Automotive News Daily Drive Apr 22, 2026

April 22, 2026 | GM shelves EV pickups; Amazon Autos wins over new dealers

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Company

RET1 Fusion

RET1 Fusion is a tool dealers use to help customers shop for cars online. It’s meant to make the buying process quicker by letting people estimate payments and see options digitally.

Concept

digital retailing

Digital retailing means buying and configuring a car online instead of doing everything in person. It can include things like payment estimates and trade-in info.

Company

Sony Honda Mobility

Sony Honda Mobility is a partnership company between Sony and Honda. The episode says they’re reducing their EV efforts and shifting people back to other work.

Car

Chevrolet Silverado

The Chevrolet Silverado is one of GM’s main pickup trucks. The update schedule is being pushed back from 2028 to later, according to the hosts.

Car

Gmc Sierra

The GMC Sierra is a big pickup truck. The hosts say GM is pushing back updated versions that were originally expected around 2028.

Concept

plug-in hybrids

A plug-in hybrid is part electric and part gas. You can charge it from a plug, so you can drive on electricity for shorter trips before the gas engine helps out.

Car

The Ford Orion refers to a new vehicle platform being built at Ford’s Orion plant. It’s designed to support new engines, including plug-in hybrid versions that can run on electricity for short trips and also use gas. This matters because it affects what kinds of future cars can be made there.

Concept

extended-range EV technology

This is an electric car idea where you still drive like an EV, but a small gas engine can make electricity when the battery is low. That can help you go farther without charging as often.

Concept

driver assist tech

Driver assist tech is software that helps you drive, like keeping you in your lane or slowing down to avoid a crash. It’s not the same as fully self-driving, but it can reduce workload for the driver.

Concept

dealer councils

A dealer council is a group of car dealers working together. The segment says a memo warned dealers to watch contract language that could limit their ability to organize.

Company

CADA

CADA is referenced as the organization issuing a memo to Canadian dealers about franchise/dealer rights and contract language. In this segment, it’s central to the discussion of how dealer groups may be affected by factory-owned store strategies.

Brand

Geely

Geely is a Chinese automaker involved in EV development and global expansion. Here, it’s mentioned as one of the companies building Canadian sales networks with potential late-year launches.

Brand

Cherry

“Cherry” is mentioned as another Chinese automaker trying to sell cars in Canada. It’s probably referring to Chery, which is known for expanding into new markets.

Brand

BYD

BYD is a company that makes electric vehicles and batteries. The hosts say BYD is preparing to sell cars in Canada soon.

Concept

next-gen electric trucks

This means the next wave of fully electric trucks a company plans to build. If they delay it, it usually means they don’t think the market (or rules) is ready yet, or they need more time to make the plan work.

Concept

Factory Zero

“Factory Zero” is GM’s branded name for a Detroit-area EV production facility meant to symbolize the company’s electric future. The segment describes operational setbacks—shutdowns, layoffs, and concerns about product readiness—showing how factory strategy can change when EV timelines slip.

Concept

hybridize

“Hybridize” means switching from fully electric to a mix of electric and gas (or adding a hybrid option). The idea is to keep the factory productive even if the fully electric plan is taking longer.

Concept

digital retail solution

Digital retailing means buying steps that used to happen only in the dealership now happen online. The goal is to help shoppers understand pricing and trade-in value sooner, so they can decide faster.

Company

Route 1 Fusion

Route 1 Fusion is software dealerships pay for to help people shop for cars online. It’s meant to make the process clearer and faster, including estimating your trade-in value and setting up appointments.

Term

trade and valuation feature

This feature helps estimate what your current car might be worth as a trade-in. The idea is that if you know the rough value and how it affects your payment, you can make decisions faster.

Concept

online to in-store transition

The “online to in-store transition” is the handoff from digital shopping to a dealership visit. The segment frames software features (like trade valuation and scheduling) as ways to make that handoff smoother and reduce friction that can slow down deal progress.

Term

appointment scheduling

Appointment scheduling lets customers pick a time to come in without calling around. It helps the dealership and customer line up faster.

Term

pre-qualification tools

Pre-qualification is an early step where the dealership (or its software) estimates what kind of financing or payment you might qualify for. It helps you understand payments sooner instead of waiting until you’re in the store.

Term

credit-based payment options

This means the system estimates what your monthly payment could be based on your credit. It’s meant to give you a clearer idea of payments before you visit the dealership.

Brand

Chevy

Chevy is short for Chevrolet. The hosts mention it because Amazon is adding more car brands to its online car-selling program.

Brand

Subaru

Subaru is a car brand. The hosts mention it because Amazon is expanding which brands are available through its online car-selling platform.

Brand

Jeep

Jeep is named as one of the automaker brands being added to Amazon’s vehicle-selling platform. This is relevant to listeners because it indicates the platform’s growing brand coverage beyond the initial Hyundai partnership.

Brand

Mazda

Mazda is a car brand. The segment mentions it as Amazon adds more brands to its online car-selling platform.

Company

Roarman Automotive Group

Roarman Automotive Group is a group of car dealerships. In this story, they’re using Amazon to put their cars online and reach more buyers.

Topic

Amazon dealer storefronts for used and new inventory

They explain how dealers can put their inventory on Amazon, starting with used cars and then expanding to new cars. The timing and rollout matter because it determines which locations and brands are live when.

Brand

Kia

Kia is another car brand mentioned in the segment. The dealership group says it launched Kia stores on Amazon for new models.

Brand

Hyundai

Hyundai is the car brand mentioned here. The dealership group says it added Hyundai stores on Amazon for new models, not just used cars.

Concept

early adopter vs late adopter

The hosts discuss the idea of adopting a new sales channel early versus waiting until it’s proven. In this case, the guest says they prefer to vet new programs first, then join once there’s more structure and marketing support.

Concept

lead handoff

A “lead handoff” is when an online inquiry or checkout-started customer is transferred from a platform (here, Amazon Autos) to a dealer so the dealer can continue the sale process. The segment emphasizes that reps are “hands-on” to ensure leads are acknowledged and availability is confirmed before moving forward.

Concept

matchback

Matchback is a way to connect what someone did online with what they did later in real life. In this case, it would show whether people who looked at a car online ended up going to the dealership.

Concept

attribution

Attribution means figuring out what actually led to the sale—like whether the customer came because of the online listing. They’re saying they don’t fully know that yet for people who browse online and then go to the dealer.

Company

Amazon Autos

Amazon Autos is an online marketplace where car dealers can list cars for sale. The big question is whether enough people actually use it to buy cars, not just view listings.

Term

impressions

Impressions are basically how many times people’s screens show the listings. Lots of impressions mean people are seeing the cars, but it doesn’t guarantee sales.

Concept

consumer adoption of a new buying model

The segment frames success as not just traffic, but consumer adoption—whether shoppers are willing to change how they buy cars. Even with strong site activity (impressions), sales depend on customers embracing the new workflow.

Term

checkout process

The checkout process is the steps a buyer goes through to finish the purchase online. If it’s easy and fast, more people are likely to complete the sale.

Concept

subscription based

Subscription-based just means paying regularly (like monthly or yearly) to use a service. Here, the dealership is trying to understand whether Amazon’s help would cost money over time and how that cost would be justified.

Concept

third-party platforms

A third-party platform is a website that helps bring car shoppers to a dealership. Instead of the dealer doing everything themselves, the platform helps with leads, and the dealer then checks whether it’s profitable.

Company

likecars.com

They’re comparing Amazon’s possible deal to what dealerships already pay for on other car-shopping websites. The idea is that this wouldn’t be totally new—dealers would likely measure results the same way.

Concept

ROI

ROI just means “are we getting our money back?” The dealership wants to know if paying for or using Amazon’s platform leads to more sales and repeat visits that justify the cost.

Concept

data ownership / consumer profile data

They’re talking about who controls the customer information. If Amazon holds the customer profile, the dealership may worry about losing control of marketing and targeting—even if the dealer still handles the sale.

Concept

record keeper of sales

They’re saying Amazon may hold some customer information, but the dealership still keeps the official sales records. That’s important because it helps the dealer prove what happened and continue selling and servicing the same customer later.

Term

third-party marketing provider

A third-party marketing provider is a company that helps you advertise, but it’s not your own dealership. Dealers pay them to get ads in front of customers, and those services usually track what people do online.

Company

Google

Google is being used as an example of where dealers pay for ads. The key point is that ad platforms track user behavior so ads can be targeted more effectively.

Term

data of the consumer

They’re saying these platforms keep information about what shoppers do online. That helps the platform show more relevant ads and experiences to each customer.

Term

omnichannel experience

Omnichannel just means the buying experience works smoothly across different places. For example, you can browse online and then continue easily with the dealer without starting over.

Company

Carvana

Carvana is a company that sells cars mostly through an online process. People can buy a car without going to a dealership first, and it gets delivered.

Concept

online car retail platforms

Online car retail platforms are websites/apps where you can shop for cars like you would for other products online. The big change is that dealers have to compete with that convenience and delivery experience.

Company

CarMax

CarMax is a big used-car seller that also lets you shop online. The point here is that customers can buy and get cars delivered without relying only on a traditional dealership visit.

LIVE

Consider RET1 Fusion for your dealership's digital retailing.

Customers can build vehicle financing options online with estimated payments,

trade-ins, and you can even showcase optional protection products, faster process, elevated

sales, more satisfied customers. Visit RET1.com slash Fusion to connect for a demo today.

Welcome to Daily Drive. For April 22nd, 2026, I'm Kellen Walker in Las Vegas. Today on the show,

GM shelves its next-gen electric pickups and pivots to gas engines and plug-in hybrids.

Sony Honda Mobility sends Affila employees back to other projects,

and Canadian dealers get a warning about Chinese automaker contracts. Plus, we'll hear from a

dealer who's all in on Amazon autos. Some of these listeners, they just as well,

likely have bought something from Amazon within the past 48 to 72 hours. So those customers

are our customers now as well. Let's run through all the news you need to know to keep up in the

auto industry. General Motors is shelving its next-generation electric trucks. The automakers

indefinitely delaying refreshed versions of the GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Silverado, and Hummer that

were supposed to launch in 2028. Suppliers say don't expect them until 2030 or later. Instead,

GM's redirecting cash toward a new gas engine platform launching next year at its Orion plant,

including plug-in hybrid versions of the Silverado and Sierra. The company's also exploring

extended-range EV technology, where a small gas engine acts as a generator for the battery.

That's similar to what Ford and Stellantis are planning for their pickups. We'll have more on

this story in a minute with Kurt Nagel of Crane's Detroit business. Meanwhile, Sony Honda Mobility

is scaling back its Affila electric vehicle venture and sending about 400 employees back to Honda

and Sony. This comes just a month after the partners canceled their first two Affila EVs for

North America. The Affila One sedan was supposed to start reaching customers later this year with

a crossover to follow. Now, Honda and Sony say they're reassessing how to work together on software

and driver assist tech. And the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association is telling its members

to read the fine print before signing on with Chinese automakers looking to break into the

Canadian market. In a memo obtained by our sibling publication Automotive News Canada,

CADA warned dealers to protect their right to form dealer councils, watch for language that

could allow factory-owned stores and make sure they're getting the same deal as everyone else.

BYD, Cherry, and Geely are all working to set up Canadian sales networks with launches expected

as early as late this year. And those are today's headlines. You can find more details on all

those stories at AutoNews.com. Let's dig deeper into GM's decision to delay its next-gen electric

trucks. Kurt Nagel of our sibling publication Crane's Detroit business has been following the

story. Kurt, welcome back to Daily Drive. Thanks for having me. All right, Kurt. So GM says EVs

are still the end game for the company, but they're delaying these trucks indefinitely.

What's driving this decision? Yeah, so GM has been consistent about saying that, like you said,

the end game is EVs, but what's changing is how long it's going to get to that end game. I think

the delay in the next generation of electric trucks is telling in telegraphing how long they

think it's going to be before consumers really gravitate toward these vehicles and when policy

might push it again toward all electric vehicles. Now, what does this mean for Factory Zero in

Detroit? The plant and GM held up as the flagship for its electric future? Yeah, it's rough days

for that factory. They were just shut down for a few weeks, I think last week or the week before.

They brought 1,300 workers back from layoff, single shift to make these vehicles, but when it

launched five or so years ago, like you said, it was a flagship. Then President Biden came to the

factory, which was ground zero for the president's clean energy plan. Everything looked great about

its future and now you see that there's cold product in the plant and the prospects leak

at this point unless GM decides that they want to add another program or if they want to hybridize,

bring a new version in better utilized production capacity that it has there.

Perfect. Kurt Nagel of Crane, Detroit Business, thank you so much for joining me.

All right, thank you. Yesterday on Daily Drive, we heard from a dealer who decided to opt out of

Amazon Autos despite being involved in early conversations. Today, we're hearing a different

perspective from a dealer who's going all in. Coming up, Jeremy Noling, a Vorman automotive group,

talks about why he thinks partnering with Amazon Autos is worth the bet. That's next on Daily Drive.

Route 1 Fusion is an expanded digital retail solution built to enhance your dealership's

customer engagement and improve the results of your online efforts. Many customers expect a fast,

online friendly experience and prefer clarity early in the process, especially if they have a vehicle

to trade. So ask yourself, are your current digital retailing tools helping shoppers understand

their trade and value and helping your team move deals forward faster? With a subscription to Fusion,

you can benefit from its trade and valuation feature that empowers customers to estimate the

value of their current vehicle early in the process. This helps customers arrive in store,

better prepared, make expectations around payments and equity more realistic,

and move conversations and decisions faster. The result is higher quality leads, more productive

interactions, and a smoother transition from online to in-store. And trade and valuation is just

one example of how Route 1 Fusion can expand your digital retail experience. Fusion also

supports other features that include appointment scheduling so customers can view your availability

and book a time. Pre-qualification tools with subscription provide quick,

credit-based payment options and production product presentations allow you to present

products earlier to help customers explore their options. Schedule a personalized demo to see how

Fusion can help generate more opportunities from your online traffic. Visit route1.com

slash fusion to connect with Route 1 today. Welcome back to daily drive. I'm Kellan Walker.

Amazon is expanding its vehicle selling platform to more than 130 cities, now adding Chevy, Jeep,

Kia, Mazda, and Subaru beyond its original Hyundai partnership. But it's been slow going.

Some dealerships are selling just one or two cars a month through Amazon. That's way below

what they'd hoped for from partnering with one of the world's biggest retailers.

Yesterday on the show, we heard from a dealer who has opted against joining Amazon,

despite being involved in early talks to get dealers on board. Today, we hear from a dealer

with a very different view of the platform. Roarman Automotive Group launched all 20 of its

storefronts on Amazon in early April, carrying both new and used inventory. Sales and digital

retailing director Jeremy Nowling figures it's worth it, getting inventory in front of millions

of potential buyers, even if sales start small. He spoke with Automotive News' retail tech reporter

Mark Homer. Jeremy, I'm grateful for you taking the time and thanks for joining us.

I'd like to talk about Amazon. My understanding is that your dealership group has been taking part

in the partnership with Amazon. Yes, we have. We just started last fall and most recently we

just launched all 20 storefronts on Amazon, carrying all used inventory to their Amazon

Auto's platform. In addition, we launched our three Hyundai stores and three Kia stores for new

models. When did you start? You started with the Hyundai last fall in fall 25? No, we went all in

at once. When they approached us, it was for a model to launch all used inventory in the Midwest

region. At that time, our mindset was just use cars only. As part of the deal with launching

used, you're allowed to bring on your new car inventory as well. We weren't part of the initial

launch with Hyundai when Amazon originally went live 18 months ago or so. We felt that now is the

time to join as we feel that there's a lot more structure and obviously some marketing dollars

that are going to be tied to this as well. It just made sense to go ahead and bring them on now.

I need to ask then, I'm hearing something about early adopter versus late adopter. I don't buy

the new model, for example. When it first comes out, I wait. Is that what you did with the Amazon

pilot? At that time, it was new. We always like to wait, vet stuff out, make sure it's a right fit

for our organization before we bring it to market. Now, after the several meetings that we had with

just Morrow at Amazon, it just made total sense to join this program. To recap, you started in

last fall with used? No, conversation started last fall. We officially went live in the Chicago

Land Market in March at the tail end of March. We went live with the Indiana locations at the

beginning of April. Now, everybody, all your stores are on Amazon. We all have an Amazon store

front now. How is it going? How is it working? It's been great. The support team from Amazon

has been phenomenal. Kayla has been great from that side. Then from the DR tool side,

which our rep is Hunter, she's been phenomenal as well. They're very hands-on. They know about a

lead or a customer beginning a checkout process at the same time as we do. They're there to hold

our champion's hand at the same time to make sure, have we acknowledged the lead? Have we

acknowledged the availability? Are we taking the steps that we've agreed to with their consumers,

which in turn will become our consumer as well? Do you have any data? Can you say, for example,

how many cars or vehicles you sold on Amazon so far? We've delivered our third vehicle now.

Two new cars and one used car have been sold through the platform. We've had several other

deals that are working. When the financing doesn't go through Amazon and do their three lenders that

they have, the consumer has the option to say, I would like to have my information shared with

the dealer because we have 20 different banks that we can try to find a path for those consumers.

So we've had a few of those handoffs come as well. We have another deal that's working on

another new Kia right now. So again, it's a new deal to the consumer base. It's new to us.

And as of this moment, there's really no actual marketing dollars that are behind the platform.

So to be able to have our inventory on a stage that has the potential to be seen by millions of

customers, meeting them in an area where they currently like to purchase, it's a good deal.

I'm wondering if, and I appreciate that sentiment, have you also counted the customers who started

with Amazon or at least used it in part? I mean, I understand you've had a few sales

and that's, everything went online at what point, so that sense?

Yeah, I mean, so data on that, I'm sure Amazon's going to be able to provide us some insights if

they do a matchback for that where consumers are on the platform. They see our car but

don't feel comfortable or don't want to go all the way through the checkout process,

but then end up visiting the store. We don't have attribution for that just yet,

but I'm sure that that's a model that they're standing behind as for the customers that

go online and then are turned down and coming in. We've had a couple of those customers that have

come into the stores, yes. And the actual sales since you've been online, and tell me again,

the launch when everybody was on? Everybody's on, let's say the 5th of April.

So since the 5th of April, you've already had a few sales?

Yes. That's impressive. I'm curious about your thoughts because I've spoken to other dealers

who are more Hyundai specific, who are mixed or who are impressed with the system,

hopeful about what it could do, but mixed with the results so far.

Yeah, I think that you can compare that to most third-party platforms, same thing. So if there's

no marketing behind a platform that you're placing your inventory on, it is going to be a little bit

slow. The real telltale will be once advertising dollars are put behind Amazon Autos to broadcast

this to their network of consumers. It'll be interesting to see what type of activity takes

place. As of right now, we know that there's millions of impressions on the site. So we know

that the traction will be there, and now it's just that adaption of consumers in the market

that moved to that model. Is there a way to determine success at this point?

You know, I think the success that we can measure at this point is we've seen the model work,

we've spoken, obviously the customers pick up the cars at the dealership. So asking the customer,

what was the experience like compared to your last vehicle purchase? The good feedback that

they're providing to us is measurable in the sense of they're not having a hard time completing

the checkout process, and they like the seamless portion of it. They like the ability to save that

time. So I believe that that's measurable in its own. What's also measurable is the fact that we

now have almost 5,000 vehicles that are on a platform that we all buy from every single day.

So that's a success for us as well. What are you hearing in terms of success nationally?

For example, I'm wondering if some markets are more amenable to this kind of thing than others.

Yeah, so I mean, you know, as for Hyundai, I know there's a good amount of dealers that are on the

platform. I quite honestly, I don't talk to many of those dealers that are on the platform. I'm more

concerned of, you know, how are we going to perform and what can we do to perform better in that area?

From what Amazon can share with us, we know that there are some other beta regions that are live on

used cars, and some of these regions are performing pretty well. We hope to see that same performance

model as we continue to gain momentum. This isn't costing you anything yet. Is that correct?

No, no, it's not. At some point, will it? Yeah, they'll put a model together for us, and I'm sure

it'll be somewhat subscription based. You know, Amazon, I believe what they're looking for is

advertisement on their platform in a way that, you know, that is beneficial to us and them.

And I think that that'll be the model that is ultimately decided. But the initial talks were

around almost like a subscription based as we pay for likecars.com and those other third party

platforms. When that comes, do you plan to go all in? Well, as of right now, I would feel that we're

now because we're already there, and we're on their platform. And now it's just at that time,

it's going to be a measurement of what does the success look like? What's our ROI based upon

what the stores are pulling off the platform? So in terms of when it becomes a cost item,

you'll basically decide at that point based on how successful you are and the metrics they give

you. Yeah, we'll measure that the same way that we currently do other third party platforms.

Okay. To dealerships who may have different perspectives on this partnership that they're

forming, what would you tell them? You know, I think that I know there's folks that are out there

that are skeptical about jumping on the Amazon platform. And I've heard from several of those

folks on other LinkedIn posts that have been out there. You know, I think that at the end of the

day, most dealers don't truly own their own data. And so whereas Amazon does house the data for

the consumer profile, we're still the record keeper of sales. So if we can still deliver the

vehicle the right way and get that customer to come back and visit us through service,

and then obviously hopefully have future sales with that customer, we've done a really good job.

And so for the dealers that are out there that feel that this platform may not be the right

model or they feel that Amazon is looking to take over the industry, I would tell them it's very

similar to that of other models that have storefront owners inside of Amazon, where, you know,

they're still selling their products on the platform. There is a fee associated with everything.

We as dealers, we pay a fee to every third-party marketing provider. We pay a fee to Google to

advertise our inventories there. And every single one of those platforms, they retain the data of

the consumer or the clicks or the activity or the habits of that customer on their platforms.

So this is not much different. What it does provide is it provides us an omnichannel experience

that we haven't been able to really see be truly successful on the rooftop level.

And for platforms that are currently out there like Carvana and CarMax, where consumers are buying,

you know, thousands and thousands of vehicles through those platforms and having them delivered,

we as a dealer body need to be able to be competitive to have our inventory in a space where

that consumer can have the same experience. And why not partner with a reputable company like

Amazon that already does that? I mean, you, I, some of these listeners or folks that may read

this article, they just as well likely have bought something from Amazon within the past

48 to 72 hours. So those customers are our customers now as well. And again, with the millions of

garage vehicles that are kept in the Amazon garage right now, I would love to have my

inventory showcased to those consumers to let them know that we still want to meet them where

they're at on the Amazon platform. Our own Mark Homer has much more about dealer reactions to Amazon

autos at AutoNews.com. You can find that on our homepage. That's Daily Drive for today. I'm

Kellan Walker. Thanks to automotive news executive producer Jake Nier, as well as our own Hans Grimel

for their reporting for today's podcast. We also had reporting from Kurt Nagel of our sibling

publication Crane's Detroit business. You can get the latest news on GM's electric truck strategy,

Amazon autos and everything happening in the auto industry at AutoNews.com. We'd love to hear

from you. Let us know what you think of the show and the topics we covered today. Send us an email

at dailydrive at autonews.com or leave us a voicemail at 313-444-2774. And if you enjoy the

podcast, remember to like, leave a review and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

0:00

21:15

April 22, 2026 | GM shelves EV pickups; Amazon Autos wins over new dealers

CADA

early adopter vs late adopter

likecars.com

About this episode

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