Sony Honda Mobility announces EV plans, 2024 Chevrolet Trax, Lucid Motors Q3 production

Inside Automotive:

Exclusive: A look inside AutoNation’s 6th annual Drive Pink Across America Day
Each year the month of October is recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and according to the CDC, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the US. Over the past decade, AutoNation has raised nearly $35 million for cancer research through the Drive Pink initiative. This year, AutoNation commemorated its annual Drive Pink Across America Day by assembling 500 Totes for Hope cancer comfort bags and delivering them to local hospital patients undergoing cancer treatment.

Anchor Jim Fitzpatrick joined AutoNation Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Experience Officer Marc Cannon for an exclusive interview at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to discuss AutoNation’s continued commitment to drive out cancer. Watch the complete segment here. 

Headlines:

The partnership between Honda Motor and Japan’s Sony Group, called Sony Honda Mobility, announced its upcoming line of electric vehicles coming to the US by 2026. The EVs will feature software systems developed by Sony available on a subscription basis and cloud-based services that connect with entertainment and payment systems as well as sensors and other technology, allowing for level 3 autonomy. Details about the platform, pricing, and powertrain, for the vehicles are still unknown. While no official release date has been announced, orders for the joint venture’s flagship EV are expected to open by 2025. Read More

General Motors has revealed the 2024 Chevrolet Trax, an entry-level crossover that will feature updated technologies and a new design at a lower price point than previous iterations. During a media briefing, Chevrolet Vice President, Scott Bell, said the Trax “is a great opportunity for us with folks at the low end of the market” and added that the vehicle “has everything you need and nothing you don’t.” The starting price for the 2024 Trax will be $21,495 for an LT trim, a $1,400 price drop from the current model. The highest starting price will be $24,995, with additional trims in between. General Motors has yet to announce any electric or hybrid models of the vehicle, despite its plans to exclusively offer electric vehicles by 2035. Read More

EV maker Lucid Motors released its production numbers for the third quarter, just ahead of the full financial report expected next month. The automaker has reduced its annual output goals twice this year, but it remains on track to produce between 6,000 and 7,000 EVs in 2022. Lucid delivered its first flagship EV, called the Air, just a year ago and only reported 360 deliveries for the first quarter of 2022. According to a press release, Lucid’s third quarter production numbers more than tripled compared to the previous quarter, making it more likely that the company will be able to reach its production targets by the end of the year. Read More

According to recent data from Cox Automotive, new-vehicle inventory for September was at the highest level since early June, while the average listing price for new vehicles fell to the lowest point in the last two months. Cox Senior Economist Charlie Chesbrough stated, “Supply is improving but demand is staying strong so we’re still not back to inventory levels of years past.” The total US supply of available unsold new vehicles stood at 1.32 million units near the end of September, compared to the revised 1.23 million at the end of August. Days supply increased to 42, a 40% increase year-over-year. The average listing price dropped to $46,294 in September, down just slightly from August. Read More

News & Opinion

6 things your desking manager should do today
In today’s retail environment where demand far outstrips supply, desking managers haven’t had to put together too many complex deals. After all, customers don’t have any negotiating leverage. You put a price on a car and that’s what a customer pays. If that customer balks, there’s another right behind ready to pay full price. However, the chip crisis will abate and lots will be full of vehicles again. Is your desking manager ready to ramp up and ensure profitability on every sale? Skills that may have been dormant for the last couple of years will need to be front and center again. Read More

Social Selling: What is it and what are the benefits for automotive dealers?
Car dealerships have always been good at selling cars. But in recent years, how people buy cars has changed dramatically. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to you to hear more and more people are using social media to research and purchase vehicles. This shift has created a new opportunity for car dealerships: social selling. But what is social selling? Simply put, it’s using social media to build relationships, develop referrals, get leads and sell products or services. For example, in the context of a car dealership, dealerships can use social selling to connect with potential customers, share information about vehicles, and ultimately drive sales. Read More

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