March 12, 2024 — At the start of 2024, conventional wisdom held that Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell would initiate a series of interest rate cuts throughout the year as inflation began to slow. Some optimistic economists even predicted up to six cuts in total for this year. However, the financial narrative took an unexpected… Continue Reading
A modern-day automotive Godzilla, the likes of which we have not seen before, is how China expert Michael Dunne described China’s automotive juggernaut last week in a presentation at the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association Summit. Chinese automakers “could be the single biggest disruptor this decade” in the auto industry, Dunne said. The question is whether… Continue Reading
Here we are – January 3rd, and we still don’t have a firm grasp of how many electric vehicles qualify for the full $7,500 consumer tax credit in 2024. Reading the headlines, the number of eligible vehicles ranges from five to 20. What we do know is that several vehicles that qualified on December 31st… Continue Reading
January 3, 2024 — After opening Leith VinFast in Cary, NC the last week of December, Vietnamese automaker VinFast Auto announced deals with another four dealerships this week to sell its electric vehicles in the U.S. The first group of VinFast dealers are: VinFast began selling its VF 8 electric SUV last March via 13… Continue Reading
November 14, 2023 — According to a bulletin from the Illinois Automobile Dealers Association today, the state’s Motor Vehicle Review Board confirmed the October 24th proposed decision by Hearing Officer Mark Kuchler finding for the 26 Ford dealers who filed a protest against Ford’s Model e certification program. Today’s announcement was a formality as Ford had indicated it would… Continue Reading
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock & Luigi Morris October 30, 2023 (With November 14th updates) — The dust is still settling from the recent tentative settlements between the United Auto Workers union and the Detroit Three automakers. Still, initial details reflect agreements that may be a win-win for both sides following a 40+ day strike costing… Continue Reading
September 26, 2023 — Wow. A shootout erupted between Lithia Motors and the Penske Automotive Group last week as both companies announced competing bids for the right to acquire Pendragon, one of the United Kingdom’s largest dealer groups. And now, AutoNation jumped in tonight with a bid of approximately $542 million (£447 million). Lithia Motors… Continue Reading
September 8, 2023 — Asbury Automotive is acquiring the Jim Koons automotive dealership group for $1.2 billion. The transaction is expected to close late this year or in early 2024. (Read TBR’s analysis of the deal and the pricing – written September 7th). The deal, which will be the third largest in history, includes $740… Continue Reading
September 7, 2023 — This week, the Asbury Automotive Group filed an 8-K with the SEC, alerting the market it is talking to the Jim Koons Automotive Companies about purchasing its 21 dealerships. (UPDATE: Asbury announced it is acquiring Koons — Read more Here.) The filing most likely was precipitated by the news leaking out… Continue Reading
(Photo: Bernardo Rodriguez, J.D. Power CTO & CDO) August 27, 2023 –Palantir Technologies is not a well-known name in the automotive retail space. But that may soon change as it expands from an intelligence and defense-focused software firm to one of the leading AI providers in the commercial space. Palantir is one of the more… Continue Reading