News

GM and Toyota flip the script

Just when you think you have them all figured out, they find a way to surprise you.

Toyota and General Motors, the two top-selling automakers in the U.S., each has its own ideas about electrification. The Detroit stalwart aims to field an all-electric vehicle lineup by 2035 while its Japanese rival takes a more gradual approach with a mix of across-the-board hybridization and a handful of EVs in the near term acting as a bridge to an expanded EV fleet at some point down the road.

However, recent events deviate from those narratives, which we cover in this week's issue of Automotive News.

Toyota Motor Corp. has defended itself against considerable criticism from investors, environmental activists and EV enthusiasts over the perception that the world's largest automaker is lagging behind the rest of the industry, even after it pledged in late 2021 to sell 3.5 million EVs annually across the globe by 2030.

With …

Just when you think you have them all figured out, they find a way to surprise you.

Toyota and General Motors, the two top-selling automakers in the U.S., each has its own ideas about electrification. The Detroit stalwart aims to field an all-electric vehicle lineup by 2035 while its Japanese rival takes a more gradual approach with a mix of across-the-board hybridization and a handful of EVs in the near term acting as a bridge to an expanded EV fleet at some point down the road.

However, recent events deviate from those narratives, which we cover in this week's issue of Automotive News.

Toyota Motor Corp. has defended itself against considerable criticism from investors, environmental activists and EV enthusiasts over the perception that the world's largest automaker is lagging behind the rest of the industry, even after it pledged in late 2021 to sell 3.5 million EVs annually across the globe by 2030.

With that criticism as a backdrop, Asia Edit…

The CEO and co-founder of TeraWatt infrastructure discusses the upcoming launch of a fleet-focused charging network, working with utility companies to meet power needs, and raising $1.1 billion to accelerate electrification efforts.

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Digital retail platforms have mushroomed as car shopping steers online.

But the trend could stall a profit engine for auto dealerships — finance and insurance income.

About 70 percent of in-store car sales at Tim Dahle Nissan Southtowne carry an extended service agreement, said Tyler Slade, operating partner at the suburban Salt Lake City store.

"We're not even half that on vehicle sales via the [email protected] digital platform," Slade told Automotive News.

Nissan's digital tool, launched in 2021, allows customers to shop for vehicles, schedule test drives, complete purchase paperwork and take delivery without stepping inside a brick-and-mortar store.

Slade echoes an industrywide concern that dealerships could leave F&I money on the table without face-to-face discussions with the customer.

It's easier for customers to click away or decline F&I products online than in the store. Read more

Lithia Motors Inc. last week took a significant step toward reaching its expectation to add $4 billion in revenue in 2023 via acquisitions, with the purchase of 14 franchised dealerships from Dennis Ellmer of Priority Auto Group in Virginia.

The June 12 Priority Auto acquisition, which included domestic, import and luxury brands, is expected to add $1.2 billion in annual revenue, Lithia said. The auto retail giant said it has acquired dealerships representing $3.2 billion in annual revenue so far in 2023, most of which stems from its March purchase of Jardine Motors Group in the United Kingdom.

Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer told Automotive News this month that the auto retailer "should come in around $4 billion" of added revenue in 2023 and that its acquisitions under contract were all in the U.S.

That would mean Lithia has to acquire dealerships representing about $800 million more in revenue this year.

"This deal seems in line with management's stra…

About $2,500 in Ford Motor Co. stock is among the ethical concerns prompting a Republican senator to call for an investigation of U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Granholm told the U.S. Senate's energy committee that she recently learned her husband owned the Ford shares, which he sold in May. She testified in an April budget hearing that she did not own any individual stocks.

In a June 9 letter to the committee's chairman, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Granholm said she also should have disclosed stock she owned in six companies that agency ethics officials had determined to be "nonconflicting assets."

"I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks," Granholm wrote.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., responded by asking the Department of Energy's inspector general to examine "multiple instances of questionable ethical conduct since the start of her tenure" in 2021.

Granholm championed Ford and other Michigan automotive compani…

While car dealerships often lean on their service and parts businesses to maintain profitability, the technicians who do the work can sometimes go unnoticed, overshadowed by a greater focus on vehicle sales.

Richmond Ford Auto Group in Virginia was looking to level out the imbalance by recognizing its nearly 60 technicians with individualized banners that hang over each service bay highlighting their expertise and accomplishments.

"In the technician world, they feel a little bit invisible because we celebrate sales all of the time," said Kayla Kody, vice president of business development at Richmond Ford Auto Group. "This definitely showed them, 'We are paying attention to you. Yes, you are important. You drive our business.' "

The group, which includes three stores, a collision center and a commercial truck center, sold 2,239 new and 1,847 used vehicles in 2022, and had more than 55,000 customer repair orders.

The ban…

California auto dealerships have quickly reacted to comply with a new state guaranteed asset protection crackdown by cutting the price of the coverage and selling it less frequently on vehicles with smaller loans, data from Informed.IQ shows.

Assembly Bill 2311 became law in September and took effect Jan. 1, according to Informed.IQ. The bill bans sales of the on California car loans financing less than 70 percent of a vehicle's value or more than the guaranteed asset protection, also known as GAP, would cover. It caps the price of the remaining permitted sales at 4 percent of the amount the borrower finances.

The average new-vehicle loan financed $41,445 during the fourth quarter of 2022, while the average used-vehicle loan involved $27,768, according to Experian.

Deals with loan- to-vehicle-value ratios above the loan-to-value ratio limit in the guaranteed asset protection policy would still be permitted if buyers are notified "in writing, acknowledg…

This month, the Detroit auto show beat back whispers of its potential demise with a bold press release promising that September's event would have "double the number of brands participating."

While it was good to get confirmation of the Motor City's 2023 exhibition, the participation claim was dubious on the face of it. Upon further investigation, it's simply not true.

Last year, there were 14 in-market auto brands with corporate displays: Six from Stellantis, four from GM, Ford's two, plus Toyota and Subaru, both of which brought their B stands rather than their best-in-class A stands. For some reason, show organizers say they had 13 brands last year.

In either case, those numbers aren't doubling, not with actual brands that are sold in the United States through dealerships.

(While some car enthusiasts would enjoy seeing Tesla, Rivian and other direct-to-consumer electric vehicle brands, it isn't really in the inter…