CBT automotive newscast: June 6, 2022

Inside Automotive:

The best ways your employees can develop their communication skills
On the latest episode of Kain and Co., host David Kain, president of Kain Automotive, talks about employee development and communication skills. Often times when you walk into a dealership, your communication skills are centered around that one-to-one in-person focus. Building trust with the customer is essential. Kain says, when you are a communicator, you have to be able to carry that forward. Watch the complete segment here.

Headlines:

General Motors-owned Cruise is the first company to be given a sales permit for self-driving car rides in San Francisco. Despite ongoing heated debates and a lot of opposition from safety groups, the city will now allow Cruise to charge for driverless rides. The company said that 30 vehicles will be available to paying customers in the coming weeks, and the cars will follow strict rules such as staying off of the highway.

A Panasonic executive said Friday that the tech giant is reviewing options for where to build a new battery plant in the United States. He did not indicate which states are in the running, but sources close to the matter have said a new plant may be built somewhere near Panasonic’s existing facility in Texas. Panasonic has also reportedly shipped the first batches of its powerful 4680 batteries to Tesla and said they will be made in Japan until a U.S. plant is built.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is continuing to hint at serious shakeups of the automaker’s workforce, now directing executives to stop hiring altogether. He also said the company may lay off 10% of its employees, which would amount to around 10,000 job losses globally. Musk cited his “super bad feeling” about the economy, and has been warning about a potential recession for weeks.

Market research firm Qualtrics found in a recent survey that electric vehicle owners and prospective EV buyers would prefer to have wireless charging abilities even more than full self-driving technology. The firm found that 96% of over 1,000 Americans surveyed want to have the option of wireless charging for various reasons, and respondents agreed that wireless charging would also eliminate the stress of not being able to find compatible adapters in public charging areas.

News & Opinion:

Can dealers avoid overpaying for used inventory with the economy in flux?
From May 2021 to May 2022, the prices of used cars at auction rose more than 12% according to the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index. The blistering-hot pre-owned market has caused the selling prices to stabilize near the average all-time high of $28,365. Dealers have been making incredible profits off the used cars they buy despite purchasing them for significantly more than they would have even a year ago. Read More