INDUSTRY UPDATES FROM AUTO TEAM AMERICA

Crowe MacKay LLP is the only Canadian member of Auto Team America, a group of CPA firms that provide professional services to a very large number of Dealerships. Our firm's Lead Automotive Partner, Conven Tang, participated in a recent meeting. It was the first in-person meeting in two years, over the next two weeks points he noted from the meeting will be shared. If you wish to learn more on any of the points contact Conven Tang in our Edmonton office.

Industry

  • Q1 2022 results are better than Q1 2021
  • Most dealers selling above MSRP and tacking on options
  • Despite part shortages, fixed operations are starting to get back to normal
  • Cap Rate sitting around 7%
  • Salespeople being offered new pay plans due to changes in inventory levels
  • Dealers attracting potential employees with signing bonuses and incentives
  • Very little buy in by GM dealers on Car Bravo (GM National Used Car Site) similar to Carvana
  • Insurance premiums on a Tesla are higher compared to traditional vehicles
  • Tesla buying real estate to set up service centers for their vehicles
  • Concerns regarding direct sales of electric vehicles by the OEM. Will this open the gates for OEM to sell F&I or other service/warranty packages
  • Volvo rolling out Polestar (former performance package) as branding for its electric vehicles
  • Ford looking to set up a new company to sell electric vehicles directly to customers (in site of comments to the contrary by Ford Executives)
  • Electric vehicles requiring more space to service due to safety issues of handling the battery
  • Mercedes investing in technology to provide customers with a base vehicle and offer options that can be added on with subscriptions
  • Change from LIBOR to SOFR regarding financing rate determination

Operations

  • Average gross profit per new vehicle increase from $3,000 in 2021 Q1 to $6,200 in 2022 Q1
  • Average gross profit per used vehicle increase from $1,800 in 2021 Q1 to $2,100 in 2022 Q1
  • Average gross profit per F&I contract increase from $1,800 in 2021 Q1 to $2,300 in 2022 Q1
  • Average Dealership net income expected to be slightly higher than 2021 from $6.4M to $7.1M
  • Fixed operations with 22% growth YTD compared to 14.1% in 2021
  • Inventory levels still low with an average of 7 – 9 days turn on hand

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Slight slow down in the number of dealership exchanging in hands in Q1 of 2022 at 86 (9 Pubco) compared to 2021 Q1 at 99 (12 Pubco)
  • No significant changes in multiples in the last nine months with average multiple of 5.25.
  • Luxury brands multiples holding steady with multiples between 7.5 – 10
  • Toyota and Cadillac with 0.5 improvement over last quarter
  • 3 year average net income (2019 – 2021) adjusted for subsidies, rent factors and family salaries still applicable for valuation purposes

FAMOUS INVESTORS BUY, SELL GM STOCK AS AUTOMAKER SHIFTS TO EVS

Here's What It Means - General Motors' stock has seen a lot of activity in recent weeks as the big money movers on Wall Street have bought and sold millions of dollars in shares while the automaker plugs along on its path to an all-electric future. Famous billionaire investor George Soros earlier this year sold his 1.26 million shares in GM but known investor and Tesla bull Cathie Wood, who founded Ark Investment Management, shocked Wall Street on May 10 by selling 15,862 shares of Tesla, worth about $12.7 million, to buy 158,187 shares in GM, worth about $6 million. The stock market moves illustrate just how fresh and influential the automakers can be wooing investors and believers as they transform to electric vehicles, say analysts.

Source: Detroit Free Press

AMERICAN DRIVING MILEAGE TOPS PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS IN MARCH

Americans are getting back behind the wheel, despite higher fuel prices. The Federal Highway Administration said on Thursday motorists drove 277.4 billion miles (446.4 billion km) in March, up 7.9 billion miles over the same month in 2021, and up 5 billion miles over March 2019. U.S. driving first topped pre-pandemic 2019 levels in January as Americans return to offices and businesses and leisure trips continue to rise.

Source: Reuters

GM ADOPTS FULL EV PORTFOLIO PLAN

General Motors believes having a full portfolio of electric vehicles on sale at the same time will allow each of them to succeed more than previous, singular efforts have. After selling the EV1 by itself in the late 1990s, followed by the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid in 2010 and the Chevy Bolt in 2016, "we have learned a lot from ourselves," GM President Mark Reuss said Wednesday at the Automotive News Congress in Nashville. In each case, having no other electrified offerings in the lineup made it hard for the automaker to promote that one model at the expense of its profitable, gasoline-powered vehicles. Honda's move toward electric also includes new dealer facility designs with modular layouts that contemplate lower inventory and changing consumer shopping behavior.

Source: Automotive News

AVERAGE AGE OF U.S. CARS HITS RECORD HIGH DUE TO TIGHT SUPPLIES

U.S. consumers are using their existing vehicles for longer as the inventory of new cars and light trucks remains constrained due to supply chain challenges, marking an all-time high for the average age, according to a report from S&P Global Mobility. The average age of light vehicles in operation (VIO) in the United States rose to 12.2 years this year, increasing by nearly two months from the prior year, the report said.

Source: NADA (Reuters)

DODGE WANTS DEALERSHIPS TO EMBODY GEARHEAD PERSONA

It's no secret what Dodge is about these days. The brand spent the last eight years recasting itself as a youthful purveyor of American muscle, led by its powerful Hellcats and edgy advertising. Focusing on the high-octane realm has supercharged its base of enthusiasts and sparked an active following of millions online. Now, brand CEO Tim Kuniskis wants to build a bridge that better connects dealership showrooms to the excitement generated by its irreverent ads, social media outreach and experiential events. The last thing Kuniskis wants is for a fan who was pulled in by Dodge's gearhead persona to be greeted at a dealership by an unengaged salesperson who isn't in tune with the "Brotherhood of Muscle."

Source: Automotive News

CHIPS - MORE PRODUCTION LOST

North America production cuts

After a reprieve the previous week, North American factories removed about 87,500 vehicles from their production schedules because of the microchip shortage, according to the latest weekly estimate by AutoForecast Solutions. Europe was the only other region to lose production: 4,200 units. President Joe Biden last week toured the world's largest semiconductor plant, owned by Samsung, outside of Seoul, alongside South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Source: Automotive News

Bronco Still on hold

Ford Motor Co. had hoped by now to move thousands of Bronco SUVs from holding lots to customer driveways, but some buyers say they're still waiting. And they likely will be for at least a few more months. The automaker in mid-February blamed the ongoing global microchip shortage for a backlog of unfinished Broncos at a lot near its Michigan Assembly Plant that restless buyers have nicknamed Dirt Mountain. At the time, it said those off-roaders should be completed and shipped within 90 days, provided the automaker could get enough chips.

Source: Automotive News

Toyota To Cut Global Production Plan by 100,000 in June

Toyota Motor Corp will cut its global production plan by about 100,000 to roughly 850,000 vehicles in June due to the semiconductor shortage, it said on Tuesday. The company did not change its estimate of producing about 9.7 million vehicles worldwide by March 2023. The automaker also announced additional domestic factory line suspension due to supply shortage triggered by COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai. The additional suspension will be up to five days between Wednesday and June 3, affecting 16 lines at 10 factories for May and June in total.

Source: NADA (Reuters)

VW CHIEF SAYS GERMAN CAR GIANT WILL OVERTAKE TESLA ON EV SALES BY 2025

The chief executive of Volkswagen believes Europe's biggest carmaker can overtake Tesla to become the world's largest seller of electric vehicles by 2025. Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Herbert Diess said alleviating supply chain issues would likely help create some momentum for the German auto giant over the coming months.

Source: CNBC

GLOBAL SURGE IN EV SALES ADDS TO PRESSURE ON SUPPLY CHAINS

Sales of electrified vehicles – full-electric and plug-in hybrids -- doubled globally in 2021 to 6.6 million, but that rapid growth has further stretched supply chains already threatened by the pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine, the International Energy Agency said in its annual electric vehicle outlook report. Essential materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt are particularly at risk, the IEA said, noting that prices for lithium – an essential component of EV batteries – were seven times higher in May than they were at the start of 2021. Cobalt prices more than doubled, and nickel prices almost doubled. That surge was a result of "unprecedented" battery demand and "a lack of structural investment in new supply capacity," the report said.

Source: Automotive News

STELLANTIS (FCA) REACHES PLEA DEAL

The U.S. business of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conduct and pay roughly $300 million in penalties to resolve a multi-year emissions fraud probe surrounding vehicles with diesel engines, people familiar with the matter said. FCA US LLC, now part of Stellantis NV, has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge arising from its efforts to evade emissions requirements for more than 100,000 older Ram pickup trucks and Jeep sport-utility vehicles in its U.S. lineup, the people said.

Source: NADA (Reuters)

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