CBT automotive newscast: January 20, 2021

Today’s Featured Interview:

Super Bowl champion Gary Brackett on the importance of positive influence from leadership
2020 was somewhat of a roller coaster for us all, dealing with the unknown and learning to bounce back in the face of adversity. On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome a SuperBowl Champion who went on to become a successful speaker, entrepreneur, and best-selling author of “Winning: From Walk-On to Captain”, Gary Brackett. Watch the full segment here.

Top Headlines:

The inventory count is on the rise. For the first time since May of last year, new-vehicle inventory rose above three million vehicles. According to LotLinx Live Market Data, new-vehicle inventory rose to 3,015.903 vehicles. Inventory has made a tremendous recovery in the last two months after being down 17.5% year over year during November. The industry has been struggling with the vehicle shortage since the Spring shutdowns. Automakers struggled to keep up with the heightened demand as most assembly lines weren’t operating at 100%. Now as most manufacturing plants are operating at full-capacity the return of normal inventory levels could generate strong sales for dealers in 2021.

CPO sales ended the year on a high note. According to Cox Automotive, CPO sales were up 24% month over month in December while only being down 2% compared to December of 2019. Overall, CPO sales fell 7% in 2020. Industry analysts at Cox Automotive said the CPO market normalized in December after its November drop based on a variety of contributing factors such as seasonality, the ongoing pandemic, broader economic conditions, and supply and demand.

Volkswagen announced that it will be delaying the launch of its electric microbus. According to Volkswagen CEO Scott Keogh, the Volkswagen ID Buzz will not be ready by its originally scheduled 2022 debut. Instead, the electric microbus will be pushed back to 2023. The ID Buzz was first introduced in 2017 as a model that would recreate a timeless classic. The first microbus was introduced in 1949, and became iconic during the 1970s. The ID Buzz is also part of Volkswagen’s larger goal of rapidly increasing EV production throughout the next decade.

Apple Car production is being linked to Kia Motor’s U.S. plant in Georgia. Apple has been in talks with Kia’s parent company, Hyundai, seeking a potential partnership agreement to build the Apple car. On Sunday, Korea It News reported that electric vehicles could be made at a Georgia factory owned by Kia Motors. According to the report, Kia and Hyundai have been in discussions to carry out production plans at the Kia West Point plant, pending cooperation with Apple. Hyundai has been hesitant to take on the project as it initially confirmed electric vehicle discussions were happening with Apple in a statement to CNBC before retracting the statement hours later.

News & Opinion:

Stellantis shows positive results on first day of trading
As stock markets opened on Monday, Jan 18, Stellantis Chairman John Elkann rang the opening bell for Milan and Paris exchanges. In a prerecorded video, he said, “Stellantis represents an extraordinary opportunity in this challenging era, but yet a very exciting one of profound change for our industry. Our ambition is to build something unique, something great by providing our customers with convenient, safe, sustainable and affordable mobility services… The focus from day one will be on the value creation that is the result of the implementation of those synergies and the execution of those synergies is going to increase sharply the competitiveness of this company vis-à-vis its peers.” Read More

Average list prices break through $40,000 ceiling as new vehicle inventory stabilizes
The strain of the coronavirus undoubtedly shook up the auto industry in 2020, but things have slowly been turning around since the middle of the year. Last Thursday, Cox Automotive released its report on new-vehicle inventory, which appears to have continued stabilization while also showing average listing prices of over $40,000. More specifically, vehicle inventory is at 3 million with an average 70 days’ supply and the average list price is $40,684. In the early months of the pandemic, new vehicle inventory supply saw a huge spike due to dealerships being shuttered, therefore drastically reducing the number of customers out looking for a new vehicle. While the current inventory of about 3 million is a potential sign of recovery, it is still quite low compared to 3.59 million vehicles last year at this time. Read More