News

AutoNation Inc. opened three used-vehicle-only AutoNation USA stores this year with more in the works, moving the country's second-largest dealership group closer to its goal of 130-plus outlets by the end of 2026.

"The expansion of AutoNation USA remains a core tenet of our expansion and densification efforts," AutoNation CEO Mike Manley said on the company's April 20 earnings call.

AutoNation USA stores opened in the first quarter in Austin, Texas, and Albuquerque, N.M., CFO Joe Lower said on the call. A Colorado Springs, Colo., location had a grand opening Tuesday, May 16.

Under then-CEO Mike Jackson, AutoNation in 2016 revived the AutoNation USA brand, years after Jackson had closed most of the group's used-only stores. He then called for as many as 20 possible stores. The effort continued, initially, until 2018, when AutoNation said it would pause those expansion plans. It again revamped growth efforts in 2020 for the brand a…

Used-vehicle-only retailers and some of the six publicly traded dealership groups in their latest quarters said they favored boosting gross profit per used vehicle they retailed and not necessarily growing sales volume.

For used-retail giant CarMax Inc., keeping gross profit per vehicle stable was a priority, CEO Bill Nash said last month. Online used-vehicle retailers Carvana Co. and Vroom Inc. also said they swapped sales volume growth — which they chased as the e-commerce used-vehicle market heated up in 2020 and 2021 — to work on improving per-vehicle gross profit.

One of the public groups, Asbury Automotive Group Inc., said it focused on profitability in its used-vehicle side of the business.

"We just determined that it didn't make sense to chase volume," CEO David Hult said during Asbury's earnings call on April 25.

The retailers and dealership groups also said they grappled in their latest quarters with other …

Tesla Inc. is offering discounts of more than $1,300 on some Model 3 cars in its U.S. inventory following even heavier discounts in Europe, according to a Reuters' review of its website, even as the electric carmaker has raised U.S. prices on most newly ordered cars this month.

Facing economic headwinds and mounting competition, Tesla this year has aggressively cut vehicle prices in several regions and is resorting to the traditional automakers' tactic of offering incentives to clear inventory, analysts said.

On Tuesday, CEO Elon Musk told shareholders Tesla will try advertising for the first time, a move analysts said could drum up demand. Musk warned Tesla was not immune to the global economy, predicting it will be difficult for the next 12 months.

Tesla slightly raised prices of some new models twice this month in the U.S., although prices remain much lower than they were before the price cuts began this year.

Tesla now offers discounts of mor…

A former AutoNation Honda Miami Lakes finance manager has been arrested after allegedly collecting more than $100,000 in deals for vehicles he never produced.

Carlos Ravelo, 51, was charged with one count of an organized scheme to defraud $50,000 or more; two counts of second-degree grand theft; one count of organized fraud of $50,000 or more; eight counts of third-degree grand theft; one count of theft from the elderly; and four counts of writing a worthless check, according to the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department.

Miami-Dade Police Department reports contain multiple instances of consumers reporting they had bought vehicles for cash from Ravelo but never received the models or a full refund.

AutoNation Honda general manager Armando Ibanez said the dealership has been investigating customer complaints as well, according to police.

Ibanez "made it clear that [Ravelo] was selling vehicles that belong to [the] Honda deale…

SHANGHAI — Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio has invested in a startup company that is developing fusion technologies, according to a source with direct knowledge and a company filing, placing more bets in other areas of the energy sector.

The newly established company, Neo Fusion, will research and develop technologies that aim to bring controlled fusion for commercial uses globally in two decades, the source said.

With registration capital of 5 billion yuan ($723.37 million), Neo Fusion is 50 percent controlled by China's eastern province of Anhui government-owned energy companies and investment arms, according to the financial details in the company registration filing seen by Reuters.

Nio invested 995 million yuan for a 19.9 percent stake while Nio Capital, the investment arm founded by Nio CEO William Li, invested 505 million yuan for a 10.1 percent share, it showed.

"Staying true to the original aspiration of Blue Sky Coming, Nio aims to fa…

The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV work truck will have an EPA-estimated 450 miles of range. Toyota hopes to recapture a vice-like hold on the midsize truck market with the new Tacoma. Unifor unveils its top priorities for Detroit 3 talks this year. Plus, a look at what dealerships should be doing right now to prepare for the FTC's updated Safeguards Rule.

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

Workers at a Webasto Roof Systems plant in suburban Detroit voted 99 to 79 to join the UAW Thursday. The plant produces convertible tops for the Ford Mustang, Ford Bronco, Jeep and Chevrolet Corvette.

Pay and schedule changes motivated workers to organize, employees said in a statement. The organizing drive began in November 2022.

Webasto announced plans for the plant west of Detroit in Plymouth, Mich., in 2019 after scoring new contracts with Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis.

The plant is just north of Van Buren, Mich., where 160 UAW members at a Constellium aluminum components plant began striking Wednesday over safety issues and pay.

Further south, UAW members at a Clarios battery plant in suburban Toledo began striking May 8.

Negotiations are ongoing at both plants.

Webasto, of Stockdorf, Germany, ranks No. 49 on Automotive News' list of the top 100 global parts suppliers, with estimated worldwide sales to automakers of $4.38 billio…

The design for Chrysler's first electric crossover arriving in 2025 will be completely different from the Airflow concept that's been shown publicly, a top executive told MotorTrend.

Chrysler brand CEO Chris Feuell "wanted a statement that had literally zero to do with anything that you have seen today, even the Airflow concept car," Ralph Gills,e the design chief for parent company Stellantis, told the publication. "It is evolving in a new direction."

The Airflow debuted during the CES expo in 2022 as a preview of what was to come from Chrysler, a brand that has been plodding along for years with only the 300 sedan and Pacifica minivian.

Gilles said the Chrysler EV crossover is now one of the designs he is most excited about. The concept for the new EV design was a hit during consumer clinics in Los Angeles earlier this year, with Gilles telling MotorTrend that it "blew the doors off."

The production Chrysler EV reportedly will be offered with b…

Wholesale used-vehicle prices are expected to gradually cool through the rest of the year after unseasonably appreciating to start 2023.

Improvement in new-vehicle inventory levels and an uptick in incentives offered — though both still far below their pre-pandemic levels — stand to somewhat undercut used-vehicle demand as the year progresses. Such pressure from the new-vehicle side could drive a decline in used-vehicle prices.

However, a used-vehicle inventory crunch expected to deepen through the year likely will keep used-vehicle prices from falling dramatically, said Alex Yurchenko, chief data science officer at Black Book. Franchised dealerships already grappling with tight used-vehicle supply will encounter more scarcity as fewer lease returns, lost in 2020 when COVID-19 closures stunted new-vehicle production, flow back into the market.

"By the end of this year, those leases that were not sold three years ago are not going …

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is offering more money in a bid to keep automaker Stellantis from pulling out of building an electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont.

Stellantis and LG Energy Solution announced last year that they were building the $5-billion plant, but have in recent days stopped construction and warned they were implementing contingency plans because the federal government hasn't lived up to an agreement.

The CEOs of the two companies wrote last month to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying Ottawa had confirmed in writing five times that it would match production incentives under the United States' Inflation Reduction Act, but has not delivered on those commitments.

But the federal government has been pressuring Ontario to pitch in as well, saying the province also has to pay its "fair share."

Ford has said he is disappointed with how the federal government …

WAIMEA, Hawaii — With the possible exception of the RAV4 compact crossover, no nameplate in Toyota's U.S. lineup is more important to the brand than the Tacoma midsize pickup — not just because of its sales, but also the way it continues to dominate the competition, albeit with less of a stranglehold than before.

With the redesigned 2024 Toyota Tacoma arriving at U.S. dealerships this year, the Japanese brand looks to brush back newly improved offerings from Detroit 3 rivals and reinforce its formerly vicelike hold on the important segment.

The Tacoma's segment share in the U.S. peaked in 2013 at a massive 65.1 percent as other automakers exited midsize pickups in favor of more profitable full-size pickups. However, their return a few years later began to bite into Toyota's dominance: By 2018, the Tacoma's share of the segment had fallen to 46.9 percent, and in 2022, it dropped to 39 percent, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

…