Honda may have been hit harder by the supply chain crisis than its rivals if the dealer stock is any indication. You will have to read on to find out which one. This Friday’s edition of The Morning Shift has all that and more.
1st Gear: First You Need Cars to Sell
Honda fell from its top spot in theitude survey to 6 in 2022. The brand has been in the top five for a long time and the reason for the slip is noteworthy. The news from automotive.
According to Honda spokeswoman Jessica Fini, low product availability is the primary reason for the brand’s slide from the top five. Supply shortages and logistical challenges have left inventory at record lows with dealerships experiencing “incredibly high turn rates,” Fini said.
Bill Feinstein, president of Planet Honda in Tilton, N.H., and general manager of Planet Honda in Union, N.J., as well as chairman emeritus of the Honda National Dealer Advisory Board, agreed.
“The big issue is product availability,” Feinstein told Automotive News. “Honda dealers are used to having a much higher level of throughput than other dealers.”
While Honda is typically among the industry’s top two brands on throughput, or annual new-vehicle sales per dealership, “that’s obviously been impacted by product availability,” he said.
Honda has seen sales fall for 13 straight months, with days’ worth of vehicle supply at the end of August hovering in the single digits. The Chairman of the Honda National Dealer Advisory Board believes that the Japanese manufacturer is losing market share to competitors.
“There’s been some belief that Honda may have been more adversely impacted and slower to recover than some other [manufacturers],” Feinstein said. “We’ve all felt the pressure from the Koreans, who clearly have not had the same supply chain impacts that we’ve had.”
Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, is showing signs of recovery. Hyundai and Kia capped five months of sales declines with double-digit gains in August. Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, said inventory is improving and he expects factory output to increase 30 to 35 percent in the second half of the year, which will help rebuild dealership stockpiles. Genesis set an August record with 5,102 vehicles sold on continued strong demand for crossovers.
Feinstein said he considers Honda’s shrinking market share to be a concern. “That’s disconcerting to retailers, because at the end of the day we’re all competitive and we’d like to win,” he said.
The top five brands that trended upwards in the survey are Lexus, Toyota, BMW, andPorsche.
2nd Gear: Not What Mitsubishi’s Big Comeback Needed
The new Outlander isn’t the most compelling SUV ever, but it’s the best product in ages, and people are responding to it. The upcoming plug-in hybrid variant was on track to make the car even more competitive until the federal government eliminated the $7,500 credit because it wasn’t built here.
What are the feelings of the dealers of the company? It’s likely you can guess. The news from automotive.
Mitsubishi dealer Grant Petersen Jr. said the loss of the tax credit on the redesigned model is “concerning.”
In the near term, Mitsubishi will likely have to absorb some of that $7,500 and lower the compact crossover’s MSRP to keep it competitive, said Petersen, CEO of Bronco Motors Family of Dealerships, which operates Bronco Mitsubishi in suburban Boise in Idaho.
Mitsubishi Motors North America CEO Mark Chaffin acknowledged the loss and said the new EV incentive rules complicate product plans for the entire industry.
“There’s a lot more questions than answers right now,” Chaffin told Automotive News. “Like the rest of the OEMs, we’re waiting for further clarification and expecting to see the details that come out of the Department of Treasury later this year.”
Chaffin said the loss will not alter launch plans for the redesigned Outlander PHEV. But “mid-to-long-term, we’ll have to monitor market conditions and see where it goes,” he said.
Nor is Mitsubishi tweaking the Outlander PHEV’s pricing, which has not been disclosed.
“We remain confident that [losing the tax credit] won’t make a big difference in the sales success of this vehicle,” he said. “We think we’re going to have a hard time keeping up with the demand.”
Even though it might be difficult to keep up with demand, that won’t last forever. Losing a $7,500 credit won’t make a big difference in the success or failure of the OutlanderPHEV, but what choice does Mitsubishi have? It would take a long time to restart an automotive plant in the U.S. I wonder if the Inflation Reduction Act will prove to be the final nail in the coffin for the company.
3rd Gear: The 300C Has Sold Out
All 2,200 examples of the last call for Chrysler’s brawny sedan have been spoken for, according to Motor Trend.
The car was revealed to the public Sept. 13, on the eve of the North American International Detroit Auto Show. The order books opened at www.reservation.chrysler.com and 12 hours later the car was sold out, says Chrysler brand CEO Chris Feuell. There is now a waiting list.
Interested buyers only had to choose a color, a dealer, and leave an undisclosed deposit to secure one of the cars priced at $56,595.
It was a good test of Chrysler’s new digital reservation process. The brand wants to make it easier to buy and own a new vehicle, Feuell says. The 300 may be going away after the 2023 model year, but Feuell says she would love to resurrect the name on a future product. With plans to take the Chrysler brand fully electric by 2028, with the first all-electric model due in 2025, that future product potentially resurrecting the 300 name will likely be an EV.
Buying a new car is no longer dependent on refreshing a browser window like you are trying to buy a PS5 I have no reason to complain. I don’t have enough money to buy a new car.
4th Gear: Stamping for the Future
GeneralMotors will invest almost half a billion dollars into a facility dedicated tostamping steel and aluminum It was courtesy of the news agency.
The investment will be used to purchase and install two new press lines, complete press and die upgrades, renovations and expand the facility space by about 6,000-square-foot.
The automaker said that work on the facility will begin later this year.
GM’s Marion Metal Center, which started in 1956, produces sheet metal parts for multiple GM assembly plants to support production of Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles. The center currently employs more than 750 workers.
The brand’s “all-electric future” will be prepared by the influx of cash, according to a company spokesman. If I had to hazard a guess, I would think it was because more parts will need to be manufactured domestically for those sweet, sweet subsidies.
5th Gear: Stellantis and Renault Pump the Brakes
Plants belonging to the two automakers in Spain are being partially paused due to a lack of Silicon.
Two Renault factories in Spain’s Castile and Leon region will come to a temporary halt, with one shutting down entirely on Saturday and the other cancelling shifts on several days this week and the next, a representative from the CCOO union said.
At Stellantis’ plant in Vigo, in northwestern Spain, the company has cancelled Saturday and Sunday night shifts.
“They stopped production for 15 days in February. The supply shortage could mean more shut-downs in any moment,” a Stellantis union representative told Reuters.
The automotive industry saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Different brands will leave at different times.
Reverse: Add ‘William Durant’s Middle Name’ to List of Things I Did Not Know
The head of the Buick Motor Company spent $2,000 to incorporate.
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Neutral: Subaru
I still don’t understand why the Star of Pleiades makes many feel good. I don’t have a problem with the exterior of the 2024 Crosstrek, but I don’t think they differentiate their products. All-wheel drive is available in most things. Is it a perception of dependability that keeps the faithful returning? Tell me why you love your sissy cars.
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