News

In today’s market, customer loyalty is no longer guaranteed. As inventory levels start to stabilize and high prices and limited incentives persist, protecting your dealership’s loyalty customers from competitors’ conquest attempts is paramount. To ensure both immediate and long-term success, it’s crucial for dealerships to proactively take intentional actions to safeguard their customer base against the competition’s efforts to win them over. What's the best place to start? By staying in consistent contact after a sale, dealers are empowered to proactively prevent customer defection and build customer loyalty. Get started with these customer engagement templates and best practices to: Build trust through personalized messaging that proves you know – and can care for – your customers best. Keep in consistent contact with buyers by speaking to their specific and evolving needs and in their preferred channel of communication. Engage buyers by effectively working the service dri…

GM CEO Mary Barra makes her first visit to China since the pandemic as the U.S. auto giant loses ground to electric rivals in that market. Stellantis invests in a startup making lithium-sulfur EV batteries. Plus, a conversation with Redwood Materials' Jackson Switzer about the larger scope of the recycling company's business in 2023.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

Android

Spotify

Hyundai and Kia are under pressure from lawsuits and regulators after a wave of car thefts last year. The wave was prompted by a TikTok video that showed how to hot-wire Hyundai and Kia vehicles that lack an anti-theft device.

Here’s the fallout by the numbers:

9 million: Hyundai and Kia vehicles on the road without immobilizers 9: Cities suing the automakers 18: State attorneys general who have petitioned NHTSA to issue a recall of vehicles without immobilizers 8: Fatalities related to stolen Hyundai and Kias without immobilizers, according to NHTSA 68: Insurance companies suing Hyundai and Kia over the vehicles $200 million: Settlement amount Hyundai and Kia agreed this month to pay to consumers in a class-action lawsuit over the lack of immobilizers $600 million: How much attorneys estimate the insurance industry will end up paying out to affected owners $5 billion: How much attorneys estimate a nationwide recall of the Hyundai and Kia vehicles would cost 96: P…

Jose Muñoz wears a number of hats at Hyundai.

He is global COO of Hyundai Motor Co. in South Korea and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motors North America. In March, Muñoz, 57, was elected to the automaker's board of directors in Seoul. Hyundai has been on an expansion roll in North America under Muñoz, announcing plans last year to invest $5.5 billion in electric vehicle manufacturing capacity near Savannah, Ga., and introducing its first U.S.-made EV at its Montgomery, Ala., plant, the Genesis Electrified GV70.

He spoke this month with Senior Editor Lindsay Chappell. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: What do you anticipate the U.S. market will do this year? Are we in for sluggish sales?

A: Everybody thought so. But to be honest, we are cautiously optimistic. The market continues to grow. There is pent-up demand from the past couple of years, and now there is more supply. So it's been good for us. So far we've seen that retail is growing at a good pace, …

A group of 27 Senate Republicans on Thursday called on the Biden administration to drop its plan to drastically cut vehicle emissions through 2032 and ramp up EV sales.

In a letter led by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., lawmakers said the administration plan will "effectively mandate a costly transition to electric cars and trucks in the absence of congressional direction." The EPA proposal issued in April estimates sharp emissions cuts would result in 67 percent of new light duty vehicle sales as electric by 2032.

The EPA, which did not immediately comment Thursday, proposed a 56 percent reduction in projected light duty fleet average emissions over 2026 requirements. The EPA also proposed new stricter emissions standards for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks through 2032.

The Biden administration's push to ramp up EV sales is facing significant protests from Republicans in Congress. Environmental groups say the administration should go farthe…

Two of the largest dealership groups in the country expanded their footprints this month while a regional group as well as a partnership also bought stores.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic and import stores in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Alabama and Indiana.

Two transactions involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Ciocca expands in Pennsylvania

Ciocca Dealerships acquired its second Stellantis dealership with a Pennsylvania purchase this month.

The group on May 15 bought Forrer Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Duncannon, Pa., from dealer Jeff Forrer. The store was renamed Ciocca Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Duncannon.

Duncannon is north of Harrisburg.

It marks Ciocca's first acquisition since its August purchase of Flemington Car & Truck Country in New Jersey, the company confirmed.

Ciocca Dealerships, of Allentown, Pa., ranks No. 51 on Automotive News' lis…

The Federal Highway Administration said it awarded a $9.58 million grant to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to conduct connected-vehicle technology research.

The university's Transportation Research Institute will use the money to prepare the city's infrastructure for vehicle technology testing and deployment under the Ann Arbor Connected Environment Reimagined project, according to a statement Thursday by the federal agency.

The grant comes from the Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation program, which funds safety and efficiency innovation projects in the U.S.

The Michigan project will use cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, a wireless communication tool.

"Connected vehicle technologies are a key tool for getting to zero deaths on America's roadways. ... The University of Michigan will help explore vehicle technologies of the future to help us meet this goal," Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in the stat…

Hurry! Nominations close Friday for the fifth annual Techs Rock Awards presented by the TechForce Foundation.

The awards honor professional service technicians who are passionate about their work, show excellent skills and inspire the next generation. Techs can be nominated in one of five categories: Pay It Forward, Rookie of the Year, Die Hard, Outstanding Mentor and Barrier Buster.

A panel of judges will select a winner in each category, who will be awarded more than $1,900 in tools, gift cards, merchandise and other prizes. Those five winners will then be eligible for the grand prize, which will be decided by a public vote in June.

The grand prize winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the STX 2024 automotive conference along with other prizes valued at $6,000.

The Techs Rock Awards are part of TechForce's work force development campaign to inspire and support tomorrow's technicians.

The Aston Martin DB12 launching this fall features a revamped 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine that delivers the same 0-to-60-mph time of 3.5 seconds as the outgoing DB11 equipped with a 5.2-liter V-12.

That's one highlight of the grand touring coupe Aston is banking on to anchor a lineup that begins transitioning to electric drivetrains in about 18 months.

A staple of the British luxury brand for 75 years, the DB is one of the company's most consistent sellers. In what will likely be its final upgrade before an electric DB arrives by 2030, the DB12 is essentially a front-to-rear revamp of the DB11 it replaces.

Engineers redesigned the suspension system and installed an electrically locking rear differential tied into the stability control system that helps the car's tires maintain grip in corners under hard acceleration. The DB12's chassis is also 7 percent stiffer.

Under the hood, the Mercedes-Benz-sourced V-8 pumps…

UAW President Shawn Fain on Wednesday called the hundreds of workers currently on strike against suppliers Clarios and Constellium an "inspiration" to the union as a whole and vowed to keep supporting them.

"All these workers are leading the way for all of us right now," Fain said in a 30-minute Facebook Live appearance. "Their fights are a strong reminder that the way workers build power and make gains in bargaining is by having the collective capacity to shut employers down when our employers refuse to not treat our members fairly. I want striking UAW members to know our million-strong union stands in solidarity with you in the fight for justice."

Roughly 400 workers at a Clarios vehicle battery plant near Toledo this week voted down a tentative contract agreement by a wide margin, extending a strike that began May 8. The plant supplies batteries for General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

"It's a shame," Fain said. "These workers aren't asking for the moon.…

Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving subsidiary Waymo will put its driverless vehicles on Uber Technologies Inc.'s ride-hailing and food delivery platform later this year.

Uber customers in metro Phoenix, where Waymo operates, will be able to use a set number of driverless vehicles for rides and deliveries, according to a joint blog post by the companies Tuesday.

The multiyear partnership follows Waymo's early May move to expand its commercial driverless service in metro Phoenix to 180 square miles and its coverage area in San Francisco.

Waymo's service now stretches across much of Phoenix and its major suburbs. Previously, Waymo operated in downtown Phoenix and the East Valley. Waymo's expanded service also includes a second pick-up and drop-off location at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The number of Waymo vehicles in the Uber fleet will fluctuate, but they will be available via Uber's a…

Li-Metal, a battery materials company based in Canada, says it has produced lithium metal from lithium carbonate, which reduces the number of steps and harmful byproducts involved in refining lithium, a key electric vehicle battery material.

The new technology generates lithium metal without the need for an intermediary step that produces lithium chloride. Refining lithium chloride produces chlorine gas, which is toxic and has corrosive properties.

"It's a route to really mobilize the lithium carbonate that's produced for lithium ion batteries and to transform that into lithium metal that will be needed by next-generation batteries," Maciej Jastrzebski, co-founder and chief technology officer of Li-Metal, told Automotive News. "It opens up basically a line of sight onto a large number of lithium units that can then be converted to metal."

The company's announcement comes amid skyrocketing demand for EVs. Some automakers have prom…