Cox Automotive Inc.
ATLANTA, Dec. 3, 2025 – The Q4 Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index (CADSI) reveals a significant decline in dealer confidence as economic and market challenges persist. Market sentiment for both current and future conditions fell below the positive threshold in the fourth quarter, signaling caution as dealers face rising costs, higher prices and economic uncertainty, all contributing to weaker demand.
“Dealers are signaling caution as 2025 ends,” said Mark Strand, deputy chief economist at Cox Automotive. “Persistent economic uncertainty and fading consumer confidence are weighing on sentiment. Compared to the rest of the year, the current market feels like it’s running out of gas. As we look ahead at 2026, renewed market momentum is entirely possible, especially if we get material interest-rate relief and a rebound in consumer confidence.”
Q4 closes a turbulent year for automotive retail. After a brief tariff-fueled surge in Q2 and a spike in EV sales in Q3, the market has begun to show signs of slowing in Q4. Dealer sentiment has declined as the market slows, but if consumer confidence improves and auto loan rates start to trend lower, momentum and sentiment could recover in the first half of 2026.
The Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index (CADSI) is derived from a quarterly survey issued to a representative sample of franchised and independent auto dealers across the United States. The Q4 2025 CADSI is based on responses from 919 dealers, including 492 franchised and 427 independent dealers.
The survey, conducted from Oct. 22 to Nov. 6, 2025, measures dealer perceptions of current retail auto sales and sales expectations for the next three months as “strong,” “average,” or “weak.” Responses are weighted by dealership type and sales volume to represent the national dealer population. Indices are calculated by assigning values to responses: 100 for strong/increasing, 50 for average/stable, and 0 for weak/decreasing. Respondents who select “don’t know” are excluded from the index calculation. The reported metrics have a margin of error of +/- 3.23%.
About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive is the world’s largest automotive services and technology provider. Fueled by the largest breadth of first-party data fed by 2.3 billion online interactions a year, Cox Automotive tailors leading solutions for car shoppers, auto manufacturers, dealers, lenders and fleets. The company has 29,000+ employees on five continents and a portfolio of industry-leading brands that include Autotrader®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, vAuto®, Dealertrack®, NextGear Capital™, CentralDispatch® and FleetNet America®. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately owned, Atlanta-based company with $23 billion in annual revenue. Visit coxautoinc.com or connect via @CoxAutomotive on X, CoxAutoInc on Facebook or Cox-Automotive-Inc on LinkedIn.
Media Contacts:
Mark Schirmer
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mark.schirmer@coxautoinc.com
Dara Hailes
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dara.hailes@coxautoinc.com
The Cox Automotive Economic and Industry Insights team is closely monitoring tariff developments and regularly publishing insightful commentary and analysis as appropriate.
