Today’s Featured Interview:
CBT News Market Update: Shawn Vaughn, VBM Auto Group & Sean Peoples, LotLinx
On this week’s episode of the CBT News Market Update, new car sales came out to a retail SAAR of 11.74, down 9.4% from 13.42 in 2019. The inventory of new vehicles sold took a 7.3% drop year over year. Here to break down how these numbers reflect larger industry trends is Sean Peoples, Chief Revenue Officer for LotLinx and Shawn Vaughn, Chief Operating Officer at VBM Auto Group out of Texas. Watch the full segment here.
Top Headlines:
Lucid Motors is planning its second model. The news of the future model comes as the company prepares to officially debut the Lucid Air. Lucid made headlines when CEO Peter Rawlinson claimed that the Lucid Air Sedan would have a record-breaking 517-mile range from a single charge. Rawlinson didn’t reveal much about the new EV model, but he did confirm that it would be an SUV to keep pace with the market.
Wholesale vehicle prices are on pace for a third straight month of record highs based on a mid-month update of the Manheim used vehicle value index. After the first 15 days of August, the index was at 163.4, up 15.6% from the same time in 2019. The Manheim Index finished July at a record high of 158.0, up 12.5% from the year prior and nearly nine points higher than the previous record set in June.
Used-inventory remains low but is starting to show signs of stabilizing. According to Cox Automotive, the total U.S. supply of unsold used-vehicles stood at 2.16 million vehicles last week, a drop from 2.67 at the same time in 2019. While this is the lowest level in several years, the national days’ supply of unsold used-vehicles is currently around 33 which is much closer to the traditional average.
Elon Musk continues his climb up the ladder of wealthiest people in the world. Musk recently moved into fourth place after a boom in the share price for Tesla. He moved in front of Bernard Arnault, the richest man in France, and now only trails Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
News Stories & Opinion:
Independent Dealers Remain Positive Entering Third Quarter 2020
Coming off the toughest sales climate in more than a decade, it could be argued that the auto industry should be expecting the worst situation as the second half of 2020 gets underway. That’s not the case. According to the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s August 2020 publication of Used Car Dealer Magazine, wholesale values are have hit record highs and continue to rise. Read More
Five Marketing Strategies to Increase Service Department Sales
According to the National Automobiles Dealers Association, almost 50 percent of a dealer’s gross profits are generated by the service department. For many dealerships, service departments can be a significant revenue stream for dealerships—especially during a time where car purchases can be unstable. However, much like everything else, it’s all about messaging. 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.
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