Trade News

Bank of America will serve as a "preferred lending partner" for Lucid Motors, the automaker announced Monday.

Lucid did not go into specifics on the structure of the relationship with Bank of America, saying simply that buyers could apply for loans through the bank itself or work with Lucid's sales force on financing.

"The strategic relationship between Lucid and Bank of America is another way of enhancing and streamlining the vehicle buying experience for Lucid customers," Amira Aly, Lucid financial services director, said in a statement. "Lucid will continue to build out its consumer finance journey with compelling offerings in order to get more vehicles into the hands of customers as we deliver the most advanced EV in the world."

Lucid spokesman Alex Salaices wrote in an email the automaker is "working closely with Bank of America, our preferred lender, to build out its financial product offerings. This is the first step in our c…

The Michigan House is fast-tracking a package of economic development bills that one lawmaker described as an interstate "arms race" response to the fallout from Ford Motor Co. making multi-billion-dollar EV investments in Kentucky and Tennessee.

The House Government Operations Committee on Wednesday sent a package of bills to the House floor for a likely vote later in the day that create a new set of funds for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to use to recruit and retain businesses.

The panel also approved a five-year extension of the tax-capturing incentives for transformational brownfield redevelopment projects that billionaire Detroit businessman Dan Gilbert lobbied for in 2017.

Four House bills would create and set rules for the MEDC to establish the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund and two funds that would funnel down from it: a fund for making development sites shovel-ready and a fund specifically targeted toward criti…

WASHINGTON -- Expressing concern about distraction-affected vehicle crashes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday it is discussing with Tesla Inc. the EV maker's software update that lets users play video games on a touch screen mounted in front of the dashboard.

Tesla added the games in an over-the-air software update sent to most of its vehicles this summer, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

"Distraction-affected crashes are a concern, particularly in vehicles equipped with an array of convenience technologies such as entertainment screens. We are aware of driver concerns and are discussing the feature with the manufacturer," NHTSA said in a statement provided to Reuters by email.

The agency said distracted driving accounts for a significant number of U.S. road deaths - 3,142 in 2019 alone. Safety advocates have said official figures underestimate the problem because not all distracted drivers admit the issue after…

A buyer returning to the used-vehicle market after three or four years would need to go back to the 2014 model year to find the kind of $400 monthly payments their previous purchase might have carried, according to Experian.

And if the owner were financing at an independent dealership, they'd have to settle for the 2013 model year to keep the bill at $400, Experian concluded following an analysis of third-quarter auto sales trends released Dec. 2.

Used-vehicle loans rose 20 percent to $25,909 in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, and the average monthly payment rose $64, or 16 percent, to $465. The average amount financed on new vehicles rose 8.5 percent to $37,646, and the average monthly loan payment rose 8.8 percent to $615.

Experian said later model years drove the increase in used-vehicle payments, though Melinda Zabritski, Experian's senior director of automotive financial solutions, said older vehicl…

Growing Keating Auto Group acquired four dealerships over the past week and a half as it continues to expand its Texas-only footprint.

Keating Auto, of Victoria, Texas, on Nov. 29 bought Tom Light Chevrolet in Bryan, Texas, from brothers Tim Light and Tom Light, said Ben Keating, the dealership group's owner.

Terms were not disclosed, but the dealership was renamed Aggieland Chevrolet. Bryan is near College Station, home to the Texas A&M University Aggies.

On Monday, Keating Auto bought Automax Ford, Automax Volkswagen and Automax Hyundai-Genesis, all in Killeen, from husband and wife Bradley Whitis and A.G. Whitis.

The stores have been renamed Killeen Ford, Killeen Volkswagen and Killeen Hyundai-Genesis. Killeen, which is north of Austin, is near the U.S. Army base Fort Hood.

The acquisition marks a return to the Volkswagen brand for the Keating group, Keating noted.

Bill Scrivner and Mike Sims of Pinnacle Mergers and Acquisiti…

HAMBURG -- Volkswagen Group is still exploring a possible initial public offering of its luxury brand Porsche as a way to fund its costly shift towards software and electric vehicles, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Speculation about a Porsche listing, which could be a record-breaking IPO, has surfaced over the year, but no decision has been made due to a complex stakeholder set-up, the sources said on Tuesday, adding it was unclear whether a listing would happen.

Reports about a possible listing of the unit have included estimates of a standalone Porsche valuation of between 45 billion ($51 billion) and 90 billion euros ($101 billion).

Earlier on Tuesday, German business paper Handelsblatt reported that the Porsche and Piech families, who control VW Group's largest shareholder, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, are considering selling part of their VW stake to fund a substantial stake purchase in a possible Porsche IPO.

The families…

Sonic Automotive Inc. has completed what CEO David Smith has called the group's largest acquisition ever with its $700 million purchase of RFJ Auto Partners Holdings Inc.

The acquisition, which was revealed in September and closed on Monday, includes 22 franchised dealerships across Texas, Idaho, Washington, New Mexico, Missouri and Indiana. The deal also included 11 used-only stores in Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Sonic, of Charlotte, N.C., said the transaction is expected to add $3.2 billion in annual revenue.

"RFJ Auto's geographic footprint, brand portfolio and proprietary processes complement our existing business model and align with our strategy to continue driving growth in our franchised dealership business," Sonic President Jeff Dyke said in a statement.

RFJ Auto, based in Plano, Texas, formed in February 2014 when automotive retail veteran Rick Ford partnered with Jordan Co., a New York private equity firm.

RFJ Auto's brand po…

Assertions that dealerships have been selling vehicle protection products online with the same success as in the physical finance-and-insurance office may not tell the entire story.

One F&I products provider told me that such accounts of digital F&I product penetration rates being equivalent to traditional F&I sales often still involve F&I staff.

"We find that there was an F&I discussion. Either online, on the phone or face-to-face," EFG Cos. CEO John Pappanastos said.

Even when using a digital process, dealerships still should designate a person to overcome customer objections, Pappanastos said.

"Otherwise, they just click 'decline,' " he said.

Pappanastos predicts some level of dealer-customer F&I interaction will endure even as online retailing expands.

"The engagement piece of the F&I space will always have relevance," he said.

That said, EFG, in a 2022 forecast released Tuesday, also stresses t…

BrightDrop, General Motors' electric delivery van brand, will open its first dealership Tuesday, run by Chevrolet-Buick-GMC dealer Mike Caposio in Southern California.

The dealership, called BrightDrop Greater Los Angeles, is located in Fontana, Calif., near Caposio's stores: Rotolo Chevrolet in Fontana and Caposio Buick-GMC in Victorville. Rotolo Chevy is the largest Chevrolet dealership in California and recipient of Chevy's 2020 Dealer of the Year award, BrightDrop said in a statement announcing the initial dealership Tuesday.

BrightDrop has signed agreements with FedEx Express and Merchants Fleet to provide its EV600 and EV410 midsize delivery vans. BrightDrop has also developed the EP1, a pallet designed to reduce package touch points, costs and physical strain on delivery drivers.

This year, FedEx Express has ordered at least 500 EV600s, and Merchants Fleet ordered 12,600 EV600s and 5,400 EV410s. Verizon also ordered an undisclosed number of EV410s…