Leadership at FCA has shifted. What do these mean for the car brand and automotive industry? To answer those questions and talk to us about other industry topics that include car subscriptions and interest rates is Jeremy Acevedo, Manager of Industry Analysis at Edmunds.com.
This week the Automotive industry lost its turnaround titan. Leading up to Sergio’s last days, FCA announced that Mike Manley would be taking over as acting CEO in place of Marchionne who had prior health issues. Because of this, FCA was able to successfully begin the transfer of power process with Marchionne completing a five-year plan on behalf of the OEM.
Mike Manley has been a part of the Jeep brand for years and is known around the industry as a guy who understands the business and product. Jeremy agrees with this and says that FCA is in good hands and no major setbacks seem to be in their future, at least not in regards to the new leadership structure. The brand will continue as before with an emphasis on the Jeep and Ram sectors.
As for the rest of the automotive industry, July has been decent. Subscription services were launched but there were no big gains to record from a sales perspective. “pricing does not land them on the radar at all.” Jeremy tells Jim.
Interest rates are also something we talked to Jeremy about and he told us about their gain from the beginning of the year. In January the rate started at around five percent. Since the first month, we have seen a steady climb with them now rounding out around 6 percent. Even though this does not sound like a large increase, the Edmunds team does feel like this could have a sway on new purchases moving forward.
For more on these topics and our interview with Jeremy Acevedo watch the full interview above.
