Oct. 2, 2025 | EV surge propels Q3 sales; Cox Automotive’s Stephanie Valdez Streaty

This podcast is brought to you by Proton dealership IT experts in dealership cyber security and IT management. Interested in a free cyber security compliance or IT consultation? Visit ProtonTex.com. That's PRO-T-O-N-T-E-C-H-S.com. Welcome to Daily Drive for Thursday, October 2, 2025. I'm Kellan Walker in Las Vegas today on the show. More automakers post sales gains as

EV surge in the third quarter. LG Energy will resume US business trips after a VC deal with South Korea. And Stellantis goes on a hiring blitz to bolster its sales, parts, and service units. Plus, Cox Automotive Director of Industry Insights, Stephanie Valdez-Streedy talks about the likely short and long-term impacts of the death of federal EV tax credits.

I think it's evolving. It's not evaporating.

Let's run through all the news. You need to know to keep up in the auto industry. We've got more sales results from the past 24 hours, which just add to the narrative that an EV rushed help drive up deliveries in September and throughout the third quarter. General Motors saw EV sales shoot up 107% in the third quarter. That helped overall deliveries rise almost 8%.

Volume rose 16% at Toyota for the quarter and 14% last month. It set electrified vehicles, nearly all of them hybrids, represented a 46% of combined Toyota and Lexus sales in September and nearly 48% of year-to-date volume.

Stellantis's sales slump ended after 8 straight quarters. Third quarter volume rose more than 6% behind an 11% gain at Jeep.

You can find all of the latest sales results and analysis at autonews.com.

South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution says it will gradually resume business trips of its employees and subcontractors to the United States.

That comes a day after the country agreed to allow South Koreans to work on equipment at US sites under existing temporary visas.

Last month US immigration officials rated LG Energy Solutions joint plant construction site with Hyundai Motor and arrested hundreds of South Korean workers.

They were released after a week of negotiations between the two countries.

And Stellantis is hiring more than 200 people to bolster its sales, service and parts field operations.

That reverses job cuts that happen under former CEO Carlos Tavarez.

The new jobs include tech advisors and area sales managers. The automaker hopes to fill the positions by the end of March.

The hiring blitz aims to have field managers responsible for about 10 dealerships each.

Today, many of the people managing parts and service operations handle about 20 stores.

And there is a 15 to 1 ratio for employees in sales.

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

The pull-up of EV sales before federal incentives go away this fall has juice sales for many automakers.

But what happens now that those credits are gone.

Around Jake Nears spoke with automotive news senior editor David Phillips about it earlier today.

Dave Phillips, welcome to Daily Drive. Thanks so much for joining us.

Thanks, Jake. Happy to be here.

All right, so we've talked a little bit on today's show and yesterday's show about the results so far.

Seems like EVs are really powering a sales game for most automakers.

What are sort of the biggest takeaways for you?

Well, it looks like the market's going to be up about 6% in the third quarter.

That's probably going to be the strongest quarter so far this year.

Through September, the markets can be up about 4.4%.

There's no question that the market got a big boost by EVs in the third quarter.

You know, with the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit at the end of September drove a lot of that volume.

I think some automakers were spooked that they were sitting on too much EV inventory.

And according to Cox, automotive, the EV inventory has really dropped 44%.

Around 40, 44% over the last year.

And those automakers that had EVs and are most exposed did really well.

I'm talking about General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, do a lesser extent.

A lot of EVs set record during the quarter.

I know GM did, Hyundai and Kia did, as did Ford.

It's not often that we see too many automakers posting triple-digit EV gains.

Right, right. I mean, again, we've written about how adoption rates have really slowed.

And I think, you know, the fact that Congress passes Bill and Trump signed it that basically did away with the incentives.

I think really accelerated some of these deals.

Nobody wants to be caught with a bunch of inventory.

And because of that, I think the outlook for the fourth quarter is going to be a little slow.

And if some of these companies are trying to carry over some of the incentives into the fourth quarter.

And Hyundai, for example, has cut the price on the Ionic 5.

That's her top seller to try to keep momentum going for that model.

You know, again, Hyundai is fairly exposed to EVs.

And they want to keep the momentum going if they enjoy it.

Yeah. So when it comes to the overall market, moving forward,

have we heard much from analysts on what we expect now that the EV tax credit is gone,

and sort of what we expect for the next three months before the end of the year?

Yeah. If you talk to Cox and some automakers that, you know,

they think there's going to be a little bit of a letdown in fourth quarter after the big pull-up.

I think if you look at some of the macro factors out there,

you know, consumer sentiments and a bit of a slump right now,

I think there's a lot of caution out there.

The job market is certainly slowed.

And so I think, you know, in overall,

I think you're going to see a cautious consumer going forward.

Obviously, the industry is going to do their best, you know,

dangle incentives to get people off their couches and into showrooms to look at stuff.

But at the same time too, you know,

if you, some analysts say that, you know, there's more tailwinds now developing,

you know, interest rates are going to be lower, you know, incentives,

depending on what they do with incentives.

That's going to be a factor.

But I do think there's a little bit of caution going on right now,

and that, you know, given what, you know,

it's happening at the macro level with interest rates falling,

I think we're going to see some softness in the fourth quarter.

Of course, the industry will be what they can to prime the pump.

Yeah. Well, thanks Dave.

I really appreciate you joining us.

David Phillips is a senior editor here at Automotive News

and is always on top of the quarterly and monthly sales results here in the US.

Dave, thank you so much for joining us on Daily Drive.

You bet. Thanks, Jake.

Coming up.

We'll talk more about the effects of the end of federal EV tax credits

with Cox Automotives, Stephanie Valdez Streety.

That's next on Daily Drive.

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

The repeal of the U.S. Electric Vehicle Tax Credit won't just crash EV sales in the fourth quarter.

It could also slow the pace of adoption for years to come.

That's according to a number of industry forecasts.

Our own Laurence Ilyth spoke with Cox Automotive Director of Industry Insights Stephanie Valdez-Streety.

About the likely impacts of the end of the credits.

Here's a piece of their conversation.

I'm just looking historically.

How big of a hit do you think this is going to be for EV adoption for the rest of the decade?

It seems like Jim Farley had some comments the other day.

It seems like it's not going away,

but it's going to be a lot less than what we expected.

I think it's evolving. It's not evaporating.

But definitely, I think to your point,

because of the price premium that EV still have a forecast in the new market.

But I think, you know,

so definitely the care at the stick are taken away, right?

So not only that incentives, as you know,

that's like the EPA, the mission guidelines,

cafe, no penalty for noncompliance,

the California waiver being revoked and whatever happens with that.

So I think there's a lot of the stuff going on.

But at the same time, I do believe,

you know, we're going to still see innovation.

We're going to see investment.

And I think it's going to be,

I think at the end of the day,

it's going to be critical for the industry to have more affordable EVs.

You know, the equinox has done pretty well with, you know,

hardly any incentives.

I know they're eligible for the IRA,

but like I think just below that price part,

and then if Ford's able to execute on whatever

that universal platform, you know,

what kind of vehicles the bolts coming out.

So I think it's going to be critical for the industry to continue

to innovate on reducing price or cost in the manufacturing process

with the batteries,

whether it's like reducing,

you know, like in the battery,

you know, sell a pack,

making it less space,

changing the chemistry's.

So I think that'll all continue

but just at a slower pace.

Yeah.

And I think that's the issue, right?

But it's going to depend on like

what models resonate with consumers.

Yeah, it seems like we've kind of gone through a phase

and we're coming at the end of that phase, right?

And I guess it's been a,

it's been a long phase because it's been like 15 years

since the original tax credit.

Yes.

And auto makers have tried different things.

They tried like the small dinky cars

and then they tried expensive fancy cars

and with the equinox,

it looks like they're getting a little down more to,

you know, mainstream,

you know, cars in the 30s and the 40s

rather than, you know, the 40s and the 50s.

And would you try the trucks

that didn't really work?

It's kind of the period of experimentation.

And so it now,

it seems like the other makers are going to kind of have to

sit down and rethink this a little bit.

No, like,

yeah,

yeah, I think it's like,

what, what,

rethink the product, right?

Something that's affordable

that resonates with the consumer.

But also, I think it's also a whole education piece too.

When I think about just,

you know, we've done some,

and this was just from like last year,

but like awareness of like,

what is it,

like the overall total cost of ownership?

Like really being able to educate consumers.

Because I do believe like there's certain places in the US,

as you know,

like where it's a better,

like it's really a stronger value proposition to buy maybe.

You have really high gas prices,

low electricity rates.

You have more infrastructure,

I think. So I think that's,

you know,

it's really important to continue this education piece

of what,

what is the value proposition for an EVs,

for an EV,

and really kind of tell that story of,

especially if you're interested in buying a U-CV,

where,

you know,

also one of the prices go,

but in, you know,

in August,

you could buy a U-CV at an average less than $900

in a used gas car.

Yeah.

If you live in a place where you can charge at home.

So I think to your point,

you're right,

it's like this rebalancing,

like,

like strategy,

messaging,

and it's definitely going to be bumpy,

but I think there's,

going to be continue,

hopefully,

with the infrastructure.

I mean,

I think that's going to be key,

not only for, like,

just,

more ubiquitous,

it's beginning there,

but also reliable,

and equitable.

I think that's the whole thing, too.

Like, if you think about just affordability in general,

right,

the entire industry

with vehicles,

so expensive,

expensive TVs,

it's even more

until that battery price can continue to go down.

Yeah.

I think, you know,

I'm just looking at it,

like, historically,

and I went back

and looked at stuff,

and it seems,

it seems almost unfair.

It feels like the automakers kind of got pushed

into making these pledges and stuff.

I mean, how can you have 50% of the industry change

in, you know,

a decade?

I mean, that's ridiculous.

I mean,

it's almost like,

I mean,

you know,

that battery

and all the charging

and consumer awareness

and, you know,

consumer lifestyle

and, I mean,

it's just,

it's just too much,

I mean,

I'm an eAdvicate,

I think they're great,

but it just seems like

trying to jam that into 10 years

is kind of silly.

No, I agree.

It was very,

like, aspirational

and, you know,

at the end of the day, too, maybe,

like, you know,

like making these bold statements

pleasing Wall Street. Right? Right? And then the reality hits. Right? Like to your point,

this isn't like something you can do overnight because there's so, you know, different dependencies

on infrastructure. And then this whole thing with, I think, consumers at the day, you're like,

you know, we're starting to see more innovation with, you know, definitely, I think battery range.

That's, yeah, for sure. Right. It's like, right. And it gets people to think about, how

should you actually drive? But then also, I think just that consumer experience, like if you're,

you want that same experience with the gas vehicle, and I charge you the gas station, right?

Does it take long? It's easy to pay. So I think that's the thing two consumers want, fast charging,

which we'll get there. And hopefully in a way that I think with advanced technology in a way that

won't degrade the battery quickly with, you know, sophisticated battery thermal management systems,

cooling systems, think that'll help. Yeah, there's a, I don't know if you know Matt Tesskey, who's

the CEO of chargeway. Anyway, he's very convincing. He's very convincing about how we can't,

we blew it. We forgot to educate people about using electricity as fuel, right? And saying,

this is a fuel, it fuels your car, but it's different. And then we'll explain it to you in a simple

way that you can understand, right? And people, you know, that never, that conversation kind of

like never happened. So people are like, well, wait a second. I have the hybrid versus an EV,

and, you know, one feels like this, and one charges like this, and you don't forget it.

Right, right. I think that's, I think he's mad so right on that. So the whole education piece is,

and I just recently, I was meeting yesterday, you know, live in Georgia. We have this,

it's called the EV brain trust. We meet quarterly, and it's brings together like companies,

and charging networks, and nonprofits. Anyway, the lows spoke. Her name was Rosa, and she talked

about, you know, like, I've followed their stuff, but they did a lot in California, but very

very specific educational campaigns around EVs. Yeah. And they're basing it on like, kind of

in geographic, like what matters more. It was interesting. They were saying to the southeast,

they found that like safety was a bit concerned, as well as infrastructure, but, you know,

just kind of tailoring those messaging and really kind of getting consumers to understand

like what it is to drive an EV, and to your point, like it's just another way of feeling.

Yeah. Yeah. In easy way. Once it in the cost. I was looking at, you know, I just story talking to

people who do a lot of stuff in Europe, and they like compare the US and Europe and different European

countries, here technologies and SPD. I don't know if you've heard of them. They're pretty good.

And it was just interesting to look like there's a lot of resistance in France. It kind of looks

like the US in terms of resistance to EVs, and they want to keep their combustion engines. Whereas

in the UK, it's completely different. And, you know, Germany, like each Italy, each individual

country has completely different attitudes, you know, towards EVs. And there must be a big

education piece in there. Yeah. Yeah. I think so too. I think wasn't it too like in, I guess the

one positive note, which I think from that study, and also we actually had morning consult

through a study. You know, it's still new, but like they asked EV and tenders, like who

would you be interested in buying an EV, even if the IRA tax incentives went away, 65% yes.

But the other thing that I think that this really key is the loyalty. Like once somebody buys

and they stay in an EV, right? So I think that's a good positive story. So it's more about like

getting the right product for different consumers, what meets their current situation, whether they

need like an SUV, you're like a family, but they don't want to pay like the $75, $80,000 for

luxurious. What are some other options? Yeah. So I think that's going to be important. Yeah.

I think it's getting them in there. And then there's, you know, that loyalty, that's kind of

I think important. And it all ties to that whole education piece as well. Yeah, that's a good

point because because one one positive thing about the EV market is you're always going to have

those consumers. They're not going anywhere. And then you bring new people, and then you bring

new people in. So you're at eight, you're at nine, you're at 10, you're at 11, you're at 12, you

know, you're at 13, you're at 14, it's going to be like that, not 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.

Right, right. And then the other thing too, I think it's just the whole like the, you know,

used EV small market, right? So like 2% of the overall use market, but we have all these EVs

that have been released that will come off to enter the market. And so that's going to give

you more exposure. And I think that's going to help in terms of like, I know there's a whole

conversation about residual values, but like for a consumer, it's great because they're going to

have all kinds of options at different price points. And I think that also will help kind of,

you know, you get, I think a huge education piece, especially from a value proposition. If you

could buy used EV at pretty much price parity that ice is some situations and be able to charge

at home or access to charging, that's going to really be important. And you'll start to see more and

more into like to your point about familiarity. You'll see more on the road. And I think that just

helps and have a conversation of like why it works in your situation. That's daily drive for today.

I'm Kellyn Walker. Thanks to automotive news executive producer Jake Nier, as well as

around David Phillips and Vince Bon Jr. for their reporting for today's podcast. You can get

the latest news on the EV market, US sales results, and everything happening in the auto industry

at autonews.com. Come back tomorrow for a conversation about the opportunity for lenders

in the subprime market. I think there's always opportunities in the subprime market. I think it's

a matter of how much we've got to tight feature the lenders have. We'd love to hear from you. Let us

know what you think of the show on the topics we covered today. Send us an email at dailydriveatautonews.com

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Oct. 2, 2025 | EV surge propels Q3 sales; Cox Automotive’s Stephanie Valdez Streaty

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