Though auto-loan rates remain high, the good news for beleaguered new-vehicle shoppers is that transaction prices are falling and automakers’ incentives are becoming more lucrative than any period since the pandemic slapped the industry silly. Kelly Blue Book reports that incentives last month rose to around 7.0% of the average transaction price, which is the highest level […]

Car companies for years have made the case that they are ready to become technology companies, with plans to transform cars into battery-powered smartphones on wheels. Those ambitions, coupled with an unprecedented run of profitability fueled by stout pricing, lifted stocks. Wall Street’s enthusiasm for that vision has faded, as U.S. electric-vehicle demand hasn’t taken off as […]

By Ben Glickman | ben.glickman@wsj.com Discounts abound as automakers and dealers try to entice hesitant shoppers to make the switch Electric vehicles were a splurge purchase not long ago. Now they are among the biggest bargains on the dealership lot. Many electric models have never been cheaper, as automakers splurge on financing deals and cash […]

High interest rates and tight budgets are making monthly bills unaffordable for a growing number of vehicle owners.  Car repossessions rocketed higher in the first half of the year, a sign of rising consumer distress as the US Federal Reserve weighs interest rate cuts. So far in 2024, repos are up 23 percent compared with the same […]

For the last few months, dealers around the country have been attending their state associations’ annual meetings and conventions. For years, those conventions have brought families together for not only vacation but to highlight the importance of the state dealers association in ensuring the success of the industry as a whole. In the fast-paced and […]

Jamie L. LaReau, Detroit Free Press The nation’s car dealerships experienced total losses of more than $1 billion as the result of a nationwide hacking and ransomware attack on their software and systems last month, according to a new estimate from East Lansing-based consulting firm Anderson Economic Group. A cyberattack on Chicago-based dealership software provider CDK […]

By Luke Ramseth | Bloomberg’s Keith Laing contributed Foreign-owned manufacturers built more vehicles in the United States last year than their rivals in Detroit, a first for the market that underscores major shifts in domestic auto production. Non-U.S. automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG built more than 4.9 million cars in 2023, […]

Average price paid is expected to fall this year for first time since 2008, but interest rates keep payments high Many Americans are hitting their breaking point on what they are willing to spend on a new car, as higher interest rates take a bite out of what they can afford.  The average out-the-door price for a […]