Group 1 Automotive’s Post

In the latest episode of Kilowatt, we break down Ford’s Q2 2024 Earnings Call. We dive into the future of Ford's Model-e business. Whether you’re curious about Ford’s new approach to smaller, more affordable EVs, the impact of Chinese competition, or how software services are set to drive billions in revenue. 🔋 Why Ford’s EV Strategy Could Be a Game Changer 🚙 The Unexpected Margins in Smaller EVs 💡 The Role of Partnerships and Innovation 🎧 Listen to the full episode of Kilowatt here: https://lnkd.in/gbTna54V

Wondering how the CDK Global outage could impact the top dealership groups in Q2 earnings? Check out my latest from Automotive News on the front page of this week's edition, or here: https://lnkd.in/g5BFq7Vi

Learn more about how Black Book and Hearst Ventures portfolio company Recurrent go about their battery adjusted valuation of EVs. A hot topic in 2024, for sure!! Alex Yurchenko, Eric Lyman, Scott Case

According to a recent Automotive News article, dealership profits have dropped 32.4% year-over-year. One way to combat decreased margins on vehicle sales is to focus on enhancing revenue streams in other areas, such as F&I. If your dealership hasn’t considered post-sale vehicle service contract marketing, it’s time to think about this revenue stream and how it can keep customers returning to your service drive. #APCISG The decline in dealership profits: Understanding challenges and strategies to protect your bottom line | Automotive News (autonews.com)

After facing a major cyberattack this past summer that disrupted operations at over 15,000 dealerships across the country, CDK Global has bounced back, implementing new technology to ensure the safety of their dealer and OEM partners. Brian MacDonald, President & CEO of CDK Global, joins us to discuss the company's response to the incident and their innovative roadmap moving forward. Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/eP5p3z3h #CDK #cyberattack #automotive #dealerships

A YouTube video I watched this week prompted a memory from 40 years ago. One of the texts we used in graduate micro was Hal Varian's Microeconomic Analysis. One of the first problems in the book is, "show that a monopolist will never operate at an inelastic part of his supply curve." One demonstrates this by contradiction. Suppose a monopolist raises prices and demand is inelastic (meaning the price change up is larger than the quantity change down). Revenue will increase, while costs will fall (because the monopolist is producing less), and therefore profits will increase. So the monopolist wants to keep raising prices beyond the point of inelasticity. In fact, he will do so until revenue falls and ultimately, the fall in revenue at the margin exceeds the fall in costs. Now here is where the YouTube video comes in. My wife and I shopped for a car last fall, which led me to the channel "Car Edge." Car Edge features a father-son team of car salespeople, and their content is entertaining and informative. A recent video is about how executives at Stellantis will put Jeep out of business because of their price increases. They are alarmed that Jeep raised its prices by 61 percent over the past five years while sales have fallen by 34 percent. This means Jeep nominal revenues are six percent higher than five years ago, but on an inflation-adjusted basis, revenues are considerably lower (total CPI growth over the past five years is about 22 percent). So if the Jeep brand confers a monopoly, a question for people who know the car industry far better than I, the suits at Stellantis did the right thing for their company by raising prices until they were at an elastic part of the demand curve. They are now cutting prices a bit, indicating that they revealed the point at which price increases went too far. But as fun as it is to skewer the people who run large companies, sometimes they do know what they are doing. https://lnkd.in/gxsMjRbf

🌟 New Blog Post Alert! 🌟 In the aftermath of the recent Baltimore bridge collapse, the automotive industry is making strategic adjustments. Discover how automakers are rerouting their shipments and the impact on the nation's top port for handling automobiles and light trucks. Stay informed and read the full article here: https://ift.tt/7zfFwX0

Charles Chesbrough, Cox Automotive Inc. Senior Economist, joins us once again to provide invaluable insights into the current state of the market. Amid economic turbulence, shifting consumer preferences, and the upcoming election year, Chesbrough’s analysis clearly shows the factors driving vehicle #sales and what lies ahead for #automakers, #dealers, and consumers. Watch the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/ewgnBFdn

The FTC has updated the law to protect consumers' personal identity information (PII). Unfortunately, not many dealerships have the proper safeguards and red flag laws in place to comply with the law. If you're a dealership, you need to fix your systems today to protect your customers' PII and give them a one-year free identity theft protection policy Aura. You can do this by verifying everyone with our Gather Tools and locking down your systems with additional monitors and controls from getarmd.com. The FTC and CFPB and State Ag's want to Prosecute Bad Dealerships. https://www.ftc.gov/

So far this year, dealerships are returning to normalcy: inventory is back to usual levels and incentives are moving up. But will this upward trend last through the remainder of 2024? This past week at #NADAShow, I was joined by CDK Global CEO Brian MacDonald and John Casesa of Guggenheim Securities to discuss what we can expect to see this year, from the evolution of dealer/OEM relationships to the adoption of electric vehicles. Watch the full CDK LIVE session here: https://lnkd.in/eWSWFByt #automotiveindustry #dealership #carsales #NADA2024