U.S. Issues Auto Dealers Over $580 Million in Advance EV Tax Rebates this Year
The U.S. government has reimbursed auto dealers for more than $580 million in advance point-of-sale consumer electric vehicle (EV) tax credit payments since Jan. 1, the Treasury said on Friday. Prior to 2024, U.S. auto buyers could only take advantage of the new EV credit of up to $7,500 or the $4,000 used EV credit when they filed tax returns the following year, reports Reuters. The IRS has received approximately 100,000 time of sale EV reports this year and paid more than $580 million in advance payments to dealers since Jan. 1, Treasury said. Starting Jan. 1, consumers can transfer the credits to a car dealer at the time of sale, effectively lowering the purchase price. Treasury said more than 85,000 of the time of sale tax reports were for new EVs, with over 90 percent of those including advance payments request for $7,500. More than 15,000 time of sale reports were for used EVs, with about 75 percent including advanced payments requests for $4,000. Treasury spokesperson Haris Talwar said "demand is high four months into implementation of this new provision." Click here for the full story.
Hybrids Extend Lead Over EVs in Green Vehicle Race
Electric-vehicle sales further decelerated in the first quarter, as purchases of gas-electric hybrids remained strong, accentuating a trend that started last year. Industry figures released earlier this month showed that hybrid sales rose 43 percent in the January-to-March period, while EV sales flattened, up only 2.7 percent in the quarter, reports The Wall Street Journal. Contributing to the sluggish EV sales were weak numbers from Tesla, which accounts for about half of the U.S. electric market, according to data from research firm Motor Intelligence. Following years of strong sales gains, EVs have cooled in recent months. Consumers are leery of charging availability and hassles, and prices remain too high for many buyers, according to dealers and survey data. Many car companies de-emphasized hybrids in recent years as they touted new EV models to satiate enthusiasm from consumers and Wall Street. Now, more car buyers are choosing hybrids as a fuel-efficient option that doesn’t come with the complications of switching to a fully electric car. Toyota Motor this month said U.S. sales of “electrified” vehicles — mostly hybrid models, along with a few full EVs—surged 74 percent in the first quarter. Click here for the full story.
Boosting Dealer Sales with CPOs
Randy Beil recalls an uncomfortable encounter as a new hire years ago at BMW North America. He was assigned as a remarketer on the used-car side of the business. Making the rounds, a visiting home-office executive from Germany asked the newbie what he did for the automaker. When told, the higher-up responded, “We sell new cars, not used cars, so why do we have a used-car department?” Beil says, “It was my second day on the job, and he’s asking, ‘Why do you work here?’” The executive had it wrong. Automakers and dealers today are highly involved in the used-car market – with good reason. So says Ron Cooney, sales operations manager for Toyota Certified Used Vehicles, a unit which recently added a new “silver” status to pre-owned vehicles its dealers sell. “All OEMs are in the used-car business,” he tells WardsAuto. “It’s a big part of our field education, marketing, media, everything. You must be good at used cars to be good at new cars.” He speaks of the “value chain” that connects the new- and used-car businesses, indicating that about 40 percent of consumers who buy a Toyota CPO vehicle purchase a new Toyota as their next vehicle. Click here for the full story.
Kia Joins Hybrid Shift Amid 'Fluctuation' in 'Uneven' EV Demand
Kia plans to ramp up its hybrid vehicle offerings amid softening and uncertain demand for electric vehicles so it can secure “maximum flexibility” in its lineup. According to Automotive News, the South Korean automaker will build its portfolio of gasoline-electric hybrid offerings to nine models in 2028, from six in 2024, and add hybrid options on most of its major nameplates. Kia CEO Ho Sung Song outlined the strategy at this month’s CEO Investor Day presentation. “While the long-term EV demand for 2030 is expected to remain unchanged, the pace of demand growth may prove uneven in the near term,” Kia said in a news release on April 5 after the annual business strategy update in Seoul, South Korea. “To respond agilely to changes in the market environment, Kia will secure maximum flexibility in its line-up operation.” Weaker global economic growth, a reduction of EV subsidies and slower adaption of charging infrastructure were factors sapping momentum from global EV demand, Kia said. Click here for the full story.
Honda’s First U.S.-Made EV to Share Assembly Line with Gas Cars
Honda Motor Co. plans to start manufacturing its first U.S.-made fully electric vehicles at a plant in Ohio next year on a production line that will also build traditional gas-powered cars. Producing the as-yet-unnamed mid- to large-sized EV alongside one or more gas models represents an effort to boost efficiency and respond to marketplace demand, the Japanese automaker said Friday. Growth in EV adoption has slowed among U.S. car buyers, forcing some carmakers to slash output and delay the introduction of new EV models. The shared line doesn’t represent a change in plans, American Honda Executive Vice President Bob Nelson told Bloomberg, but will allow the company to react to changes in consumer preferences. “We can adjust the output based on the short-term demands from the market. But our ramp-up for EVs is still the same as what we had been planning,” he said. Honda aims to make as many as hundreds of EVs a day at the Marysville, Ohio, plant, Nelson said. The company expects overall production volume to remain consistent with the factory’s current output of about 950 vehicles per day. Click here for the full story.
Around the Web
2027 Mercedes ‘Baby’ G-Class: Everything We Know about the EV Off-Roader [Carscoops]
Aston Martin Plans to Sell Gas-Engined Cars Well into the 2030s [Car and Driver]
Toyota Seeks Patent for Chameleon Color-Changing Paint [Autoblog]
2024 Genesis G70: A Matte Finish, for Those Who Dare [The Wall Street Journal]
