A Bad Year Gone Good, Says Toyota's U.S. Sales Chief

First Up 10/23/20

Beltway Talk Podcast: Q&A with NAMAD's Damon Lester

Damon Lester, president of The National Association of Minority Auto Dealers (NAMAD), joins Beltway Talk to discuss his organization’s mission, the challenges they face, and his vision for a more inclusive auto retail industry. NAMAD celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and looks forward to many more decades of advocating for its members. Listen to the podcast here, and make sure to subscribe to Beltway Talk wherever you listen to your podcasts so you don't miss out on future episodes. 

#DealersDoGood Friday

Each Friday, AIADA highlights dealers who are doing great things in their communities. Check out this week’s shout outs. If you know of a dealer or dealership who should be highlighted for their community outreach efforts, let us know here, or spread the word on social media by tagging @AIADA_News and using the #DealersDoGood hashtag.

Bergstrom Automotive in Wisconsin raised more than $165,000 in September to help children who are battling critical illnesses. The Bergstrom team collected $165,476 through its Drive for Dreams campaign, according to Make-A-Wish Wisconsin. The automotive dealer donated $5 for every oil change and $5 for each new social media follower it gained, along with other fundraising initiatives. Read more here (Source: Post Crescent). 

Parker Honda in Morehead City, North Carolina, is donating a portion of the proceeds of each new car sold during October to the Carteret County Public School Foundation. Parker Honda will be directing its donation to the Student Assistance Fund, one of three ways the foundation stewards funding. Money donated to this fund helps students in need. Read more here (Source: Carteret County News-Times). 

CARFAX employees are donating more than 30,000 cans of food to those in need all around the country. The Dealer Business Unit at CARFAX has a tradition of doing a charity outreach activity every September during a company meeting. Since they couldn’t meet in person this year, they gathered food and donated it to local charities in their communities around the country. In just the month of September, Team CARFAX crushed the goal with upwards of 30,000 cans. Check out this video of the incredible efforts all around the country. 

A Bad Year Gone Good, Says Toyota's U.S. Sales Chief

What looked to be a disastrous year for the American auto industry is turning out to be far better than expected, according to Bob Carter, the head of U.S. sales for Toyota. The Detroit Bureau reports that while fleet business is well below normal – and likely to stay that way for quite some time – the Toyota executive vice president said retail sales have rebounded far faster than expected and will likely be reflected in solid earnings for the second half of the year. “This fourth quarter,” said Carter, could be one of the finest quarters in automotive history, especially for Toyota. It’s really fascinating for me that the auto industry hasn’t just survived, it has really thrived through this pandemic.” Though the year will still be one of the worst since the industry began rebounding from the Great Recession, it is on track to wrap up at a much healthier 14.5 million, Carter predicted, forecasting demand will climb to 15.5 million in 2021. Read more here (Source: The Detroit Bureau). 

Daimler Lifts Profit Forecast as China Snaps Up Luxury Cars

Daimler raised its profit outlook for 2020 on Friday after a record 24% jump in Chinese demand for its Mercedes-Benz cars boosted margins in the third quarter, though it warned that a spike in COVID-19 infections made forecasting hard, reports Reuters. Earlier this week, Daimler’s chief executive said there was anecdotal evidence that wealthy Chinese families unable to splash out on expensive European holidays during the pandemic were buying luxury goods at home instead. Benefiting from higher prices and a fall in fixed costs, the adjusted return on sales by its Mercedes-Benz cars and vans division rose to 9.4% in the quarter ending Sept. 30 from 7% a year earlier, rebounding from minus 1.5% in the second quarter. Read more here (Source: Reuters). 

Major Auto Lenders Claim Further Stimulus Could Preserve Portfolio Performance

According to Automotive News, two of the three major auto lenders posted significant increases in auto loan originations in the third quarter and cited improved customer demand and credit metrics in their results. But all three lenders signaled concern that without further government stimulus, consumer auto loan performance could suffer. Auto loan originations surged and set records at Ally Financial and Chase Auto in the third quarter. Wells Fargo Auto's auto loan levels, however, dropped by double digits. Wells attributed the loss to the economic slowdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).  

Webinar: Used Car Super Session

Join the next AutoTalk on October 27 at 2 p.m., where a panel will cover wholesale pricing and volume outlooks, as well as some best practices to stay ahead of the curve. Tune in to hear what some of the most successful dealer groups are doing to meet the shortage of used cars.

Guests will include:

  • Tom Kontos, Chief Economist, KAR Global: To provide real-time wholesale pricing and volumes through the various auction channels, and outlook for the remainder of the year.

  • Bob Grill, Senior Partner Development Manager at Carfax and Mike Rossman, Automotive Consultant:  Will share some innovative and contemporary best practices to address the current used car sourcing challenges.

Click here to register

Around the Web

Porsche Testing High Riding 911 [MotorAuthority]

Mercedes-Benz SUVs Recalled [Autoblog]

AutoNation CEO Sees 'Significant Shift' in Demand for Cars [Bloomberg]

Subaru Steps Up to Find Families for Hard-to-Adopt Dogs [Detroit Free Press]

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