Trade News

With the launch of the Ioniq EV subbrand and addition of new hybrid models to the Hyundai lineup, dealers are preparing for an orderly transition to a zero-emissions future with the help of the automaker.

"This is something that Hyundai and the dealers will be leaning into big time," said Kevin Reilly, chairman of the Hyundai National Dealer Council and owner of Alexandria Hyundai in Virginia.

The Ioniq subbrand, with three models being rolled out by 2024, provides a road map for dealers and customers on battery-electric vehicles. Hyundai also is offering a greater variety of hybrid vehicles and launched the Santa Cruz small pickup to bolster its light-truck options.

That broad combination of gasoline-only, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell options gives the automaker a strong portfolio to meet customer needs.

"Hyundai is very good at figuring that out and adapting to the market," Reilly said. "They've been very goo…

Minnesota dealer Richard Herod III is the fired-up, incoming chairman of the Mitsubishi National Advisory Board. His term begins at the NADA Show, and he's stepping up from vice chairman. Herod, 44, is particularly fired up about the all-new Mitsubishi Outlander, which debuted in February 2021.

"The Outlander has been a hit from day one — the car, the price, the packaging. If we had more, we'd sell more. I can't wait for the plug-in hybrid," said Herod, general manager and managing partner at White Bear Mitsubishi in White Bear Lake, Minn., in the St. Paul area.

Herod is part owner, in partnership with Rydell Automotive Group of Grand Forks, N.D. His dealership's mascot is a white bear, and the store's used-car purchasing program is named "The Bear Buys." A separate location that focuses on used cars, parts and service and motorsports in Mounds View, Minn., is named "The Bear Lot."

His enthusiasm for the brand is understandable. The Outlander racked up…

Ford Motor Co. is developing a novel idea to train its retail network on how to properly sell and service electric vehicles: take them back to school.

The automaker and its dealer council plan to launch an initiative called Electric University, a multiday educational program operated near Ford's Dearborn, Mich., headquarters that would give salespeople, service technicians and parts department staffers a crash course on all things EV.

"We're going to be able to send our people and immerse them in the world of electrification," Tim Hovik, Ford's National Dealer Council chairman, told Automotive News. "This really is a transformative time in history. Everything we've ever done before ... this is a different world."

While the details haven't been settled, Hovik said the program likely would include in-person classes covering everything from an EV's performance capabilities vs. internal combustion vehicles to ancillary ownership ben…

Ford Motor Co. will no longer require dealers to finance through Ford Motor Credit to receive floorplan assistance following dealer blowback to the policy it announced this month.

Although most dealers already floorplan through the captive finance arm — 72 percent of Ford brand dealers and 83 percent of Lincoln brand dealers, per executives — the change was met with widespread opposition. Ford had announced in a memo that dealers who don't floorplan through Ford Credit would lose that assistance starting in January 2023.

When Ford executives announced the change Saturday at the make meeting, many dealers stood and applauded, which made for an awkward moment when Ford Credit CEO Marion Harris addressed retailers moments later, according to those in the room.

Ford executives said they would continue with another change to the floorplan assistance program that would reimburse dealers for floorplan costs based on actual days in inv…

Fewer vehicles on dealership lots may not be a terrible thing, Acura told its retailers at their make meeting here Saturday.

"We're seeing it's not necessary for there to be an abundant supply on ground, as long as the dealers have visibility into what its incoming pipeline is," Emile Korkor, Acura assistant vice president of national sales, told Automotive News after the meeting.

Dealers and executives in the meeting discussed the brand's road to electrification and upcoming vehicles, but also highlighted the learnings they have picked up during the disruption.

There's some upside for Acura amid an inventory crunch that has left luxury shoppers waiting for their vehicles for longer than is comfortable for the brand, Korkor said. He reported that Acura dealers are now selling as deep as 90 days into their inbound cars.

That allows Acura an opportunity to prioritize the vehicles and configurations shoppers want. It's not build-to-order, but more …

As BMW unfurls a fleet of next-generation electric vehicles, it will not commit to an online-only sales model pioneered by EV juggernaut Tesla, BMW of North America CEO Sebastian Mackensen told dealers at the make meeting on Saturday.

But shifting consumer trends in the age of Amazon requires making the "digital part of the customer journey" as frictionless as possible, he said.

"It doesn't matter what the customer chooses as an avenue to purchase a vehicle — is it first physical, is it first online?" Mackensen told Automotive News after the meeting. "We have to make sure if you want to purchase a BMW, you get a seamless experience from ... the manufacturer website to a car dealer website to your final purchase."

BMW's digital approach to car-buying is drivetrain-agnostic, said Shaun Bugbee, executive vice president of operations.

"We are building a process that is customer-driven ... and it doesn't matter if it's an M…

Chevrolet is making it clear to dealers: It has a foot firmly planted in both propulsion camps.

As the brand prepares to roll out a roster of electric vehicles, it is rapidly updating its most popular internal combustion vehicles.

Chevy plans to launch more than a dozen new or freshened models over the next two years, said Keith McCluskey, chairman of the Chevrolet National Dealer Council and CEO of McCluskey Chevrolet in Cincinnati.

"2022 and 2023 will fly by," he said ahead of the make meeting. "If you do the math, about every eight weeks, we've got a new or refreshed model coming out for the next two years. And for the first time ever, [Chevy is] really moving into the mainstream on the EV side of things."Today, Chevy sells the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, which are powered by General Motors' previous-generation battery platform.

But the next group of EVs will be larger crossovers and pickups, and they will be powered by GM's proprietary Ultium batt…

As auto retailing continues to evolve, so too will the relationship between franchised dealers and their automakers, said Mike Alford, NADA's 2022 chairman.

But the evolution shouldn't be feared, he said, pointing to opportunities on both sides.

"For years, we've trained ourselves to think about vehicle manufacturing and vehicle retail as two separate worlds connected by only one thing — the vehicle itself — but that's changed," Alford said Saturday during his first address as chairman.

"Our OEM partners are rolling out vehicle and ownership products and services after the point of sale, and with each new development, our worlds are being connected by the customer and their expectations."

Alford, dealer principal of Marine Chevrolet in Jacksonville, N.C., and Trent Buick-GMC-Cadillac in New Bern, N.C., said retailers and automakers have a choice to make — especially as the industry transitions to produce, sell and service more electric vehicles.…

Kia America executives presented plans to dealers at their make meeting Saturday, assuring them the company will keep the brand on a roll as it transitions to more electric vehicle sales.

Kia was one of the few automakers, of those reporting sales, to post a gain in February as the industry coped with supply constraints and winter storms.

But Kia is now busily readying dealers to sell EVs, said James Morrell, head of the brand's dealer council, who co-owns Destination Kia in Albany, N.Y.

"Fortunately, we had a big head start because we've been selling the Niro EV for quite a while," Morrell said outside the meeting.

He noted that 98 percent of Kia's 750-plus dealerships are already eligible to sell the EVs because they've installed the necessary chargers with the automaker's help.

Kia considers a dealership eligible when it has a fast charger on premise and a trained contingency of salespeople who can educate consumers on the product, sai…