One of the most remarkable stories in the car business this year has been the extent to which new-vehicle sales have rebounded from the depths of April and May. October is forecast to be the second consecutive month of year-over-year volume increases, and the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) is expected to be 16.4 million! … Continued
Update – During Game 1 of the World Series last night, General Motors was hoping for a win as they showed for the first time the all-new GMC Hummer EV. GM is already calling it “the world’s first all-electric supertruck” and intends to have it in showrooms within a year, a fall 2021 launch. In … Continued
A replay of the Q3 2020 Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index Call hosted by Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke and Zo Rahim, manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive, is available below. Jonathan and Zo were joined by Zach Hallowell, vice president, Manheim Digital, who shared an update on data and developments … Continued
UPDATED, Oct. 5, 2020 – September total new vehicle deliveries were up 6.1% year over year with two more selling days compared to September 2019. With those volumes, the September SAAR was 16.3 million, a 5% decrease from last year’s 17.1 million but an improvement from August’s 15.2 million. Oct. 1, 2020 – Earlier this … Continued
Oh, how times have changed. It wasn’t long ago when new car dealers would say, “I don’t make any money selling new cars; I just give them away.” The harsh reality of this business has always been the extent to which the automakers set and control the rules of the game. And VOLUME has always … Continued
During the Q3 2020 Cox Automotive U.S. Auto Sales Forecast Call held on Monday, Sept. 28, Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke was joined by Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist, Zo Rahim, manager of economic and industry insights, and Vanessa Ton, senior manager of market intelligence. Watch the event replay below to see how the auto industry performed in … Continued
September has been a busy month for EV news, and we still have a week to go. Last week Ford was touting (again) a new electric version of their best-selling F-Series pickup trucks, which is scheduled for launch in 2022 and will be built in an updated facility near company headquarters in Michigan. We also … Continued
Jeff Bezos is fond of declaring it’s still “Day 1” for Amazon. Staying in “Day 1” means you can do more for your customers — it requires you to experiment patiently, accept failures and double down when you see customer delight. Why is this relevant? In a July 13 editorial, “Subscriptions don’t pay off but … Continued
Welcome to Dealer Forward: Reimagining Automotive Retail, a panel discussion that focuses on building resilience in three key auto retail areas – marketing, dealership performance and fixed operations. In this week’s episode, Wayne Pastore, general manager of Dealer.com and vice president of operations for dealer marketing, at Cox Automotive, discusses tactical approaches to embrace shifting consumer … Continued
Electric vehicle startup Nikola Corp. and General Motors Co. announced that they are forming a strategic partnership that begins with the Nikola Badger and carries cost reductions through the range of Nikola vehicles. As part of the agreement, Nikola will use General Motors’ Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel cell technology. Cox Automotive analysts weigh … Continued
