More Than 7,000 Dealers Registered to Offer Point-of-Sale EV Tax Credits Next Year
More than 7,000 U.S. car dealers have registered with the IRS to offer electric vehicle tax credits at the point of sale when the option becomes available to consumers Jan. 1, the U.S. Treasury Department said Friday. However, that represents a fraction — roughly 40 percent — of the nearly 17,000 franchised dealerships selling light-duty vehicles in the U.S., according to 2023 data from the National Automobile Dealers Association. According to Automotive News, the registration figure comes after nearly 4,000 dealerships wrote to President Joe Biden in November, urging him to "slow down" on the federal EV push. Still, dealers must be registered via the newly launched website — called IRS Energy Credits Online — for their customers to claim or transfer federal tax credits and use those funds as a down payment for eligible new- and used-EV purchases. Registration, which opened Nov. 1, also is required for dealers to receive direct payments for transferred credits. The credit transfer is allowed under the IRA’s Section 30D credit for new EV purchases and Section 25E credit for used EVs, providing consumers with up to $7,500 for new vehicles and $4,000 for used vehicles if certain requirements are met. Click here for the full story.
Auto Consumer Brand Loyalty Making Modest Rebound
Digital auto retailing is on the rise, but dealership appearance remains an important sales factor. That point was made by S&P analyst Tom Libby during an online presentation at the recent S&P Global loyalty review. “Dealers in a competitive market have to be sensitive to the physical appearance of their facilities,” he says. “No question, the digital world is gaining but given the nature of the business, OEMs (and dealers) are smart to have physical facility standards for their dealers.” The report shows Ford and Chevrolet hold close one-two spots in a ranking of mainstream auto brands with the most loyal customers in the U.S. Digital auto retailing is on the rise, but dealership appearance remains an important sales factor, reports Wards. That point was made by S&P analyst Tom Libby during an online presentation at the recent S&P Global loyalty review. “Dealers in a competitive market have to be sensitive to the physical appearance of their facilities,” he says. “No question, the digital world is gaining but given the nature of the business, OEMs (and dealers) are smart to have physical facility standards for their dealers.” Click here for the full story.
No One Wants Used EVs, Making New Ones a Tougher Sell Too
The shift away from cars with dirty combustion engines is running into a new hurdle: Drivers don’t want to buy used electric vehicles, and that’s undermining the market for new ones, too. According to Bloomberg, in the $1.2 trillion secondhand market, prices for battery-powered cars are falling faster than for their combustion-engine cousins. Buyers are shunning them due to a lack of subsidies, a desire to wait for better technology and continued shortfalls in charging infrastructures. A fierce price war sparked by Tesla Inc. and competitive Chinese models are further depressing values of new and used cars alike, threatening earnings at rivals like Volkswagen AG and Stellantis NV. Because most new vehicles in Europe are sold via leases, automakers and dealers who finance these transactions are trying to recover losses from plummeting valuations by raising borrowing costs. That’s hitting demand in some European markets that were in the vanguard of the shift away from fossil fuel-powered propulsion. Some of the biggest buyers of new cars, including rental firms, are cutting back on EV adoption because they’re losing money on resales, with Sixt SE dropping Tesla models from its fleet. Click here for the full story.
New York Dealerships Team with CarEdge for Sales Event
It's no secret that consumers dislike spending hours at a dealership to purchase a vehicle, so Island Auto Group in New York sought to speed up the process at an August sales event focused on transparency. Island Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Island Subaru on Staten Island teamed with CarEdge, a company that brokers deals for vehicle shoppers. CarEdge drove consumers into the dealerships by promising a quick sale and no unexpected additional costs. Three parameters were in place for the one-day event: Prices had to be negotiated in advance through CarEdge, there would be no hidden fees, and buyers would be in and out in one hour or less. According to Automotive News, the event generated 13 sales of new and used vehicles for the two dealerships — more than half of their business that day. It was so successful that Island Auto Group plans to repeat it early next year, said Josh Aaronson, one of the group's owners. Aaronson said the stores started working with CarEdge around a month before the event. All of the group's franchises, Aaronson said, now use CarEdge to generate business. Click here for the full story.
Official: Electric Volkswagen Golf GTI Coming in 2026
Volkswagen's head of design, Andreas Mindt, has confirmed that the first electric GTI will arrive in production form in 2026, likely to be called the Volkswagen ID. GTI. The confirmation came via Mindt's Instagram account, where the designer posted a sketch of the original Mk1 GTI alongside the ID. GTI Concept. He captioned it: "The Golf GTI was first unveiled at the 1975 Frankfurt Motor Show with a production run of 5,000 units. To date, we have sold more than 2.8 million. In 2026, we will introduce an electric version of this iconic model." Earlier this year, Volkswagen revealed the ID. GTI Concept based on the ID. 2all concept, previewing what an electric GTI model might look like when it launches as a $33,000 hot hatch, reports Carbuzz. While mechanical details were kept under wraps, the design looked largely production-ready and highly attractive. "We made it friendly and approachable, and that's a serious power. It's not overly aggressive," Mindt said previously. "In a Golf GTI, you never feel embarrassed. In some hot hatches, you do feel embarrassed in certain situations. This is 'unpimp' my ride, not a boy racer car." Click here for the full story.
Carfax: Used Car Prices Falling Faster
Because there are more new cars available than expected in the wake of the relatively short UAW strike, many automakers and dealers are acting to reduce their inventory by offering low-interest financing or cash-back deals on new models. Why does that affect used-car prices? Because of these rising incentives, new cars become more appealing to car shoppers than used cars, whose loans typically come with higher interest rates.
Price drops varied in size last month, from roughly $100 up to $600. Interestingly, the bottom of the price range for most categories has also begun falling, suggesting that dealers are starting to slice prices on even their least-expensive used models. Hybrid and EV prices dropped about $560 from last month, while pickup truck, luxury SUV and van prices each dropped at least $500.
Changes to average prices in other segments:
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The average price of SUVs and Cars dropped about $400 on Carfax last month.
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Only one category showed signs of finding its floor: The average price of Luxury Cars on Carfax only dropped about $30 last month.
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