existing unit less expensive to carry, and a national launch window is not a delivery date you can promise a buyer.
QUICK SHIFT
Ford wants more trucks, not the old stocking levels
Ford ended September with 49 retail days’ supply of F-150s, below its target, CFO Sherry House said on the October 28 call. CEO Jim Farley described a year-end target around 55–60 days, compared with historical stocking levels of 80–100 days (Ford earnings call).
This is a separate inventory finding from yesterday’s Oakville production update. Ford stores should plan around a deliberately leaner pipeline, not assume recovering production means a return to old lot counts. Keep trim-level availability and confirmed allocations in view; the year-end target is management’s expectation, not a local delivery guarantee.
THE USED-EV CHECK
Demand grew. Inventory grew faster.
Within the same Q3 Lotlinx dataset, used-EV sales increased 18% from Q2 while inventory increased 32%; 44% of used EVs sold had a markdown, eight percentage points more than in Q2 (Q3 report, pages 03 and 07). That combination deserves its own buying discussion rather than being buried inside the store’s overall used-car result.
Our read: keep the acquisition decision VIN-specific. A rising category can still contain the wrong vehicle at the wrong money. Set the intended retail position and exit plan before buying, then revisit them when local comparable inventory changes.