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Finance-and-insurance product sales penetration would increase, and F&I time would be saved if dealerships offered accurate payment calculations online — something that often isn't happening right now, according to a survey of auto dealers polled online in December 2022 by eLEND Solutions.

Sixty-nine percent of dealerships agreed online payment estimator tools give the customer an inaccurate or unrealistic perspective more than half the time. Eighty-three percent of them agreed 60 percent of their online quotes don't match the final monthly payment found in the ultimate sales contract.

If payments displayed to the consumers online matched what lenders would fund — including the dealership's own margin — F&I penetration would grow by 10 percent or more, according to 88 percent of dealerships. More than one-third of dealers, 37 percent, anticipated penetration gains of 15 percent or more.

Payments quoted with that degree of …

Until about two years ago, Gates Automotive Group focused its marketing efforts on monthly sales promotions that were aimed at consumers close to making a purchase decision.

That strategy has evolved. Now, the dealership group in South Bend, Ind., has emphasized brand awareness marketing that combines social media engagement, collaboration with local athletes and business leaders, giveaways and in-person meet-and-greets.

Gates, which sells new Chevrolets and Toyotas, started to think about other ways to tell its story after a social media post spotlighting a well-known salesman generated roughly 12,000 organic impressions, said Jordan Cox, Gates' digital marketing manager. In December 2021, a music video the group created in collaboration with local artists produced similar results on Facebook and YouTube.

A sales promotion, by contrast, might get 160 impressions, Cox said.

"Since we've made that shift, we've definitel…

Drivetrain components and systems manufacturer American Axle & Manufacturing on Friday reported a first-quarter net loss of $5.1 million.

That's compared with net income of $1 million in the first quarter of 2022.

In a Friday morning call, executives attributed losses to new program launch costs, material and labor inflation and market inefficiencies caused by supply chain and semiconductor issues. The company was dinged by significant customer production downtime, especially in full-size truck programs.

"The operating environment remains dynamic, but we are hopeful to see some stabilization in the second half of the year," CEO David Dauch said on a call Friday.

CFO Christopher May said he expects launch costs to continue into the second quarter but reduce in the second half of the year. He expects labor inflation to remain throughout the year but is "cautiously optimistic" that current market volatility will gradually stabilize.

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Carvana shares surged 34 percent in early trading after the struggling online used retailer released its first-quarter earnings results. Lucid executives face tough questions after sluggish sales. Plus, a conversation about tracking the paperless progress of dealerships and lenders.

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After booting out a CEO convicted of fraud, launching an electric heavy-duty truck and getting ready to start the first delivery of its flagship hydrogen fuel cell big rig, Nikola Corp. is looking to the next phase of its turnaround.

The company's success is pinned on the fuel cell truck and its efforts to create depots where customers can get clean hydrogen to run the zero-emission vehicles.

"I think that's very important because if you just have a world-class truck, a best-in-class truck, as we have, customers quite rightly will say, 'Well, we're out of hydrogen,' " Michael Lohscheller, Nikola's CEO, told Automotive News. "What we want to do from the Nikola side is really offer the truck and the energy."

The success of these ventures will be key for Nikola to become a serious competitor in the truck space, contribute to solving one of transportation's most confounding issues and build up its reputation as a transformative company with technology that…

First-quarter net income at Magna International Inc., North America's largest auto supplier, fell 43 percent from a year earlier to $209 million as inflationary pressures took a bite out of the company's bottom line.

The supplier said higher labor, energy and engineering costs cut into its profit margin, as did lower scrap steel and aluminum sales and inefficiencies at a facility in Europe.

But sales in the period rose 11 percent from a year earlier to $10.67 billion, benefiting from improved light-vehicle production in North America and Europe and the launch of new programs. And Magna increased its financial outlook for the year on better global vehicle production estimates and as the company works to reduce expenses and improve its cost structure, CEO Swamy Kotagiri said.

"We have remained focused on driving operational improvements, working with our customers to recover inflationary costs and executing on our strategy to deliver long-term value," Kot…

The continued turbulence of the automotive industry and the rapid transition to electrification has driven seating supplier Adient plc to take a new approach to doing business.

It's no longer about growing market share at all costs, or winning every contract no matter the value proposition, according to CEO Doug Del Grosso.

The Plymouth-based company, projected to hit $15 million in revenue this year, has become more deliberate about walking away from business it doesn't like and more aggressive about renegotiating contracts that no longer make financial sense.

"We've changed our mindset over the course of the last four years," Del Grosso told Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News, during a wide-ranging interview at the company's Plymouth Technical Center. "It's very much bottom-line performance-based and not top-line growth. Unless we're absolutely sure we can get a return on our investment, we don't really measure performance in …

BEIJING — China will speed up the construction of charging facilities for new energy vehicles such as electric cars, and improve policies for purchasing and using them, state media quoted the nation's cabinet as saying on Friday.

Improved charging infrastructure for new energy vehicles will help unleash the potential of rural consumption and support growth of rural tourism, adding new impetus to rural revitalization, the cabinet was quoted as saying after a regular meeting.

The government is studying policies to promote auto consumption and support modernization as China's NEV market faces challenges from weak domestic demand, Xin Guobin, vice minister at Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said last month.

The cabinet, or State Council, has approved plans to speed up the development of advanced manufacturing clusters, state media also reported.

Developing such clusters will be vital for steering China's industries towards innovation,…

A possible electrical problem in a 2009 Dodge Journey may have caused the death of a woman trapped in her burning car. According to NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation report, there are about 82,500 similar vehicles.

NHTSA on May 1 said it opened a preliminary evaluation in response to the December 2022 incident. The ODI learned of the incident in January 2023.

According to the NHTSA report, the driver pulled over and called for help when all warning lights began flashing, wipers came on, horn started honking, windows would not go down and doors would not unlock. The vehicle caught fire, with the fire appearing to begin in the engine compartment and eventually consuming the vehicle.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the friends and families of this customer and will cooperate fully with the NHTSA," a North American spokesman for Stellantis told Automotive News.

The vehicle was equipped with both automatic and manual locks, according to th…

Lordstown Motors on Thursday reported a steep fall in its cash reserves and warned it might have to stop making its Endurance electric pickup truck in the near future unless it finds a partner.

The cash-strapped EV maker had earlier this week said it might be forced to file for bankruptcy, citing uncertainty over a $170 million investment deal with its major shareholder Foxconn.

Lordstown, named after the town in Ohio where it is based, said on Thursday it was in talks with the Apple supplier but was yet to reach a deal.

In May 2022, Lordstown Motors completed a deal to sell its Ohio factory for $230 million to Foxconn, excluding assets such as the hub motor assembly and battery pack lines.

Foxconn will make Fisker Inc's electric compact car at the Ohio factory starting next year, the EV startup has said.

Lordstown Motors had cash and cash equivalents of $108.1 million as of March 31, down from $203.6 million a year earlier.

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Carvana Co. said Thursday it sold fewer used vehicles in the first quarter as a result of a continued pullback on growth initiatives and reduced inventory size, but reported boosted total per-vehicle profit and a slimmer net loss.

The online used-vehicle retailer reported a net loss of $286 million for the quarter ended March 31, smaller than the $506 million it lost in the first quarter of 2022. Revenue fell 25 percent to $2.6 billion. It also reported an adjusted loss of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $24 million, significantly smaller than its adjusted EBITDA loss of $348 million a year ago.

"Given our strong start to the year, we expect to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA in Q2 2023," CEO Ernie Garcia said in a statement.

Carvana sold 79,240 used vehicles, down 25 percent from 105,185 sold in the year-earlier period. That sales volume figure was just over a preliminary estimate the company gave in a March 22 regula…