Quick Recovery from COVID Collapse
As America heads into Thanksgiving week and comes to the end of this roller-coaster year of COVID-19 disruption, ALG took a look back at 2020 and what shape the business is in going forward. ALG's analysis may surprise many. The industry proved its resilience, and it caught a few breaks. Even though full-year sales will show the steepest drop since the carnage of 2009, the industry is already well on its way back to normalcy, said Morgan Hansen, ALG's vice president of data science. One way things are already normal: "People are out there buying, because they can." From a bullish outlook to a heart-stopping shutdown to a shockingly fast recovery, 2020 was full of surprises. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
GM Drops Its Support for Trump Climate Rollbacks and Aligns with Biden
General Motors turned its back Monday on the Trump administration’s legal fight to nullify California’s strict fuel economy rules, signaling that it was ready to work with President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. to reduce climate-warming emissions from cars and trucks. According to The New York Times, the decision by Mary Barra, the General Motors chief executive, to withdraw her company’s support for Trump administration efforts to strip California of its ability to set its own fuel efficiency standards was a striking reversal. It was also a signal that corporate America is moving on from President Trump. More specifically, it was a sign that Mr. Biden may find the auto industry amenable as he tries to reinstitute and rebuild Obama-era climate change regulations that Mr. Trump systematically dismantled, at times with the help of industry. Read more here (Source: The New York Times).
Another Gift from 2020: Car Buyers Seeking Black Friday Deals Likely Out of Luck This Year
The coronavirus pandemic is ending yet another annual holiday tradition for shoppers in 2020: Black Friday deals on new cars. CNBC reports that instead of offering the steep discounts to clear out older inventory, many automakers are having a hard time resupplying dealer lots with enough inventory after shutting down factories earlier the year to try to curb the outbreak this spring. That’s left a backlog of pent up demand, especially for hot-selling SUVs and pickup trucks. Edmunds estimates the average discount on a new vehicle in October was $2,046, about 23% lower than last year. Cox Automotive says there are 650,000 fewer 2020 model-year vehicles than what was expected prior to the pandemic. That has led to a roughly $800 decline in discounts per vehicle from March. Read more here (Source: CNBC).
GM to Recall About 5.9 Million Vehicles with Takata Airbag Inflaters
General Motors Co. GM 4.02% has agreed to recall 5.9 million SUV and pickup-truck models to replace potentially faulty Takata air-bag inflaters, a fix that could cost the auto maker more than $1 billion, reports The Wall Street Journal. GM had asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration not to order a recall of the vehicles because the auto maker believed they were safe. The agency denied that request Monday, saying its research shows Takata inflaters installed in GM vehicles are prone to the deadly explosions reported in other auto makers’ cars. The vehicles GM has agreed to recall include some of its bestselling models from the 2007 to 2014 model years, including Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups, Cadillac Escalade SUVs, Chevy Tahoe and Suburban SUVs, and GMC Yukon SUVs. Read more here (Source: The Wall Street Journal).
Musk Tops Bill Gates on Wealth Ranking as Tesla Shares Soar
Elon Musk’s year of dizzying ascents hit a new apex Monday as the Tesla Inc. co-founder passed Bill Gates to become the world’s second-richest person, reports Automotive News. The 49-year-old entrepreneur’s net worth soared $7.2 billion to $127.9 billion, driven by yet another surge in Tesla’s share price. Musk has added $100.3 billion to his net worth this year – the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. In January he ranked 35th. His advance up the wealth ranks has been driven largely by Tesla, whose market value is poised to top $500 billion on Tuesday. About three-quarters of his net worth is comprised of Tesla shares, which are valued more than four times as much as his stake in Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX. Tesla shares have risen nearly 28 percent since the S&P Dow Jones index confirmed it would add the company to Wall Street's benchmark index from Dec. 21. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
Webinar: Maximizing 2021 Profit Through Aggressive Expense Control
Join the next AutoTalk webinar on Tuesday, December 8th at 2 p.m. EST, when Doug Austin, President of StrategicSource, a leader in spend management services for auto dealerships, will share his expertise in expense categories that can have long-term financial impact.
He will review in detail:
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Best expense planning strategies
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Identify categories to reduce costs in 2021
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Several new revenue generating opportunities
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Strategies to achieve “Sustainable cost reductions”
Around the Web
McLaren's New V-6 Hybrid Supercar Gets a Name: Artura [MotorTrend]
Tesla Model X Has Flaw Allowing It to Be Hacked and Stolen [Car and Driver]
2023 BMW X5 Spy Shots [MotorAuthority]
The Porsche Taycan Sets Guinness World Record for Longest Electric Drift [Autoblog]
