New Jersey Dealer Mike DeSilva to Serve as AIADA’s 2023 Chairman
The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) has named New Jersey dealer Mike DeSilva as its 2023 chairman. Click here for a video. DeSilva, who is the co-owner of Liberty Auto Group in northern New Jersey, accepted the chairman’s gavel during an AIADA event in Dallas, Texas on Friday night. “As a second-generation international nameplate dealer, I’ve seen personally how important it is to work with AIADA to protect my stores, employees, and customers,” said DeSilva, whose father Rick DeSilva served as AIADA’s chairman in 2010. “Advocating in D.C. to preserve global trade and maintain a level playing field on which all dealers can compete is vital to our future, and a mission worth fighting for.” Mike grew up working in his family's Subaru dealership and has said that as AIADA Chairman he wants to focus on building and maintaining dealer-lawmaker relationships on Capitol Hill. “Our legislators need to acknowledge and celebrate the investment the international nameplate auto industry has made in America,” he told AIADA members. “We’ve been here for multiple generations, creating jobs, paying taxes, and building and selling the vehicles Americans want to drive. We’re not going anywhere.” Click here for the full story.
Toyota Defends Title as World's Top-Selling Automaker in 2022
Toyota Motor Corp sold 10.5 million vehicles in 2022, defending its title as the world's top-selling automaker for a third straight year. Global sales for the group, including truck unit Hino Motors and small-car maker Daihatsu, inched down 0.1 as record overseas sales of 8.6 million vehicles helped offset a 9.6 percent dip in its home market to 1.9 million. Second-ranked rival Volkswagen Group earlier this month reported its lowest sales in over a decade, of 8.3 million vehicles, as COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the war in Ukraine upended supply chains, reports Reuters. While some chip-related supply constraints remained for Toyota as well, the Japanese automaker said strong demand in Asia and an increase in the production capacity and optimization in Asia and North America helped it boost global production by five percent in 2022. Toyota in November revised its production forecast for the current financial year through the end of March, to 9.2 million vehicles from 9.7 million. Click here for the full story.
EV Charging Prices Rise Above ICE Fueling Costs for First Time in 18 Months
A new analysis by Anderson Economic Group (AEG) has found that fueling up your mid-priced ICE vehicle was more affordable than recharging an electric car of comparable value, again shining the light on the current reality of running costs for EVs. The study focused on Q4 2022 and was based on the cost of driving 100 miles. With recently declining gas prices, this amount worked out to $11.29 for owners of mid-priced ICE vehicles, about $0.31 less than what it costs to charge an EV of similar value if charging mainly was done at home. If charging commercially, the costs of recharging the ICE vehicle are over $3 less. While EVs are generally perceived as being cheaper to run, this new study underlines that your transportation-energy costs are still dramatically influenced by what vehicle segment you shop in and even where in the USA you live, reports Carbuzz. Because electricity costs have also been rising, this is the first time that mid-priced ICE cars were more economical to fuel than comparable EVs in 18 months. Click here for the full story.
Acura Will Sell Its EVs Exclusively Online Starting in 2024
Honda has big plans for the new year and electrification will play a huge part of that, the company's recently promoted SVP of Sales, Mamadou Diallo, told reporters on Tuesday. Overall, Honda is officially aiming to move 1.2 million units in 2023, with Acura shooting for 160,000 units, a 20-25 percent increase over what they sold in 2022. And although the company managed to maintain a single-digit days' supply of vehicles throughout last year, it enters 2023 with a glut of cars and trucks and a 17-day supply. As such, dealers are going to be looking to move a lot of that inventory before this year's models start arriving so fingers crossed, we could potentially see some Tesla-level price cuts in the near future, reports Autoblog. "In 2023, we will see the strategies we've been talking about, including growing sales of light truck models, increasing volume of hybrid-electric models and the start of digital sales at Acura," Diallo said in a Wednesday press release. "All this leads toward our vision of 100-percent electrified sales by 2040 to fulfill our ultimately goal of zero emissions by 2050." Click here for the full story.
Hyundai's Low-Price Days Over as Technology and Style Boost the Brand's Value
Hyundai's brand positioning and mission are shifting. As the nation's 800 Hyundai showrooms fill with high-tech vehicles powered by cutting-edge drivetrains and sporting head-turning style, the automaker is moving further and further away from its roots as a brand that succeeded by undercutting competitors on price. Hyundai, launched in the United States in 1986 as a "value" brand, steadily built its sales juggernaut by winning customers who shopped for lower sticker prices. Those days are ending. Vehicles such as the electric Ioniq5, Nexo fuel cell crossover, Palisade SUV and upcoming electric Kona crossover are priced competitively with similar vehicles, reports Automotive News. Kevin Reilly, Hyundai National Dealer Council chairman, said the brand is well along in its journey to what he calls a valuable brand. "The way Hyundai provides value to customers is not so much having a lower transaction price," said Reilly, "but what it gives customers in terms of styling and content for that particular dollar." He said Hyundai's 10-year warranty has been instrumental in wooing customers from Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and others. Click here for the full story.
Around the Web
China Tipped to Overtake Japan as World’s Largest Car Exporter [Carscoops]
BMW Gets Ready to Test Solid-State Batteries for EVs [Car and Driver]
Massachusetts Store Owner Gary Rome Named TIME Dealer of the Year at NADA 2023 [CBT News]
Toyota: Grand Highlander a Retention Opportunity [Automotive News]
