News

General Motors didn’t just halt Twitter advertising after Elon Musk bought the social network. The automaker’s CEO and vehicle brands haven’t even tweeted since.

Mary Barra last posted on Oct. 27, the same day that Musk closed his $44 billion purchase, when GM’s leader retweeted a message from autonomous-vehicle startup Cruise LLC. Since then, Barra and GM’s consumer-vehicle brand accounts -- including Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC -- have been conspicuously quiet.

The Twitter absence suggests GM’s retreat from the platform was more comprehensive than indicated when it joined other brands pausing advertising last month. The automaker said then that it would temporarily halt paid ads while trying to better understand the direction of the site under its new ownership.

The complications for automakers on Twitter are heightened because Musk also runs Tesla Inc., the leading maker of EVs. GM aims to make its entire lineup electric by 2035 and other com…

Two growing auto retailers expanded with multiple third-quarter and fourth-quarter transactions.

Here's a look at the deals involving import and luxury dealerships in West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Massachusetts. Two deals involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups list.

Ganley goes on Kia buying spree

Growing Ken Ganley Cos. entered a new state and bulked up its Ohio footprint with acquisitions in September and this month.

The group, of Broadview Heights, Ohio, bought Freedom Kia of Clarksburg in Bridgeport, W.Va., from Mike Wood on Sept. 1, according to CEO Ken Ganley. The dealership was renamed Ken Ganley Kia Clarksburg.

It marks the group's first dealership in West Virginia, Ganley said. Bridgeport is in the northern part of the state, southwest of Morgantown.

The acquisition follows Ganley's February purchase of a Kia dealership in Mentor, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland.

On Nov. 8, Ke…

Vehicle listings company TrueCar is piloting an online credit application for Southern California car shoppers looking to buy or lease a vehicle. The feature means customers won't need to go to the dealership to complete finance and insurance forms and will have access to real-time final pricing information.

If the launch goes smoothly, the company plans to offer the application to TrueCar customers in other markets, Alain Nana-Sinkam, senior vice president of business development, told Automotive News.

TrueCar, of Santa Monica, Calif., connects car buyers with inventory from about 12,000 dealerships in its U.S. network. The company has about 200 dealership partners in the Southern California market. In June, TrueCar announced its acquisition of digital retail platform provider Digital Motors of Irvine, Calif.

On the TrueCar website, customers select a specific vehicle in stock at a dealership in its network and directly contact that dealership to comp…

While nationwide sales of certified pre-owned vehicles are on pace to decline from 2021 levels, dealers who participate in the Ford Blue Advantage program are experiencing double-digit gains.

Ford Motor Co. says CPO sales for the roughly 1,400 dealers who are part of Blue Advantage were up about 15 percent year over year through October vs. a 12 percent decrease for CPO sales nationwide. Some retailers are seeing gains of as much as 40 percent.

Such sales have become vital over the past few years as supply chain issues and production cutbacks have limited new-vehicle availability.

"It's been part of our business we've really been able to lean on," said Brian Godfrey, president of Pat Milliken Ford in Redford, Mich.

Godfrey says his store sold just over 1,000 CPO vehicles in 2021 and he surpassed that total in less than 10 months this year. He anticipates selling more than 1,400 CPO vehicles this year, a 40 percent increase.

Godfrey, who j…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ EVs take slice of pizza delivery

Domino's Pizza Inc. said Monday it will roll out a fleet of nearly 800 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles around the country to deliver pizza orders — the largest such EV delivery effort.

Doing so offers advantages for the company, executives said, including the capability for multiple days of delivery on a single charge, zero tailpipe emissions, advanced safety features and lower average maintenance costs than nonelectric vehicles.

Domino's CEO Russell Weiner pointed out that Domino's first launched pizza delivery in 1960 with a Volkswagen Beetle and in 2015 tested autonomous vehicles for delivery.

"Domino's has always been on the cutting edge of pizza delivery and electric delivery cars make sense as vehicle technology continues to evolve," Weiner said in the release. "We've made a commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and this is one way we can begin reducing our environmental imp…

The head of Toyota brand sales in North America talks about the radically redesigned Prius unveiled last week. LG Chem says it will invest about $3.2 billion to build a battery cathode factory in Tennessee. Mazda’s plan to catch up on EVs totals $11 billion. And Lithia hires Aston Martin’s former Americas president.

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New York's Vision Automotive Group sold 10 dealerships to Atlantic Coast Automotive Inc., according to the Rochester Business Journal and a person briefed on the transaction.

Atlantic Coast Automotive, of Miami Lakes, Fla., bought three Hyundai stores, three Nissan stores, two Kia dealerships, a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store and a Buick-GMC store. The dealerships are in Rochester, East Rochester, Webster and Canandaigua. Those cities are part of Greater Rochester in upstate New York.

The deal marks Atlantic Coast's second dealership acquisition in the state this the year. In May, it bought six dealerships in upstate New York from Nye Automotive Group.

The bulk of the Atlantic Coast-Vision Automotive transaction took place in mid-September, according to the person. A Sept. 30 Rochester Business Journal story said property deeds for stores located in Monroe County were filed that day and on Sept. 29 for dealerships in Ontario County.

The story, cit…

As online used-car dealer Carvana Co.’s share price unwinds at a fever pitch, Wall Street analysts are slashing targets and warning conditions could worsen.

With the company’s shares spiraling down a staggering 97 percent this year, analysts’ average price targets struggled to keep pace, despite coming down sharply. That changed this month, and in just the past week at least three analysts downgraded the stock and slashed their targets, saying the combination of weakening economic conditions and the car dealer’s heavy debt load could lead to more dire outcomes.

“We are lowering our price target to $7 from $30 to reflect a higher likelihood of insolvency by 2024 without a faster reduction in operating costs and/or access to significant liquidity,” Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in a note on Tuesday.

Carvana shares fell for a fifth day, sinking as much as 5 percent to a fresh record low of $6.70 on Tuesday.

Average price targets on …

Used Car Week has come and gone, and as I parse the many notes and recordings I gathered during my time in San Diego, I'd like to think I've gleaned an improved understanding of the state of the used-car market.

And I have. At least for now.

If the last two years and eight months have proved anything, it's how quickly the auto industry and markets within it can change. The industry saw firsthand how instantly a phenomenon as world-stopping as the coronavirus pandemic threw operations out of whack — parts shortages and supply chain issues sprang up, new-vehicle production stagnated and dealers turned to used cars and trucks to supplement their inventories.

Through 2021, dealers saw a need to fill their lots with even more used vehicles. That year, in a time when new vehicles were scarce, a dealership's used vehicles sometimes became the lifeblood of business. Dealers saw a need to become innovative with how quickly they acquired those vehicles — after all…

A storied Honda nameplate has been retooled for 2023, with the automaker marking it as the most powerful vehicle ever produced by the brand.

With 315 hp and 310 pound-feet of torque from its 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, the 2023 Civic Type R is not a remaking of the 25-year-old nameplate, but a wholesale improvement on the small things. These tweaks make for a big step up in overall handling and power, early reviews say.

While the exterior is subtle, maintaining the previous model's restrained style, a redesigned front bumper, larger front fender grilles and a new side sill combine to provide more airflow efficiency and give the Type R a more aggressive stance.

A new "+R" driving mode, located on the steering wheel, allows the driver to check engine rpm and gear position with greater clarity. An infotainment console, similar to that in the 2023 Honda Civic, is present in the middle of the dash.

Early reviewers are impressed with the sum of the c…

From microchips to lithium batteries, technology is revolutionizing the future of ground transportation. Electric vehicles (EVs) have now become top of mind for many US households. About 40% of new vehicle shoppers are considering purchasing an EV within the next 12 months.1 With the rise of pioneers and challenger automakers, incumbent automakers are off to the races to have fully electric cars available. As more automakers enter the EV space, competition in the industry has grown to new heights. Here are some ways automakers can stand out with their EV marketing.

1. Discover audiences for your electric vehicles with Amazon’s Your Garage

Your Garage is a dedicated portal for car and motorcycle customers across the US, Europe, India, and Japan to help them manage their vehicle’s ownership. Amazon’s Your Garage offers customers a customized set of products and services related to their vehicle based on their personal preferences. The result is a central place where A…

Lithia Motors Inc. has hired former Aston Martin Americas and Mercedes-Benz USA executive Adam Chamberlain as regional president of operations for the growing auto retailer's East region.

Chamberlain's arrival at Lithia comes just weeks after his departure as president of Aston Martin's Americas region was announced. Chamberlain had joined the British ultraluxury brand in mid-November 2021.

Chamberlain was previously vice president of sales and product management at Mercedes-Benz USA. He was named an Automotive News Rising Star in 2017.

Lithia on Tuesday said Chamberlain is responsible for overseeing its operations teams in its East region,plus supporting network development.

"Adam has over 25 years in the automotive world and brings a deep understanding of national and international markets," Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a statement. "Adam's proactive and collaborative leadership combined with an acute love for store operations will fit well a…