Kia EV3, EV4 Electric Vehicles Target Mass Market
Just as Tesla and Rivian will pursue more mainstream buyers by introducing smaller, more affordable versions of their high-end electric vehicles, Kia intends to launch two subcompact EVs to spur mass-market adoption of the expensive technology. According to Automotive News, the plan is taking shape following the December launch of the South Korean brand's largest and most expensive vehicle, the EV9. That three-row EV is targeted at a more affluent buyer than Kia — once known as a budget option — has attracted in the past, with an annual income of at least $200,000. The EV9's top trim GT Line costs just under $80,000 including shipping when fully equipped. But while Kia is moving toward higher transaction prices, it does not want to abandon its traditional consumer. Part of its EV roadmap now includes a pair of electric vehicles — the EV3 subcompact crossover and EV4 subcompact sedan — that address the next growth area for electrics: the mainstream middle class. Both vehicles are on the horizon. Forecasters believe the EV3 will launch at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025. The EV4 will likely follow in 2026. Click here for the full story.
Despite the Naysayers, Dealerships Are Here to Stay
Thousands of dealers descended on Las Vegas last month for the annual NADA Show. The attendees certainly didn’t believe the dealership was dead. And indeed, despite its demise being predicted for a few years, the dealership is alive and well. But the dealership experience is evolving along with customer needs and demands, say dealers and companies serving those dealerships. “We have the technology to help them find products, but we still see that the vast majority of customers want to move from online to offline. The last mile is owned by the dealership,” Doug Miller, president and chief commercial officer of Cars Commerce, tells WardsAuto. Even younger shoppers used to completing many tasks online prefer to visit a dealership, according to the Cars Commerce 2024 Automotive Trends survey. It found 80 percent of Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – prefer to finish the car purchasing process at a dealership. The survey of 4,000 consumers was conducted between Aug. 30 and Sept. 7, 2023. The idea that car buying would move completely online was further punctured by the recent failure of online used car marketplaces Vroom and Shift after they failed to obtain additional funding. Click here for the full story.
Toyota Buys Out Panasonic from Key Battery Maker in push for EVs
Toyota is tightening control over critical battery production as it readies the ramp-up of next-generation electric vehicles in Japan for worldwide export. Toyota is buying out longtime partner Panasonic for full ownership of their 28-year-old battery-making joint venture, Primearth EV Energy Co., reports Automotive News.The move comes as Primearth, one of Toyota's earliest suppliers of batteries for such hybrid vehicles as the Prius, gears up to start pumping out batteries for full-electric vehicles in Japan. Toyota traditionally likes close oversight, if not outright control, over key components. Bringing Primearth fully in-house allows more flexibility in deciding output levels, cost and battery technology. Primearth, which was established in 1996 as a 40-60 joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. and Panasonic Holdings Corp., has focused only on power packs for standard and plug-in hybrids. From 2026, it will start making batteries for EVs at a new factory in its Kosai battery hub in Shizuoka prefecture, between Nagoya and Tokyo. The new Arai battery plant, the company's fourth, opens this year. It will first make hybrid batteries and then add plug-in hybrid and EV batteries. Click here for the full story.
New Vehicle Prices Are Falling. Why Aren’t Dealers Worried? — Brian Moody | Cox Automotive
New vehicle sales are holding steady in the U.S. as dealers prepare for a busy market in the months ahead. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for prices, which, as many experts have noted, are starting to creep back toward pre-pandemic averages. On this episode of CBT News’ Inside Automotive, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by Brian Moody, executive editor at Cox Automotive. Moody has helped shed light on the numerous factors impacting dealers in today’s landscape and how even the slightest shifts in consumer preferences can have surprising consequences. Now, he delves into the topic of new vehicle prices and what this means for the retail automotive sector. Moody notes there has been a noticeable 3.5 percent decline in the average transaction price for new vehicles compared to last year. He attributes this drop to increased car supply and manufacturer incentives, which contrasts with the previous scarcity of vehicles during the pandemic. Automakers are responding to today’s market conditions by significantly boosting incentives, which have nearly doubled compared to the previous year. Click here for the full story.
BMW Is a Surprise Winner in Electric Vehicles
As BMW car bodies glided down an assembly line in Munich recently, showered by sparks from robotic welders, it was hard to tell which vehicles would be powered by batteries, fuel-burning engines, or both. In the view of many analysts, that is not a good thing. The German automaker’s electric vehicles are made on the same assembly line as gasoline cars and look similar from the outside. That approach, using the same basic body for electric, hybrid, gasoline, and diesel cars, has been viewed as an awkward and inefficient compromise some established carmakers have deployed as they struggle to compete with Tesla and emerging Chinese automakers that produce cars designed solely for battery power. But confounding the pundits, BMW’s strategy has paid off. The company sold 376,000 electric vehicles last year, including some under its Mini brand, a 75 percent increase from the previous year, reports The New York Times. In the luxury segment, BMW was second only to Tesla, which remained dominant with 1.8 million cars. Electric vehicles accounted for 15 percent of BMW sales in 2023, up from 9 percent the previous year. Click here for the full story.
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