CBT automotive newscast: September 30, 2021

Featured Interview:

Glenn Pasch on how to curb complacency culture at your car dealership
Car dealers are reporting incredible sales and profits in today’s market, but is this success also breeding complacency among you or your staff? Have your processes or customer experience taken a dive as a result? On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Glenn Pasch, auto marketing expert, and CEO of PCG Digital to discuss remaining successful in times of complacency. Watch the complete segment here.

Headlines:

Larry H. Miller Dealerships, the eighth largest dealer group in the U.S., has been sold as part of a $3.2 billion deal to Asbury Automotive Group. The deal for the Miller dealerships also includes Total Care Auto, powered by Landcar. The total sale includes 54 new vehicle dealerships, 7 used vehicle dealerships, and 11 collision centers. According to MarketWatch, Larry H. Miller sells more than 115,000 new and used vehicles every year.

Cavender Auto Family has closed on an acquisition of six Texas luxury dealers, doubling the number of stores to twelve, with an increased annual revenue by about one-fifth. Cavender purchased Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz stores in Lubbock and a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Midland. The deal was announced in May, pending automaker approvals. Terms were not disclosed.

EV start-up Lucid has began production of its first cars for customers, with deliveries scheduled to begin next week. Lucid is the first EV start-up that went public through a SPAC deal to produce a saleable vehicle for consumers. The start-up’s first car is a $169,000 special edition of its flagship sedan called the Air Dream edition, with a range of up to 520 miles. The company plans to produce just 520 of the dream edition models, in a nod to the car’s EPA range. The Lucid Air sedan starting price is $77,400. So far, the company has received more than 13,000 reservations.

Speaking of EVs, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated President Joe Biden’s administration wasn’t the friendliest and its EV policy appears to be controlled by labor unions. Musk said at a tech conference, “They didn’t mention Tesla once and praised GM and Ford for leading the EV revolution. Does that sound, maybe, a lil’ biased?” The White House stated workers at Tesla aren’t unionized. President Biden signed an executive order aiming at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 electric. The proposal would boost the maximum tax credit for EVs to $12,500 from the current $7,500. Democrats have also proposed to give union-made, U.S. -built EVs an additional $4,500 tax incentive.

According to IHS Markit, the average age of cars on U.S. roads has rose to 12.1 years in 2021, an increase from 11.9 years, in 2020. It isn’t unheard of for cars to last over 200,000 miles. Iseecars, found that 16% of the Toyota land cruisers on the road have at least 200,000 miles on them. At least 2.5% of several other carmakers including Honda, and GM also have over 200,000 miles on their odometers. Industry analysts believe rising vehicle prices and improved durability, might affect when buyers will seek new cars in the future.

News & Opinion:

Report shows that conventional mobility has gained back ground due to COVID
Consumers have been warming to non-traditional notions of mobility like ridesharing, car subscriptions, and alternative last-mile transportation options over the past decade. But when the pandemic arrived in full force, statistics show that two-thirds of rideshare users in the United States quickly abandoned providers like Uber and Lyft. Instead, the Cox Automotive 2021 Evolution of Mobility Report shows that Americans have been more inclined to stick with mobility options that they can pilot themselves. Read more

What should you look for when interviewing candidates for the dealership?
Over the last year, you’ve lost employees because of everything that surrounds the shutdowns. But now that business is back in most dealership areas, you probably now find yourself looking for employees. Although there may be a good number of people available, how do you find the right fit? Do you only use experience or seek people with character and desire to learn? First, let’s check out some qualities of a good candidate. It’s easy today to use resume services to do much of the work for you. But resumes aren’t everything they’re written up to be. Using keywords like “product knowledge”, “automotive experience”, or anything that can be taught on the job can limit some very good people. Read more