Trade News

Nissan's U.S. sales to rental companies swung skyward in the new year, despite tight retail supply and a vow to dial down the fleet business.

The automaker's first-quarter fleet sales surged 83 percent to 67,577, compared with a 36 percent increase for the overall industry, per TrueCar estimates based on data through mid-March.

TrueCar forecasted Nissan's fleet penetration to be the second highest among major manufacturers after Stellantis in March and above the industry average of 16 percent.

Nissan said the higher Q1 fleet volumes were to meet its contractual obligations with commercial customers.

"There's always some seasonality in the industry as fleets stock up for the busy spring [and] summer seasons," spokesman Brian Brockman told Automotive News.

But the uptick is raising eyebrows among dealers, some of whom say they have a less than 30-day supply of the entry-priced models that fleets like, such as the Sentra, Kicks and Versa.

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Bob Loquercio Auto Group has expanded with the addition of three dealerships in Peoria, Ill.

CEO Bob Loquercio and his namesake group on April 5 purchased O'Brien Lexus of Peoria, O'Brien Toyota of Peoria and O'Brien Ford of Peoria from Joe O'Brien of O'Brien Auto Team, Loquercio confirmed to Automotive News.

The dealerships, in central Illinois, were renamed Peoria Toyota, Lexus of Peoria and Ford of Peoria. Loquercio said his brother, Anthony Loquercio, also purchased an undisclosed stake in the Peoria Ford store.

Bob Loquercio said the group's first Lexus store will get updated, with construction expected to begin in December.

April's acquisition makes 14 franchised stores and one used-car store in Illinois and Indiana for the group, Bob Loquercio said. He said he has several other dealerships under consideration to purchase but didn't share specifics.

"We're in growth mode," Loquercio said. "We're looking to expand our footprint."

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Lidar maker Ouster is suing China's Hesai Group for patent infringement and wants the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate the company for illegally importing technology based on five of Ouster's lidar patents.

Ouster filed its complaint with the USITC against rival lidar maker Hesai and its related entities on Wednesday.

San Francisco-based Ouster also filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Hesai in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, seeking monetary damages and an import ban against the company's lidars.

"What we've filed is a preliminary step, a request with the ITC to consider our case," Ouster co-founder and CEO Angus Pacala told Automotive News. "Ouster's goal is to seek a ban of the infringing products in the United States, this is the first step in a series of steps to ultimately reach that goal."

Ouster wants the commission to issue a limited exclusion order and a cease-and-desist order against Hesai …

"Winning is important. [But] the winning part is about serving the customer. It's not about gaining the accolades or 'I sold X amount'; it has nothing to do with that. It has to be about serving the customer. But you'll never make them a customer if they say no to you. If they leave, they're gonna go somewhere else and become someone else's customer. That's why we're passionate about this. I feel like we have to dig in and figure out how to overcome objections. They've been talking about it forever on the variable side, and some of the most talented people in the dealership overcome objections every day as part of their daily ritual. Let's get those people together, and let's start working together and have our sales managers teaching our advisers to overcome objections. Let's talk about our finance managers and finance directors teaching our advisers, working with them." — Michael Barich, service and parts trainer and coach, on the "WTF: What the Fixed Ops?!" podcast,…

The 2024 Acura Integra Type S will go on sale in June offering performance enthusiasts distinct and aggressive styling as well as 320 hp from a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine.

The engine is the same one used in the Honda Civic Type R, but with 5 more horsepower thanks to center-mounted exhaust outlets on the redesigned rear fascia. Both performance variants offer 310 pound-feet of torque and come with a six-speed manual transmission only.

The Integra Type S positions performance and design at the gateway to the Acura brand and, despite significant performance enhancements, does not compromise on daily driving characteristics, said Emile Korkor, assistant vice president of Acura National Sales.

Compared with the standard Integra, the Type S increases output by 120 hp and 118 pound-feet of torque. Its stance is 2.8 inches wider. And it has a reworked front fascia with a larger diamond-shaped grille and vented aluminum hood for improve…

The EPA has unveiled its strictest-ever limits on vehicle tailpipe pollution, a move that could spur greater sales of electric vehicles in the U.S. Capital One stops car dealer floorplan lending. And Hyundai Motor North America’s Olabisi Boyle talks about the automaker’s growing service to help customers become more energy independent.

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Tesla Inc. has parlayed price cuts into a formidable lead over its luxury competitors in the first quarter of 2023.

The Austin, Texas-based automaker's first-quarter sales volume surged 55 percent from last year, and it sold more than double the volume of No. 2 BMW.

But the segment's historic favorites are fighting back against the new front-runner with their own fleets of electric vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz's EV sales have more than quadrupled in the first three months. The brand's four EQ-branded models accounted for 9.7 percent of sales in the first quarter, including vans.

EV "product is driving momentum," Mercedes-Benz USA sales boss Senol Bayrak told Automotive News on Wednesday. "We have now a full lineup of these cars available — from SUV to sedan."

To boost EV adoption, Mercedes will launch a six-week marketing campaign starting April 22. The Mercedes EQE SUV, which debuted last month, will be the centerpiece of the blitz.

Mea…

LANSING — Michigan will give companies $410 million to open two electric vehicle battery plants following approval of transfers by a legislative panel on Wednesday.

The Democratic-led Senate Appropriations Committee authorized the subsidies for Ford Motor Co. ($210 million) and Novi-based Our Next Energy Inc. ($200 million) on 15-4 votes.

They did not vote on a $175 million package for Gotion Inc., a Chinese company with a U.S. headquarters in Silicon Valley, and The Right Place, a Grand Rapids-based economic development organization supporting the Gotion project.

Ford's factory will be in Marshall, Mich., ONE's in Wayne County's Van Buren Township.

The Michigan Strategic Fund board previously approved the aid, part of broader incentives packages for the multibillion-dollar plants, but final legislative authorization was needed to transfer money within the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund. The House budget panel gave its blessing, in…

Ourisman Cars, led by CEO Robert Ourisman Jr., expanded its Maryland footprint with the purchase of three dealerships in two transactions.

On Feb. 13, Ourisman Cars bought Ramsey Ford in Rising Sun from Steve Ramsey, Ourisman Jr. confirmed to Automotive News.

Ourisman Cars, of Rockville, Md., is a group of dealerships within Ourisman Automotive Group, Ourisman Jr. said.

The dealership was renamed Ourisman Tri-State Ford. Rising Sun is in northeast Maryland, near the Pennsylvania and Delaware borders.

"It's up in Cecil County, which is way north Maryland," Ourisman Jr. said. "So a new county for us and sort of new market representation for us."

It marks the first Ford dealership for Ourisman Cars, said Ourisman Jr., who noted that his group of dealerships has multiple Stellantis and Chevrolet stores.

"This sort of rounds out the domestic offering," Ourisman Jr. said.

Woody Woodward, a managing director of DCG Acquisitions, a …

Kia America Inc. is recalling 51,568 vehicles for power sliding doors that have closed on occupants, resulting in nine reports of injuries. The recall includes all 2022 and certain 2023 Carnival vehicles.

In the summer of 2021, Kia began to identify customer complaints that alleged the power sliding door injured children. As of November 2022, injury reports included one fractured thumb, one broken arm, seven bruises, swelling and minor cuts or scrapes related to the power sliding door.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary evaluation into the 2022 Kia Carnival on April 10, 2022. The office has received five consumer complaints alleging auto-reverse malfunction since July 2021. Three of the complaints reported arms, hands or shoulders getting "trapped against the door." Consumers also said "excessive force" was needed to reverse the direction of the door.

Kia called the auto-reverse featu…

Lease-end satisfaction J.D. Power’s 2023 U.S. End of Lease Satisfaction Study, conducted from November 2022 to January 2023, found lessees more satisfied with Ford Credit than any other mass-market lease financing competitor by a 16-point margin. Here are some of the mass-market lease satisfaction scores from the survey, which uses a 1,000-point scale. Ford Credit 873 Toyota Financial Services 857 Honda Financial Services 855 Hyundai Motor Finance 855 Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. 853 GM Financial 851 Volkswagen Credit 851 Mass-market segment average 847 Kia Motors Finance 846 Subaru Motors Finance 845 U.S. Bank 842 Chrysler Capital 834 Ally Financial 825 Mazda Financial Services 808

An industrywide decline in leasing means captive finance companies and other lenders must not only be mindful of lessee satisfaction but find other ways of keeping customers loyal, said Patrick Roosenberg, J.D. Power auto finance director.

J.D. Power la…

LOS ANGELES — Electric vehicle brand Polestar has unveiled a certified pre-owned program to help drive business to its product-starved retailers. The program launches as the first Polestar 2 electric sedans are coming off their 36-month leases.

Polestar North America CEO Gregor Hembrough called the CPO program a "coming of age" moment for the Swedish brand, which launched its first and only mass-market model nearly three years ago.

"We've been in the marketplace long enough that we have lease returns; we have used cars that are coming back," Hembrough told Automotive News on the sidelines of an event here last week.

The remarketing program addresses a significant pain point for Polestar's fledgling retail network. With a new crossover product delayed by nearly a year and just one model — a sedan — to sell, some dealers say they lack enough throughput to justify their high-rent shopping center-based stores.

"Dealers are struggling to cover their e…