The Cox Automotive BCCS: Best Car Companies Scorecard

The highly competitive nature of the car business reminds me of college football. Instead of teams like Georgia, USC, or Wisconsin, we have automakers like Honda, Ford and Jeep, all competing against one another with their own unique playbooks and rosters. While one car company gains yardage with full-size trucks, another makes first downs with hybrid sedans. 

I remember working in a regional office outside of Washington, D.C., in the early days of my career, and we used to hang championship banners in the lobby celebrating our successes. With the recent kickoff of the college football season, I’ve been thinking about which car companies are in the running to raise the championship banner for overall performance in 2024.

For this overall non-scientific evaluation of automaker success, we identified eight key criteria and weighted them equally:  YTD Sales Increases, an estimate of YTD Total Revenue from vehicle sales, Incentives as a percent of Transaction Price, Days to Sell, Blue Sky Multiples for the Franchise, New Product Launches, Average Dealer Gross Margin, and Owner Loyalty. Yes, we know there is no absolute correct metric to measure success in this complicated business – every team will measure it differently – but these metrics felt like a good yardstick for who’s hot and who’s not.

Each mass-market brand was given a ranking of 1-13 for each category, with #1 being best-in-class. Next, we took the average of all eight categories, revealing our leaders, with Ford and Hyundai just missing out.

As we head into the fourth quarter of calendar year 2024, here are the four teams most likely to claim the top spot in the Cox Automotive BCCS, our unofficial Best Car Companies Scorecard:  Toyota, Honda, Subaru and Chevrolet.

Let’s break down each of these teams to see how they are playing this year:

1. Toyota is the Alabama Crimson Tide of the car business and a championship contender every year. They have some compelling new product launches, including the all-new Land Cruiser (which looks great), the new Tacoma and the 100% Hybrid Camry. Toyota continues to carry the highest blue-sky multiples in the industry, enjoys the lowest incentive spending per unit, and has the fastest days to sell! As always, they will be a tough team to beat.
   
2. Honda, which has been building cars in Ohio for over 40 years, is like THE Ohio State Buckeyes and a formidable opponent when healthy. Honda inventories are much healthier this year, helping drive their 14% sales increase. Honda dealers are fortunate to have the best average gross margins per vehicle in the industry for any non-lux brand. Honda also has one of the best defenses in the league with strong owner loyalty and exceptional product consistency – there is not a weak player in the lineup. 
   
3. Subaru reminds me of Notre Dame with the most devout, recession-proof fan base of any car company, ranking #1 in Owner Loyalty. Subaru is having a great year with significant sales increases, fast-turning inventories, low incentive spending, and strong dealer valuations. They just launched an all-new Forester, providing more firepower to their offense. 
   
4. Chevy builds the Tahoe and Suburban in Arlington, TX, and is having a great year like the University of Texas Longhorns. Chevy has a number of fresh players in key product segments, including the Trax, Equinox, Traverse, and Colorado. Chevy does a great job turning inventory quickly while keeping incentive spending in line for a domestic brand. While their new class of EVs is just beginning to gain traction in the market, Coach Mary Barra is being more realistic about the company’s EV playbook and working to improve overall EV financial performance.

Brand Ranking by Category 1-13
(#1=Best in Class)

Despite economic headwinds of high interest rates, inflation, and downward pressure on disposable incomes, 2024 has been a solid year for the new car business. Cox Automotive is maintaining its forecast of 15.7 million SAAR to close out the year. Rising inventories have brought about rising incentives, making the competitive playing field much more challenging than teams felt in 2022 and 2023. Much like this year’s college football season, the car companies will continue to battle in the fourth quarter to see who claims the top spot in the Cox Automotive BCCS at the end of the season!

Brian Finkelmeyer

Senior Director of Enterprise Insights and Advisory

Brian Finkelmeyer is Senior Director of Enterprise Insights and Advisory at Cox Automotive. Brian leads a team dedicated to providing car companies with actionable business intelligence to drive their performance. Brian has spent his entire career in the auto industry, working at Nissan for nearly 20 years in various sales leadership positions. Upon joining Cox Automotive, Brian was responsible for the vAuto New Car Inventory solution – Conquest. Brian lives in Nashville, TN.