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The nation's largest dealer groups are pulling ahead of the pack in online customer service, a report out Monday from retail service tracker Pied Piper found.

Pied Piper used 20 best-practice behaviors to measure the internet lead effectiveness of 15 of the nation's largest dealership groups. These include speed and quality categories, making up 25 percent and 75 percent of a group's score, respectively.

The firm evaluated every dealership in every group represented, with the exception of automotive management services, where a sample of 50 stores was used.

Practices measured include how quickly a customer's text or email is responded to and if a "human" responds to customers when using chat functions on dealer websites.

In Pied Piper's survey, 12 out of 15 groups scored higher than the industry average. Napleton Automotive Group, which ranks No. 13 on the Automotive News list of top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., earned the highest mark…

Tesla is sitting on a hoard of environmental credits that rival automakers may covet if they can't adjust quickly to the new rules dictating which electric vehicles are eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit.

The Inflation Reduction Act passed in August requires automakers to assemble EVs and plug-in hybrids in North America to qualify for tax credit eligibility.

Beginning in January, the law also will require many to set up new battery and manufacturing supply chains in North America or a handful of approved free trade countries for their zero-emission vehicles to qualify for the tax credit incentive. The restrictions become increasingly stringent over the next decade.

In the near term, automakers such as Hyundai and Kia won't have vehicles that qualify for the tax credit, which partially offsets the higher price of electric cars and encourages sales.

That's expected to change over several years as the automakers…

DETROIT — Jeep CEO Christian Meunier says he wants the rugged SUV brand to be viewed as "the antidote to boredom." And electric Jeeps, he contends, are even more effective medicine.

The first of the brand's fully electric vehicles — the trail-ready, Wrangler-inspired Recon and the posh, stylish Wagoneer S — will reach North American dealerships in 2024, Meunier said last week, with two more nameplates slated by 2025. Jeep also has a small EV, the Avenger, planned for Europe and parts of Asia starting next year, though executives have deemed it unsuitable for U.S. consumers.

By 2030, Jeep projects that half of its U.S. sales and all of its European sales will be made up of emission-free models such as these. To get there, it's building a toolbox of electrified options melding off-road prowess with eco-friendly 4xe powertrains.

"I think we found a formula to make Jeep even more exciting while respecting the planet," Meunier told Automoti…

Duck, duck, Detroit

The last time Detroit held an auto show, Kelley Blue Book said the average transaction price for a new vehicle was about $37,000.

Heading into the 2022 Detroit show this week, it's now more than $48,000.

And that only captures a fraction of the revolution this industry has gone through in the 1,300-plus days that have elapsed without a motor show in the Motor City.

This year's show will look a lot different, too, as reporter Michael Martinez writes in this week's issue of Automotive News. Organizers already were planning to retool the show before COVID-19 arrived; the end product, after multiple postponements and an accelerating trend of manufacturers skipping such events, is a "complete reboot," as Detroit Auto Dealers Association President Thad Szott told us.

The hometown automakers are still here, of course, but even General Motors chose to reveal the Chevrolet Equinox EV — a real "game changer" thanks to its $30,00…

More than 1,000 union members at Stellantis' castings plant in Kokomo, Ind., went on strike Saturday after contract negotiations broke down, putting pressure on a key link in the automaker’s production of engines and transmissions for vehicles sold in North America.

Members of UAW Local 1166 said the company has deprived them of a “safe and comfortable workplace” by neglecting to repair HVAC systems and address other health and safety issues, according to a UAW statement. The Stellantis website said the plant is the largest die-cast facility in the world and makes engines and transmission parts.

“Stellantis claims it has no money to meet the basic needs of UAW Local 1166 members while, at the same time, it is making record profits and investing billions in a new battery plant across the street,” UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada said in the statement. “Enough is enough.”

The walkout is a early sign of the tension between automakers and the union as the i…

The president and CEO of ITS America details the life-saving potential of V2X technology, explains why it’s taking so long to bring connected-car tech to the market, and urges a fresh mindset on the concept of infrastructure.

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Editor's note: President Joe Biden is scheduled to walk the floor of the 2022 Detroit auto show Sept. 14.

Dear Mr. President,

Welcome back to the Detroit auto show. We've missed you and every other self-professed auto enthusiast who still garners a visceral thrill just seeing and sitting in the latest and greatest from global automakers.

It's been a while — almost the length of a presidential term — since we've had an auto show in the Motor City.

So as long as you're here, I'd like to take this opportunity to get you up to speed on our industry — beyond just 0-to-60 in the Ford F-150 Lightning or a quarter-mile in a mid-engine 2023 Chevy Corvette Z06. Trust me, you're going to need a deeper understanding of what this transition to electrification means beyond just "This sucker's quick!"

You see, Mr. President, this huge, multitiered trillion-dollar industry is in kind of a weird place right now. Parts of it have never been financially healt…

DETROIT — The 2022 Detroit auto show, which returns this week after a 44-month hiatus, won't be the media-centric news extravaganza of years past.

Only about 10 new vehicles are slated to be unveiled, fewer than half the usual number of journalists are registered to attend, and many major automakers are skipping it altogether.

And that's OK, show organizers say.

Instead, they're focused on improving the consumer experience with a new indoor-outdoor layout featuring numerous ride-and-drive opportunities going well beyond the stodgy, static displays that defined the show for decades.

"The days of 60 reveals happening at our show are probably behind us," Thad Szott, president of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which runs the show, told Automotive News. "This is a complete reboot. This is not the cars-on-carpet show you've been to in the past. It's a completely different, re-imagined show."

To be sure…

Someone stole the catalytic converter from Diane Reid's Hyundai Veracruz while it was parked at a dealership awaiting service. But when the dealership denied liability for the theft, Hyundai stepped in to compensate Reid and apologize.

The automaker had Reid's Veracruz towed to another dealership, paid for it to be detailed inside and out, provided a rental car for a week and gave her a $500 gasoline card for her trouble.

"When a customer's vehicle is in the property of a Hyundai dealership, they have an obligation to take care of the vehicle," Jennifer McCarthy, national manager of public relations for Hyundai Auto Canada, told Global News last week.

Hyundai got involved after Reid's daughter posted about the situation on Facebook, complaining that Orangeville Hyundai in Ontario was refusing to cover the $2,000 cost to replace the stolen catalytic converter. Reid's daughter said the dealer principal, Phil Richards, called police after she mentioned in…

Electric vehicles are becoming more commonplace around the world. This is driving demand for a charging infrastructure that can support this turning point in transportation.

The individual cost may still be a challenge, but the move to EVs is inevitable. This is change driven by need, rather than the whim of suppliers.

The charging infrastructure supporting e-mobility is less coordinated. This can be viewed positively for those looking to enter the market. Public money is in good supply, and private investment is also high. The underlying technology is not particularly complex, which means the barriers to entry are low.

But it isn't quite as simple as putting a socket in a public location and calling it a charge point. Those that are putting equipment into service are referred to as charge point operators, and they must work with the electric vehicle supply equipment manufacturers to develop a strategy that will support the chargi…

California electric vehicle startup Rivian just got a leg up on entering the European market by inking a deal with Mercedes-Benz's van business to produce electric vans in a factory in central or eastern Europe in the next few years.

The collaboration could help Rivian keep up with its more established American EV competitor Tesla, which launched a plant in Germany this year.

This all comes at a crucial time for Rivian, as customers are clamoring for its new electric SUV, pickup and vans. But the company is struggling to ramp up production at its sole factory in Normal, Ill., amid supply chain disruptions and rising materials prices.

Rivian's stock price is down nearly 68 percent year-to-date.

Sharing the costs of a European assembly plant with Mercedes should help Rivian channel more of its cash to build a second U.S. assembly plant slated to open in Georgia in 2025. The young company burned through $1.2 billion in the …

A Texas urologist performed what he says was probably "the world's first Rivian powered vasectomy" after losing electricity during a patient's appointment.

Dr. Christopher Yang posted photos on Twitter showing an extension cord running from his Rivian R1T pickup into the Austin, Texas, clinic where he works. "Patient didn't want to reschedule cause he already had time off," Yang wrote. "Electrocautery was normal, procedure went great!"

Yang told Motor Trend — which named the battery-powered R1T its 2022 Truck of the Year — that he planned to cancel the procedure until a member of his staff joked that he should use the pickup as a power source. The R1T has two 120-volt outlets in its bed, which Rivian undoubtedly figured owners would be more likely to use for camping or cooking than performing surgery. Yang said his cauterizer uses 400 watts, well below the outlets' 1,500-watt maximum.

The story is among the numerous examples of how people have used the…