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Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Hireology CEO Adam Robinson discusses how the pandemic is changing dealership staffing models; why more people may soon be applying for jobs in auto retail.

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"Daily Driv…

The effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the number of dealerships in the United States remains to be seen. That's according to Urban Science's mid-year review of its Franchise Activity Report, which tracks the number of dealerships in the country.

Total dealership count has dipped only slightly this year to 18,161 at July 1, 2020, the latest study shows, compared to 18,195 dealerships at the end of 2019, and 18,251 on July 1, 2019. Total franchises slid to 32,031 as of July 1, 2020, compared to 32,185 at the end of 2019, and 32,296 at July 1, 2019.

"Right now the brick-and-mortar stores are pretty much stable," said Mitch Phillips, Urban Science's global data director. However, the number of dealerships tends to be a lagging indicator after a significant drop in new-vehicle sales, he added.

U.S. sales of new cars and light trucks skidded 33 percent to 2.97 million in the second quarter, as Americans hunkered down and many showrooms were shuttered by …

HOLLY, Mich. — Ford Motor Co. has pushed back its return-to-work plans twice, most recently giving some salaried employees the option of working remotely until at least the end of this year.

Outgoing CEO Jim Hackett thinks that policy is likely to continue beyond what the automaker has announced.

"It's my bet it will be extended beyond that," Hackett told reporters earlier this week on the sidelines of an event promoting the new Bronco SUV. "If you come this far to manage this and just say 'Well I'm tired of this' and change the profile and the risk, why did we do all the safety planning to begin with?"

Hackett, who will retire effective Oct. 1, said the automaker is shifting what he calls "we spaces," or common office areas, to be more mindful of social distancing should workers elect to return to Ford facilities.

Ford resumed production at North American manufacturing facilities in mid-May. At the same time, it recal…

Generous automaker incentives and government stimulus efforts drove new- and used-vehicle sales during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. But as these provisions fade so may consumer demand for auto loans and leases.

Auto analysts are split on whether sales in the third or fourth quarter will eclipse activity in the spring and early summer as the viral outbreak rages on in the U.S. Consumer auto loan appetite amid mounting economic uncertainty and high unemployment is difficult to discern, some say, all while the virus' trajectory further clouds the crystal ball.

This summer's sales frenzy — spurred by historically low interest rates and automaker incentives — likely exhausted any remaining pent-up demand that occurred during shelter-in-place orders that shuttered dealerships in key states in the spring, according to Cox Automotive.

Sales improved from the steep declines in March and early April but were nowhere near normal le…

Auto lending slowed in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said last week in a report, as the coronavirus pandemic ravaged millions of American jobs and curbed consumer spending. Household debt across lending products fell for the first time in six years.

Auto originations declined 13 percent in the second quarter to $135.9 billion, the Fed said. New credit extended to auto consumers in the lowest credit tiers saw the sharpest declines, reflecting a tighter lending environment as unemployment remains high and lenders balance risk in their portfolios. Auto originations to consumers with credit scores below 620 dropped 23 percent, the Fed said. Originations to those in the range of 620 to 659 fell 18 percent, the report said.

Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds, said auto sales performed much better in the second quarter than estimated at the onset of the pandemic. But many improvements in credit metr…

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO Uber Technologies Inc., threatened to temporarily shut down service in California if it loses a drawn-out fight over a state law seeking to reclassify contractors as employees.

Before then, Uber will continue a lengthy political and legal battle it has been waging since before the law was enacted this year. The company said it will appeal a court ruling Monday saying it must reclassify drivers as employees, and then it will ask voters in November to overturn the law.

Many regular drivers are hoping to secure the same health and unemployment benefits afforded to other workers in the state. But Uber has said the labor law threatens to shut down the entire gig economy by substantially raising companies’ expenses. A person familiar with Uber’s deliberations described a threatened shutdown in California as a “nuclear option” that would only be used as a last resort.

Khosrowshahi made his comments in a television interview Wednesday. “If…

Vehicle listings company CarGurus is expanding the financing component of its vehicle shopping platform through an integration with RouteOne, CarGurus said last week during a call with analysts.

The feature, which is in pilot testing, would allow customers who are pre-qualified for auto loans to share those details from the site to the dealership's RouteOne software.

"With this program, a dealer can retrieve a consumer's application through their dealer management system and immediately resume the credit application and financing process," CarGurus CEO Langley Steinert told investors Aug. 6. "This integration allows the dealer to streamline the purchasing process in store and creating a seamless online to offline purchase experience for the consumer."

The Cambridge, Mass., company launched a financing component in May 2019 in partnership with Capital One Auto Finance and has since onboarded Westlake Financial and Global Lending Serv…

A three-store Ohio dealer is bringing to market an in-store digital tool that aims to expedite all of the pre-delivery paperwork of a car deal.

The product, ZipDeal, shows customers finance-and-insurance product options and solicits online reviews for the dealership, increasing penetration of those products and enticing interested buyers to the dealership. Company executives say the software simplifies the sales process and allows customers to repurpose time typically wasted waiting outside the F&I office.

Steve Lindsay developed the program in 2017 for his family's group, Lindsay Automotive, which has a Honda, an Acura and a Buick-GMC store in Columbus, Ohio. Lindsay piloted the technology for a couple of years with the top five sales staff at two of its locations. For his high-volume stores, he said streamlining the post-negotiation period was a priority.

"What I really wanted was to emulate certain things that our supersta…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

KPMG's Gary Silberg discusses the firm's latest report on how the pandemic is changing driving habits in the U.S. and could dampen demand for new vehicles in the coming years.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify…

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is looking to buy General Motors' credit card business as it looks to bolster its consumer banking arm, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Barclays is also among a small number of bidders for the automaker's credit card business, which has about $3 billion in outstanding balances, the report said, adding that a decision is expected in the next few weeks.

Capital One has issued the GM card since 2012 and still has about a year left on the contract, the Journal reported. The paper also reported that there's no guarantee GM will replace its incumbent card issuer.

Goldman currently has a much smaller presence in consumer banking, unlike larger peers such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., and it is an area CEO David Solomon has been aggressively looking to strengthen.

Goldman launched a credit card with Apple Inc last year that is synched with iPhone users' Apple Wa…

Tesla Inc. says hedge fund Cable Car Capital LLC, which is shorting the company’s stock, is funding a former employee’s allegations that the company smeared him by accusing him of sabotage and stealing sensitive information.

The automaker said in a filing Monday that Martin Tripp’s 2018 counterclaim against Tesla was being funded by Cable Car, even though Tripp has said under oath that he had no financing or connection to Tesla short sellers.

Cable Car portfolio manager Jacob Ma-Weaver had no immediate comment. Shorting a stock is selling borrowed shares, buying them back once they’ve fallen and pocketing the difference.

Tesla on Tuesday persuaded a judge to issue an emergency order forbidding Tripp from further publicizing confidential information. Tripp has disclosed volumes of Tesla’s confidential documents, deposition transcripts and filings in his posts on Twitter, YouTube and Google Drive, Tesla said in federal court in Reno, Nev.

“Tripp has…

Electric commercial truck maker Nikola Corp. tried unsuccessfully to raise $1 billion in the private markets and only turned to a merger with a so-called blank-check company to go public as a way to raise the needed funds, its CFO said.

Nikola quickly raised a $250 million commitment from lead investor CNH International last summer, but market concerns about inflated valuations for some companies led the startup to consider an initial public offering before VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. approached in late November, Kim Brady told Reuters this week.

A deal with the special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, became a reality when it was able to arrange an additional $525 million from institutional investors like Fidelity Management & Research Co. upon the closing of the $240 million acquisition, allowing Nikola to achieve its fundraising goal, he said in a telephone interview.

Nikola’s SPAC merger has been a catalyst for the industry as electric carmake…