Nissan Posts Quarterly Loss, Forecasts Smaller Annual Decline

First Up 11/12/20

Biden Transition Team for EPA, Transportation Includes Former Obama Officials

President-elect Joe Biden's transition teams for the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department will be run by several agency alumni who served under President Barack Obama and helped craft regulations like the Clean Power Plan and tougher fuel economy standards for vehicles, reports Automotive News. The head of the EPA team is Patrice Simms, an environmental attorney at Earthjustice, which has filed more than 100 lawsuits against President Donald Trump's administration. He worked as deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's environment division. Biden's Transportation Department team is headed by Phillip Washington, chief executive of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It also includes New York City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, a former Transportation official under Obama, and Therese McMillan, former acting head of the Federal Transit Administration under Obama. Read more here (Source: Automotive News). 

Honda Says It Will Be First to Mass Produce Level 3 Autonomous Cars

Japan’s Honda Motor Co said on Wednesday it will be the world’s first automaker to mass produce sensor-packed level 3 autonomous cars that will allow drivers to let their vehicles navigate congested expressway traffic, reports Reuters. “Honda is planning to launch sales of a Honda Legend (luxury sedan) equipped with the newly approved automated driving equipment” before the end of March 2021, Honda said in a press release. The race to build self-driving cars is a key technology battleground for automakers, with technology companies such as Google parent Alphabet Inc also investing billions of dollars in a field expected to boost car sales. Japan’s government earlier in the day awarded a safety certification to Honda’s autonomous “Traffic Jam Pilot” driving technology, which legally allow drivers to take their eyes off the road. Read more here (Source: Reuters). 

Nissan Posts Quarterly Loss, Forecasts Smaller Annual Decline

Nissan Motor Co. cut its forecast for an annual operating loss by 28 percent, helped by restructuring efforts and better-than-expected sales, reports Automotive News. Operating loss for the year to March 31 will be 340 billion yen ($3.2 billion), compared with the prior forecast for a 470-billion-yen loss ($4.5 billion), Nissan said on Thursday. For the July-September quarter, Nissan reported an operating loss of 4.8 billion yen ($45.6 million), compared with a 30 billion yen ($285 million) profit for the same period a year earlier, after sales fell due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sales for the latest quarter fell 27 percent to 1.9 trillion yen ($18 billion). Nissan raised its outlook for full-year revenue to 7.9 trillion yen ($75 billion). Read more here (Source: Automotive News). 

BMW Unveils Electric SUV to Challenge Tesla, Plans U.S. Launch in Early 2022

German luxury automaker BMW AG unveiled on Wednesday an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) called the BMW iX, planned to go on sale in the United States in early 2022 to compete with Tesla Inc. and other rivals. Reuters reports that BMW said the iX should have a driving range of 300 miles (480 km). That’s less than the estimated driving range of the Tesla Model X Long Range, which is rated at 371 miles in the United States. BMW said drivers would be able to add 75 miles of range in ten minutes at a fast-charging station. BMW said the iX would be comparable in size to the current BMW X5 SUV. The dashboard will be a sweeping, curved screen. The electric iX will enter a fast-growing field of battery-powered SUVs aimed at affluent customers. Read more here (Source: Reuters). 

Hyundai to Have 10 "Eco Vehicles" in Production by 2022

The Detroit Bureau reports that Hyundai confirmed Wednesday plans to have 10 “Eco Vehicles” in production by 2022, a broad term covering everything from conventional hybrids to all-electric vehicles, as well as hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. And that automaker plans to add even more electrified products by mid-decade, including at least one more all-electric model and new, high-performance variants that are likely to be marketed through its new N sub-brand. All told, parent Hyundai Motor Group aims to be selling 1 million eco vehicles by 2025 through its various brands, such as the familiar Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis, as well as the new Ioniq electric brand set to launch by 2022, according to Jose Munoz, HMG’s vice chairman and CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. Read more here (Source: The Detroit Bureau). 

Dealers More Bullish on Valuations Than 2019, Despite COVID-19

The results of the second annual Kerrigan Dealer Survey found that dealers remain largely optimistic about the valuation of their dealerships over the next 12 months, despite the economic turmoil associated with COVID-19. 86% of dealers expect the valuation of their dealerships to remain the same or increase in value. Notably, 33% of dealers surveyed expect an increase in their business’ value, as compared to 2019’s results when only 26% of dealers expected their dealership value to increase. Additionally, only 14% of dealers surveyed in 2020 believe the value of their business will decrease over the next 12 months. Dealers were also surveyed on their valuation expectations for each of the franchises. Read the 2020 Kerrigan Dealer Survey report here.

Webinar Today: Charlie's Real Time Monthly Market Update

With the latest increase in COVID cases, what is the outlook for the retail car market and how did sales perform last month? Cox Automotive Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough will present the most up-to-date, real time data for dealers during the next AutoTalk webinar TODAY, Thursday, November 12 at 2:00 p.m. EST. 

Cilck here to register

Around the Web

Digital License Plates Coming to Michigan [Detroit Free Press] 

2021 MotorTrend Car of the Year: The Contenders [MotorTrend]

The BMW iX Interior is a Futuristic Feast for the Eyes [Autoblog]

Carlos Ghosn Says COVID Makes Industry Ripe for Consolidation [CNBC]

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