CBT automotive newscast: February 2, 2022

Featured Show:

Harnessing the power of a positive dealership culture
Today on Kain & Co., host David Kain, President of Kain Automotive, sits down with Gary Bang, Vice President and Dealer Partner for Ferman Auto Group’s motorcycle division. Bang currently oversees four Harley-Davidson stores with a fifth store under construction. Watch the complete segment here.

Headlines:

In a press release on Tuesday, Hyundai reported it had broken its all-time record for sales in the month of January. Sales of electric vehicles and several other models including venue and Tucson saw the largest increases, and overall sales were 10% higher than January of 2021. Hyundai executive Randy Parker said the record sales numbers were due to consumers’ strong interest in all of Hyundai’s brands despite automakers still trying to overcome the ongoing microchip shortages. Last month, Hyundai also released more information about its robotics business, partnered with actor Jason Bateman to advertise its Ioniq 5, and won various industry awards for design and performance.

The American Automobile Association said Tuesday that automated technology geared towards ensuring drivers are paying attention to the road, is not completely “foolproof.” AAA said a recent study revealed that automated driving technology with a camera monitoring drivers’ head and eye positions such as that used in certain GM and Subaru models was more effective than systems that rely on steering wheel monitoring such as Tesla’s autopilot system and Hyundai’s driving assist technology. The camera monitoring systems were found to give drivers an alert 50 seconds earlier than steering wheel monitoring systems, and AAA warned that many drivers mistake these technologies to be self-driving systems, potentially leading to accidents.

After meeting with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration twice last month, Tesla has agreed to recall almost 54,000 vehicles fitted with its ‘full self-driving’ software. The recall comes after concerns that certain vehicles fail to stop at all-way stop signs, but Tesla said last week that no injuries or fatalities from the issue had been reported. Tesla said it will be performing an over-the-air update to disable what it calls the “rolling stop” function in the affected vehicles, which include various Model S, Model X, Model Y, and Model 3 vehicles.

Toyota is giving over $1.2 million to its U.S. Paralympic Fund after auctioning off its first two i-Force Max Tundra pickup trucks. The first truck sold for $700,000, while the second model sold for $550,000. Over 400 team U.S.A. paralympic athletes have received support from the fund, which assists athletes in making sure they get the best coaching and have all of the best equipment needed to succeed in their sports.

News & Opinion:

Need auto sales training? Look to your vendors.
Today’s auto sales training is about helping consumers navigate the technology tools you provide; it’s about answering every question instead of immediately pushing for the appointment, and it’s about the flexibility to sell 100% virtually and on the floor. The way we close customers today is much different than a decade ago when I was selling. Today, we need to train for what’s important to our customer’s process, not what’s important for our dealership process. Your vendors can help you understand and deliver the experience your customers want – for free or a nominal fee. Read More

Ideas to protect dealership staff during National Cancer Prevention Month
February is National Cancer Prevention Month in the United States, focusing on ways to keep Americans healthy and change behaviors that are known to contribute to different forms of cancer. It isn’t surprising that a dealership environment can pose a higher risk of serious illness in many forms, and cancer isn’t an exception. Even the new car smell that many people love is from a cancer-causing agent, volatile organic compounds (VOCs). And while there’s no way for salespeople and other dealership staff to completely avoid everything – including the new car smell – that can elevate the risk of cancer, there are certain things that a store can do to help mitigate the risk. Read more