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Welcome to The Weekly, a roundup of the top five auto industry headlines of the week.
Many Carvana Google Business Profile listings point to government buildings, other non-Carvana sites, analysis finds
At least 327 Google Business Profile pages (GBPs) are tied to auto retail giant Carvana.
Of those, 106 check out as real Carvana facilities, from its vending machines to its seven new-car dealerships. Carvana’s listings, the company told CDG News, help local shoppers find cars that can be delivered to or picked up in their area.
However, a closer look at 143 of the other GBPs reveals addresses across 39 states and the District of Columbia that belong to other destinations, none of them Carvana dealerships.
“Competition benefits consumers,” Seth Dobbs, chair of the national automotive practice group at law firm Fox Rothschild, told CDG News. “The issue is whether all participants are competing under a consistent set of rules and whether consumers are receiving an accurate representation of where a dealership is actually located.”
The Niello Company talks start of CARS Act, new processes in play
The Niello Company talks start of CARS Act, new processes in play
The Niello Company and other California dealers had a year to prepare for the California Combatting Auto Retail Scams Act and its price transparency and sales rules.
Nine days after the law went into effect on Oct. 1, Dennis Gingrich, sales and finance director at The Niello Company, joined Sam D’Arc on Daily Dealer Live Friday to share how the 10-location group prepared its staff and processes to comply with the new law.
“That was a big lift. It required just a lot of effort from our team, a lot of communication with our partners,” Gingrich said. “It’s going to be good in the long term after we get through the change management, and we will, and everybody will be fine.”
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Full-size trucks add 30,000 units to inventory in Q3
With rising gas prices, full-size truck sales have slowed, and collectively, inventory has increased across the nation faster than any other segment in the past three months.
Still, that is not the case for all models and markets, as new data from Catalyst IQ points out.
Driving the news: Catalyst IQ, which indexes 99% of VIN inventory marketed to consumers, published its Q3 State of the Industry report, showing an all-time high in marketed price for new vehicles at $52,770.
Catalyst IQ noted the full-size truck inventory increased by 29,027 vehicles between Q2 and Q3. That was more than double heavy-duty trucks (12,288) and triple the influx of luxury mid-size SUVs and XL SUVs.
But for the three months leading into October, the Ram 1500 is seeing inventory decline, with outflows outpacing inflows.
Toyota dominates brand loyalty rankings among cars, SUVs
Ford trucks own the highest brand loyalty among any segment, while Toyota’s brand loyalty stood out among multiple categories in JD Power’s 2026 U.S. Automotive Brand Loyalty Study.
Driving the news: Looking at whether owners stayed with the same brand when trading in a vehicle, JD Power compiled insights from across the industry.
Overall brand loyalty in 2026 jumped to 50.2% from 49% the previous year.
Additionally, four different segments had leaders above 60%, while the industry faced several headwinds from rising prices, changing inventory, and inflationary economic pressures.
Honda unveils next-generation hybrid system, emphasizes 15 models by 2030
Honda has announced that “Honda Hybrid” will be the name of its next-generation hybrid system as the automaker looks to strengthen its competitiveness amid industry headwinds.
The name marks the evolution of Honda’s original two-motor hybrid system (e:HEV) as the automaker transitions to next-generation technology designed to improve fuel efficiency and driving dynamics.
Honda plans to launch 15 next-generation hybrid models equipped with Honda Hybrid globally by the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2030, primarily in North America.
What they’re saying: “Our first task is to make the automobile business a reliable revenue base by 2030,” said Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe, adding that, “We will start by further improving our hybrid vehicles, one of Honda’s strong suits,” per a statement in the automaker’s 2026 report.
