Acura ADX Small Crossover Will Launch This Year
Acura's new subcompact crossover will be named ADX when it launches this year, the brand told dealers at a meeting last week. It will be the fourth crossover in the premium brand's lineup after the ZDX electric crossover goes on sale this spring. The baby crossover will slot below the compact RDX. Brian Benstock, chairman of the Acura National Dealer Advisory Board, told Automotive News that dealers have been hoping for a smaller crossover. "It's about time," Benstock said. "It's a great segment, and we think it's a growing segment. It'll really add to our ability to add significant volume to the brand." Benstock is general manager of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura and dealer principal of White Plains Honda, all in metropolitan New York City. This year, American Honda said it would add an entry-level, gasoline-powered crossover to Acura's U.S. lineup in 2024 but did not provide details other than size. Benstock said Acura did not indicate whether it had plans to evolve the ADX into an electric vehicle. Click here for the full story.
4 Things Dealers Are Keeping Top of Mind This Year
2024 offers a glimmer of hope for auto dealers navigating the tricky terrain of used car sales, despite lingering market uncertainties and a notable vehicle shortage. Vehicle price, depreciation and conversion rates across the industry recovered last year following challenging conditions in 2022. Although we are only a few months into 2024, the markets are showing early signs of improvement, and while the shape of the dealer wholesale recovery is hard to predict, dealers are optimistic about the state of the market in 2024, reports CBT News. There are, however, key factors dealers need to consider when navigating used car buying and selling in 2024. Will dealers be filling retail lots with inventory that fits the specific needs and DNA of their dealership? How will dealerships optimize consumer trade-ins, since less consumers are showing up at the dealerships with trades? Where can dealerships meet the needs of today’s consumers to optimize their business in 2024? We are still in a massive used car shortage for the right vehicles. The average retail selling price for a vehicle in a dealer’s inventory is almost $30,000.00. Click here for the full story.
AI and Digital Tools Combat Auto Finance Fraud, Informed.IQ Report Shows
The automotive finance industry's use of artificial intelligence, automation and digital tools has matured, but costly errors and hesitation persist, according to a new report from Informed.IQ. The AI document reviewer published its Auto Loan Defect Survey Report in late March. Informed.IQ administered the survey in January and received more than 250 responses from auto lending professionals at credit unions, direct lenders, indirect lenders, captive finance companies, automakers, and auto technology platform providers. Just over 30 percent of Informed.IQ's survey respondents said they had an error in 1 out of every 4 deal jackets, down only slightly from last year at 33 percent of respondents, reports Automotive News. And, 44 percent of respondents said the executives at their companies have not embraced AI. Additionally, "dealers are hesitant, too, because it is a people business," said Jessica Gonzalez, director of lending strategies at Informed.IQ. Digitization is creeping into many facets of the auto finance world — from AI to electronic signatures — and proponents tout the tools as efficient and accurate. Click here for the full story.
New Car Buyers Demand Affordable EVs, Not Electric Pickups
Many automakers, both legacy and startups, overestimated the pace at which the electric vehicle segment would continue to grow, causing many to scale back their investments in the technology to align with demand. Now, new research suggests that they misunderstood consumers’ true desires regarding EVs. Some of the disconnect between what buyers want and automakers can offer comes down to market factors beyond the industry’s control, reports Carscoops. Leading up to the pandemic, many brands were fighting to go upmarket, adding more technology to their cars and making them more luxurious. However, the global event resulted in significant inflation, among other factors, rendering many of these new premium vehicles unaffordable for the average buyer. That couldn’t have occurred at a more inconvenient time for the EV industry, which had pinned its hopes on innovative technology and hefty price tags to offset the substantial investments in EV powertrains. However, according to Edmunds, today’s EV buyers are exceptionally price-sensitive. Click here for the full story.
Lotus BEVs Claim Record Sales for 2023
While several automakers are experiencing a slowdown in consumer take-up of battery-electric vehicle products, iconic performance brand Lotus announces record sales driven by its first all-electric hyper-SUV. The Lotus Eletre is being credited for the company’s unaudited financial performance for fourth-quarter 2023 which records the company delivering 6,970 vehicles over the whole year, an annual record in the 76-year history of the Lotus brand, with BEV models representing 63 percent of total deliveries. Its lifestyle-targeting Eletre is said to be the primary reason the company also records vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter increasing nearly 110 percent quarter-over-quarter to 3,749, reports Wards. The success of the brand’s first year making BEV products achieved an annual revenue of $679 million and a gross profit margin of 15 percent in 2023. Revenue in fourth-quarter 2023 was $361 million, representing a 92 percent quarter-on-quarter increase. Lotus puts this performance down to its asset-light business model while it ramps up production and sales of BEV products. Click here for the full story.
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Rolls-Royce Spectre EV Beats EPA Figures in Edmunds Real-World Range Test [Jalopnik]
2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Preview: Pricing, Fuel Economy and Everything Else We Know [Autoblog]
2024 Lexus GX Off-Road Review: A Trail Slayer Straight Out the Box [The Drive]
Video: Watch Mercedes CEO Ola Kallenius Drift the Electric G-Class on Ice [Carbuzz]
