Demand for pickup trucks and hybrid vehicles helps automakers increase deliveries; challenges loom for 2025 The auto industry eked out a small increase in U.S. vehicle sales for 2024, helped by better availability on the new-car lot and a flurry of promotional deals in recent months.  U.S. dealers sold 15.9 million vehicles last year, up […]

The U.S. car industry has a ‘big case of anxiety’ about the president-elect’s proposed 25 percent tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada Finding an affordable car in the U.S. has already become a challenge for many budget-constrained Americans. New import tariffs on Mexican-built vehicles threaten to make the problem worse. Today, nearly one-third of […]

Sales of smaller cars and compact SUVs have been on the rise with more shoppers giving priority to affordability Stubbornly high car prices and elevated interest rates are persuading more Americans that when it comes to their next car purchase, bigger isn’t always better. U.S. car buyers have for years gravitated to larger, roomier vehicles, […]

Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump are recommending a two-pronged approach to reshape the US auto industry: cut federal subsidies to boost electric-vehicle sales while still fostering a domestic supply chain to produce them. Taken together, the suggestions highlight how Trump’s campaign promise to “terminate” EV mandates could manifest in policies that prioritize domestic carmakers and suppliers — […]

Automotive OEMs face increasing pressure to improve their supply chains, not only to reduce costs and improve efficiency but to meet environmental demands for a lower carbon footprint. Traditional inventory models with centralized warehouses lead to high storage costs, delays, and emissions tied to transportation. As a solution, some forward-thinking OEMs are turning to digital inventories combined […]

On Jan. 1, 2025, the percentage of potentially eligible used EVs will jump to 89 percent from 65 percent Almost a quarter of electric vehicles in the U.S. may become eligible for a $4,000 tax credit in January, according to data from Recurrent — but they are not all created equal. The EV model year must be […]

A new Oliver Wyman study, commissioned by NADA, believes the cost advantages of hybrid or direct-to-consumer auto distribution models have been overstated. Traditional auto dealership franchises may be the most cost-effective way to sell cars after all. Hybrid and direct-to-consumer vehicle shopping pitched as more efficient alternatives are favored by Tesla and its startup imitators while hybrid or agency […]

Since 1975[1], the FTC has had a Rule, currently called the “Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule” (“Rule”) that requires sellers who solicit buyers to order merchandise through the mail, via the Internet, or by phone to make disclosures regarding the shipment time for ordered merchandise. Sellers must have a reasonable basis to expect that they […]

This excerpted chart from a recent round of APEAL shows how Tesla EVs (left blue column) are holding up against non-Tesla EVs (right blue column). The non-Tesla crowd, after quite a few years of flailing around, has now caught up with and surpassed the Palo Alto Austin firm, though only by a few points (7), and with […]

On May 7, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adopted the Non-Compete Clause Rule (“Rule”), which finalizes a comprehensive ban on new non-competes for nearly all workers. The Rule provides that it is an unfair method of competition—and therefore a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act—for employers to enter into non-competes with workers. […]