If you’ve looked at buying a new or used car recently, you probably came away from the dealer’s lot with some serious sticker shock. In March of 2022, the average price of used cars was up more than 35% from where it was 12 months prior, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
It’s been this way for months: While the March 2022 inflation figure for used cars was slightly less than it had been in the previous three months, it was still the 12th straight month of double-digit inflation for used cars.
Much of that sustained increase in prices can be blamed on the global microchip shortage that continues to slow production of new vehicles, says Brian Moody, executive editor at Autotrader. “The lack of availability of new cars creates pressure on used cars, which then causes prices to go up” across the board, he says.
In addition, fewer transactions for new cars creates its [...]
Top 10 Electric Car Myths, Busted By Sami Haj-Assaad
Electric vehicles (EVs) have seen vast improvements over the years, mitigating many of the concerns shoppers have had about them in the process. Worries about range, reliability, charging infrastructure, and even production have been addressed in some way, with few reasons remaining to keep an EV off your consideration list. Still not convinced? We’re here to help debunk some myths around these all-electric rides.
When EVs first hit the mainstream market, their range was a concern since they had small batteries and there weren’t many places to charge them. These two factors have changed significantly, and only a few pure EVs deliver less than 200 km of [...]
In a Voluntary Safety Self-Assessment (VSSA) report filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), BMW said it plans to introduce what could become the first system on U.S. roads to qualify as “Level 3” conditional automation by SAE’s standards. By way of review, SAE Level 3 involves automated driving rather than driver support features (Levels 0, 1, and 2). Level 4 means that the system controls all aspects of the driving tasks, including when a driver doesn’t respond appropriately to requests to intervene, while Level 5 is entirely autonomous.
BMW’s system is coming with its iNext EV, an all-new, all-electric production vehicle arriving possibly as early as 2021 (Fig. 1). The iNext will feature the automaker’s 5th-generation eDrive system, which is reported to offer up to 530 hp [...]
Tesla reports $312 million profit in Q3 as Model 3 deliveries surge
UPDATED: 10/24/18 9:55 pm ET - adds Musk remarkTesla reported net income of $312 million for the third quarter, its first GAAP profit in two years, as revenue doubled amid rising production of the Model 3 sedan.
The company posted a net loss of $619.4 million in the same quarter last year and a net loss of $717.5 million in the second quarter this year, the company said Wednesday.
Record deliveries of the company’s Model 3 sedan at gross margins of nearly 20 percent drove free cash flow to $881 million, and the company ended the quarter with $3 billion in cash on hand. Automotive revenue nearly doubled to $6.1 billion from $3.36 billion in the second quarter; it was $2.4 billion in the same quarter last year. Tesla also bolstered its positive results with $52 million from sales of regulatory tax credits and $23 million in other income.
On the balance sheet, accounts payable increased by more than $566 million from the second [...]
Dodge Charger, F-250 popular with car theives
Auto thefts decline because of technology, but statistics conflict
The most theft-prone vehicle in America might be the Dodge Charger. Or it might be the Ford F-250 pickup truck.
Those are the contradictory conclusions of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the insurance industry-funded Highway Loss Data Institute.
Still, the government agency and private group agree that the theft of late-model vehicles is on a rapid decline in the United States. One reason: automakers’ increasing use of ignition immobilizers, which stop thieves from hot-wiring cars. Nearly 90 percent of 2012 models are equipped with them.
In a report released on Monday, NHTSA said the car stolen most often during the 2011 calendar year was the Charger, with 4.8 thefts for every 1,000 cars produced in 2011. It was followed by the Mitsubishi Galant, Hyundai Accent, Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet HHR among vehicles with more than 5,000 units produced that year.
Pickup trucks took the [...]
Global sales of BMW Group’s core brand rose faster in June than at Audi and Mercedes-Benz as demand from China and the United States helped the premium carmaker to extend a lead over the two rivals in the first six months of the year.
Sales at the brand were up 9 percent last month to 153,075, the group said today, compared with growth of 5 percent to 140,300 and 8 percent to 131,609 at Audi and Mercedes respectively.
Six-month sales at BMW brand rose 8 percent to 804,000 cars, expanding the lead over runner-up Audi to 24,000 from 11,000 after five months. Half-year sales at Audi and Mercedes rose 6 percent each to 780,500 and 694,000 respectively.
“BMW has stronger momentum than Audi and Mercedes, that won’t change in the second half,” said Hanover-based NordLB analyst Frank Schwope. “Design of their cars has improved and they’re [...]
Tesla Motors Inc., the world’s best-performing automotive stock this year, will join the Nasdaq-100 Index next week, filling the spot vacated by Oracle Corp., which is moving to the New York Stock Exchange.
The electric-car maker will be added to the gauge, which tracks the biggest companies on the Nasdaq, before the start of trading on July 15, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. said in a statement Monday. Oracle, which last month said it will join the NYSE, is the biggest company to jump between the competing exchanges.
Shares of Tesla, the carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, have more than tripled this year as the popularity of its new Model S sedan helped the company turn its first quarterly profit. Gaining entry to benchmarks tracked by investors is attractive to public companies because it provides a guaranteed shareholder base.
“It’s a coming of age, recognition [...]
The Toyota Camry and the Honda Civic, the top-selling mid-size and compact cars in the U.S., face risks of reduced production as inventories of the models rise, an RBC Capital Markets report said.
Toyota’s Camry exceeded its seasonal historical average inventory by more than 15 days supply in June and Honda carried about 25 days more Civics than usual, Joseph Spak, a New York-based analyst for RBC, said in today’s report. Camry and Civic were the only models identified as at risk for reduced output among 16 of the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. market. General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC all added U.S. market share in the first six months of 2013, the first time that all three gained first-half share in 20 years. Models such as GM’s Chevrolet Cruze compact and Ford’s Fusion mid-size sedan, leading Detroit’s most competitive [...]
