Chairman's Blog: Some Good News (For a Change)
These days, good news is hard to come by, writes AIADA Chairman Jason Courter. Turn on the TV, or open Twitter, and you are confronted with a cavalcade of awfulness. A pandemic, a floundering economy, political unrest – there’s not a lot to cheer about. AIADA has tried to buck the trend recently by using the #DealersDoGood hashtag on social media and sharing positive news stories about dealers giving back to their communities in our publications. Today, we have even more good news to announce. In conjunction with Autos Drive America, AIADA has released its annual Economic Impact Report. The great columnist Doug Larson once wrote, “Bad news travels fast. Good news takes the scenic route.” You can help AIADA speed up the spread of good news about our industry by sharing this link on your social media platforms, with your employees, and with your customers. We want everyone to understand that the international nameplate auto industry is a powerful and positive engine for American growth. Also, we think everyone could use some good news, for a change. Read more here.
With Handshakes Barred and an Economy in Trouble, a Car Salesman Tries to Seal the Deal
Mike McVeigh had been selling cars for 16 years — honing skills that he feared were already a lost art — when the virus hit. He was 46 and out of a job, reports The Washington Post. His boss at David Dodge furloughed the sales staff after all nonessential businesses in Pennsylvania closed in late March. A month later, he was called back to work. But everything had changed. A once-booming economy was in tatters. Everyone wore masks. The showroom was closed to customers. Test drives were solo affairs. Deals needed to be done mostly online. No one wanted to get too close to anyone. The covid-19 pandemic forced tens of millions of people to lose jobs and thousands of businesses to close, including, initially, almost a quarter of all people working for auto dealers. McVeigh returned to a dealership that had reinvented on the fly, abandoning a formula relied on for decades to lure potential buyers into the showroom and allow the sales staff to work their magic. Just to survive, car salesmen had to try something new. Read more here.
Inspector General to Audit U.S. Oversight of Auto Safety Standards
The Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General said on Tuesday it would audit oversight of U.S. vehicle safety standards, noting that more than 36,000 Americans were killed in traffic accidents in 2019. Automotive News reports that the inspector general's office said it was launching a review of NHTSA's efforts to set and enforce Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. "Given the importance to the traveling public that all new vehicles and components meet federal safety standards, we are initiating a review of NHTSA’s FMVSS process," the inspector general's office wrote. NHTSA said in a statement it would "work with the Office of Inspector General to provide any pertinent information requested." In March, NHTSA proposed sweeping changes to U.S. safety requirements to speed the deployment of self-driving vehicles without human controls. It proposed rewriting 11 vehicle safety standards that require traditional manual controls "by revising the requirements and test procedures to account for the removal of manually-operated driving controls." Read more here.
GM Finance Chief Suryadevara Departs
According to Automotive News, General Motors CFO Dhivya Suryadevara, who played key roles in the automaker’s selloff of Opel, purchase of Cruise Automation and 2018 restructuring plan, is quitting to take the top finance job at Stripe, a San Francisco online payments processor that has become one of the world’s most valuable tech startups. John Stapleton, GM's North American CFO, will replace Suryadevara on an acting basis while the automaker searches for a permanent successor. "Dhivya has been a transformational leader in her tenure as CFO," GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday in a statement. "She has helped the company strengthen our balance sheet, improve our cost structure, focus on cash generation, and drive the right investments for our future. We wish her every success." Suryadevara, 41, became GM’s first female CFO in September 2018 after holding various roles in GM’s finance office and at GM Asset Management in New York since 2004. Suryadevara grew up in India and moved to the U.S. at age 22 to attend Harvard University. Read more here.
Tesla Stock Plans 5-for-1 Split So More Investors Can Afford It
Tesla will split its stock for the first time in its history so more investors can afford to buy a stake in the electric car pioneer following a meteoric rise in its market value, reports USA Today. The five-for-one stock split announced Tuesday won't change how much Tesla's business is worth, but will automatically reduce the price of its shares by 80% when it's completed on Aug. 31. The sharp drop in price per shares creates a wider universe of potential investors and also often has the psychological effect of making it seem as if a stock is on sale. Those factors often spark rallies after a split is announced. The company's shares surged 6% to $1,459 in extended trading after the news about the split came out. It marks the first time that Tesla has split its stock since the Palo Alto, California, company went public at $17 per share a decade ago. Read more here.
Webinar Tomorrow: What if My Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19?
Don’t miss out on AIADA’s next AutoTalk webinar, happening tomorrow, August 13, focusing on how to navigate COVID-19 at your dealership. Learn critical steps you can take to protect your employees, steps to take if an employee contracts COVID-19, and how to return employees to work after they recover.
Register for this next AutoTalk session by clicking here.
Around the Web
15 Cars You Can Buy From Hertz for $15K or Less [AutoWeek]
2021 Bentley Bentayga Speed Adopts New Look, Still Fastest SUV in the World [Autoblog]
The Best and Most Memorable Concept Cars of the 1980s [Automobile]
