Chairman’s Blog: Invested in America
The FTC is Coming for Dealers
Chairman John Connelly is back with a new blog post. Congress returned to session on Monday — and car dealers need to be on high alert. First, a budget reconciliation bill is back on the table in the Senate. Only 51 votes are needed for passage, and this time the Democrats appear to have the votes. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has told his caucus that if a deal is reached, floor votes could take place before the August recess. The other main topic that international nameplate dealers need to be aware of is the proposed regulations put forth by the FTC. The staff at the FTC seems to think that your F&I department is actively doing all it can to disenfranchise your customers. Despite having little understanding of how a dealership operates, these Washington bureaucrats would like nothing more than to have final say over how you advertise and handle F&I disclosures. It is incumbent upon us to respond collectively and forcefully to these business-killing regulations. Please read about the FTC issue here and click here to submit your comments to the Federal Register. We need every dealer to step up and fight this NOW. Click here for the full blog post.
EV Maker Polestar Nearly Matches 2021 Volume With 125% First-Half Sales Increase
Polestar increased sales of its electric vehicles by 125 percent to 21,200 during the first half, nearly matching its full-year volume from last year. Automotive News reports the Volvo Cars EV subsidiary, which joined the Nasdaq last month in an $890 million deal, sold 29,000 vehicles last year and aims to increase that total to 290,000 by 2025. Despite the strong first-half numbers, the Tesla Inc. rival still expects to fall 15,000 units short of its sales target of 65,000 this year, blaming the hit on COVID-19 lockdowns in China, where it produces its only model, the Polestar 2. “I am very confident that the strong momentum we have seen this year in brand awareness and sales figures will accelerate powerfully in the coming years as more ground-breaking cars are revealed,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath. To help recover lost volume, Polestar has introduced of a second shift at its factory in Luqiao, China. A key part of reaching its 2023 goal — 124,000 global sales — is the arrival of the Polestar 3 premium large SUV, which will have its global debut in October. Click here for the full story.
Advanced EV Batteries Move from Labs to Mass Production
For years, scientists in laboratories from Silicon Valley to Boston have been searching for an elusive potion of chemicals, minerals and metals that would allow electric vehicles to recharge in minutes and travel hundreds of miles between charges, all for a much lower cost than batteries available now. The New York Times reports now a few of those scientists and the companies they founded are approaching a milestone. They are building factories to produce next-generation battery cells, allowing carmakers to begin road testing the technologies and determine whether they are safe and reliable. The factory operations are mostly limited in scale, designed to perfect manufacturing techniques. It will be several years before cars with the high-performance batteries appear in showrooms, and even longer before the batteries are available in moderately priced cars. But the beginning of assembly-line production offers the tantalizing prospect of a revolution in electric mobility. Click here for the full story.
Hyundai Bringing Ioniq 6 to U.S. in Q1 2023
Hyundai kicked off the global introduction of its new all-electric Ioniq 6 by differentiating not just the design of the new sedan, but also the target its aiming for with the new EV — young professionals looking for a luxury feel, without a luxury price. It also offered up a few new details about the sedan — not pricing, unfortunately — revealing the fact that it will arrive in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2023. Production will be in South Korea, starting in the third quarter of this year, with deliveries beginning in Asia and Europe early in the fourth quarter. The Detroit Bureau reports not only is the exterior design dramatically different from its predecessor, the Ioniq 5, the marketing efforts behind the new model will take a unique approach as well. Hyundai’s created the Ioniq 6 Digital Studio. It houses extended reality content that provides an “immersive experience for people to encounter (Ioniq) products in a virtual reality space,” said Thomas Schemera, executive vice president, Global CMO and head of CX Division, Hyundai. Click here to learn more about the Ioniq 6.
Experts Discuss Making Cars Inviting for Gamers, Moviegoers
Joseph Perry of Sony Pictures says he once strictly thought of car companies as vehicle sellers. But now he describes them as “software companies that sell vehicles.” That’s particularly true when it comes to wiring vehicle interiors for impending enhanced in-cabin features. Those range from on-demand movies played on high-definition screens to “immersive” gaming on screens throughout the cabin area. Accordingly, people from non-automotive industries, such as Perry, are working with automakers to deliver the goods for next-generation in-vehicle infotainment reports Wards. “Initially, people just wanted to see videos played in cars (on backseat screens),” says Perry, Sony’s director of new-media distribution, whose job includes working with the auto industry on next-generation infotainment systems. When it comes to prospective Sony content offered in cars, “we are talking about original content, so it’s got to be the right screen, the right resolution and the right sound quality,” he says. Click here for the full story.
Around the Web
Inside Bentley’s Ultra Exclusive Mulliner Custom Shop [Maxim]
These are the 10 Best German Grand Tourers of All Time [HotCars]
Liberty Walk is Giving the Lamborghini Urus its Widebody Treatment [Carscoops]
Car Repossessions on the Rise, as Average Price Hits $47,000 [Autoblog]
