Automotive News reports U.S. new vehicle sales registered a 1.2% overall improvement in October despite waning EV demand, led by increases for Toyota, Ford, Honda and Kia. +

NADA analysts say waning demand and affordability issues are depressing sales team earnings, Nevada leads the nation in average payroll and bigger dealers continue to gain market share. +

Presidio and NCM analysts say Q3 net pretax profit metrics varied wildly among domestic, import and luxury dealers in a report skewed by EV sales and echoes of the CDK Global outage. +

Wolters Kluwer’s Digital Transformation Index shows the adoption of digital workflows ticked down by 2.3% from the second quarter but improved by 4.3% year-over-year. +

Kelley Blue Book reports the average transaction price for a U.S.-sold new vehicle exceeded $50,000 for the first time in September despite increased incentive spending. +

In a post-tax credit world, CarEdge’s Justin Fischer believes the same EVs that sold themselves through government incentives are being sold just as effectively by family, friends and coworkers. +

TrueCar co-founder Scott Painter will return to the CEO position he left in 2015 after leading an effort to acquire the company in a $227 million deal with Fair Holdings Inc. +

Despite tightening among captive finance companies, the Credit Availability Index was essentially flat on a month-to-month basis in September, ticking back up to July’s 98.1 mark after falling by 0.2% in August. +

Commercial vehicle dealers tell Equipment Finance News’s Quinn Donoghue that AI is moving the needle at their stores by helping their sales teams work smarter and faster. +

A successful test run at a Texas Hyundai store preceded the nationwide launch of D.A.I.V.E., a new AI agent designed to connect with and assist car shoppers walking dealership lots. +