Inside Automotive
To buy or not to buy: M&A activity in today’s car market — Alan Haig
As the dust from the COVID pandemic settles on the automotive industry, M&A activity has become more energetic than ever. Dealers are now taking the next steps in their careers, whether this means making an exit or expanding their business, in greater numbers than ever before. Alan Haig is the President and Founder of Haig Partners, an investment bank serving dealers in their M&A efforts. On this episode of Inside Automotive, Haig joins host Jim Fitzpatrick to discuss why so many storeowners are looking for a change of pace, the state of M&A activity, and what buyers should do to navigate the process successfully. Watch the complete segment here.
Top Stories
Amazon and Rivian Automotive are currently discussing renegotiating the exclusivity agreement of their electric-van contract after the online retailer’s order for 2023 came in at the low end of a previously promised range. As per the conditions of a 2019 deal, Rivian must sell all of the vans it produces to Amazon. Read More
Luxury German automaker Porsche has published its 2023 outlook, predicting it will earn nearly 20% back on sales. The optimistic forecast arrives just after Porsche revealed record-breaking earnings for 2022. Last year, the brand made 309,884 deliveries, 2.6% more than in 2021, while its operating profit grew 27% year-over-year to a total of 6.77 billion euros or $7.23 billion. Read More
Virtual assistants in General Motor vehicles may soon be powered by the AI language models behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to a GM executive, the American carmaker is looking into potential ChatGPT applications as part of a larger partnership with Microsoft. Similar to last week, “people with knowledge of the project” had revealed GM was creating a virtual personal assistant for its vehicles utilizing Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, which contains a ChatGPT API. Read More
Last week, Cox Automotive reported a 4.3% increase in wholesale used-vehicle prices in February. According to the report, this is the largest monthly gain for February since 2009, although average values still declined 7% year-over-year. Cox Automotive attributes some of this change to seasonal adjustment. Non-adjusted changes in wholesale used-vehicle prices amounted to a monthly increase of 3.7%, and only 5.6% annually. Read More
For Dealers
Everything you need to know about the technician skills gap for EVs
Unless you’ve hit the technician lottery, chances are your dealership is among the thousands of automotive businesses suffering through a shortage of qualified service personnel. And this situation won’t ease any time soon. Dealer service departments are at crossroads. Most car owners still depend on conventional ICE-powered vehicles, but EVs are, unsurprisingly, gaining more and more market share. Read More
Marketing vs advertising to women car buyers and owners
Women are significant vehicle owners and drivers in North America, and their participation in the automotive market has been steadily increasing over the years. According to a 2021 report by the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, 75,699,000, or 56% of women aged 16 in the United States participated in the labor force, with many of them commuting to work or driving for other reasons. Additionally, women account for almost half of all new car purchases in the U.S. Read More
