Category: Automotive News

Cost of Windshield Replacement Is Going Up

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Today, it seems as if the prices on just above everything (food, gas, rent) are going up–and glass is no exception. Unfortunately, maybe not all that surprisingly, the cost of automobile glass materials has been rising every month. . . and continues to do so. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data pulled back in January 2022 showed that motor vehicle parts increased by 5.2 percent from the previous year. Specifically, adhesives and sealants increased in price by 14.2 percent, while prices for materials related to motor vehicle repair and maintenance increased by 2.9 percent. Here’s…
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Shift Q1 earnings: Company reviewing ‘strategic alternatives’

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Online used-vehicle retailer Shift Technologies Inc. said Thursday its board of directors is working with management and financial and legal advisers to assess a range of “strategic alternatives” for the company. in a statementShift said its board of directors was conducting a process to “explore and evaluate strategic alternatives, including exploring a potential sale of certain operating businesses, third party investment or partnership opportunities and/or funding alternatives for our marketplace business, to further enhance value for all stakeholders.” The company said its board did not set a timetable for the completion of the review process. There is “no assurance” it…
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Braking defect prompts Tesla’s big recall in China

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Tesla Inc. recalled virtually every car it’s sold in China due to a braking and acceleration defect that may increase crashes and safety risks. The automaker will deploy an over-the-air software fix to more than 1.1 million vehicles produced in Shanghai from January 2019 to April this year, plus some models imported into China, the State Administration for Market Regulation said Friday in a statement. The defect relates to Tesla’s regenerative braking system, which makes use of energy created when drivers take their foot off the accelerator by sending power to the car’s battery. The vehicles haven’t allowed drivers to…
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45% of used-vehicle loan terms ‘frighteningly’ long at 84 months, up from 25% in 2021

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With high vehicle values ​​and high interest rates compromising affordability, buyers — particularly entry-level ones — have been forced to extend borrowing time frames, Ross said. “Consumers are looking to stay in a consistent monthly payment range to what they used to previously, so the only thing they have is to elongate that loan term,” he said. Ross, Karwel and Abraham saw little relief in sight for buyers as both new- and used-vehicle inventories remained tight. UPSIDE: MORE F&I SALES For dealers, however, the longer loan timelines are creating opportunities. Finance and insurance products, once pitched when selling new-vehicle sales,…
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Cupra announced Raval as the name of small electric hatchback

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Also on Thursday, the Seat announced record operating profit for the first quarter of 2023, at 144 million euros, compared with five million euros in the first quarter of 2022. Revenue was 3.6 billion euros, 48 ​​percent higher than the first quarter of 2022. Cupra began as a trim line of Seat and became its own sub-brand under former CEO Luca de Meo, now CEO of Renault Group. Cupra is now Seat’s main growth driver, Seat said. Seat said Cupra sold 46,600 units during the first quarter of 2023, 83 percent more than in the same period in 2022. Seat…
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What dealerships service managers are reading

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When I was first starting at Automotive News a few years back and trying to learn the service and parts business, Lee Harkins, CEO of dealership training company M5 Management Services, let me be a fly on the wall at one of his performance group meetings. I must not have made too big of a nuisance of myself because I’ve been invited back to every meeting since, including one a couple weeks ago in Orlando. The discussions there were the same: What are you struggling with? Where are you having success? What’s one best practice you want to share with…
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Kia and Hyundai Break-Ins On the Rise in Kent

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Social media challenges, which have steadily increased since 2020, range from silly and benign to downright dangerous and harmful. One of the latest harmful challenges to hit social media this summer is the “Kia Challenge”—and it continues to gain momentum across the country. The Kia Challenge is a TikTok trend that encourages social media users to steal Kias manufactured between 2011-2021 and Hyundais made between 2015 and 2021. These models are being targeted because they don’t come with an engine immobilizer, which is a piece of hardware that prevents the engine from starting if the matching chip in the key…
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April sales up 2.3% but still below pre-pandemic levels

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New light-vehicle sales in April were up 2.3 per cent compared with the same period last year, but still below pre-pandemic levels, at an estimated 144,069 units compared with 180,616 in April 2019, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants. Sales in April were also slightly below March. All figures are estimates now that the vast majority of automakers report sales on only a quarterly basis. DesRosiers managing partner Andrew King said in a statement that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales for April was 1.48 million units. King says that’s easily the weakest reading so far in 2023, and a…
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