Today’s Featured Interview:
CA Dealer Hilary Haron on Facing Inventory Concerns and Encouraging Women to Work in Automotive
Recently, women have made progress towards gaining better representation in the auto industry. Female leaders like Mary Barra and Cheryl Miller have opened new doors to consider what’s possible for women in the automotive world. Hilary Haron, owner of Haron Motor Sales is hopeful more women will pursue automotive careers. She joined us to talk about the growing role of women in the industry. Watch the full segment here.
Top Headlines:
Hyundai is joining the electric vehicle race with its own EV brand, Ioniq. The automaker announced the brand with the unveiling of three new models, the subcompact Ioniq 5, the midsize Ioniq 6 sedan, and the SUV model Ioniq 7. The automaker says the all-electric class of vehicles is set to hit lots by 2024.
Source: The Detroit Bureau
U.S. auto sales were hit hard at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the market has made a gradual recovery with many automakers and auto retailers experiencing better numbers in the second quarter than anticipated. However, newly released data from BBVA showed that new vehicle sales were down 33.7 percent from 2019, the lowest drop since the great recession in 2009. BBVA noted that while many auto groups have outpaced early forecasts, a full recovery could be a long process.
Source: The Detroit Bureau
Auto-loan borrowing slipped in the second quarter, dropping 12.7 percent from a year ago. The drop was the biggest among subprime borrowers according to the New York Federal Reserve. While loans were down, delinquencies were up in q2 with auto loans making up 5.03 percent of all 90-day outstanding balances. Auto-related delinquencies topped 5 percent for the second consecutive quarter, a mark that hasn’t been seen in nine years.
Source: WardsAuto
Many stock market experts are saying Asbury Automotive might be an intriguing choice for investors. The auto retailer has seen solid earnings over the past month, with current quarterly estimates rising from $2.08 per share to $2.79 per share. Many analysts are bullish about the auto retailer in both the short and long term perspective.
Source: Nasdaq
News Stories & Opinion:
Keep Them Coming Back: 5 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty
Loyal customers are the foundation for any successful sales and marketing strategy at your dealership. The Pareto Principle, a widely cited stat, confirms this as it states that 80 percent of your profits come from 20 percent of your customers. It is in your dealership’s best interest to focus on developing car buyers into customers that come back. However, this practice is easier said than done. There are many factors at play, especially today. From having to create messaging for multiple marketing channels, to investing in personalization, it can be daunting to put together a customer loyalty strategy. Read More
AAA Report Shows How Active Driving Assistance Performs in Real-LifeThere’s a lot to look forward to when it comes to fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) like safer roads, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, less traffic, and more time for riders, to name a few. However, while we are on our way towards that future, we aren’t quite there yet, as a new AAA research report makes clear. The report looked at how well active driving assistance systems (ADAS) perform in real-life road tests. What they found was not encouraging for consumers hoping for hands-free drives soon. Read More
Did you enjoy today’s automotive newscast? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic with host Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date or catch-up on all of our podcasts on demand.
While you’re here, don’t forget to subscribe to our email newsletter for all the latest auto industry news from CBT News.
