– Edmunds predicts 15.5 million new vehicles will be sold in 2013 and 16.4 million in 2014.
– Fake reviews on consumer review websites are being cracked down upon by the NY Attorney General. There are a number of companies that offer “reputation management” services that write reviews for dealerships and other businesses to increase their desirability. This amounts to false advertising and unfair business practices – should we be surprised?
– Hybrids continue to depreciate faster than gas-fueled versions.
Midsize trucks – think Toyota Tacoma – will hold value because some popular models are currently out of production.
– Full-size cars are getting a lot of action in the used market.
– Senior citizens are the most likely consumer group to buy a vehicle these days, according to a new study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.
– Delinquency on auto loans is steadily declining and repossessions have fallen to a seven-year low.
– Domestic vehicles are worth more at auction this year than they were in 2013, gaining 2.6 percent, according to Kelly Blue Book.
– There are more than 17,500 new car franchised dealers and over 45,000 used car dealers in the USA.
– According to ALG there will be 84,000 Accords, 65,000 Camrys and 58,000 Altimas that will come off of lease in 2014. That’s a lot of cars in that segment that will enter the market next year.
– The balance of auto loans in August increased 9.7 percent from last year, rising from $760.8 billion to $834.4 billion, according to Equifax’s National Consumer Credit Trends Report. WOW! That’s a lot of debt.
– According to Dealer 20 groups, the average new car dealership service department’s labor gross profit equals 68.06% of sales. WOW – that’s a lot of profit and we are not even including the profit on the parts!
– Based on the more than 247 million passenger cars and light duty trucks registered in the US, the average age has reached a record 11.4 years. I bet that this will continue to increase in the coming years because the vehicles just keep getting better as well as more expensive to replace.
– Manheim Consulting predicts that there will be 3.2 million lease originations in 2013. That translates into the highest lease penetrations ever.
– There have been 42 consecutive months of sales gains year over year for Chrysler.
– 11,773,338 new vehicles have been sold through September 2013 compared with 11,589,844 new vehicles sold in all of 2010.
– Automotive News reports that a shortage of skilled machinists could mess up US auto industry’s recovery. There are 20% less tool and die shops than there were 8 years ago. This could lead to quality issues and higher prices.