March 23, 2026
Automotive Weekly
Rising transport fraud puts dealer inventory at risk
Fraud is a hot topic across the industry right now, and the transport pipeline has become one of the more concerning places it's showing up. Driving the news: Frank Zombo, VP of sales at Auto Hauler Exchange, raised the alarm on a recent episode of Daily Dealer Live. As he explained, fraudsters are monitoring shipment notifications, identifying high-value units, impersonating legitimate carriers, and picking up vehicles before the real driver ever arrives.
Source: Car Dealership Guy
Trump tariffs have cost automakers at least $35 billion since 2025
Source: Automotive News
Honda’s car troubles began long before its disastrous bet on EVS
Honda has invested too much and too late in a short-lived electric-vehicle boom and now finds itself saddled with an aging lineup and questions about its future as an automaker. The Japanese company stunned investors by dropping a ¥2.5 trillion ($15.7 billion) impairment charge bomb last week, stemming largely from its ill-timed bet on EVs — some scrapped just months before debuting. That is likely a precursor to reporting its first annual loss on record. But Honda’s problems are not limited to its failed bid to catch up with all-electric market leaders BYD and Tesla.
Source: Bloomberg via Automotive News
Used-vehicle inventory dips in February as sales pace rises
Used-vehicle inventory declined month over month in February while sales pace improved, according to Cox Automotive’s analysis of vAuto Live Market View data, as modest price softening and stronger credit availability helped drive retail demand. Dealers nationwide, including both franchised and independent stores, held 2.13 million used vehicles in inventory during February 2026. The total was 1.6% higher than a year ago but down about 2.6% from January’s 2.18 million vehicles.
Source: CBT News
Bill Ford says V8 engines will stick around until they're banned
Now, Blue Oval Executive Chairman Bill Ford is saying essentially the same thing, touching on the future of the V8 engine in a recent interview with Australia's Drive. “You're talking to a guy who grew up on manuals and V8s, so obviously I've got a very soft spot for both of them. In fact, pretty much every car I have in my garage is a manual V8,” Ford said during a recent visit to the country for F1's Australian Grand Prix. “They're really important to us. We feel we do them very well," Ford added. "A lot of it depends on regulations around the world in terms of how much they tighten, but if they tighten too much, they really get out of sync with what the customer demand is. One of the things that we've been impressing to governments around the world is that it's dangerous to get completely disconnected from what the customers want in terms of regulations. As long as that disconnect doesn't get worse, we're going to continue to work on the stuff that we do very, very well.”
These days, amid a changing regulatory environment, it certainly seems like V8 engines have a better chance at sticking around a bit longer than previously expected. As Ford Authority exclusively reported back in 2020 - different times, indeed - then-Ford Motor Company Vice President and President of the North American region, Kumar Galhotra, confirmed to us that the future of the V8 hinges largely on these factors.
Source: Ford Authority
Stellantis shifts gears, expands diesel offering
Stellantis looks to be rethinking its electrification strategy in Europe, quietly bringing diesel engines back to several models just a few years after pledging an aggressive EV push, according to reports.
A Reuters review of dealer websites and company statements shows the automaker has reintroduced diesel variants on at least seven passenger cars and vans since late 2025. Some models included in the diesel rejuvenation include the Peugeot 308, the DS No. 4 hatchback, and multiple light commercial vehicles sold under various Stellantis brands. “We have decided to keep diesel engines in our product portfolio and—in some cases—to increase our powertrain offer,” Stellantis told Reuters. “At Stellantis we want to generate growth, that’s why we are focused on customer demand.”
The move marks a notable shift for a company that had positioned itself as one of the industry’s most eager champions of battery-electric vehicles, particularly in the wake of its 2021 merger. (Stellantis was formed when PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles joined forces). Like so many automakers across Europe and beyond, Stellantis had been preparing for stricter EU emissions rules and a 2035 ban on new internal-combustion sales
But EV demand has been uneven across Europe, most markedly outside major urban centers. At the same time, Chinese manufacturers have expanded their presence with aggressively priced electric models. Reintroducing diesel, a long favored technology in Europe for its fuel economy, gives Stellantis a hedge while it navigates pricing pressure and slower-than-expected EV uptake.
The strategy also mirrors wider shifts in the US, Stellantis’ largest market, where regulatory signals around emissions and electrification have recently softened.
Source: Autoweek
Iran war disrupts auto supply chain - Toyota, Nissan trim production
Toyota CEO Sato Koji warned that Japan’s auto industry faces potential aluminum and naphtha shortages as well as vehicle delivery disruption because of the war in Iran. Japan sources about 70 percent of its processed aluminum and naphtha, a feedstock chemical for plastics, resins and rubber, from the Middle East, Sato said at a March 19 news conference. Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Sato said JAMA cannot yet gauge the war’s full impact. But he said Japan exports about 800,000 vehicles a year to the region, valued at about ¥2.5 trillion ($15.7 billion).
Source: Automotive News
Gasoline price hikes could push consumers toward EVS, hybrids
The rising price of gasoline from the Iran war has triggered angst and uncertainty for carmakers, dealers and vehicle owners at the pump. For Martin Miller, it presents an opportunity. Miller owns a used electric-car dealership southwest of London and logged his busiest Saturday ever one week after the war began on February 28 with the bombing of Iran by Israel and the United States. The conflict has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil supplies are transported.
Source: Reuters
New flyer expands Winnipeg factory
Establishing fully Canadian electric bus production
A new manufacturing facility in Winnipeg has expanded Canada’s capacity to build electric transit buses domestically. Bus manufacturer NFI Group and its subsidiary, New Flyer Industries, officially opened a Customer Acceptance and Delivery facility on March 3, enabling the first complete Canadian production of heavy-duty transit buses, including zero-emission buses, in 15 years. Located at the company’s Kernaghan Avenue campus in Winnipeg, the new building occupies about 150,000 square feet within a larger 600,000-square-foot manufacturing complex that supports multiple New Flyer operations.
Increased production
The facility allows buses sold to Canadian transit agencies to be manufactured from start to finish in Canada, including assembly, testing and final delivery preparation. It also supports the production of zero-emission vehicles, including electric buses used by municipal transit systems. New Flyer has built vehicles for every province except Quebec.
Construction on the facility began in late 2024, and the first buses entered production in September 2025. The first fully Canadian-built vehicle from the new operation was delivered to Durham Region Transit in December 2025.
The project received joint investment of $38.4-million from federal and provincial governments, as well as internal company investment. The expansion is expected to create about 250 jobs and further strengthen Manitoba’s role in heavy-duty vehicle manufacturing.
NFI’s global headquarters in Winnipeg employs about 3,000 people in the province. The company was recently named one of Manitoba’s Top Employers for the second year in a row.
Production capacity is expected to increase by up to 240 equivalent bus units per year by 2027, with four line entries per week.
Helping Canadian EV bus fleets
Before the new facility opened, New Flyer manufactured bus shells in Canada before sending them to its subsidiary in the U.S. for final assembly. The new Winnipeg operation allows vehicles destined for Canadian transit agencies to be completed domestically.
The new facility supports growing demand for zero-emission transit vehicles across Canada as municipalities transition to fleet electrification and other low-carbon transportation technologies. Expanding domestic manufacturing capacity is expected to help Canadian transit agencies procure electric vehicles while strengthening local supply chains and advanced manufacturing expertise in the country’s transportation sector. While many components used in bus manufacturing are currently sourced from the U.S., the company says it will increase Canadian sourcing where possible as production expands.
A North American balance
The change comes as North American transit manufacturing continues to operate within complex cross-border supply chains. U.S. transit procurements must meet domestic sourcing thresholds under the Buy America Act, which requires a significant share of materials used in publicly funded buses to originate in the United States.
The Winnipeg facility enables the company to better balance production between Canadian and American customers. Approximately 20 bus shells are produced weekly, with some continuing to support U.S. production and others now being completed in Winnipeg for Canadian transit systems.
Source: Electric Autonomy