CBT automotive newscast: October 28, 2021

Inside Automotive:

How car dealers can best showcase their value on Twitter
Virtually everyone in the automotive industry has been talking about the chip and inventory shortage and its impact. But not much talk has surrounded relief. What happens when the industry returns to normal supply? On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Guy Schueller, Industry Director of Automotive for Twitter to address the chip shortage conversation and share insight on how car dealers can work to build their brands on Twitter in order to showcase their value. Watch the complete segment here.

Headlines:

General Motors posted a $2.4 billion Q3 profit despite plant closures and the ongoing chip shortage. But, the profit was 40% lower than the $4 billion GM made during the same period a year prior. Revenue for the quarter fell 25% to $26.78 billion. CEO Mary Barra says, “GM is seeing some improvement in the current quarter and expects additional supplies in the first three months of 2022.” GM expects to produce about 200,000 fewer vehicles in the second half of this year.

Uber has announced a new partnership with Hertz to make 50,000 Teslas available for drivers to rent. The deal comes days after Hertz said it’s making an investment in an EV rental fleet. Drivers in the U.S. will be able to rent fully electric Teslas by 2023. Beginning on November 1, drivers can rent in four cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. Rentals will begin at $334 per week.

Stellantis, formerly known as Fiat Chrysler is nearing an agreement to plead guilty to criminal conduct to resolve a multiyear emissions fraud probe surrounding Ram pickup trucks and Jeep sport-utility vehicles with diesel engines. The plea deal could be revealed in the coming weeks and includes financial penalties totaling between $250 million and $300 million.

Four dealerships had single-store transactions in Q3. Adam Silverleib purchased his second dealership, Copeland Volkswagen of Brockton, Massachusetts. It’s the same store his family owned, until the mid-1980s. Robert Chipman bought Willrodt Motor Company. Chipman is CFO of Car Swap, a used-vehicle consignment business in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Troncalli Automotive Group of Cumming, GA acquired its fifth dealership, Jeff Smith Volkswagen of Warner Robins, Georgia. Dealer Paul Sabatini bought Fairlane Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, renaming it, Mission Ford of Dearborn.

News & Opinion:

Are the October & November auto forecasts a sign of what’s to come next year?
New vehicle sales are expected to slide well into the double digits when October’s sales are reported, according to J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. Their joint forecast estimates total US retail sales of 943,500 units this month, representing a decrease of 17.4% compared to October 2020 when dealer lots were still full of cars. And compared with a typical selling year like 2019, those sales figures are down 15.4% when selling days are adjusted. Read more

The simple idea for more service appointments
Here’s an idea that is simple, but could be very impactful for any dealer with an online service scheduling tool: give it a health check. Fine-tune your tool to make sure it’s working the way you want it to. Why? Although online scheduling tools were originally built for customers to self-schedule an appointment on a dealer’s website, the majority of customers still prefer to call the service department. In fact, between 2019 and 2021, incoming phone calls to Service Departments steadily increased by 16.3% — from an average of 9,904 calls per month to 11,534 calls. Read more