Penske Posts Record Income in Q3, Buys Remainder of Japanese Dealership Group
Penske Automotive Group Inc.'s third-quarter net income soared to a record for any quarter on higher used-vehicle revenues and stronger new-vehicle margins, even as its new-vehicle sales dropped by 16 percent as inventory tightened. According to Automotive News, CEO Roger Penske in a statement Wednesday credited the performance to strength in all areas of the company's business. Pretax earnings from Penske's retail commercial trucks division more than doubled, and its ownership stake in Penske Transportation Solutions generated 83 percent higher income. Penske said that since the quarter ended, it bought the remaining 51 percent of a Japanese luxury dealership group in which it had previously invested. The company in January 2016 revealed it had purchased 49 percent of that group. The acquisition of the rest of the group is expected to add $250 million in annualized revenues. Penske also said Wednesday that it has acquisitions under contract that represent another $300 million in annualized revenue. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
Drivers Are Interested in Electric Cars. Dealers Don't Know How to Sell Them.
“The big challenge to selling EVs is training” car dealers, Pieter Nota confided over dinner one night during the Munich Auto Show, reports Bloomberg. Nota, the board member of management at BMW AG, was talking about the company’s network of 348 distributors across the United States. He was speaking with a small group of journalists who had joined him for a Bavarian repast in Munich to celebrate BMW’s launch of its first-ever electric SUV and electric sedan. Nota declined to say how many of the company’s new EVs it hopes to sell in their first year. But the power and resources behind them are staggering. BMW will offer a fully electrified vehicle in nearly every one of its segments by 2023, he said. By 2024, BMW will have stopped making internal combustion engines at its main manufacturing plant in Munich. By 2025, it will have invested more than $32 billion in EV research and development. Read more here (Source: Bloomberg).
How Cyberattacks Disrupt the Auto Supply Chain
Eberspaecher, a German supplier of automotive exhaust and thermal management systems, is the latest industry victim of a cyberattack, this one hitting the company's IT infrastructure, according to Automotive News. While its main customers say there's been no supply disruption so far, they are monitoring the situation. Past cyberattacks in the auto industry have led to factories shutting down. Honda last year suffered a crippling attack on its global computer network. Some plants, including in North America, were forced to temporarily suspend output because of a loss of computer connectivity. In 2017, Honda was hit by the global WannaCry ransomware attack that affected production at a Japanese assembly plant, according to Reuters. That attack also affected Renault and Nissan operations in Japan, Europe and India, the news agency said. Almost half of 100 automotive manufacturers and more than 17 percent of automotive suppliers surveyed by cybersecurity ratings provider Black Kite are at high risk for a ransomware attack, according to a report released this summer. Read more here (Source: Automotive News).
Tesla Surpasses $1 Trillion in Market Value as Hertz Orders 100K Vehicles
Tesla Inc. crossed $1 trillion in market value Monday, joining a select group of companies after its stock price more than doubled this past year on surging vehicle sales and rising profits, reports The Wall Street Journal. Investors pushed the electric-vehicle maker over the line after Hertz Global Holdings Inc. ordered 100,000 autos to be delivered to the rental-car company by the end of next year, a bulk purchase that promises to expose more mainstream drivers to Tesla’s technology. Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc., and Google parent Alphabet Inc. are the only other U.S. companies worth more $1 trillion. Facebook Inc. was part of the group, though its share price has since retreated. Tesla, which last week reported record quarterly profit, is worth more than the next nine largest auto makers by market capitalization combined. Read more here (Source: The Wall Street Journal).
General Motors Gives Its Dealers 40K EV Charging Outlets for Public Use
General Motors plans to enable its dealers to install up to 40,000 electric-vehicle charging outlets in communities throughout the U.S., reports USA Today. The move would equal a one-third increase in the number of publicly available charging ports in the U.S. There are currently some 120,000 outlets on more than 50,000 stations across the nation, according to the Department of Energy. GM said it is giving up to 10 chargers to each of its dealers "to deploy the chargers at key locations throughout their local communities." Owners of all-electric cars, including non-GM brands, will be able to access the chargers, which will provide the same type of electricity as an outlet that powers a clothes dryer. Charging times vary significantly depending on the range of the vehicle and its technology, but it would typically take several hours to fully charge a vehicle with a range of a couple of hundred miles. Read more here (Source: USA Today).
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These 10 New Cars Hold Their Value Best [Gear Patrol]
These Cars Retain Their Value Best After Five Years [Motor1.com]
German Automakers Can't Build Hundreds of Thousands of Cars Due to Chip Shortage [Reuters]
Nissan Asks Tokyo Court for Leniency Over Ghosn Charges [Reuters]
