Trade News

CarGurus Inc.'s first-quarter net income tumbled 37 percent to $11.9 million as its digital wholesale division revenue plunged 76 percent, contributing to a worsening loss for that segment vs. a year earlier.

The vehicle listings company insists that its wholesale digital trading platform, CarOffer — which is a big part of digital wholesale — has turned a corner, along with overall operations.

"While we recently faced operational challenges with our CarOffer business, progress this quarter demonstrates our agility in responding promptly and effectively to navigate the year ahead," CEO Jason Trevisan said during the company's Tuesday earnings call.

CarOffer's "strong execution" helped it exceed forecast guidance for the quarter and focus on overall growth goals, Trevisan said.

Wall Street seemed pleased with the results. CarGurus' stock price traded at $18.94 late Wednesday afternoon, up nearly 16 percent from the previous day's close.

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The pace car for the 107th running of the Indy 500 scheduled for May 28 will be, for the 20th time since 1978, a Chevrolet Corvette. But this one is a bit different from past pace cars.

It's a 2023 Corvette Z06 hardtop convertible, the first time a Corvette with a folding metal roof has paced the race.

With a top speed of 189 mph, the 670-hp Corvette featuring a 5.5-liter V-8 is nearly fast enough to keep up with the open-wheel cars in the race. A carbon aero package provides 734 pounds of downforce at 186 mph, more than any other Corvette.

The pace car is painted red mist and sports a two-tone interior. This marks the 34th time since 1948 that a Chevrolet has set the pace for the Indy 500.

SAN FRANCISCO/TOKYO - Panasonic said on Wednesday that it will delay the commercial production of its 4680 battery cells championed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and begin operations during the April to September period in 2024, later than previously scheduled, as the company aims to improve their performance.

Tesla's Japanese supplier, Panasonic, previously planned to start volume production for Tesla between April 2023 to March 2024.

"Mass production rescheduled to begin during 1H FY3/25 to introduce performance improvement measures that will further enhance competitiveness," Panasonic said on its earnings presentation materials, referring to the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2025.

Panasonic is running a pilot 4680 production line at its Wakayama factory in Japan, while Tesla is already producing the 4680 battery cells, which Musk has touted as being key to making cheaper and compelling electric cars. But the carmaker struggled to meet its target…

Battery-electric vehicles' market share could grow rapidly in the next decade, buoyed in part by industrial policy like the Inflation Reduction Act, supply chain experts said during an industry webinar Wednesday.

As demand increases, manufacturers will need to find a sufficient and affordable supply of the minerals needed to produce EV batteries. This need has emerged as a geopolitical issue, with global industrial policy makers seeking to secure supply chains.

Graham Evans, S&P Global Mobility's director of auto supply chain and technology, said during the webinar that BEV production globally could increase to about 44 million in 2030 from about 8.8 million in 2022, an increase in market share to about 45 percent from less than 10 percent.

The increase in demand for BEVs would translate to increased demand for batteries — to about 3.4 terrawatt hours from about 0.5 terrawatt hours — and, in turn, the raw materials needed to produce them. One terraw…

Vroom Inc. said Tuesday its revenue and sales volume fell in the first quarter as the company kept working through a long-term business plan that prioritizes improving profitability. However, it narrowed its net loss year over year.

The online used-vehicle retailer reported a net loss of $75 million for the quarter ended March 31, slimmer than the $310.5 million lost in the first quarter of 2022. Revenue fell 79 percent to $196.5 million.

Tuesday marked one year since Vroom announced implementing that long-term plan, which included slowing the business down through 2022 to sell fewer used cars and trucks and instead focus on reducing costs, improving its title and registration processes and positioning to grow more sustainably.

"As we execute our strategy in 2023, we intend to resume growth, sell through aged inventory, improve variable cost per unit, continue to reduce fixed costs and continue to convert balance sheet items into cash all while living wi…

A conversation with U.S. Steel Chief Commercial Officer Ken Jaycox about the company’s work with “green steel.” Toyota, seen as a laggard on electric vehicles, plans to show a new concept this year. It also aims for record production and sales.

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Workers at a Clarios vehicle battery plant in Holland, Ohio, began striking Monday morning after voting down a contract proposal, local TV news station 13abc reported. The approximately 400 striking workers are members of UAW Local 12.

Clarios is a leading global producer of low-voltage batteries for a range of vehicles, with 18 plants and more than 5,800 employees in the U.S. The Holland plant, near Toledo, employs about 650 employees and produces 125,000 to 150,000 batteries a week for Ford and General Motors.

"This is really going to hurt their delivery to these companies," Bruce Baumhower, president of UAW Local 12, told Automotive News.

"Toledo is a key location for Clarios and has been a focus of recent investment as we anticipate our ability to competitively support growth and increased customer demand well into the future," a company spokesperson said.

Contract negotiations at the plant began in April, with a previous contract expiring Ap…

China’s increasingly heated price war is exacting a heavy toll on automakers. Steep discounts have failed to reverse a slide in sales for most manufacturers, and earnings have taken a hit.   

A Bloomberg analysis of first-quarter results from more than a dozen Chinese automakers showed revenue and profit margins are under pressure. Save for a few exceptions such as BYD Co. and Changan Automobile Group Co., most top listed Chinese automakers suffered a decline in profits — the worst showing since the beginning of 2020, when the industry was crunched by the start of the pandemic.

“It turned out the price cuts didn’t stimulate too much extra demand,” said Minghsun Lee, head of greater China auto research at Bank of America Corp. “Consumers have the perception that car companies will continue to cut prices, so they’ll wait.”

Here’s how key metrics of deliveries, revenue and profits are faring: 

Of the 17 Chinese carmakers that have pu…

Porsche is launching the most powerful version of the midengine Boxster roadster — a 493-hp two-seater powered by a race car engine.

The 2024 Porsche 718 Spyder RS arrives in the U.S. next spring and starts at $162,150, including shipping.

The new variant debuts in June at an event in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany, to mark 75 years of Porsche sports cars. It will also make a cameo in July at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

The 718 Spyder RS is a last hurrah for combustion engine loyalists as Porsche steers toward a mostly electric future. An electric Boxster should arrive mid-decade.

"With the wave of electric models coming in the next few years, Porsche traditionalists will stop at nothing for just one more high-powered sports car," said Sam Fiorani, vice president at AutoForecast Solutions. "Upping the power on the Boxster gives us that one last growl of a high-revving flat six as it shrieks around the co…

Rivian Automotive Inc. reduced its losses in the first quarter as the electric-vehicle maker sold more higher-priced vehicles and generated more revenue than expected.

The company on Tuesday reported a net loss of $1.35 billion for the first three months of the year, compared with a loss of $1.59 billion a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 stood at $661 million, compared with Wall Street estimates of $652.1 million, according to Refinitiv data.

Shares in Rivian rose 5.2 percent to $14.58 in after-hours trading.

Rivian expects production ramp up of its in-house Enduro powertrains to help offset parts supply issues in the second half of the year, enabling it to meet its smaller-than-estimated target of manufacturing 50,000 units.

The company did not provide details of its pre-orders at the end of the quarter amid demand concerns aggravated by higher borrowing costs and industry leader Tesla's aggressive price cuts.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — U.S. car buyers love the edge cases.

They buy seven-seat SUVs for a family of four. They get pickups in case they want to tow something. They purchase tricked-out Jeep Wranglers and Ford Broncos but never leave the pavement.

Mujeeb Ijaz, CEO of Our Next Energy EV battery company in Novi, Mich., has considered the EV edge case conundrum. Buyers want huge ranges but rarely drive those distances between battery charging sessions.

The riddle Ijaz wants to solve is how to provide giant range without massively increasing the expense and weight of an electric vehicle. He thinks the solution is two separate batteries — one that is small and reliable for everyday driving and a second with an energy-dense chemistry to power the car on extra-long trips.

"Our ambition is to have a 600-mile on a single charge range so that we can offer customers the capability to adopt electric vehicles for any use case that comes their way — temperature, sp…

By implementing a few sales strategies developed explicitly for lean inventory times, these dealers are finding creative ways to source inventory and stay profitable. Our new guide, Sales Solutions for Inventory Challenges, will give you 5 strategies to face down industry obstacles and thrive in this unique market. You’ll learn how to: Source cars from past sales and service customers Look for possible customers in your service department Find customers with favorable equity positions Accept more trade-in vehicles Ready to face down your challenges with data-driven sales solutions?