Trade News

Propelled by strong demand for its core crossovers, Mercedes-Benz is maintaining a wide lead over rival BMW in the 2020 U.S. luxury sales race.

But it was a bloody quarter — and first half — for the luxury segment as the pandemic depressed activity across the U.S. economy.

Every luxury brand except Jaguar Land Rover, which is yet to report quarterly sales, has sustained double-digit percentage sales declines in the second quarter as demand evaporated and showrooms shuttered for weeks.

Halfway through 2020, Mercedes is making sure to avoid a repeat of last year, when BMW ended Mercedes' three-year streak at the top of the luxury sales chart.

For the year so far, Mercedes has a nearly 16,800-vehicle lead over its rival.

Mercedes delivered 59,461 vehicles, excluding commercial vans, in the second quarter, down 22 percent from a year ago. The GLE crossover led totals with 9,500 sales, followed by the flagship GLC SUV with sales of 9,461.

Used-vehicle down payments are the highest they have been since Edmunds started collecting data in 2007.

Unique market conditions have led to lower interest rates, bigger down payments, less negative equity and increased cross-shopping of used vehicles, according to a statement from the company.

The data shows that the average down payment reached $3,167 in June, up nearly 19 percent from June 2019 and up 42 percent from June 2015.

The higher down-payment average is a result of buyers having better credit scores and the ability to afford a higher payment, said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds. The pandemic made it more difficult for some people to spend money, plus many people were getting stimulus checks, making it likely they had more money in their pockets.

Additionally, Edmunds research shows interest rates on used vehicles fell to 7.8 percent in June, a drop of 0.8 percent from a year ag…

Finance-and-insurance product opportunities after a vehicle sale are growing amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a dealership consultant and marketing company that helps with these sales after the fact. Though this market has been growing for years, dealerships should consider these opportunities now more than ever.

Some dealerships are working to improve penetration after the sale. David Diem, executive vice president at Automotive Product Consultants, said dealerships doubled down on current customers amid sales slowdowns prompted by the outbreak. As the U.S. deals with a recession with the highest levels of unemployment since the Great Depression, there's early evidence that customers will be holding onto their vehicles longer during the pandemic.

"There's a growing need for those consumers to have mechanical repair protection past that basic factory warranty," he said. "Demand goes, now it comes back — dealers are looking for every…

DETROIT -- The 2021 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray won't cost buyers more than the 2020 midengine Corvette, but the freshened model includes a few new safety, tech and design options.

Chevy will sell the 2021 Corvette at a base price of less than $60,000, the same as the introductory model. The coupe starts at $59,995, and the convertible starts at $67,495, which includes destination freight charges, Chevy said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Our mission was to develop a new sports car, combining the successful attributes of Corvette with the performance and driving experience of mid-engine supercars," Tadge Juechter, Corvette executive chief engineer, said in the statement. "We are thrilled with the enthusiasm the mid-engine Corvette brought following its launch and are keeping it fresh with new content for the 2021 model."

New to the 2021 model, magnetic selective ride control suspension is now available without the Z51 performance package. Also new are sta…

DETROIT -- General Motors said Chevrolet will end production of the Sonic this year, paring the brand's passenger car lineup to only the Malibu and Spark, in addition to the Corvette and Camaro sports cars.

Automotive News reported the 2020 demise of the subcompact sedan last year.

Chevy notified dealers last month of its plans to end Sonic production "due to declining demand," said spokesman Kevin Kelly.

Chevy began building the Sonic at GM's Orion Assembly plant in Michigan in 2011. GM introduced the Sonic in response to political calls for a fuel-efficient small car built domestically after GM's federal bailout and bankruptcy.

Orion also builds the Bolt EV. Ending Sonic production will allow Orion to prepare for the freshened Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, a larger utility version of the Bolt, Kelly said. The Bolt EUV will go into production next year.

The elimination of the Sonic will not affect Orion's work force of about 1,125, Kelly added. Read more

Lithia Motors Inc. reported Tuesday that vehicle sales increased in June compared with a year ago.

The Medford, Ore., dealership group, the third-largest U.S. new-vehicle retailer, also said it acquired Smolich Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge and Smolich Nissan in Bend, Ore. The move is estimated to generate $100 million in "steady state annualized revenues," the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lithia credited "notable improvements" throughout its business lines, included a 23 percent gain in same-store used-vehicle sales last month. Same-store new-vehicle sales decreased by 15 percent, and overall same-store vehicle sales rose 3 percent. Service, body and parts sales showed a strong recovery in June, the company said, with same-store sales in that department down just 3 percent for the month.

That's better than the steeper declines experienced earlier in the coronavirus pandemic. Lithia's same-store web traffic soared near…

Former Nissan Motor Co. chief Carlos Ghosn transferred more than $860,000 in October to a company managed by one of two Massachusetts men accused of helping him escape criminal charges in Japan two months later, U.S. prosecutors said.

Ghosn wired the money in two installments to Promote Fox LLC, a company managed by Peter Taylor and one of his brothers, the government said in a Tuesday court filing. Taylor and his father, ex-Green Beret Michael, were arrested by U.S. authorities in May at the request of the Japanese government, which is seeking their extradition for allegedly helping Ghosn flee to Lebanon in December. At the time, Ghosn was out on bail awaiting trial on several financial misconduct charges.

Tuesday’s filing, based on records included in the official extradition request Japan filed last week, indicates that prosecutors in the U.S. and Japan have a detailed understanding of the audacious plot to extract Ghosn from Tokyo. If Michael and Peter Tayl…

NEW YORK -- The remarkable rally in Tesla Inc. shares has put Wall Street in a bind. Their price targets are becoming obsolete almost as fast as they are changed, triggering a surge of revisions, yet an overwhelming majority of analysts still recommend selling the stock.

The latest example of this seemingly contradictory stance came from Morgan Stanley on Tuesday, when analyst Adam Jonas lifted the best-case price target for the electric-vehicle maker to $2,070, after the stock’s “extraordinary” run overshot a previous bull-case estimate of $1,200, which was just set less than five months ago.

But the analyst maintained a sell-equivalent rating on the stock, saying that, even though the market has done “more than a good enough job” of discounting the investment opportunity in the company, it has not sufficiently accounted for risks such as its ability to maintain current profit levels in China and “inevitable” competition from technology firms like Amazon.com I…