News – Page 192

Former NFL standout finds parallels between football, auto retailing

Peter Boulware, an NFL veteran turned franchised dealer, wants his two Toyota stores to reach top potential before expanding his holdings. The retired Baltimore Ravens linebacker will consider opportunities if they arise but sees no reason to rush.

"I'm open to anything, but I'd say I'm really more in the mindset of, 'I just want to be excellent with what I have right now,' " Boulware told Automotive News.

Boulware in April 2021 bought the former Fred Anderson Toyota of Columbia, in West Columbia, S.C., a store he renamed Peter Boulware Toyota of Columbia. That deal came nearly two decades after he — while still on the gridiron — became a part owner in the former Legacy Toyota in Tallahassee, Fla., in 2003. In 2020, Boulware became majority owner of the Florida store, renaming it Peter Boulware Toyota.

The 2021 purchase represented a route home for the Columbia, S.C., native, a connection that played a crucial role in his decision to buy the store when …

Monetizing apps: Experts warn of backlash

As automakers continue their digitalization efforts, focus is shifting to the development of in-car applications and subscription services in the hopes of creating lucrative additional revenue streams.

By offering paid apps — either through third parties or created in-house — automakers believe they can develop a closer relationship with customers after they purchase a vehicle while building a revenue stream that extends beyond the original purchase, even to successive owners. Fees could vary between subscription services and upfront payments, depending on the service and company strategy.

Ford Motor Co. projects that the global market for connected functions such as its BlueCruise driver-assist technology, new features and upgraded software content could top $20 billion by 2030.

Yet the apps that will make money for automakers aren't the ones that first looked like the good opportunities, said Ford CEO Jim Farley.

"They're not what we thought,"…

BYD, Tesla adjust prices, extend deals to start new year

SHANGHAI -- Leading Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD Co. has adjusted product pricing, citing the impact of reduced subsidies for new energy vehicles since November 2022.

Official guidance prices will rise by between 2,000 yuan ($290) and 6,000 yuan for various models beginning Jan. 1, the company said on its official Weibo account.

Tesla Inc. is starting 2023 as it ended 2022: with incentives aimed at propping up sales in China.

The carmaker is offering Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover buyers as much as 10,000 yuan ($1,450) if they take delivery by Feb. 28, according to Tesla’s website. The company is extending a 6,000-yuan subsidy it started offering in early December, and the other 4,000-yuan subsidy tied to purchasing insurance through Tesla was first introduced in November.

The pricing adjustments at the major EV makers come as the Chinese economy faces new headwinds from a surge in COVID cases after the government eased containm…

Virginia’s Madhur Behl pushes the envelope in robot race cars (Episode 179)

The University of Virginia professor previews the upcoming Indy Autonomous Challenge at CES, discusses his work with the Cavalier Autonomous Racing team and explores how self-driving technology might migrate from racing to robotaxis.

How do I subscribe?

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Spotify: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" can be streamed through Spotify on your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Click here to subscribe.

Google Play: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" is available on Android devices through the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe.

Connecting the dots between vehicle safety and entertainment is critical

The love affair that people have with their automobiles continues to flourish. The record prices consumers remain willing to pay for new vehicles in a supply-constrained environment offers indisputable evidence of the ongoing demand for cars and light trucks that feature the latest safety and infotainment technologies.

Rapidly evolving next-generation innovations — including advances in wireless networking, edge computing and intelligent imaging technologies, among many others — are elevating the driving experience while introducing opportunities to significantly enhance road safety.

Fulfilling the full potential of technology for safety and entertainment, however, will only be realized if drivers and passengers understand, trust and properly use the features and functions being made available. This is why it is so important to connect the dots between auto technology and human adoption. It is imperative as a growing number of consumers view their vehicles as …

TrueCar: What the market will bear

What it is: A monthly forecast of the average new-vehicle price paid by U.S. consumers across 12 auto manufacturers. TrueCar also forecasts a monthly average across the industry. Current-month data is presented alongside a comparison with the previous and year-ago months to show the percentage increase or decrease in average prices paid.

Where it comes from: TrueCar uses data from its network of 10,000 dealers in the U.S. to calculate average transaction prices, or ATP. TrueCar also says its insights come from an analysis of industry sales trends and conditions.

How it's used: ATP data is used to show the threshold that consumers are willing to pay for a new vehicle during a given period of time, which could reflect external macroeconomic factors impacting the industry, including interest rates, inflation, income and unemployment levels. The microchip shortage coupled with the sharp increase in demand following the pandemic created an imbalance in supply and de…

Highlights from the latest Daily Drive podcasts, Dec. 26-28

Here are highlights from the latest episodes of 'Daily Drive', Automotive News' weekday podcast, Dec. 26-28, hosted by Jamie Butters with Kellen Walker.

"I've heard from all three of the brands ... that they were all definitely disappointed — and some, you would say, irritated — by the rug that was pulled out from underneath them." -- Carly Schaffner, Automotive News reporter, on the reaction of Hyundai, Kia and Genesis' U.S. brands to being left out of new electric vehicle consumer tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act

"You can maybe invest $10 billion to get autonomous vehicles up and running, and maybe that's not enough. Maybe there's another $10 billion ahead right now. And not everybody wants to continue playing that game." -- Pete Bigelow, Automotive News director of tech and innovation coverage, on the ups and downs of the autonomous driving industry in 2022

Experian vehicle registration data

What it is: U.S. new-vehicle registration data gathered by the financial services firm Experian. The data set provides greater detail than monthly or quarterly sales reports from automakers. Experian breaks down the new registrations by state, region, fuel type and other categories. The California New Car Dealers Association uses the Experian data in its quarterly sales report.

Where it comes from: Experian collects the new registrations filed with individual state departments of motor vehicles and other sources to feed its North American vehicle database. Experian says its database has information on more than 900 million current and out-of-operation vehicles.

How it's used: Registration data offers granular detail to identify sales trends and also provides a window into manufacturer sales activity. For example, Tesla does not break out its reported global sales numbers by individual country on a monthly basis, but the new registration data serves as a rough e…

Automotive News Research & Data Center: What’s being built

What it is: A breakdown of how many new vehicles have been produced in North America — sorted by automaker, brand, model, country, plant and other categories.

Where it comes from: The production figures are pulled together from a combination of automaker reports, third-party input and Automotive News estimates. Automotive News does not disclose the third-party sources or how it calculates the estimates.

How it's used: The data can be useful in determining changes in factory production levels over a period of time. It is an especially helpful tool for tracking vehicle demand or for highlighting the operational impact of the global semiconductor shortage and other supply chain snarls and labor challenges in recent years. The data provides a general sense of what inventory levels or sales might be in a given month.

How it might be misused: Because some numbers are estimates, it can be hard to accurately compare production figures betwee…

Xtime: Measuring against the pre-COVID world

What it is: A monthly look at how franchised dealerships' service departments are performing, measured by the number of repair orders and revenue received from those jobs.

Where it comes from: Cox Automotive's Xtime brand, which provides software for dealership service departments and extracts the information on repair order volume and revenue.

How it's used: Presented as an index, the metrics show how those areas have tracked since January 2019. A number greater than 100 means repair order volume and revenue in a given month increased compared with January 2019, while a number less than 100 means a decline. The charts can show how service departments' business is doing over time.

How it might be misused: An index can be interpreted incorrectly if the reader doesn't have context with which to draw comparisons. A figure less than 100 could still represent a year-over-year or month-over-month increase for a particular metric, for insta…

Ford reports most U.S. vehicle recalls for second year, partial NHTSA data shows

WASHINGTON — For the second consecutive year, Ford Motor Co. has reported the most U.S. vehicle recalls of any automaker, partial NHTSA data shows.

Through Dec. 19, Ford had issued 65 recalls affecting more than 8.6 million vehicles in 2022. In 2021, the automaker issued 53 recalls covering nearly 5.4 million vehicles.

The U.S. recall data comes as Ford continues to work on improving manufacturing operations and combating quality issues, particularly on its high-profile vehicles.

In November, Ford recalled nearly 634,000 Bronco Sport and Escape crossovers globally for fire risks. Months before, the automaker had issued a stop-sale to dealers as part of its recall of nearly 50,000 Mustang Mach-E crossovers for potential power loss. Federal investigators also launched an investigation last year into "catastrophic engine failures" in the popular 2021 Bronco SUV.

"While we don't ever want customers inconvenienced by pro…

Cox’s Dealer Sentiment Index: A pulse check on auto retailers

What it is: A pulse check of the franchised, independent and overall auto retail industry. Each quarter, Cox conveys dealers' sense of the market today and what they expect in three months. It also inquires about other topics, including store profits, inventory and business challenges.

Where it comes from: Cox surveys hundreds of franchised and independent dealers to produce an index each quarter. The answers typically come from department managers or highly ranked staff, and are weighted by dealership type and sales. Most responses are scored between 0 and 100, with higher numbers signifying strength or increases. A 50 signifies stable or average.

How it's used: Dealerships can compare their own situation and market to national sentiments expressed by peers, both on a quarterly basis and over time. The survey allows comparisons between the current market, the pandemic years, and conditions before the COVID-19 pandemic.

How it might…