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How Buyers Are Shopping and What Dealers Can Do to Stay Ahead
Buyer satisfaction reached record levels in 2025, even as affordability pressure, cross‑shopping, and complexity continue to rise. If you’re a dealer, this should have is worth your attention. According to data from the 2025 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study and explored in the infographic, 5 Car Buyer Journey Trends Dealers Can Act On In 2026, higher satisfaction isn’t coming from easier conditions. It comes from buyers who are shopping differently. Dealers who support that behavior are seeing stronger outcomes. Those who don’t are feeling the friction. This article breaks down the five trends behind that shift and the immediate actions you can take to keep deals moving. Satisfaction Hits
The industry may not ever get to 100% “flip-proof” auto lending – but you can definitely get closer than you are today
Featuring AVP/Lender Strategist Andy Mayers with insights from the latest Cox Automotive Research Cox Automotive sees this trend climbing year over year: more consumers are starting their car-buying journey online — and increasingly, they’re researching financing options before anything else. In our latest Car Buying Journey study, over half of buyers explored financing on a lender’s website, putting a spotlight on the long-standing dominance of indirect lending. To be clear, indirect remains a strong origination channel — but technology, among other factors, is evolving the marketplace. Consumers now have more entry paths to shopping, and financing steps are moving up the funnel. That means lenders who rely solely
Convert finance‑approved buyers into booked business
A direct‑to‑indirect strategy that speeds deal‑making and safeguards against flipping. Transcript: 00:00:05And we’re back. 00:00:06Welcome to the next episode of Small Bites. 00:00:09I’m Greg Payne, Marketing Manager with Cox Automotive, and I’m joined as always by Andy Mayers, AVP of Dealertrack Lender Solutions. 00:00:17Now in this episode, we’re going to be going in depth on a solution that has a fairly ambiguous name: Lender Referral. 00:00:24I know I’m not alone in asking this. 00:00:26Who exactly is Lender Referral referring to, and to whom? 00:00:30Great question. 00:00:31What we call lender referral today is a product that’s evolved as the industry has changed. Consumers want to
How Dealerships Can Build Loyalty One Service Visit at a Time
Insights from the 2026 Cox Automotive Fixed Ops and Ownership Study
Expanding Dealer Rate Cards to Sales View
Overview Deal Central now allows dealers to use dealer defined interest rate cards directly in Manager View. Instead of relying only on lender programs or manual rate entry, dealerships can structure deals using their own rates during desking. This update reduces rework during desking and ensures deals start with the rates your team actually uses. What’s improved Dealers can now: How it works Once activated, dealer rates are available in Manager View and can be applied on first pencil. Why it matters
Multi-Trade-In Support for Sales View
Manage up to three trade-in vehicles within a single deal—without restarting workflows or handling trades outside the deal flow. What Changed How It Works — At a Glance Why It Matters This update supports real-world deals that involve multiple trade-ins—without manual workarounds, reentry, or restarting the deal.
4 New Rules of Car Buying: A Dealer’s Playbook to Win Faster, Smarter Deals
Today’s car shoppers expect speed, simplicity, and continuity—and many dealerships are still slowing deals down with disconnected steps. This ebook outlines the four new rules shaping car buying and and five practical actions dealers can take to reduce friction, streamline dealmaking, and deliver a smoother online‑to‑in‑store experience using Deal Central.
Autotrader AI in Action: Smart Search, Shopping Assistant & AI Mode
Autotrader’s AI-powered shopping experiences are changing how consumers find and buy cars—and how dealers win. Watch this NADA stage presentation to learn how Smart Search, Shopping Assistant, and AI Mode help shoppers get answers faster, stay engaged longer, and convert at higher rates, delivering high-quality leads dealers can act on with confidence.
How Being “Always Open” is Becoming a Dealer’s Biggest Edge
Summary:Online car buying today is about flexibility, not choosing between digital or in‑store. Dealers that remove friction and keep control of the deal are better positioned to convert ready buyers. In this article, you’ll learn: The advantage today isn’t having the biggest lot or the most foot traffic. It’s being available when your customers are ready to move forward. Late at night. Between meetings. From the couch. More dealers are starting to notice a quiet shift in how deals actually get done. It’s not about pushing everything online or replacing the showroom. It’s about removing the friction that slows good buyers down. Shoppers are doing more before they ever walk in. And
Winning Back Speed & Margin in Automotive Retail
Mo Zahabi, Cox Automotive AVP Product Consulting, and Car Dealership Guy, Yossi Levi Discuss Connected Workflows