As 2025 comes to a close, CBT News looks back on a year defined by change, challenge, and resilience across the retail automotive industry. From shifting vehicle affordability and inventory dynamics to evolving policies, tariffs, and fixed-ops opportunities, our mission remained consistent: deliver clear, trusted insights dealers could use to make informed decisions.
Throughout the year, CBT News brought forward conversations with some of the industry’s most respected voices. We sat down with dealer principals, auto group leaders, economists, and operators on the front lines, including insights from NADA president Mike Stanton, Cox Automotive economists like Erin Keating, fixed-operations experts like Michael Dunne, to name a few, and executives shaping retail strategy nationwide.
Our reporting went beyond headlines to connect the dots on key issues, from pricing pressures and inventory realities to service drive opportunities and digital transformation. We showed what dealers can control, how to strengthen operations, and why accountability and adaptability remain essential to success.
As we look to 2026, CBT News is energized and ready to continue delivering the trusted news, actionable analysis, and expert perspectives that automotive professionals rely on every day. We thank our audience for joining us on this journey and can’t wait to bring you even more insightful coverage and forward-looking content in the year ahead.



