CBT automotive newscast: October 27, 2021

Inside Automotive:

Erin Kerrigan on what’s happening in the buy-sell market today
What does the incredible year of buy/sell activity we’ve seen mean for the OEMs? On today’s show, we’re joined by Erin Kerrigan, Founder and Managing Director of Kerrigan Advisors to walk us through what’s happening in the buy-sell market today. They expected 2021 to be the year of the megadeal and Kerrigan thinks 2022 will continue that trend. The Larry H. Miller transaction with Asbury valued at $3.2 billion is a new record. Watch the complete segment here.

Headlines:

Tesla has become the sixth company in U.S. history to be worth $1 trillion. Shares rose more than 12% to close at about $1,025, after landing its biggest record order of 100,000 Teslas for its fleet. The company has sold over 627,00 cars so far this year and aims to be close to a million sales for the year.

General Motors will work with its network of dealers to help spur the installation of 40,000 EV chargers in the U.S. It will also sell its own “Ultium” branded level 2 Chargers for home or business uses. GM will distribute up to ten chargers to each store, and it would be up to each dealer to find suitable locations in the community. The dealer-community project is part of GM’s $750 million commitment to EV charging infrastructure through 2025.

Hyundai’s launched a new marketing campaign in collaboration with the company’s African American marketing agency, Culture Brands. The campaign uses the words “Okay, Hyundai” in an attempt to express cultural references and conversations unique to black communities. CEO of Culture Brands, Eunique J. Gibson says, “In the African American community, placing ‘okay’ before something is the quintessential way things worth noticing are acknowledged.” The campaign promotes Hyundai’s Tucson plug-in hybrid and the 2022 Hyundai Santa Fe plug-in hybrid.

In more Hyundai news, they expect things to take a while to get back to normal chip supplies after the automaker reported a net profit of $1.1 billion for the July to September quarter. Hyundai has turned its best quarterly profit in about six years in the April to June quarter, due to its conservative supply chain management. It now plans to develop its own chips to reduce reliance on others.

News & Opinion:

GM’s chip supply improves, some overtime shifts reinstated at truck plants
On Monday, General Motors announced they will be reinstating overtime shifts at six manufacturing plants beginning in November, a move that indicates the effects of the chip shortage might be lessening slightly. The overtime available will be at plants that produce the most profitable vehicles in GM’s stable including pickups, midsize SUVs, and the Cadillac luxury line. In a statement, GM spokesperson David Barnas said, “We are making some weekend overtime scheduling adjustments at our plants in November. Although the situation remains complex and very fluid, we remain confident in our team’s ability to minimize the impact of the semiconductor shortages that have been impacting the industry.” Read more

Steps dealerships can take amid parts and staffing shortages
As the global supply chain issues rage on, Cox Automotive released a report Monday outlining that while consumers are still taking their vehicles to dealerships for service and repair, parts and labor shortages will likely continue to plague the auto industry and dealerships will have to continue finding ways to mitigate the impact. The report implied overall that dealers will need to keep up with digital trends and also take measures to hire and retain their technicians. Below is a deeper look into some takeaways from this week’s report. Read more