Chairman's Blog: Friend or Foe?
In his latest blog post, AIADA Chairman Steve Gates writes that our friends in Washington are few and far between these days, as dealers seek protection against an un-American provision being shoe-horned into the Build Back Better bill to benefit the UAW. The provision would offer consumers a $4,500 tax credit for buying an electric vehicle, but only if that vehicle was assembled in a union-represented plant. The language is transparently a political payback from politicians to the unions who fund their campaigns. You would think that every Senator and Representative who has an international brand plant in their state or district would be shouting on the rooftops against this provision. And you’d be wrong. Only a handful of brave lawmakers have stood up against the union-only tax credit. If you don’t know where your Representative and Senators stand, now is a great time to contact them directly and ask what they’re doing to protect ALL American workers and the environment. Friends or not, they answer to us, and they need to be prepared to defend their position on this damaging and crooked proposal. For the full blog post, click here.
Toyota December Production Outlook Shows Easing Supply Woes
Toyota Motor Corp. is targeting a level of output in December higher than what it’s seen in recent years, a sign that supply disruptions may be receding. According to Bloomberg, the world’s No. 1 automaker said on Friday it plans to produce 800,000 vehicles globally next month, up from the 755,581 units it produced in December 2020 and 660,536 in December 2019. Next month is the first time in seven months that all of Toyota’s production lines in Japan will be operating normally, according to a statement by the company. Toyota’s new outlook is a sign that the Southeast Asia supply chain issues that have plagued Japanese automakers are beginning to ease. Toyota is maintaining its previous forecast to churn out 9 million vehicles for the fiscal year ending March. As Toyota ramps up output, “if operating profit margins remain high, this will lead to strong profitability,” Shinji Kakiuchi, an analyst at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities said in a recent briefing. For more on Toyota’s production outlook, click here.
Sen. Joe Manchin's Opposition to Union-Built EV Tax Credit Gets Applause
Opposition from West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to a proposed $4,500 additional federal tax credit for electric vehicles built by union labor in the U.S. got a warm response from those who have spent months lobbying to kill the provision in the Democrats' nearly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act. Automotive News reports that Toyota, American Honda and Volkswagen Group of America are among automakers that have fiercely opposed the proposed tax credit. And some dealers have lobbied against it, led by the American International Automobile Dealers Association. AIADA Chairman Steve Gates, whose Gates Auto Family group operates 10 dealerships with seven franchises in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, said he was "frankly thrilled" to learn of Manchin's opposition. "I think we've been successful in getting more dealers involved; it's almost an obsession," Gates said, adding that he has been focused on encouraging sympathetic dealers who have Democratic representatives to weigh in on the issue. "I talk to anybody and everybody about it." For more on Manchin’s opposition to union-only tax credits, click here.
Dealers and their employees should contact their Members of Congress and urge them to oppose this proposal that will divide American workers and play politics with car sales. Click here to learn more about the issue and to contact your legislators.
2022 Audi RS e-tron GT: A Glimpse of VW Group’s Electric Future
Wall Street Journal car reviewer Dan Neil recently tested the 2022 Audi RS e-tron GT, which is, among other things, the quickest/fastest Audi four-door ever, with a 0-60 mph of 3.1 seconds and quarter-mile of 11 seconds. Click here to see it. Under the skin, the RS GT and base-model Audi e-tron GT Quattro share its 800-volt electrical architecture with corporate sibling Porsche Taycan. The RS GT’s low roof—2 inches lower than an Audi RS 7, for comparison—effectively requires a lower floor, and therefore, a shallower battery pack. While the RS GT is about as quick and powerful as a Tesla Model S, its weight (373-578 pounds more) and relatively modest 83.7-kWh capacity limits range to an EPA-estimated 232 miles, compared to the Tesla’s Model S Long Range’s 375-405 miles range. But remember, the Tesla Model S is a volume-production automobile selling many thousands annually. The Audi is being built in numbers so small as to be practically bespoke within VW Group. The RS GT is destined to be an exotic car bought by quixotic people. For the full review, click here.
Destination Charges Soar in Background of Record-High Sticker Prices
Jeep's biggest-ever SUVs carry a big asterisk: a $2,000 shipping charge tacked onto the bottom of the window sticker for every Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. That unavoidable, nonnegotiable fee is among the highest ever for a new vehicle from a mainstream brand — and more than double the $995 that Jeep charged on its 2016 models. Automotive News reports that it's not just a Jeep thing. Shipping fees now add $1,695 to the price of all six full-size light-duty pickup nameplates sold in the U.S. Across the industry, the average amount charged for transportation from factory to dealership climbed at roughly triple the rate of inflation during the past decade, according to Consumer Reports. Click here for a chart showing the increase since 2017. The surge has come as consumers pay record-high transaction prices for new vehicles, yet it's largely invisible because many brands omit shipping fees from advertised prices and bury them in fine print on their websites. For more on this phenomenon, and how customers are reacting, click here.
Around the Web
2022 Toyota RAV4 Gets Cheaper Sporty Hybrid Trim [Auto Blog]
Here Are Five Perfect Cars To Buy During The Used Car Shortage [Jalopnik]
2023 Acura Integra Prototype First Look: A Five-Door Sensation? [MotorTrend]
GM Cuts Heated Seats on Many Models Because of Chip Shortage [Detroit News]
