Trade News

The latest forces to rock used-car values this spring have also shaken some dealers' use of various vehicle pricing tools on the market.

Leaders at Kelley Blue Book, Black Book and J.D. Power say they've invested in technology, increased the pace of valuation reports and added more retail transaction data to their calculations to help their tools keep pace with the seismic surge in prices. Yet some dealers say they have relied less on used-car pricing tools and guides and more on intuition.

Dave Katarski, COO at Feldman Automotive Group — which has stores in Michigan and Ohio — said there has been a disconnect between what the guides say and the price points at which Feldman vehicles are transacting.

"They're probably lagging more now than they ever have," Katarski said. "We're still going to look at how many there are in the market, what kind of market days' supply there is. It's just not as relevant as it typically is."

Read more about Dealers go with their gut amid price surge

Despite a precipitous drop in travel, pedestrians are dying in increasing numbers across the United States.

Highway safety officials say speeding motorists and diminished traffic enforcement may be driving an increase in pedestrian fatalities that's reached historic proportions during the pandemic. Approximately 6,721 died in 2020, according to estimates from the Governors Highway Safety Association.

If it holds, that would be the highest number of pedestrian fatalities in 31 years.

The number represents a 4.8 percent increase over 2019. Troubling on its own, the increase comes during a year when the number of vehicle miles traveled declined by 13.2 percent, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Combined, the increase in deaths and lower travel rate result in a pedestrian fatality rate of 2.3 deaths per 1 billion miles traveled, a 21 percent year-over-year increase from the rate of 1.9 deaths in 2019.

PLANO, Texas — Lexus will use the redesigned 2022 NX compact crossover to introduce a variety of technology and safety upgrades that the Japanese luxury brand intends to spread across its lineup.

While all of the changes will be welcome, one is the most important for Lexus dealers: the brand's newly developed infotainment system that finally banishes Lexus' wonky center-console touchpad in favor of an intuitive touch screen. Brand officials told Automotive News that the old system had cost Lexus "thousands" of sales each year.

The redesigned NX is moving onto Toyota Motor Corp.'s TNGA-C platform, which also underlies the popular RAV4 crossover. The base NX 350 will be equipped with a 275-hp inline-four engine paired to a new eight-speed transmission that combine to produce an estimated 317 pound-feet of torque, enough to shave a half-second off the previous model's 0-to-60-mph time of 7.3 seconds.

The cabin is dominated by an opti…

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's main auto parts association INA forecasts that the severe semiconductor shortage that has slammed the brakes on the global auto industry will subside in July and return to normal by the end of this year.

Semiconductor chips are a crucial component for electronics in modern cars, including touch-screen displays as well as driver assist and other safety systems.

The chip shortage in North America alone has caused the region's carmakers to cut previously expected output by 1.16 million vehicles in May, a figure that has accelerated each month since the start of the year, according to data from IHS Markit.

INA's head of foreign trade, Alberto Bustamante, forecast in an interview on Thursday that the semiconductor shortage will begin to ease by the second half of July before returning to normal in December.

The supply crunch began last year as the coronavirus pandemic forced the North American auto industry to shut down f…

WASHINGTON -- Volkswagen Group's U.S. unit said a data breach at a vendor impacted more than 3.3 million customers and prospective buyers in North America.

Nearly all those impacted were current or potential customers of Audi, one of the German automaker's luxury brands.

Volkswagen Group of America said on Friday an unauthorized third party obtained limited personal information about customers and interested buyers from a vendor that its Audi Volkswagen brands and some U.S. and Canadian dealers used for digital sales and marketing.

The information was gathered for sales and marketing between 2014 and 2019 and was in an electronic file the vendor left unsecured.

The company told regulators the vast majority of customers only had phone numbers and email addresses potentially impacted by the data breach. In some cases, data also includes information about a vehicle purchased, leased, or inquired about.

VW said 90,000 Audi customers and prospe…

A memo to Volkswagen Group of America dealers obtained by Automotive News identified a vendor involved in a data breach impacting more than 3.3 million customers and prospective buyers, primarily at Audi. In the email sent Thursday, Audi of America President Daniel Weissland identified the vendor as Shift Digital, which is “used by Audi, Volkswagen, and some authorized dealers in the United States and Canada.” Two dealers with knowledge of the situation verified the vendor’s identity with Automotive News.

Multiple messages seeking comment were sent Friday to Shift Digital, of Birmingham, Mich., but were not immediately returned. Spokespeople for the Audi and Volkswagen brands declined further comment beyond a statement the automaker released earlier in the day, which did not publicly name the vendor.

The information, gathered for sales and marketing between 2014 and 2019, was in an electronic file the vendor left unsecured, VW of America said in its state…

Three dealership groups, including the growing Hudson Automotive Group, have purchased stores in Alabama and Louisiana in deals that closed in the second quarter.

Here's a quick look at the transactions involving domestic and import brand stores.

Hudson Automotive, of Charleston, S.C., acquired its first dealership in Alabama on Monday when it bought Hoover Toyota, located south of Birmingham. The group bought the dealership from Gordie Stewart, who had owned it for 22 years, the Hoover Sun reported.

"It's a great brand, and Birmingham is a great market," David Hudson, CEO of Hudson Automotive, told Automotive News. "We like Toyota a lot."

This is the group's 33rd rooftop, Hudson said, including a used-vehicle store. Hudson Automotive also has dealerships in Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia and Ohio. Hoover Toyota was the group's first transaction since November, when it acquired Beaman Automotive Group, mad…

Oshkosh CEO John Pfeifer opens up about the company's plans to build as many as 165,000 delivery vehicles for the U.S. Postal Service.

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Lamborghini said it's almost sold out for the year as an easing pandemic unleashes a free-spending attitude among consumers confined to their homes for months.

The supercar brand is set for "strong growth" in 2021 and has sold about 10 months of its production capacity, CEO Officer Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview at the Milano Monza auto show.

The Volkswagen Group brand showed off the Huracan STO at an open-air walk close to the global fashion hub's Duomo cathedral.

"Despite a two-month shutdown due to the pandemic, Lamborghini ended 2020 as its second-best year ever," Winkelmann said, as crowds swarmed the over 60 brands on display including Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren in a sign of normal life resuming in major cities like Milan.

Lamborghini deliveries have surged by almost 25 percent to a record during the first quarter.

While buyers continue to snap up performance cars like the Aventador, Lamborghini is embarking on the transiti…

BEIJING -- Vehicle sales in China fell 3.1 percent in May from the same month a year earlier, snapping a streak of 13 consecutive monthly gains since April 2020, industry data released Friday show.

Overall sales in the world's biggest vehicle market totaled 2.13 million vehicles in May, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.

Sales of new light vehicles -- sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses – dipped 1.7 percent to just below 1.65 million. Deliveries of new commercial vehicles including buses and trucks fell 7.4 percent to around 482,000.

Through May, deliveries of new vehicles rebounded 37 percent from a year earlier to approach 10.88 million.

The tally includes 8.44 million light vehicles and 2.44 million commercial vehicles, a rise of 38 percent and 32 percent from the same period last year.

Despite the contraction in the overall market, demand for electrified vehicles remained robust last mont…