Trade News

As a teenage immigrant from Mexico in the '80s, Alex Flores said he taught himself English from television — "The Young and The Restless," "The Price is Right" — and U2's "Joshua Tree" album.

He was homeless for a time, he said, and took whatever work he could find. He washed dishes; he served in the Army. Eventually, he worked as a waiter, using his energy and enthusiasm to please customers — and maybe get them to buy an extra dessert.

In an extensive interview with Automotive News TV anchor and producer Jennifer Vuong, Flores, 47, explained that a favorite customer, dealer Dave Tamburro, told him his talents were being wasted: He should be selling cars. Flores was reluctant, in part because it was what his biological father did in Mexico. But he made the jump "and here we are 28 years later."

Now he's a successful salesman, a consultant and a franchise retailer. He's dealer principal at Seguin Chevrolet in exurban San Antonio, and he recently became m…

Ford Motor Co. is the first major automaker in Europe to say it would sell only fully electric passenger vehicles there by 2030. The decision is the culmination of a tumultuous two years under the leadership of Briton Stuart Rowley, who has overseen a $1 billion reduction in structural costs that included closing plants and cutting more than 10,000 jobs.

More upheaval looms as the company continues to adjust to an EV future, Rowley told Automotive News Europe Associate Publisher and Editor Luca Ciferri and Correspondent Nick Gibbs. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Ford was the first major manufacturer in Europe to say it was going to have an all-electric passenger-car range by 2030. You will use Volkswagen Group's MEB platform for one, possibly two, electric cars. What is your platform strategy to expand your range further?

A: I'm not giving details now. You know, 2030 was an important date we put out there. But I think even more important is that by mid-2…

First, manufacturers were shut by the pandemic. Then as demand rebounded, vital microchips became scarce. Now a shortage of seat foam could be the next kink in automotive supply chains.

The Scarlet Witch is one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She's also a faithful Buick customer.

The Disney+ series "WandaVision" begins with Wanda Maximoff and Vision riding through black-and-white sitcom suburbia in a 1956 Buick Special.

In later episodes, which each take place about a decade apart, the car changes to keep up with the appropriate time period. But it's always a Buick.

The News Wheel identified them as a 1972 LeSabre, a 1980 LeSabre, a LaCrosse and a 2019 Verano. One scene with the Verano "plays out like a bonafide Buick commercial," the website said, noting the car's fitting scarlet color.

Buick has had success courting female buyers in recent years, in part through partnerships with Reese Witherspoon's book club and her HBO series "Big Little Lies." In this case, Buick said it didn't pay to sponsor "WandaVision," as some viewers had suspected based on how often the brand…

Jim Farley isn't just the CEO of Ford Motor Co., he's also a salesman.

A family's random encounter with Farley outside a gas station in northern Michigan last fall converted them from Land Rover loyalists into Blue Oval buyers, Torque News reported last week.

Jan Brosh told the site that she and her husband had test driven the new Land Rover Defender but were put off by its price. Soon after that, they spotted a preproduction Ford Bronco Sport while traveling with their grandchildren in their Land Rover LR3.

"We asked the driver if we could take photos. He had the Badlands trim and invited us to look inside and around it. He introduced himself as Jim Farley, the new CEO of Ford," Brosh said. "Mr. Farley told us it was a prototype, and Ford hoped to go to full production in a couple of weeks. It was clear he was enjoying driving it. When I said we were driving the LR3, he chuckled and said, 'I'm sorry.' "

Torque News said…

The stampede to sell electric pickups is getting crowded, with Los Angeles startup Canoo entering the race with plans for an American-built truck equipped with powered workbenches, tool storage and a modular, expandable bed. Canoo said the pickup will offer up to 600 hp and a range of more than 300 miles. Preorders open in the second quarter, with deliveries slated for 2023.

Similar to the way some auto retailers, such as CarMax, have rolled out streamlined, location-agnostic customer response centers, Cox Automotive's Manheim unit is aligning its wholesale operations to close any gaps between its physical and digital offerings.

Those gaps were made more apparent by the coronavirus pandemic, and the auction giant said last week that it's spending nearly $100 million this year to improve processes such as arbitration, titling and customer service. While some of the money is going to the technology that underpins digital communication, much of the effort boils down to making sure customers are taken care of as efficiently as possible.

It's akin to how some auto retailers are installing omnichannel retailing platforms, in which technology tools and processes are aimed at providing a seamless buying experience for consumers whether they shop online, in-store or both.

"Because we were able to operate digit…

For at least a decade, dealer Katie Bowman Coleman searched for a dealership management system as easy as point and click.

Her store, Bowman Chevrolet, in the Detroit suburb of Clarkston, has used systems from Reynolds and Reynolds, CDK Global and Cox Automotive's Dealertrack. In her view, they're all fine products but have limitations — expensive pricing, "antiquated" technology, extra fees or hurdles to connect software tools developed by outside vendors.

Last year, Bowman Chevrolet switched DMS providers again. Coleman, the store's owner, chose a startup called Tekion, which promises an Amazon-like experience and has the backing of General Motors.

"It's just what we've been wanting for decades," Coleman said. "This isn't a new desire on the part of dealers. This is just a time when I think some disrupters are going to come in and force that change on the industry."

Tekion is signing up dealers at a time when the overall market for DMS software…