Citrin Joins AIADA as an Affinity Partner
AIADA is excited to announce that Citrin has joined the association as an Affinity Partner, offering the membership a robust set of solutions for managing porter, car wash, and valet pick-up and delivery operations. Their seamless integration into a dealership’s operational infrastructure lowers overhead, increases operational efficiency, increases CSI performance, reduces stress, and allows personnel to focus on improving revenue, profit, and customer experience. “With a rapidly changing automotive retail marketplace, Citrin addresses one of the largest issues facing dealers today, providing staffing solutions to often overlooked, important customer-facing positions. Finding the right customer-facing staff is a real challenge today for large and small dealers. Citrin brings unparalleled valet, porter, and employee management services to our members,” states AIADA President and CEO Cody Lusk. The new partnership gives AIADA members access to the company's full array of support services. Read the full announcement here.
Hyundai's Jose Muñoz: Hybrids Will Help With Transition to Electric
In his first year at the helm of Hyundai Motor North America, Jose Muñoz oversaw a 4.7 percent U.S. sales increase for the Hyundai and Genesis brands in 2019, and he began building his executive team and sales strategy with the goal of reaching 1 million sales in the U.S. by 2025. In 2020, Muñoz rolled out dealer facility programs at the two brands amid some retailer pushback and steered the Korean automaker through the pandemic. Hyundai brand retail sales rose 1 percent even as weakness in fleet sales led to a 10 percent decline in total volume and Genesis struggled with inventory. For his third act this year, Muñoz and Hyundai are pushing hard on electrification, rolling out hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Elantra sedan and Tucson crossover, in addition to launching an electric vehicle subbrand and delivering the automaker's first dedicated EV to showrooms, the Ioniq 5. Muñoz, 55, spoke last month with Automotive News. Click here to read more (Source: Automotive News).
Biden Administration Creates Task Force to Supply Chain Shortages
Reuters reports that the Biden administration is creating a new federal task force to address near-term supply chain issues plaguing a host of industries, the U.S. Commerce Department said, adding it will release the findings of its 100-day review later on Tuesday at the White House. The administration is also creating a new data hub to monitor near-term supply chain vulnerabilities, track supply and demand disruptions, and better share information with private sector, the department said. Read more here (Source: Reuters).
New Vehicle Inventory Continues Steep Decline
Stories of consumers snapping up new vehicles as soon as the car haulers drop them on dealer lots will continue circulating, as inventories of unsold vehicles are steadily dropping as shortages of semiconductors crimps production worldwide, reports The Detroit Bureau. A new report by analysts at J.P. Morgan now estimate dealers across the United States are sitting on a mere 23-day supply of new unsold vehicles, according to Bloomberg. Traditionally, a 60-day to 70-day supply was considered normal and at times dealers operated with a 90-day supply in order to insure they had precisely the vehicle a customer wanted on hand to quickly complete a sale. The inventory drop is now expected to hamper sales of new vehicles at least through the summer, according to IHS Markit. Read more here (Source: The Detroit Bureau).
Ford's Maverick Truck Reverses Trend Toward Hulking Pickups
Pickup trucks in the U.S. have trended for years toward the bigger, brawnier, and more expensive. Now, Ford Motor Co. is reversing course, with plans to sell a diminutive truck with a price tag similar to that of a compact car, reports The Wall Street Journal. Ford on Tuesday revealed the Maverick, a pickup truck with a body comparable in size to a compact SUV, such as a Ford Escape. Its starting price of $19,995 will make it the least-expensive vehicle in Ford’s U.S. lineup when it goes on sale this fall. The nation’s No. 2 auto maker is betting that some people who own sedans or small sport-utility vehicles would like the versatility of having a flatbed, but don’t have the budget or garage space for a big, gas-guzzling truck, such as Ford’s F-150 or midsize Ranger pickup. Read more here (Source: The Wall Street Journal).
Around the Web
Why Electric Cars Are So Much Heavier Than Regular Cars [CNN]
2022 Ferrari V-6 Hybrid Supercar Spy Shots [MotorAuthority]
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport Revealed a Long-Tail, High-Speed Grand Tourer [Autoblog]
