Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150, Hyundai Elantra Named N.A. Utility, Truck, and Car Winners

First Up 01/12/21

AIADA Adds StrategicSource as an Affinity Partner

StrategicSource, Inc., a spend management consulting company based in Bloomington, Minn., has joined with the American International Automobile Dealers Association as its newest Affinity Partner. AIADA’s franchised dealer members can now take advantage of StrategicSource’s comprehensive spend management and sourcing services at discounted rates to maximize their profits. “We are pleased to announce our newest Affinity Partner, StrategicSource, to provide our members with aggressive sourcing solutions to improve their profits. We welcome them to the AIADA family and look forward to working with them to optimize profitability for our members,” said Cody Lusk AIADA President & CEO. Read more here. 

Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150, Hyundai Elantra Named N.A. Utility, Truck, and Car Winners

The all-new Ford Mustang Mach-E, an electric vehicle, was named 2021 North American Utility of the Year while the redesigned Ford F-150 pickup was named truck of the year and the Hyundai Elantra took top car honors. According to Automotive News, the winners, announced Monday, were selected through a three-part voting process by a jury of 50 automotive journalists from U.S. and Canadian media. The winners were picked from a group of three finalists in each category. In addition to the Mustang Mach-E, the other finalists for utility vehicle were the new Genesis GV80 and the revived Land Rover Defender. The other truck finalists were the Jeep Gladiator Mojave and Ram 1500 TRX. The Genesis G80 and Nissan Sentra were the other car finalists. Read more here (Source: Automotive News). 

Detroit Auto Show Cancelled for 2021 Due to Pandemic; Replaced by Smaller "Enthusiast Focused" Event 

The carnage of car shows continues as the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which organizes the North American International Auto Show, cancelled this year’s event, reports The Detroit Bureau. The show, which was last held in 2019, has been cancelled and rescheduled multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, instead of shutting the entire event down, the group is scaling it back to make it a more enthusiast-focused show at the M1 Concourse, a private racetrack north of Detroit. Describing it as a “bridge to the future,” the new event is called the Motor Bella and will be held Sept. 21-26 at the 87-acre racetrack and vehicle storage facility. It will allow exhibitors to showcase vehicles outdoors while more easily enforcing safety procedures for the pandemic. They plan to a more traditional type of auto show in 2022. Read more here (Source: The Detroit Bureau). 

BMW Sales Fall 8.4% as Coronavirus Takes Toll

BMW said it saw a 8.4% drop in vehicles sales in 2020 as the outbreak of coronavirus took its toll and many retail outlets around the world were closed for months. However, reports Reuters, customer demand picked up in the fourth quarter, rising 3.2% year-on-year, BMW said on Tuesday. “We succeeded in concluding the year with a strong fourth quarter and once again we lead the premium segment worldwide,” BMW board member Pieter Nota said in a statement. In total, the Munich-headquartered company sold 2,324,809 vehicles last year. In Europe, 2020 sales were down 15.7% and in the United States 18%. In China, where the pandemic started and where it was brought under control faster than elsewhere, 2020 sales bucked the trend and increased 7.4%. Read more here (Source: Reuters).

PPP Loans: Everything We Know About Latest Small Business Protection

Starting Monday, small businesses looking for financial aid to weather the coronavirus pandemic were again able to turn to the Paycheck Protection Program, reports The Wall Street Journal. The loan program reopened on Jan. 11, initially to first-time borrowers, with second-time borrowers to follow on Jan. 13. Congress authorized relaunching the program with $284 billion in funding as part of its latest $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package passed in December. Much like the program’s first iteration, the aid is in the form of forgivable loans, but there are key changes on issues such as eligibility for second-time applicants and types of forgivable expenses. Also, only certain kinds of community lenders will be accepting applications for the first few days after the program reopens. Click here for what what to know about the relaunch (Source: The Wall Street Journal). 

The Kerrigan Index™ Finishes 2020 Up Nearly 30%

The Kerrigan Index™, which tracks the seven publicly traded auto retail companies, ended 2020 up nearly 30%, handily outperforming the S&P 500 Index, as reported in The Kerrigan Index™ - 2020 Year in Review by Kerrigan Advisors. Despite the drastic fall off in March that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic, The Kerrigan Index regained all losses by July and through the end of the year had over 90 trading days above the Index’s prior all-time highs set in June 2015.  Record valuations for these companies represent the strength and durability of the auto retail industry, which continues to attract the attention of Wall Street investors. Read The Kerrigan Index™ here.

Around the Web

One of the World's Largest Muscle Car Museums is Auctioning Off Its Cars [Autoblog]

Sony's Concept Car is Being Tested on Public Roads [The Next Web]

Tesla Releases Video of Model Y Third Row, but Doesn't Show Someone Sitting in It [Electrek]

The New Land Rover Defender is Off to a Cracking Start [Jalopnik] 

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