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Earlier this week, CDG News attended Cox Automotive's 2026 Mid-Year Review in person, held at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Mich., across the street from Ford's new headquarters.
One thing that stood out: EVs keep fighting their way to relevancy.
What we mean: The tax credit conversation may have cooled, but used-EV supply is building at auction and on lots, and that shift can create opportunities for dealers who stay ready.
(I promise we're not here to just recap the slides.)
But what we found interesting was the gap between the data and how dealers respond, particularly around affordability conversations and used-EV strategy.
So… Here's what caught our eye, plus how dealers in the trenches are handling it.
From left are Mark Strand, deputy chief economist; Erin Keating, executive analyst; Jeremy Robb, chief economist; Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights; and Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist, of Cox Automotive.
Opportunities exist with underwater EVs hitting the auction.
Looking at the data, the average EV is $4,315 to $7,720 below its contract residual value, depending on model year.
Meaning: Hello, auction.
And, retail demand for the cars exists, according to Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive.
She forecasts used EV sales hitting a record 128,000 units in Q2, up 29% year over year.
“We’re going to continue to see this grow and be a really good option for consumers looking for something that lowers their monthly payment and lower cost of operation,” Valdez Streaty said.
Stephanie
Valdez Streaty
Cox Automotive
Nathan Shaver, managing partner of Shaver Automotive Group in California, told us that EV depreciation isn't a quality problem.
"It's because there's a higher supply, and because the rate of technological improvement is improving so quickly,” Shaver said.
Nathan Shaver
Shaver
Automotive Group
For the second owner, he said, that depreciation equals a value proposition.
His suggestions:
Highlight the cost of overall ownership benefits like monthly payments, insurance, fuel savings, and maintenance differences. Oh, and target niches.
He’s specifically bullish on lightly pre-owned and off-lease Wrangler 4xe Saharas, a discontinued model still in demand in his market.
Most three- to five-year-old EVs are holding up well, Shaver said, and most OEMs offer eight-year, 100,000-mile battery warranties.
"I don't think battery degradation is as big of a problem as the industry says it is," he said.
Beto Beas, president of Electric Auto Group in California, runs two used-car stores.
He watches gas prices before watching the auction, because EV wholesale values move in direct correlation.
A recent example: He bought the same unit twice, three weeks apart, but the second cost $1,500 less because gas prices had dipped slightly.
That’s why when the market is unstable, he waits.
“That's why we've been in business 35 years,” Beas said. “You try to minimize the mistakes you've made in the past.”
Beto Beas
Electric Auto Group
Beas keeps plug-ins in stock because they hold value better than pure EVs, and rise in price as gas prices climb.
His other take: Knowledge and education matter most for selling EVs.
With his team, this means actually driving and learning the EVs, and getting certified through Plug Star and Plug In America.
It also means considering a customer’s lifestyle and knowing when/how to steer someone who lives in an apartment (without level-two charging) toward a plug-in hybrid instead.
"If you can't educate your customer and have them understand the whole EV process and how everything works, then it puts you at a disadvantage,” Beas said.
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Winning wholesale EVs takes knowing what to pay before you even get there.
In terms of vehicle values, we know that wholesale EV prices are up 13.7% year over year and 3.2% vs. May, while broader market prices have dropped, according to the Mid-June Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index.
Additionally, used-EV days supply is 31, compared with about 42 for ICE-plus vehicles.
Separate from the in-person presentation: Alan Lang, Senior VP of Physical Services and Auctions for Cox Automotive's Inventory Solutions, says the above data matters, but… “What matters more is how dealers respond.”
Alan Lang
Manheim by
Cox Automotive
His auction-prep tips:
Recognize auction patterns, such as what’s popular, bidding floors, and how fast cars clear, so you have an advantage.
See how national data compares with what people actually buy in your market.
Know your targets, move fast, and stick to the plan.
Pick models that offer customers a “clear, easy-to-understand value, whether that is range confidence, charging simplicity, warranty coverage, or strong price positioning vs. new.”
And staying nimble, since the EV story shifts too often for set-it-and-forget-it strategies that might work elsewhere.
Rates, insurance, and F&I load are killing 'affordability' more than any sticker price.
It’s common for dealers to start with the sticker when talking affordability, but a better path may exist.
To illustrate why, Cox Executive Analyst Erin Keating used the 2026 Honda CR-V LX as an example. (As seen below.)
Adjusted for CPI inflation, it comes within $478 of its 2016 price, and that’s for a car that now includes automatic emergency braking, wireless CarPlay, adaptive cruise, and a full Honda Sensing suite.
So… “more car for more money.”
"What really changed was the rates, not the price," Keating said.
Erin Keating
Cox Automotive
In fact, she said vehicle prices account for only 3% of the inflation consumers have felt over five years.
What's actually driving payment shock:
Rates up 320 basis points over the decade, F&I load, and about $225 per month in insurance that doesn't show up in transaction price data, all of which Shaver suggests laying out clearly for each shopper.
"It's about helping [customers] just kind of untangle all the things that are going on and removing the fear of the unknown or the anxiety of making a bad, large decision," he said.
His tactics:
Explore new, used, and lightly pre-owned options side by side, so customers can compare monthly payment ranges.
Walk customers through trim-level options closer to what they can afford.
And personalize the customer's unique situation (not the transaction) when talking about price.
“I don't think it's about that particular transaction," Shaver said. "It's about being there for the customer to establish a good reputation at the beginning of a longer-term relationship."
Bottom line: Real EV opportunities exist for the prepared. It just takes knowing where the inventory is headed, and why.
It also means having an auction plan and sticking to it. And when talking with customers, leading with the total cost of ownership, not sticker price.
In the case of EVs, that brings us back to what Lang called "range confidence, charging simplicity, warranty coverage, or strong price positioning…”
