Fort Wayne, IN – (May 8, 2020) – Vision Dealer Solutions is making it possible for dealers to sell F&I door-to-door and beyond with VisionTouch™ and VisionTouch™ Virtual. These products are more essential than ever with today’s challenges and the necessity of conducting business remotely. With VisionTouch™ Virtual, dealers can create a virtual customer experience simply by adding the web conferencing software of their choice. This allows dealers to display sales presentations, product materials and more on a customer’s computer or use video conferencing for a more personal interaction. Once a customer has made a decision, dealers can use Remote F&I™ and vSignature™ to complete the deal on the customer’s phone. The two can be used simultaneously, allowing the dealer to show something on the customer’s computer while displaying documents on their mobile device for eSigning. “Today more than ever, it’s essential that dealers have the tools they need to conduct…
Captive’s strength helping GM get through pandemic
The strength of GM Financial has been a bright spot for General Motors during the coronavirus crisis. GM's captive has enough liquidity to stand largely on its own, the ability to defer existing customers' loan payments and the power to attract new buyers with generous financing incentives.
At the end of the first quarter, GM Financial had $24.9 billion in liquidity, which would cover at least six months of net cash needs without tapping capital markets or GM, CEO Dan Berce said. Under its support agreement with GM, the lender has a $2 billion cushion before it would need any additional capital from the automaker.
GM expects 2020 credit losses to range from 2 to 2.5 percent and for used-car values to decline 7 to 10 percent industrywide.
"We could experience double that credit loss expectation and double that decline in used-car values, and it wouldn't eat up the whole $2 billion capital cushion. And GM wouldn't have to pay capital," Berce said.
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Waymo’s first funding round reaches $3 billion
Amid much uncertainty in the broader mobility industry, Waymo has added fresh funding to its coffers.
The self-driving tech company said Tuesday it has raised an additional $750 million in an extension of its first external funding round. The addition brings outside investment in the Google-backed company to $3 billion.
New investors include T. Rowe Price Associates Inc., Perry Creek Capital and Fidelity Management & Research Co. Other investors were undisclosed.
"COVID-19 has underscored how fully self-driving technology can provide safe personal mobility and delivery services," CEO John Krafcik said in a written statement. "We're grateful these partners share our mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they're going."
Waymo did not specify a valuation of the company. Investment bank Morgan Stanley estimated its value at $105 billion in September, though a year earlier, the firm had said Waymo was worth $175 billio…
Commuters choose cars over public transport to avoid exposure to coronavirus
LONDON, BEIJING, FRANKFURT -- James Li, a public relations account director, would rather spend an hour sitting in Beijing traffic than risk 30 minutes exposed to crowds on a train.
"Traffic is as bad as it could be" but the subway is still too dicey," he said.
In Frankfurt, real estate assistant Anna Pawliczek is driving to work for the first time in her career. "I definitely have always preferred to chill out in the train, instead of being stuck at traffic lights," she said.
But days after Germany ended its lockdown, her company is asking returning employees to avoid public transportation at all costs.
Gasoline demand is rebounding, suggesting that the car -- at least for now -- is making a comeback. As lockdowns ease and parts of the world reopen for business, driving has emerged as the socially distant transportation mode of choice and is offering some near-term relief to an oil market fresh off its worst crash in history and reeling from an u…
FCA implements safety measures in preparation for N.A. restart
DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Tuesday released plans detailing how it will resume North American production next week.
The automaker is implementing new policies in its U.S. and Canada manufacturing centers to ensure that cleanliness and social distancing are in line with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
"We have drawn on our collective global expertise and best practices to rethink our production processes to put in place comprehensive protocols to keep our work force safe," FCA CEO Mike Manley said in a statement.
In preparation for reopening in North America, FCA cleaned and disinfected more than 57 million square-feet of production floor and will implement a daily health risk assessment that must be completed by employees.
The assessment consists of employees taking their temperature less than two hours before reporting to work and com…
Toyota RAV4, heralding the crossover, is released in Japan in 1994
The RAV4 compact crossover is released by Toyota on May 10, 1994, in Japan, ushering in the era of car-based crossovers and SUVs.
Beginning with briefings in 1986, Toyota engineers sought to create a vehicle that passenger-car operators could easily drive, with greater maneuverability and a relatively high driver's seat to enhance visibility.
The small crossover debuted as the RAV Four concept at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show. Toyota introduced a revised version of the concept at the 1993 Tokyo auto show that more closely resembled the final production version. In addition to Japan, the RAV4 was initially sold in Europe, with U.S. sales beginning in early 1996.
The RAV4 named was a contraction of "recreational active vehicle" with "four-wheel drive."
The first-generation RAV4 featured a frameless, car-like monocoque body and a front-wheel-drive-based, full-time four-wheel-drive system, making it a new type of four-wheel-…
Uber approaches Grubhub with takeover offer, report says
Uber Technologies Inc. has made an offer to acquire food-delivery company Grubhub Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.
The companies are in talks about a deal and could reach an agreement as soon as this month, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public.
Deliberations are ongoing and talks could still fall through, the people said. A representative for Grubhub couldn’t immediately comment, while a spokesperson for Uber couldn’t immediately be reached.
Grubhub shares climbed as much as 37 percent in New York trading after being temporarily halted, valuing the company at $5.6 billion. Uber, with a market value of about $57 billion, rose as much as 6.1 percent.
Uber is shuttering its own food-delivery unit, Uber Eats, in seven countries where the service has proven unpopular, it said last week. Those markets represented 1 percent of Uber Eats gross bookings and 4 percent of the b…
Digital shift could include selling cars from home
I was a remote worker before COVID-19. A few days a week, for several months, I'd cut down a commute that could last two hours each way and log on from home.
The coronavirus has turned my home office setup into a regular routine. For me and likely millions of others.
Dealerships have had to navigate this, too, while showrooms are closed.
For an industry that has long relied on getting people in the door to seal a deal in person — and one that has taken its share of criticism for being slow to adapt to e-commerce — the transition to remote work is not a natural one.
Yet it's an extension of a larger shift toward online vehicle sales and remote deliveries that the pandemic has accelerated. For dealerships that can sell cars only virtually right now, there isn't much need for a full staff of sales associates.
There are, however, opportunities for home-based Internet sales and business development center employees to respond to leads and help c…
Lamborghini adds rwd variant to Huracan Evo Spyder
Since the Lamborghini Huracan was freshened for the 2020 model year and given the Evo moniker, the automaker has quickly rolled out additional variants of the sports car.
The rear-wheel-drive Huracan Evo Spyder is the latest to join the mix with an online debut last week. Like the rwd coupe introduced this year, power is supplied by a V-10 engine with 610 hp and 413 pound-feet of torque.
Just as important, the convertible gets the new performance traction-control system that debuted in the coupe. Lamborghini says the system delivers torque when the vehicle is realigning after drifting or side-slipping.
"With rear-wheel drive that means basically [you] go back to your instincts, go back to your senses, be yourself and experience the purest technology and excitement of rear-wheel drive with an advanced traction-control system that allows the driver to have a lot of fun," Alessandro Farmeschi, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini America, said in an interview. Read more
How minicars will survive by electrifying, evolving
European car buyers still want minicars, for their ease of parking, low cost and fuel efficiency. But automakers say new emissions rules that require costly modifications are making them economically unfeasible.
So, how can the key entry-level segment be saved?
In some cases, automakers are offering electric versions of existing models. In others, they are blurring the line between minicars and models one size up. A few players, including some new entrants, believe that limited-range electric quadricycles are the answer.
Minicars -- also known as city cars or A-segment cars -- were Europe's fifth-largest segment in 2019, with more than 1.1 million sales, according to data from JATO Dynamics. Sales fell 3.9 percent from 2018, representing a decline of about 45,000 units.
"It's one of the very few stable car segments," said Felipe Munoz, lead automotive analyst at JATO Dynamics. "It's lost a bit of share because overall sales have grown slightly in E…
Bentley gains from China’s ‘astonishing’ virus rebound
Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark says China's rebound from coronavirus-induced lockdowns has been "astonishing," resulting in a surge in demand for ultraluxury models from the automaker
“In one week in April the order intake for us was greater than any individual month in the six months leading up to it," Hallmark told BBC Radio 4 on Monday. "It’s fair to say the rebound in China is quite astonishing.”
The Volkswagen Group subsidiary restarted production at its factory in Crewe, England, on May 11. It is building cars at half the rate prior to the plant's shutdown in March as it tries to balance protecting the health of its workers against keeping pace with demand.
Like most automakers Bentley temporarily halted output in Europe in March to help slow an outbreak of the virus.
Bentley started the year with 8,000 orders after it had finally overcome delays in launching the new Continental GT coupe and convertible, and the Flying Spur sedan. Hallmark said …
New Audi infotainment system opens up digital offerings
Audi will roll out an advanced, more powerful infotainment system for the 2021 model year across most of its cars and crossovers, broadening the vehicles' ability to deliver satellite radio and Internet connectivity as well as enabling consumers to purchase digital upgrades.
The modular MIB 3 system, which will debut on the 2021 Audi A4 and A5, is Linux-based and comes with a processor that is exponentially faster than the MIB 2 system, the German premium brand says. It will eventually migrate across most of the Audi lineup.
The system's internal modem is capable of download speeds of up to 1Gbps and will be capable of serving up dual-band Wi-Fi to passengers, the brand says. The integrated satellite radio will be equipped with 360L service from SiriusXM, expanding the number of available channels and opening up personalization options as well as on-demand audio.
Audi said the MIB 3 system will also allow it to offer digital upgra…