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Cox Automotive acknowledged that by nearly every measure, 2022 was a difficult year for independent dealers, who were challenged by historically low vehicle inventories, high prices and the ongoing risk of an economic recession.

With predicting the year ahead will be one of transition, as both consumers and the industry move past the remains of a global pandemic and set a new course for growth, the NextGear Capital field team compiled 10 tips to help independent dealers thrive in 2023.

ATLANTA, Jan. 18, 2023 – New research released today by Cox Automotive shows that satisfaction with the car buying process declined in 2022 for the second straight year. The 2022 Car Buyer Journey Study reveals vehicle buyers were frustrated with high prices, limited availability, and the amount of time required to complete the process. Used-vehicle buyers, who are often more price sensitive and face higher interest rates, were particularly unsatisfied with the experience in 2022, the research indicates.  

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (TND) — Wyoming lawmakers were considering bucking a national trend of embracing electric vehicles (EVs) by proposing a ban on EV sales by the year 2035, but that proposal has quickly died.

The “Phasing Out New Electric Vehicle Sales by 2035" resolution, sponsored by Sen. Jim Anderson, R-Casper, was apparently a response to other states, like California, banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles by the same year. The resolution, introduced on Friday, sought the banning of EV sales in Wyoming by 2035.

The resolution called electric vehicles "impracticable" in Wyoming, where a "lack of electric vehicle charging infrastructure" and "vast stretches of highway" combine to create a supposedly unfavorable environment for EVs.

All sorts of car-buying dynamics changed as a result of the pandemic. The way drivers acted when their car leases ended is no exception.

For more than two years, car-buyers faced low vehicle inventory and high new and used car prices. They might have gone to a dealershipand not been able to find what they wanted, or paid more than they wanted for something that had fewer features than they needed.

As a result, many consumers with ending leases decided to buy out their cars instead of returning them and facing the markups and limited options of a strapped market. 

More people are taking on 84-month auto loans when it comes time to finance new and used cars. By the end of 2022, consumer credit agency Experian found that 84-month loans were underwriting nearly one-fifth of all new-vehicle purchases and 11 percent of used-vehicle purchases, according to Automotive News.

The loan data shows that the popularity of these longer loans — which commit buyers to a loan that lasts seven years — has surged since 2018: at that time, only 10.5 percent of new car loans and 4.1 percent of used car loans had such terms. By the third quarter of 2022, the numbers nearly doubled to 19.1 percent for new car loans, and more than doubled to 10.8 percent for used car loans.

SUNSET, Utah — Imagine paying thousands of dollars for a car, only to find out you cannot get license plates to drive it legally.

When it happened to a Salt Lake City woman, she decided to Get Gephardt.

“This is the car that I was supposed to get, or that I did have for a week” Nataly Fontoura told KSL, as she pointed to a photo of a 2011 BMW sport utility vehicle that she purchased last spring from AutoPro Motors in Sunset.

Nataly Fontoura tells the KSL Investigators that she has not been able to get license plates for a 2011 BMW she purchased from a dealer because it cannot pass emissions.

Since the start of the pandemic and the resulting disruptions to new car supply chains first sent prices soaring, used car prices posted their largest annual increase on record — up 45% in the 12 months ending in June 2021, according to the Consumer Price Index — before swinging to a 12-month drop of 8.8% in the most recent reading for December.

That was the biggest 12-month plunge in prices for used cars since June 2009, when General Motors and Chrysler were both in bankruptcy proceedings and the economy was hemorrhaging a half-million jobs a month.

The significance of controlling your dealerships’ first-party data has become one of the main lessons learned over the past two years. This is going to be more and more crucial as we get into 2023 and beyond. On today’s edition of Inside Automotive, Aaron Baldwin, the Chief Product Officer at AutomotiveMastermind Inc., talks about the efforts dealerships need to take to manage their first-party data more effectively.

Baldwin emphasizes that despite the macroeconomic difficulties encountered in 2022, AutomotiveMastermind’s dealer partners made significant profits and continue to do so. However, since brand loyalty is at an all-time low, AutomotiveMastermind is focused on helping dealers engage and maintain customer loyalty, as well as generating an increase in service-drive revenue. 

Used car customers could have a very important new tool at purchase: a warranty.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson and state Representative David Hackney of Tukwila have filed a bill in the legislature that, if passed, would force dealers to provide used car warranties.

“The bill’s going to help everyday Washingtonians who are making a major purchase, a car, and making sure that they’ve got a warranty that protects them if they drive away and they’ve got a lemon,” said Ferguson.

SALT LAKE CITY — Remember that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when they jacked the car up and ran it in reverse to try and shave off miles? Odometer tampering can do a lot more than fool Dad into thinking you didn’t swipe his beloved ride. It can cost buyers big bucks.

But with odometers mostly digital these days, is it still a problem?

Josh Ingle of Atlanta Speedometer says, “Yes.”

“Digital displays are just as easy to manipulate as a hacker would be on the internet,” he said.

The inventory shortage has dragged on for more than two years now, but for shoppers playing the waiting game, it might feel more like two decades. First, supply chain and labor constraints early in the pandemic forced automakers to cut new-vehicle production; then the global microchip shortage further exacerbated the situation. Demand quickly outpaced supply, creating a “new normal” of empty dealer lots and escalating new-car prices. Shoppers who were sidelined by these conditions may finally get their shot at a new car in 2023 as inventory starts to improve — but what about the record-high prices?

U.S. auto sales in December will likely improve by 4% year-over-year to 1.27 million, according to a forecasted analysis conducted by Cox Automotive. However, these results will probably fall short of the typical 1.5 million units sold in December, when automakers drive their year-end marketing campaigns. Total sales for 2022 were likely below 14 million units, the lowest since 2011.

“This December, there were fewer giant red bows than dealers would have liked,” said Charles Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive, in a press release. “Given the large improvement in supply levels, it seems likely that rising interest rates are now constraining demand in the retail auto market. With record-high prices and elevated loan rates, the pool of potential new-vehicle buyers is shrinking.”

Dublin, Jan. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Used Cars Global Market Report 2022"report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global used cars market is expected to grow from $1,154.95 billion in 2021 to $1,219.23 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.57%. The used cars market is expected to reach $1,523.77 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 5.73%.
The used cars market consists of the sale of used cars by entities (organizations, partnerships, and sole proprietors) that refers to cars, which are preowned by one or more owners. The used cars are generally purchased due to budget restrictions and by first-time buyers. In addition to that, a used car has an advantage over a new car as it depreciates at a slower pace. Particularly for first time car buyers, a used buying is more useful and affordable at the same time.

Yesterday we kicked off the start of a new Congress and the reopening of Capitol Hill. When COVID-19 hit and the country shut down, keeping the government up and running was critical. At that moment moving to a virtual government was necessary. But, it was never meant to become permanent. COVID-19 made it easier to implement rules that allowed for greater flexibility for Congress to work from home and implement a proxy system. If not for our profession, temporary rules might have become permanent.

Once the country started safely opening up after the pandemic, the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics (NILE) was front and center meeting with congressional leaders, Capitol Police, public interest groups, and engaging with the lobbying profession on ways we could support a safe reopening of Capitol Hill. It didn’t happen as quickly as we had hoped, but your voice has been heard, and starting yesterday, Capitol Hill has been reopened to the people.

It’s been a turbulent last few years for rental operations to say the least. While the industry weathered an unprecedented supply crisis — and enjoyed record profits as a result — we may finally be seeing the light at the end of this long tunnel. Yet we’re now in a whole new environment with new challenges and demands.

To gauge how the industry overall fared and is moving forward, Auto Rental News caught up with various experts in the space. Here’s what they said about vehicle availability and sales, the path to electrification, incorporating technology and telematics, the changing customer experience, new business models, and more.

NORCROSS, Ga.—January 3, 2023— APCO Holdings, LLC (“APCO”), a leading provider and administrator of automotive Finance & Insurance (“F&I”) products and home to the EasyCare and GWC Warranty brands, has acquired National Auto Care (“NAC”).

NAC is a highly respected provider of F&I products, administration, consulting services, training, and marketing support. With more than 35 years of demonstrated success, NAC provides products and services to thousands of auto, RV, and powersports dealers, credit unions and financial institutions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the New York State Office of the Attorney General sued a predatory auto lender, Credit Acceptance Corporation, for misrepresenting the cost of credit and tricking its customers into high-cost loans on used cars. The car-buying experience turns into a nightmare for many of Credit Acceptance’s borrowers, who face unaffordable monthly payments, vehicle repossessions, and debt collection lawsuits. The joint complaint alleges that, among other things, Credit Acceptance hides costs in loan agreements and sets consumers up to fail. The complaint also alleges that Credit Acceptance violated New York usury limits and other consumer and investor protection laws. The lawsuit seeks to force Credit Acceptance to stop its illegal practices, reimburse harmed consumers, pay back wrongfully earned gains, and pay a penalty.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2023 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.                               

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2023, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 

• 5 cents per mile driven for business use, up 3 cents from the midyear increase setting the rate for the second half of 2022.

• 22 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces, consistent with the increased midyear rate set for the second half of 2022.

• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations; the rate is set by statute and remains unchanged from 2022. 

In today’s market, the deterioration of consumer credit, and auto loan performance, in particular, is a worrying sign for industry watchers. In the context of high inflation and with the Fed intent on slowing the economy and weakening the labor market, there are indeed clear signs of stress in the system. Continued jobless claims are increasing, up from their historic lows. Auto loan delinquencies are also continuing to rise, and auto loan defaults are growing as well. As a result, repossessions are also increasing, but they too are rising from record lows. Through any economic cycle, increases in defaults and repossessions are a normal, expected occurrence.

On October 22, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced it is seeking public comments on whether it should explore a rule regarding the harms caused by junk fees and the unfair or deceptive tactics companies use to impose them. Junk fees are unnecessary, unavoidable, or surprise charges that inflate costs while adding little to no value for consumers. The notice announcing this initiative was published in the Federal Register on November 8.

At the request of interested persons, the Commission has extended the public comment period until February 8, 2023. Information about how to submit comments can be found in the Federal Register notice.