Len Short of Lotlinx lists five ways dealers are using predictive modeling, a core aspect of AI, to improve efficiency and make more accurate forecasts and data-driven decisions. +

Cox Automotive analysts fear manufacturers and retailers are protecting consumers from the rising costs of new cars, creating an unsustainable dynamic as profitability concerns grow. +

Lotlinx reports new vehicles in stock at U.S. dealerships carried over at a rate of 51% in May, a 3% increase over the same month a year ago, and days’ supply improved by five days to 64. +

Automotive News reports new vehicle sales improved for Ford, Hyundai and Kia and fell by double digits for Mazda in May, dropping the SAAR below 16 million as factories scaled back incentives. +

Cox Automotive’s Dealer Sentiment Index ticked downward as economic concerns outweighed strong customer traffic and sales, including a 10-point bump in in-person visits to franchised dealerships. +

Lotlinx’s Len Short digs beneath the headlines to review a litany of first quarter auto retail and finance reports and distill them into four key points in his latest contribution to DealerELITE. +

Kerri Wise has joined Lotlinx as chief marketing officer, bringing 25 years of industry experience to the inventory management solutions provider as it grows and leans into AI and machine learning technology. +

Lotlinx’s latest VIN-based Quarterly Vincensus Report finds that, despite a March sales surge for new and used vehicles, aging inventory undermined profitability over the course of the first quarter. +

Ford has launched “From America, For America,” a new campaign offering employee discounts on most of the factory’s U.S. lineup, in a bid to offset a new tariff on imported vehicles that goes into effect today. +

The owner of two Los Angeles-area Nissan dealerships says the factory orchestrated a “deliberate and nefarious scheme” to “suffocate” his rooftops by purposely depriving them of needed inventory. +