President Donald Trump announced increased tariffs on new vehicles and some parts imported for sale into the United States, effective April 3, a move experts say will raise prices and reduce sales and production. +

Experian has launched Cashflow Score, a new solution designed to help finance sources gauge creditworthiness by accessing and analyzing consumer-permissioned transaction data. +

Point Predictive’s latest Auto Lending Fraud Trends Report finds auto finance sources face an estimated $9.2 billion in loss exposure, fueled primarily by “first-party” credit application fraud. +

Attorney Tom Oscherwitz says generative AI-powered “deepfakes” are giving criminals new ways to defraud dealers and finance sources and spurring the development of new detection tools.+

Dealertrack’s Credit Availability Index improved 3% year-over-year in February, but negative indicators such as subprime share, term, down payments and negative equity added risk to loan portfolios. +

Citing low unemployment and “solid” market conditions, the Federal Reserve Board held firm to its 4.25% to 4.5% target lending rate, extending a pause that began in January following a series of quarter-point cuts. +

vAuto reports U.S. sales of all pre-owned vehicles increased by 5.6% to 1.57 million units year-over-year, but certified pre-owned sales were down 3.4% compared with February 2024. +

F&I wait times are on the rise, according to CDK’s 2025 Friction Points study, hampering dealers’ ongoing — and largely successful — efforts to reduce total transaction times and generate referrals. +

Kelley Blue Book reports the average cost of a U.S.-sold new vehicle increased by 1% year-over-year to $48,039 in February but declined by 1.3% from the prior month. +

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the annual rate of inflation fell from 3% in January to 2.8% in February on a year-over-year basis, slightly below the forecasted rate of 2.9%.+