ZeroSum’s Round Up: Essential Automotive Industry Reading September 2022

The ZeroSum Round Up is a collection of articles, reports, and other information that ZeroSum believes is useful to automotive dealers and others working in the industry.

September has been an eventful month for the automotive industry, and it can be hard to keep up. Here are some of the biggest stories of the month that auto dealers should read.

Jim Farley’s meeting with Ford dealers

Earlier this month, Ford CEO Jim Farley met with dealers in Las Vegas to detail his plans to bring Ford into the new EV era. Now, each Ford dealer will have to decide to become a Model E Certified Elite dealership, a Model E Certified dealership, or stop selling Model E vehicles.

Read the article: https://cleantechnica.com/2022/09/16/ford-drops-a-bomb-on-dealers-youre-either-in-or-youre-out/

EV registrations increasing

Experian’s Q2 Automotive Consumer Trends and Analysis found that EV registrations make up 5.7% of United States vehicle registrations. This number is up from just 1.9% in 2020.

Read the article: https://www.experian.com/automotive/auto-consumer-trends-form

The launch of ChargeBuddy

GasBuddy’s parent company has launched ChargeBuddy, an app that will serve as an EV owner’s best friend. It will show them where they can charge their car, how long it will take, what it will cost, what amenities are offered, and more.

Learn more: https://www.chargebuddyapp.com/

OEMs cutting ad spend

Reuters reports that automotive ad spend fell 4% year-over-year and was 12.7% lower than in the same period in 2019. 

Read the article: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/auto-industry-ad-spend-falls-48-bln-first-seven-months-2022-data-2022-09-16/

Demand for new vehicles slowing 

Cox Automotive has lowered its sales forecast yet again amid rising interest rates that could continue to slow demand.

Read the article: https://www.autonews.com/sales/sept-us-auto-sales-why-us-car-sales-forecasts-remain-gloomy

New vehicle inventory rising as prices fall

September saw the largest increase in new vehicle inventory of 2022, and both new and used prices have decreased as a result.

Read the ZeroSum Market First Report: https://www.zerosum.ai/blog/zerosum-market-first-report-2022-9

For the most up to date automotive inventory and pricing trends, read the ZeroSum Market First Report.