This refers to efforts to build a pipeline of qualified dealership technicians. As vehicles add more electronics and advanced diagnostics, training and staffing become critical to reducing service delays and maintaining repair quality.
Jaguar Land Rover is referenced as having halted production at a UK plant for up to two weeks. Production stoppages like this can ripple through parts availability, vehicle deliveries, and inventory levels.
This is a survey that asks mechanics what they think is going wrong or what they need. The goal is to use that feedback to improve the shop and the way repairs are handled.
The dealerships are sharing the survey results with their own mechanics. Then they can compare it to what’s actually happening in their shop and decide what to improve.
Technician apprenticeships are structured training programs that combine classroom instruction with hands-on work. They’re used by automakers and dealer networks to build a pipeline of qualified technicians over time.
There aren’t enough trained mechanics to handle all the cars that need service. That can mean longer waits and more pressure on the shops that are hiring.
An EV is a car that runs on electricity instead of gasoline. The big difference is that the “how it works” and what to watch over time are different from gas cars.
The “50,000 miles” example highlights that mileage-based expectations from gas cars don’t map cleanly to EVs. For EVs, battery condition and usage patterns can matter more than odometer reading for predicting future performance and value.
Tesla is a company that makes electric cars. The point here is that some car dealers already sell a lot of Teslas, so they’re more familiar with how EVs move on the lot.
Leasing is like renting a car for a few years with monthly payments. You usually give it back at the end, or you can sometimes buy it for a set price if you want to keep it.
Calling a lease an “extended rental” means you’re paying to use the car for a while. You usually don’t own it, and you give it back when the lease ends.
Wholesale auctions are events where dealers bid on cars. If the original dealer doesn’t want the returned lease cars, the captive can sell them to other dealers through auctions.
Experian is an analytics and data company, and its Automotive Marketing solutions are aimed at helping dealers use consumer and vehicle data to target customers. The segment emphasizes that accurate, up-to-date data is critical for effective marketing.
Experian Automotive is a company that helps dealers use data to find likely car buyers and track results. It’s used to connect marketing efforts to real dealership outcomes.
Apprenticeship and recruitment programs are ways to train new mechanics and hire them into the industry. When there’s a shortage, these programs help ensure there are enough people to work on cars.
It means using a quick band-aid solution. In this case, it’s like hiring your way out of the shortage for a moment, but not actually creating enough new trained technicians.
Brake cleaner is a solvent used to remove brake dust, grease, and other contaminants from brake components. In a school or training setting, it’s a common consumable for hands-on service practice and cleaning parts before inspection or reassembly.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is a U.S. government agency that collects and publishes labor and employment data. In this discussion, it’s referenced as a source for technician wage modeling, and the speaker questions how the BLS model produces usable results.
The “going rate” is basically what technicians are being paid right now in the real world. The goal is to help shops pay enough to attract and keep good techs.
“Pay structure” is just how mechanics get paid at work. It can be hourly, flat-rate per job, or a mix, and it affects whether people feel satisfied and stay.
“Flat rate” means mechanics get paid a set amount for a repair, not by the hours they actually spend. The shop uses a time estimate for each job, and the pay is tied to that estimate.
“Used EVs” refers to electric vehicles that have already been sold and are now being resold on the pre-owned market. This matters because EVs have different maintenance and battery-related considerations than gas cars, and pricing/availability can shift as production and incentives change.
Production goals are targets automakers set for how many vehicles they plan to build over a given time period. They’re often tied to supply chain capacity, staffing, and demand forecasts, and they can affect everything from incentives to parts availability.
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And we've expanded the categories this year,
recognizing everything from technician experience
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The registration deadline is April 17th,
find out more and apply at AutoNews.com.
Finding the right car buyer shouldn't depend on luck,
it should be powered by data.
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Welcome to Daily Drive for Friday, March 27th, 2026.
I'm Kellan Walker in Las Vegas.
Today on the show,
Hyundai announces a new goal for US production by 2030.
General Motors investments into technician training
and recruitment are starting to pay off
and Jaguar Land Rover has halted production
at one of its UK plants for up to two weeks.
Plus senior retail editor Dan Shine
sits down with Jay Gunnenin of Wrenchway
to talk about the results of the company's
Voice of the Technician survey.
We've had several dealerships that have printed it off
or presented it to their own technicians
and said, okay, what are we missing here?
Is this accurate with what you guys think?
If not, great, at least it started the conversation.
Let's run through all the news you need to know
to keep up in the auto industry.
Hyundai aims to build 80% of the vehicles
it sells in the US domestically by 2030.
CEO Jose Munoz informed shareholders of the goal
at the company's annual meeting in South Korea on Thursday.
It also aims to assemble those vehicles
with about 80% US supply chain content.
The automaker built about half of the vehicles
that sold in the US in 2025 domestically,
according to auto forecast solutions.
And the company said about 60% of its parts
are sourced from the US today.
General Motors dealers employ 23% more technicians
than they did in 2021.
The automakers investments into training,
retention and recruitment drove the increase.
This is because of the automakers investments
into training, retention and recruitment for technicians.
Technician apprenticeships are also up 18% since 2021.
And the amount of technicians
with the highest level of training has doubled.
This effort is crucial
amid the auto industry's technician shortage
to help their dealers recruit and retain techs.
GM is working with high schools and colleges for recruitment
and is working to train veterans and service members.
And Jaguar Land Rover is halting production
at its sole whole plant in England for up to two weeks.
The stoppage is due to a parts issue
with an unnamed supplier that occurred after a fire
at one of the supplier's facilities.
The plant produces the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport.
The stoppage is expected to end April 8th.
It includes a previously scheduled five day shutdown
for the Easter weekend.
And those are today's headlines.
You can find more details on all those stories
at AutoNews.com.
A wave of electric vehicles are coming off lease
and hitting the used vehicle market this year.
But many of these EVs will be worth less than expected
when they were originally leased.
And selling them isn't the same
as selling a used gas powered vehicle.
Content creator Riley Hodder sat down
with retail reporter Paige Hodder
to talk about this wave
and what it might mean for the used vehicle market.
Hi Paige, thanks for joining us today.
Thanks for having me.
Why don't we start with what are some
of the unique challenges that you kind of get
when you're trying to sell a used EV?
So it's kind of a whole brand new market.
It's a very young market, you know,
EVs en masse haven't really been around that long.
And so this whole aftermarket
or second market for them is really new
and it's really young and it has a very unique
kind of customer that you have to cater to.
You know, someone who has access to charging,
someone who's interested in an EV, which is not everyone,
but also someone who might not be able to afford a new EV.
So kind of a less affluent group.
There's also all of the challenges
that come with selling a new EV.
You know, you have to explain a lot of this technology.
You have to explain charging habits and battery health.
But then you have to adapt them to a used EV.
So maybe explaining this is how the last person
drove and charged this battery.
And that's what this means for the battery health.
And what does that mean for the longevity?
It's kind of a whole new language around cars.
We're all used to, okay, it has 50,000 miles.
That means this.
That doesn't really translate in the same way to an EV.
So you kind of have to teach your customer
how to talk about a used EV
and what to think about this asset as something
they're probably planning to drive
for at least a couple of years going forward.
So tell me, do dealers have an appetite to move these cars
or is it kind of like,
are they kind of being forced into this situation?
Like, how do they feel?
I got a mixed bag from the dealers I spoke to.
You know, some dealers in certain areas
are already moving these types of cars like California.
There's just like a lot of used Teslas around.
So they're pretty used to it.
Dealers in other areas where EVs
are just overall less common, you know, a little bit less.
The sense I got was that, you know,
there's a lot of these cars coming back to market
in the next couple of years.
And dealers know that that could be an opportunity.
But there's still a lot of unanswered questions.
You know, will people buy these cars?
Are people really interested in them?
How long are these batteries gonna last?
You know, do people think about the battery health
or care about that in different ways?
And so it's definitely a sense that dealers are interested,
but they really wanna test the waters.
And they know that it'll be a price sensitive thing.
You know, if they can price these cars really low
and make them kind of an affordability option,
in the same way that some EVs were
on the tax credits last year,
then maybe someone who's been priced out
of a lot of other areas of the market
might be really interested in one of these cars.
But like I said, a lot of unanswered questions
and, you know, the dealers that are interested in, you know,
buying and telling these cars are really taking it slow.
So, I mean, obviously, you know,
like dealers aren't the only ones, you know, invested in this.
Like how are they working with the automakers
to be able to sell these vehicles?
So if you don't know how leasing works,
the auto lenders that lease cars are automakers captives.
So they're, you know, finance companies owned
by the automakers that specifically lend to, you know,
if you're a Ford's captive,
you lend to Ford dealers and Ford customers.
And that's where leases come from.
And, you know, sometimes outside lenders
will have a partnership with automakers to be their captive,
but it's basically the same process.
And, you know, those are the people
that actually own the cars.
It's kind of like an extended rental when you do a lease,
you know, they're saying,
we will let you use this car for three years
for a certain amount of money.
And then when that three years is up,
you can choose to buy the car, otherwise it's ours.
And then comes the next step,
which is that person will bring the car back to the store.
That store is called the grounding dealership.
So it's, you know, where they bought the car,
they have to bring it back there, typically.
And that dealer will have a couple of days to decide,
do I want to buy it from the captive
and sell it on my used slot?
If they don't decide to do that,
or maybe they decide to do a couple of them,
but not the rest,
then the captive still owns those cars
and has to do something with them.
So they might put them on an online marketplace,
or they might try and sell them to other dealers
through wholesale auctions.
So we talked a little bit about captives.
How is this EV leasing boom kind of affecting them specifically?
Yeah, so it's a whole new kind of asset
that they really have in a volume they've never had before.
So that's not to say EVs are taking over the used market,
they will still represent a small portion.
But that volume is going to grow significantly
over the next couple of years.
And so that's kind of a whole new beast.
And on top of that,
there is the problem of the value of these cars,
which is that for a variety of reasons,
these cars depreciated more than the captive
thought they would.
So when a lender leases a car,
they have a whole curve and graph where they predict,
this is what we think the car is going to be worth
at the end of the lease.
And they calculate payments and down payments
and all of that based on that number.
And then the EVs lost value in the past couple of years.
And that's really stabilized,
but the past couple of years,
these cars coming back are worth a chunk less
than the captive thought they would be.
And so that kind of creates a unique problem
where if they try and price them
at what they originally thought they would be worth,
that's not going to be a competitive price.
No one's going to want to buy them,
at least with current demand.
But if they price them at current demand,
then they're taking a hit.
That's something they're really going to have to navigate
over the next couple of years.
Coming up, we'll hear from Jay Gunnenin,
co-founder and president at Wrenchway.
That's next on Daily Drive.
Almovio is taking aim
at one of the most fundamental parts of vehicle safety,
braking.
And the company says its next generation systems
can cut stopping distance by meters.
And at the same time,
we also see cost advantages for the fighter customer
because of maintenance topics.
It's significantly less maintenance
or even maintenance free over lifetime
of the entire product.
On this week's episode
of the Automotive News Shift podcast,
we'll hear from Dennis Fritsch,
vice president of Almovio's Safety and Motion Division.
He breaks down how Almovio is improving
braking performance,
including its push toward break by wire
and dry brake technology
that eliminates traditional hydraulics.
I'm Molly Boygon,
tech and innovation reporter at Automotive News.
Join me on shift,
available this Sunday,
wherever you get your podcasts.
Automotive consumer marketing is complex.
Customer data is constantly changing.
People move, email addresses change,
loans end, leases expire,
and vehicles are traded in.
Without accurate and up-to-date data,
you risk spending money
targeting the wrong people at the wrong times.
This is where Experian Automotive Marketing solutions
Our measurement solutions connect your marketing efforts
directly to verified vehicle sales,
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Visit ExperianAutomotive.com for more information.
Welcome back to Daily Drive.
I'm Kellyn Walker.
Across the country, dealers are struggling to recruit
and retain service technicians
amidst a shortage.
That means apprenticeship and recruitment programs
are more critical than ever.
Automotive news senior retail editor Dan Shine
sat down with Jay Gunnenin,
co-founder and president at Wrenchway,
a job search platform for service technicians and more.
They talked about Wrenchway's 2026
Voice of the Technician survey results
and how technicians currently feel about their jobs.
Jay, great to have you back
on the Fixed Ops Friday edition at Daily Drive.
Dan, it's always a pleasure talking to you.
You always crack me up, so this is a pleasure.
That reminds me of the joke of the rabbi and the priest.
Can't tell that one.
So first, just remind folks what Wrenchway does
and what it's all about.
Well, it shifted a lot over the years.
When we first launched the company, it was all recruiting
and over time, we just evolved to where
we really got involved with the education side
of the industry, right?
So really trying to figure out this technician's shortage
in a way that actually tries to go about fixing it
rather than kind of duct taping together,
which is what we were doing with recruiting essentially,
taking one person from one dealership,
placing them in another.
We actually don't do any recruiting anymore.
So it's really shifted over the years
to really a platform that helps schools out, right?
And we just launched a program at the beginning of the year
called ASC Connects in partnership with ASC.
It's an ASC led program that we're running for them.
We bring elements of Wrenchway into that program,
but it's more of an initiative to try and figure this thing
out holistically and really try to figure it out
in why are we having the troubles that we are?
And so it's a six step approach that we've built out
with ASC and one of the very first things
was just getting an understanding
of how many schools are out there, right?
So we found that there wasn't a lot of good data
around how many schools were out there
with automotive programs and even going state by state,
it was a little concerning that we just have no idea
what the education system is putting out.
So we've worked hard at that going state by state,
identifying every high school with an automotive program
as well as the tech schools that have automotive programs.
And not only that, like what types of programs they have
and a good contact at each,
which surprisingly is more painful than you'd think.
We've really put a lot of time and effort into that.
That's something that we're going to do each
and every year is get an updated list,
updated contact list and kind of doing the same
on the dealer side as well
to where we don't lose connection there.
So all in all, we still have our school assist platform,
ASE connects where you're able to just kind of get an idea
of what the schools are looking for.
And the whole intent is to get industry to focus on a program
as much as they do the one person
they're getting out of that program, right?
And just knowing that a lot of, especially the high schools
are really struggling for budget,
we have the ability to help these folks out.
So if that teacher needs a case of brake cleaner,
they shouldn't be paying for it out of their own pocket,
which is happening a lot.
Why can't we step up and do that?
And it's really an effort to,
will it hopefully produce more technicians
in our industry at some point?
I sure hope so, because the more we can focus
on those programs and getting them to be powerhouse programs,
I think that we're going to find ourselves in better shape.
And then the other side of that is a data component to that
in understanding enrollment in schools
and then data on the industry side as well.
We built out our technician wage tool
because we had a meeting with the Bureau of Labor Statistics
and we're kind of disappointed in what their model was
and how they come up with the data.
And we actually had talked with a statistician
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
and he was explaining his model
and it was honestly very concerning.
And he had said something at the end where he's like,
I didn't know anybody was actually using this data.
I'm like, yeah, just our entire industry
and all of our education system.
So we've really gone to work on that side
to where members of ASC Connects are helping us out
with that data piece.
And really that should help the shops themselves
understand what the going rate for a technician is
and really get a good idea
of what those technicians are wanting.
Nice, what brings us together today
is you've recently released your voice of the technician
survey, which I think you do every other year,
every third year.
Every year, we've actually done it the last three years.
So it's our third year of doing it.
All right, and high school kids, college kids?
This is all technicians.
So yes, yes.
And what's funny when we first launched this report
three years ago, I was a little scared when we did it
because I thought it was going to be all entry-level
technicians, but what we found when we actually did it
was that the average technician that responded to it
had 21 years of experience.
75% of them were ASC certified.
About half of those technicians were dealership technicians.
And so there was a lot of more experienced technicians
and in one way, that's really cool
because you're getting good feedback,
but in another way, you're a little scared
because that shows you how empty our cupboard is
kind of at that entry-level stage.
So tell me some of your key takeaways
from what you saw on this survey.
I know you talked about what techs are looking for.
You talked about, they talked about pay structure
and they kind of gave their feedback.
What are some of the things that kind of jumped out to you?
Well, it's easy to start with the negative
and I'll start with the negative,
even though I don't like to.
We do a net promoter score.
All dealerships are familiar with net promoter scores.
The sad part is it's gone down yet again this year, right?
So we continue to see that drop and not drop
just a little bit.
Each year it's dropped a little bit more
kind of voicing that dissatisfaction
from the technician crowd with what they're seeing
and that part to me really stinks
because you've got so many great organizations
treating their people really well
that I think a lot of times
that negative narrative comes out of that,
but I also think it's maybe a signal
for a lot of dealerships to take this
a little bit more seriously, right?
The dealerships are really, really focused on fixed ops.
It feels like as much now as ever.
And so if this is such an important
and vital piece to your business,
why not take a survey like this
and just check it out, right?
Look at it, see if it generates any ideas within your head
and try to get some level of understanding
of where that dissatisfaction is coming from.
And really for me, I'm really trying to decipher
is it that they don't like the job itself?
Like you hear a lot of complaints online
about how the physical toll it can take
or is it that they don't like the employer
that they're working for?
We actually dissect that in the report.
I do think there's concerns there.
I think one that really stuck out to me
was that on the dealership side,
there were only 36% of technicians
that would recommend their dealership to a friend.
And to me, that's really, really concerning
because if you've got over two thirds
that wouldn't recommend their shop to a friend,
that's not great, right?
Like we need to work on that.
Yeah, a lot of questions about pay structure.
And kind of what technicians kind of favored
as opposed to one-way flat rate
as opposed to other ways.
Yeah, pay structure,
we ranked the industry's most urgent issues
and higher pay was by far number one.
84% of technicians said that's the top priority,
better pay structure.
That's my top priority too.
It's all of our top priority, is it?
Case my bosses listening.
Better pay structure in general,
which I think speaks to some of the discontentment
with flat rate as a whole.
And I think what we're starting to understand more and more
is that it's not necessarily just that it's flat rate, right?
I think when you look at what these technicians
are looking for, I think it was nearly 40,
it was 40-something percent that preferred flat rate
or flat rate with a guarantee.
And I'm flipping through my pages here
to find that exact number.
But the thing is there are people,
and I've talked to technicians that have told me,
if you take flat rate away from me, I'm leaving.
Like I love flat rate.
So there are that crowd that really, really enjoy it
and like it and it's fruitful for them.
But then there are others that just absolutely hate it
and they tell all of their friends about it
and they really have concerns over that.
And so I think what we're seeing
and what I'm seeing from really strong dealerships
is the ability to adapt based on the technician, right?
So rather than maybe having one formalized pay plan
for everybody, I've seen a lot of dealerships giving options,
kind of menu options on the way
that the technician would like to be paid.
I think that's showing that you're listening, right?
It might add more administratively to the dealership,
but I do think it shows that you're listening
and that you care.
You also see, like I think with the more experienced
technicians, what they get frustrated with
is if they're being paid flat rate,
but then they're getting put on the most difficult jobs
because they're the best in the shop,
they're losing out because they're good at their job, right?
And I think that is really damning to our industry
because if you're a young person, you're looking at that
and you have that disgruntled person
that has really worked their tail off,
they've gotten to a point in their career
where they are the best of the best,
but now you've got maybe a lower skilled technician
that's getting a lot of under car work
that's just killing it on flat rate.
That's where I tend to agree with them
that maybe the system's not as fair as we'd like it to be.
Yeah, so taking into account different things,
what technicians are looking for,
the pay structure, the 40 hour work week,
their top issues and whether they want to stay working
in this industry, what kind is your message to dealerships
as some of the, to kind of take away
after they hopefully go and read this survey,
what do you think is a takeaway for them
or what they should learn from it?
Well, if a dealership is anything like me,
I still have to print stuff out, right?
And maybe that's making me old,
but I remember with this report specifically,
going through and there's so much in there
that going through it digitally was not doing me justice, right?
So I had to print it off and I just went through
and started making notes note after note after note.
And I think I would encourage a lot of the listeners
to do the same where you actually look at the data, right?
Don't just browse it, don't skim it,
like look at what they're looking for.
And you talk about the work schedule,
there's detailed responses on work schedules
and I think it's 52% have it as that they would not work weekends.
So if you're a dealership and you're open Saturdays,
even Sundays and over half of the technicians
won't work on the weekends,
like maybe that's something you need to adapt your strategy on
or come up with some type of hybrid schedule,
which I know a lot of dealerships are already doing.
So more than anything,
I think it's to actually take a look at the report
and not only just browse over it,
but do some deep research into it and some thinking
and have open conversations with your team about it.
We've had several dealerships that have printed it off
or presented it to their own technicians
and said, okay, what are we missing here?
Is this accurate with what you guys think?
If not, great, at least it started the conversation, right?
And I think that's the big thing
that a lot of technicians are looking for.
That's great, Jay.
Always great to chat with you and kind of catch up
on what Wrenchway is up to
and the voice of the technician survey.
So really appreciate you jumping on.
Have a great day.
You too, Dan, thank you.
That's Daily Drive for today.
I'm Kellan Walker.
Thanks to Automotive News executive producer Jake Neer,
as well as our own Riley Hodder, Richard Truett,
Molly Boygon and Paige Hodder
for their reporting for today's podcast.
You can get the latest news on industry crises,
used EVs, automakers, production goals
and everything happening in the auto industry
at AutoNews.com.
Come back over the weekend
for our weekend drive edition of the show.
Our own Michael Martinez and Larry Bella Quett
talk about the week's biggest stories,
including Sony Honda Mobility's decision
to scrap its affiliate EVs.
And Stellantis' move to start finding workers
who part competitors' models
at its North American headquarters.
In these workers' defense,
there are some instances,
hilariously, where security has ticketed older vehicles
that used to be owned by Stellantis
and no longer currently are,
and they didn't realize that.
So some of these workers do have legitimate gripes.
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 enjoyed the podcast,
remember to like, leave a review and subscribe
so you never miss an episode.
About this episode
Hyundai targets building 80% of its U.S.-sold vehicles domestically by 2030, with about 80% U.S. supply-chain content, while GM says its technician workforce is up thanks to training and recruitment. Jaguar Land Rover pauses production in the UK due to a supplier parts issue. The retail segment digs into the coming wave of off-lease EVs and why used-EV pricing, battery-health expectations, and captive-lender depreciation models complicate dealer sales. WrenchWay’s Jay Gunnenin shares Voice of the Technician survey findings: dissatisfaction is rising, pay is the top priority, and many techs won’t work weekends—urging dealers to adapt pay plans and schedules.
WrenchWay President Jay Goninen discusses the company’s Voice of the Technician survey results and what technicians are looking for in a dealership. Hyundai pledges to increase U.S. production by 2030. Plus, what dealers need to know about the wave of used electric vehicles hitting the market.
