Nov. 17, 2025 | Ford joins Amazon Autos for certified pre-owned sales; Cox Automotive’s Erin Keating

This podcast is brought to you by Proton dealership IT experts in dealership cybersecurity and IT management. Interested in a free cybersecurity compliance or IT consultation? Visit ProtonTex.com. That's PRO, T-O-N, T-E-C-H-S, dot com. Welcome to Daily Drive for Monday, November 17th, 2025. I'm Kellan Walker in Las Vegas today on the show. Ford joins Hyundai on Amazon

models for certified pre-owned vehicles. Hyundai Motor is set to invest $86 billion in South Korea, and GM looks to streamline software updates. Plus, Cox Automotive's Aaron Keating joins the show to talk about the state of the EV market after the end of federal tax credits. I think the value proposition is also going to be cropped up sooner than later for the consumer and then eventually will get to price parity. Let's run through all the news. You need to know to keep up

in the auto industry. Ford dealers are getting a new digital storefront on Amazon. The automaker is joining Hyundai as the second brand to sell certified pre-owned vehicles through Amazon autos. The program launches with dealers in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas, and will expand to other markets soon. Shoppers can browse, finance, and schedule pickup of Ford's Blue Advantage certified vehicles all within Amazon's car shopping platform.

The move builds on Ford's broader effort to grow its certified pre-owned business, giving customers a warranty backed alternative to traditional use car shopping. More on this story with our own Michael Martinez in a minute.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest more than $86 billion in South Korea through 2030. The move comes just days after a new trade deal cut U.S. tariffs on Korean cars and trucks from 25% to 15%.

Chairman Yusun Chung says Hyundai will boost exports from South Korea, including plans to double EV shipments by 2030, while supporting suppliers affected by U.S. tariffs. Much of the money will go toward AI, R&D, and new production technology as the automaker works to stay ahead in a turbulent trade environment.

And General Motors says it's developing a new centralized computing brain for its vehicles. Starting in 2028 with the Cadillac Escalade IQ, the system replaces dozens of electric control units with one powerful computer, enabling faster software updates, fewer wires, and more advanced AI features.

GM Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson says it will make it easier to roll out new capabilities across all models from smoother ride quality to smarter driver assistance.

Experts say it's a major step toward fully software-defined vehicles, but GM still faces a big test. Proving it can deliver the seamless software experience, it's been promising for years.

And those are today's headlines. You can find more details on all those stories at autonews.com.

Now joining me to talk more about Ford joining Amazon autos for certified pre-owned vehicle sales as Michael Martinez, who covers Ford for us at Automotive News.

Mike, welcome back to Daily Drive.

Thanks, Cole.

So Mike, what's in it for Ford dealers?

Well, Cole, I'd say it's the convenience. You have the retail online giant in Amazon that has this vehicle sales platform that dealers now have access to.

If you remember a few years ago, around the time of the pandemic, Ford launched its CPO program called Ford Blue Advantage.

And their whole goal was to try to give dealers a bigger slice of the CPO sales pie to prevent other people from going to third party sites.

Well, now they have the opportunity to sell these Ford Blue Advantage vehicles through arguably the largest online retailer in existence.

So if you're shopping around, maybe going looking for Christmas presents and you just happen to peruse Amazon autos, you'll now see Broncos and Mustangs.

And that could generate a lot more leads for dealers.

And what does this say about Ford's retail strategy going forward and does it signal that Ford might have broader e-commerce ambitions?

Well, I think this is a continuation of the strategy we talked about a few weeks ago on this podcast with their new design of their in-person showrooms.

Ford recognizes that customers do a lot of research and a certain amount do like to do a lot of the legwork online.

So they're going to give you that opportunity and let you do it through a number of different channels including Amazon.

But then they're going to have these showrooms with these specialists that you can go to when you need to talk to somebody in person, when you need to get that information.

But if you don't need it, you can do it online. So they're really trying to give consumers more choice in that regard.

Good stuff. Mike, thank you so much for joining me.

Thanks for having me.

Coming up, Erin Keating of Cox Automotive unpacks the ever evolving state of the EV market in the US and where it's likely headed in 2026.

That's next on Daily Drive.

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Welcome back to Daily Drive. I'm Kellen Walker.

It's been a turbulent year for electric vehicles, with the loss of federal tax incentives, sluggish demand, and uncertainties surrounding global supply chains.

But some analysts say there's a reason to be optimistic about long-term EV adoption.

Erin Keating is Senior Director of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox Automotive.

She spoke with our own Lauren Seiliff on the latest episode of the Automotive News Shift Podcast.

Here's a piece of their conversation.

What I'm seeing from your data is that EV sales were cut in half from September to October, about 50% drop.

And that is about a 30% drop year over a year from October of last year.

So my question is, is this mostly just because of the tax credit and something we expected?

Or do you think it's maybe part of a longer-term trend where we may see EV demand slump for a while?

Yeah, I think it's a couple of things.

One is we have to acknowledge how much pull ahead buying went on during call at the July to October deadline there.

And so we did certainly see that demand pull forward to take advantage of the tax credit.

We might have seen a more stable and normalized trend line have that timeline not been crunched for EV sales because we were on a trajectory to hit 9% to 10% of market share for this year.

And we'll ultimately like likely still hit that.

But it just will have been all packed up in a couple of months that people were working on.

You know, the fact that we also don't see as many sales in October, we have to remember that the manufacturers were also planning for this.

So we saw a lot of manufacturers pull back on production.

And so inventory and sales play hand in hand and I do feel like people need to take it into consideration.

You can't sell what you don't have.

And some of that is that the, you know, the automakers put a lot into the market.

They got gobbled up and they just weren't replenishing that inventory as quickly.

We are sort of in chapter two or moving into adulthood, if you will, with EVs.

So certainly it's going to be a bit of an interesting arc of the story and short term we are going to see demand slow down.

But I do believe that that demand is going to start, you know, getting to more normal levels as we move forward into 2026 and 2027.

So I don't think it's indicative of people's interest in electric vehicles.

It's just probably moving at the pace it should have been always moving at as we've adopted a brand new technology.

Fantastic. Now I did want to touch on day supply, right? So day supply is up and inventory is down.

And you talked about, you know, automakers cutting back, you know, supply and demand, right?

We're going to see weaker demand because the tax credits gone.

And if auto makers start pulling back to supply or they've decided that they've tired of losing money because most of them lose money on EVs, maybe Tesla's an exception.

Do you think that the supply situation and the automakers like approach to this, like maybe I'll just get out of this for a while, is also going to play a big role?

I think certainly could play a role in our transaction prices sticking close to where they landed, which is now up to around 59,000 versus 55,000.

In the sense that, you know, anytime you do have a supply crunch, and if there are willing buyers out there looking for that item that is a supply crunch, that is where demand starts to control pricing.

And I do think that, you know, automakers are going to pull back on incentives outside of a couple, let me think the Hayonic 5 is an example, they're still incentivizing that I mean, everyone still wants the vehicles to go out there.

We have to remember there's a really healthy use DV market as well. And so perhaps individuals who are looking in new and that new average transaction price going up higher because of the lack of incentives.

That they use DVs could become a hot commodity for those that are still wanting to get into the market.

Yeah, that's a very good point and they've depreciated a lot.

There's some incredible deals out there on cars that are not very old and I've seen them.

Yeah, you know, when you talk about prices, you know, EV prices are still at a record or near a record in October.

And the price gap is what about $10,000 maybe with gasoline hybrids.

I mean, how far do prices have to come down in other in for, you know, kind of EVs to come back right now we've lost the tax credit.

Got them down kind of the ice levels and then the automakers put in more incentives and all of a sudden you have a payment that looks like a gas car, right?

Yeah, right.

Do you think that the automakers are going to cut prices or just layer on incentives?

What do you think their approach can be to get to that normalized kind of having a normalized buying experience, let's say.

Right. I mean, it's a good question, but the other thing that I would take into consideration or at least hold intention,

with it is that we've traditionally been putting out vehicles that are falling more into the segments where you would see a higher price.

Anyway, I happen to admit I am a Hyundai Ionic 9 owner now or a Lucy as I picked one up before the EV credits.

Wow.

And if you look at it comparable to the policy hybrid that's coming on board, the price walk there is not actually huge.

But that's just an expensive car. It's an expensive segment, you know, large three road SUVs.

We have a dearth of smaller or small compact SUVs and crossovers with EVs.

So to be fair, you know, we've we've started the market out with sort of like the higher end bigger or more expensive segments.

So we do need to do a better job of bringing out vehicles and forwards talked about it.

Multiple times of vehicles that fall in that price range.

I think incentives will continue to happen because they are not in not a very manufactured going to completely just deny EVs going forward.

That would be a real big mistake in my opinion.

And so they're going to have to keep moving the metal and that is likely going to sustain.

You know, a bad taste in their mouth of having to continue incentivize those in some way, shape or form.

But I do think that just as the cars evolve as battery technology evolves with used EVs going in the market and proving to be just as good and durable and degradation not being there.

I think the value proposition is also going to be propped up sooner than later for the consumer and then eventually will get to price parity.

You can hear the full conversation between Cox Automotives, Aaron Keating and our own Lonnie Eiliff on the latest episode of the automotive news shift podcast.

That's available now wherever you get your podcast.

That's daily drive for today. I'm Kellyn Walker.

Thanks to automotive news executive producer Jake Near as well as along Michael Martinez and Lindsey Van Hully for their reporting for today's podcast.

You can get the latest news on the electric vehicle market, digital retail and everything happening in the auto industry at autonews.com.

Come back tomorrow for a conversation with former Ford Mexico CEO Kathleen Ligaki, who reflects on breaking barriers for women in the auto industry and how Mary Barra's rise reshape what leadership looks like in Detroit.

Boy, if you'd bet against Mary would you have been wrong. She turns out she was exactly what GM needed because she had the knowledge of an insider.

But maybe because women are never fully insiders she could see what was wrong at GM. She knew the company had to change.

We'd love to hear from you. Let us know what you think of the show when the topics we cover today. Send us an email at dailydriveatautonews.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.

See you next time.

Nov. 17, 2025 | Ford joins Amazon Autos for certified pre-owned sales; Cox Automotive’s Erin Keating

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Ford

Amazon

Hyundai Motor Group

Cox Automotive

digital storefront

certified pre-owned

new production technology

AI R&D

software updates

electric control units

Cadillac Escalade IQ

General Motors

centralized computing brain

electric vehicles

federal tax incentives

EV

day supply

Tesla

EVs

electric vehicle (EV)

Hyundai Ionic 9

battery technology

electric vehicle market

digital retail

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