Dealers Seek Flexibility on Facilities as Pandemic Alters Consumer Behavior
The more that consumers buy vehicles online and have them delivered directly to their driveway, the less it matters how extravagant the dealership showroom is. Or so dealers argue. According to Automotive News, several automakers relaxed deadlines for brand image and facility upgrade programs in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, but they generally say dealers' investments in updated showrooms are necessary to boost sales and customer experience. That leaves dealers, after feeling relief to get a break on some deadlines for a bit, now concerned that automakers' facility mandates will clash with the accelerated shift to digital retailing. Retailers say changes to the way facility programs are designed are necessary to bring them in step with rapidly changing consumer habits. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
Acura Pushes Upmarket with Performance-Focused Redesigns
The evolution of an auto brand is never complete, but Acura marked a major milestone last week in a decade-long journey to put some significant distance between itself and its corporate sibling, Honda, reports Automotive News. Acura unwrapped the redesigned MDX crossover in a virtual presentation, marking the fourth and penultimate vehicle in its lineup to undergo generational change with the mission to return to the brand's performance roots. "We can't be right on top of our brother franchise," Jon Ikeda, Acura brand officer, told Automotive News. "Honda is sporty fun, but we're the performance division of Honda. We're going to take the fun, sporty thing to the next level, and it's going to be a little more expensive because some of those fun things cost money." Looking out across the Acura Design courtyard on the Honda campus, Ikeda said the redesigned Acuras sitting inside its walls — a yellow NSX supercar, orange RDX compact crossover, a blue TLX midsize sedan and gray MDX — are pretty much the vehicles he and his team envisioned back in 2015 when the new lineup started to take shape. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
Automakers Grapple with Battery-Fire Risks in Electric Vehicles
Automakers are confronting a new challenge in their race to sell more electric cars: battery-related fires leading to vehicle recalls and safety probes. According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. safety regulators this month opened a probe into more than 77,000 electric Chevy Bolts made by General Motors Co. after two owners complained of fires that appeared to have begun under the back seat, where the battery is located. Ford Motor Co. said last week it is delaying the U.S. introduction of its Escape plug-in hybrid after fire concerns surfaced this summer in similar vehicles sold in Europe. Also, in recent weeks, Hyundai Motor Co. and BMW AG have initiated world-wide recalls to address problems with battery fires in plug-in models. GM, Ford, and Hyundai said that they are still investigating the fires’ causes and looking into possible remedies, and that safety is their primary concern. BMW said that most of the cars affected hadn’t yet been sold to customers. Read more here (Source: The Wall Street Journal).
Did COVID Poke Hole in Just-In-Time Practices?
North America's supply base has toiled for decades to make itself lean and cost efficient, operating just-in-time delivery systems, eliminating wasteful practices and sourcing parts and materials from low-cost countries such as China and Thailand. But suddenly, that thinking is being reconsidered, according to a new survey of manufacturing executives. The reason? This year's coronavirus pandemic. Since the early 1980s, Toyota, Honda and Nissan have pressed U.S. suppliers to adopt just-in-time production procedures. But auto companies are now entertaining a different view of that, says Ann Marie Uetz, a partner in the Foley & Lardner law firm who works with 100 or so auto suppliers. Uetz said the firm's survey in June and July of 150 manufacturing executives, including some non-automotive businesses, found nearly two-thirds said they believe there will be a shift away from the just-in-time model. And many are planning to turn to greater use of warehousing — long viewed as a crutch for inefficient suppliers — to protect themselves from the disruptions still threatening to bring down supply chains and assembly plants. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
Land Rover Defender is the 2021 MotorTrend SUV of the Year
You would be forgiven for assuming the judges of MotorTrend’s 2021 SUV of the Year competition simply walked around the parking lot filled with 28 new and refreshed SUVs and pinned the award on the Land Rover Defender without starting a single vehicle. Unlike most of this year's field, the all-new Defender actually looks the part of a proper sport utility vehicle. The Defender itself has metamorphosed to play in the current times. It ditches the decades-old steel frame of the previous L316 version (itself an evolution of the original "Series" Land Rovers, a chromosome or two removed from a farm tractor). Instead, the new L663 Defender sports an aluminum unibody. Perhaps most shocking of all to loyalists and off-roading aficionados, the live axles have been dropped in favor of fully independent suspension. How do you say "sacrilege" in the Queen's English? Yet if asked to traverse great swaths of rutted, tumbling African trails, the Defender is a steadfast, undeterred companion and guide. Read more here (Source: MotorTrend).
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:
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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.
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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.
Around the Web
BMW X8 M Super SUV Reportedly Coming [MotorAuthority]
These Futuristic Concept Cars from the 1950s Are Up for Auction with a $20M Estimate [CNN]
There's a 160-Year-Old Tunnel Full of Rusting WWII Cars Under the Streets of Naples [The Drive]
