CBT automotive newscast: November 16, 2021

Inside Automotive:

Dealer Inspire’s Joe Chura and Credit IQ’s Bill Liatsis talk $30M acquisition
In case you missed it, Cars.com has acquired fintech company Credit IQ. The $30 million deal is welcome news for many dealers as a seamless car-buying transaction is at the top of many consumers’ lists.  On today’s show, we’re joined by Bill Liatsis, Credit IQ’s Co-Founder and CEO, and Joe Chura, Co-Founder, and CEO of Dealer Inspire. Watch the complete segment here.

Headlines:

Rivian’s IPO was a huge success for amazon financially. Amazon invested over $1.3 billion in Rivian. The tech giant bought nearly $200 million dollars now worth of Rivian stock at its IPO price of $78 per share. Its 20% stake in the business is now worth more than $21 billion. Beyond Rivian, Amazon has invested in other start-ups developing technologies that could help further its goals of decarbonization.

Tesla’s stock fell nearly 15% after CEO Elon Musk shared his plans to sell a huge amount of his holdings last week. This marks tesla’s worst one-week performance in 20 months. Musk still owns over 167 million Tesla shares and has sold almost $5.7 billion of stock last week. The EV maker shares are still up around 46% year to date, following a record closing price of $1,229 on November 4.

As some automakers go electric, Toyota is chasing the hydrogen dream. Over the weekend, Toyota’s president Akio Toyoda was in Japan racing an experimental hydrogen car, a vehicle he says could preserve millions of auto jobs. Japan’s car industry employs 5.5 million workers. The automaker believes some parts of the world are not ready for a shift to EVs. By 2025, Toyota plans to have 15 EV models available, with plans to invest $13.5 billion over a ten-year span to increase battery production.

Certified pre-owned sales hit over 200,000 units in October. This sales level shows a 5% month-over-month drop and a 7% year-over-year decline. With over 2.3 million units sold through last month, year-to-date CPO sales increased 9% compared to the same period last year and up 2% compared to 2019. Cox Automotive CPO sales predict 2.70 million units and the 2.80 million record-setting 2019 level, remains within reach.

News & Opinion:

Additional EV tax credits still in limbo. How will it affect auto retail?
The Build Back Better bill contains billions of dollars earmarked for the transportation industry, and one of the most contentious components has to do with EV tax credits. The proposed bill, if enacted as it currently reads, would offer an extra $4,500 in tax credits for union-built EVs plus another $500 for vehicles containing battery packs manufactured in the US. That’s in addition to the $7,500 that all-electric models are eligible for. Senator Joe Manchin has slammed the provision in the bill that gives additional tax credits to vehicles manufactured in a union facility, calling it “not American”. Read more

The current state of cybersecurity risks at the dealership
“From ransomware to data breaches, dealerships are experiencing an unprecedented number of cybersecurity concerns. Protecting your data has never been more important,” says a new report from CDK Global. Dealerships may not even be thinking of cybersecurity, with issues such as the lack of vehicle availability weighing them down. However, walk into a dealership today. You may still find inventory car keys in a drawer or an unsecured cabinet even though companies like Keycafe provide secured key storage and access. Securing data isn’t top of mind if a dealership or fleet company doesn’t plan to prevent key theft. Read more