The National Automobile Dealers Association’s Winter 2026 Dealer Attitude Survey landed with a familiar name on top and a predictable one at the bottom. Lexus earned the highest overall marks from its franchised retailers. Infiniti finished dead last.
The twice-yearly NADA survey asks franchise dealers to grade their automakers on everything from communication and product support to the overall value of holding that particular franchise agreement. It is, in effect, a report card written by the people who actually sell the cars. And Lexus aced it.
That result is not a fluke. Lexus has long cultivated tight relationships with its dealer body, and the brand’s consistent product cadence, reasonable inventory management, and premium positioning give retailers something tangible to sell. Happy dealers sell more cars. They invest in their facilities. They treat customers better.
The cycle feeds itself.
Across the broader industry, dealer sentiment actually improved. Years of supply chain chaos, forced allocation games, and mandatory EV inventory that nobody asked for had soured relationships between manufacturers and their retail partners. Those wounds are finally healing.
Inventories have stabilized. Product strategies are sharper. Many brands posted better scores than in previous surveys, which suggests the worst of the post-pandemic friction is fading.
But not for everyone.
Infiniti’s last-place finish reads like a diagnosis more than a ranking. The brand has been in freefall for years, starved of new product, watching its showroom traffic evaporate while parent company Nissan fights its own existential battles. Dealers stuck holding an Infiniti franchise are selling aging crossovers into a luxury market that has moved on without them.
The delayed 600-horsepower Escalade-V rival that was supposed to inject some life into the lineup hasn’t materialized. Dealers can smell a dying brand. The survey confirms they’re not happy about it.
Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, Mitsubishi, and Nissan rounded out the bottom five. Each carries its own baggage. Jaguar is mid-reinvention, having killed off nearly its entire lineup before replacements arrive.
Alfa Romeo sells two vehicles in the U.S. and has never figured out how to keep its dealer body busy. Mitsubishi remains a volume afterthought. And Nissan, currently in merger talks and bleeding market share, is dragging its retail partners through turbulence that shows no sign of ending soon.
The gap between the top and bottom of this survey is not just about product. It is about trust. Dealers who believe their manufacturer has a viable plan, who feel heard when they raise concerns, and who see a pipeline of competitive vehicles coming will rate that relationship highly.
Dealers who feel abandoned or ignored will not.
Lexus gives its retailers reasons to believe. A refreshed lineup, the incoming LFA successor for 2027, and a brand identity that still commands loyalty in a fracturing luxury market all contribute to that confidence.
Infiniti gives its dealers reasons to update their resumes.
NADA will issue its next survey later this year. For the brands at the bottom, six months is not a lot of time to change the story. For some of them, six years might not be enough.
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