Genesis Spurred by New Stores, Performance
Genesis has been busy cementing its luxury image in the U.S., including launching performance-minded vehicles and opening stand-alone retail facilities — a move that will separate it further from Hyundai, the mass-market brand that created it. The brand just announced the opening of 21 storefronts — including nine in eight new states — raising its total in the U.S. to 56 dealerships, reports Automotive News. Genesis ended 2023 with 11 new facilities, so it quadrupled its pace through the first seven months of the year.Performance also is top of mind. A sleek coupe version of the GV80 crossover went on sale this summer to satisfy buyers who prefer fastback styling and a 409-hp 3.5-liter V-6 with an electric supercharger.Genesis revealed four Magma concepts at the 2024 New York auto show to display the brand’s engineering chops for high-powered electric vehicles. The first to arrive in the U.S. will be the GV60 Magma, a souped-up version of Genesis’ only dedicated EV, the GV60 subcompact crossover.A fifth concept unveiled at the show, the Neolun, showcased an ultraluxe three-row crossover that’s likely the blueprint for the GV90 electric crossover — Genesis’ high-end answer to Kia’s EV9 and Hyundai’s upcoming Ioniq 9. Click here for the full story.
These Are the Longest-Lasting Auto Brands on the Road Today
Some automotive brands have remained at the top of predicted reliability rankings for years, and while new vehicles have become far more durable than they were even a few years ago, many of those top-ranked brands continue to dominate. iSeeCars recently studied the vehicles and brands most likely to reach 250,000+ miles, but many of the top brands won’t come as any surprise. Toyota was the top-ranked brand, with a 17 percent overall chance of having vehicles reach 250,000 miles, reports Autoblog. The top seven brands: Toyota: 17 percent; Honda: 13.6 percent; Ram: 11.5 percent; GMC: 11.4 percent; Chevrolet: 10.5 percent; Lexus: 9.7; and Ford: 9.5 percent. The average vehicle on America’s roads has an 8.6 percent chance of lasting a quarter-million miles or more, so those vehicles outperform the rest of the crop by notable margins. Looking at the list, it might be a little odd seeing Ram, GMC, Chevy, and Ford mixed in with brands like Honda and Toyota, but there’s a good reason for their success. The Big Three American brands sell a ton of trucks, which scored favorably in iSeeCars’ analysis. Click here for the full story.
How China Is Becoming a Money Pit for Foreign Automakers, in Charts
China was a gold mine for global automakers a decade ago. Not anymore. “Very few people are making money” in China, General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra told investors in July. A jarring new data point came earlier this month when Germany’s Volkswagen reported its first quarterly loss in at least 15 years from joint ventures and associates. These include its big Chinese JVs and have long been seen by investors as a proxy for its business in the country. For the largest global automakers, profits in China have been hit by falling sales as consumers embrace electric vehicles from homegrown brands such as BYD, which last year supplanted Volkswagen as China’s bestselling carmaker, reports The Wall Street Journal. In July, EVs and plug-in hybrids accounted for over half of all cars sold in the country for the first time, while the share shipped to dealers by non-Chinese brands slipped to 33 percent, down from 50 percent two years earlier. Another problem is falling prices in a marketplace besieged by new entrants. Like for like, Chinese vehicle prices in June were more than 6 percent lower than a year before, according to brokerage Bernstein. Click here for the full story.
Sales Folks Just Wanna Have Fun: Bob Rohrman Toyota Snags Customers with Exciting Promotions
Israel Hartnell borrowed his grandmother’s van, trekked four hours across state lines and lived in a tent for several days to claim the top prize at a 2023 Black Friday event: a $99 Toyota Corolla, for the first customer in line at 9 o’clock that morning. Bob Rohrman Toyota in Lafayette, Ind., offered the 2012 vehicle, worth thousands of dollars more — no gimmicks, no strings, no bait-and-switch — because Zac Kinch, the store’s general manager, believes gamifying sales campaigns not only helps boost sales and increase awareness about the dealership, but provides staff a genuine morale boost.”I believed that if our team got motivated, then the customers would be motivated,” Kinch told Automotive News. “I have this opportunity with the Rohrmans, and we’re blessed to be told by them, ‘Have at it, spend the money you need, do what you need to do, just get the results from it.’ ” Kinch began testing ideas in his prior role as the dealership’s general sales manager in 2018. He started at the store in 2014 in sales, then was finance manager from 2015 to 2018 and became general manager in 2019. Click here for the full story.
Bank of America’s Weekly Rates Market Update
U.S. July Headline and Core CPI printed at 0.2 percent m/m, bringing their respective y/y numbers to 2.9 percent and 3.2 percent. The headline print was inline with market expectations of 0.2% and just shy of BofA’s forecast of 0.3 percent while core printed in line with both. Following CPI data, a very strong U.S. Retail Sales print prompted a ~10bp jump in U.S. Treasury yields. BofA Economics Research notes this week’s data significantly strengthens the case for a regular-sized cut in Sep vs a super-sized one. BofA Economics Research expects two 25bps cuts in 2024, with the first in September and the second in December to bring the policy rate to 4.75-5.00 percent by year-end 2024. They continue to expect four cuts in 2025 (100bps) and two more in 2026 (50bps) bringing the terminal rate to 3.25 percent-3.50 percent. Click here for the full report.
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EV Batteries Cost 90% Less Compared to 15 Years Ago, New Study Finds [Carscoops]
Rolls-Royce Shows Off Ultra-Exclusive Phantom Scintilla at 2024 Monterey Car Week [Car and Driver]
2024 Monterey Car Week Mega Gallery [Carbuzz]