WEBINAR RECAP: UNDERWATER | NEGATIVE EQUITY IS NOT JUST A CONSUMER PROBLEM
Watch the full recording: an AMA panel with CDK Global on why a $7,183 average underwater balance across more than 3 in 10 new-vehicle trade-ins is now a lender, dealer, and OEM problem — and where the cycle can be interrupted.
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Visit the AMA YouTube channelAverage transaction prices near $50,000, loan terms stretching to 84 months, and softening used-vehicle values have put a record share of buyers underwater on their trade-ins. On August 12, 2026, AutoMobility Advisors convened a panel across retail, lending, and product strategy to work through what that actually costs each side of the deal. The full recording is above.
Panelists
George Ayres, Managing Director at AutoMobility Advisors, moderated. Special guest David Thomas, Director of Content Marketing at CDK Global, joined AMA's Allen Levenson, Director of Data and Analytics; Anoop Tiwari, Director of Innovation and Digital Strategy; and Kapil Shah, Principal Consultant.
What the panel covered
The discussion started from a single number: an average underwater balance of $7,183 across more than 3 in 10 new-vehicle trade-ins. From there the panel traced how that balance travels — suppressing trade-in volume, distorting loan-to-value ratios, raising lender risk, complicating lease returns, and quietly capping how many deals a store can close.
The group was candid about how negative equity shows up in desking and F&I, why the EV lease escape hatch that absorbed underwater balances through 2025 has largely closed, and which programs, pricing structures, and product moves genuinely help a customer get out from under a loan instead of rolling the problem into the next one. The session closed with live Q&A on what dealers, lenders, and OEMs can each do first.
Who this is for
Dealer principals and general managers, lenders and captive finance teams, OEM sales and remarketing leaders, and product or strategy teams working on affordability, subscription, and ownership models.
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