#DealerNews

One of my favorite moments in The Sopranos involves mobsters trying to shake down a large, faceless corporation. When the mobsters are told by the manager of a local store that if he acquiesces, he'll be fired and replaced by someone else and the corporation will make sure the mob doesn't get any money.

Perplexed, one says to the other "it's over for the little guy."

That scene came to mind when reading/editing Matt's piece on Penske Automotive Group scooping up another prolific Ford dealership.

Penske Automotive Group has just purchased Michigan’s Bill Brown Ford in Michigan, which sells more Ford-badged automobiles than any other retailer in the world. This is the second Ford dealership purchased by the company this year. Penske had previously bought Don Allen Auto Service Inc. in Massachusetts.

Mitsubishi has said it plans to revive the brand in the United States. The stated strategy involves expanding its lineup and retail locations. While this is probably very exciting to those who recall driving any model equipped with the 4G63 engine, it might be wise to temper expectations. The changes being floated are relatively modest, with this being the first step in what could eventually become something bigger for the brand.

That said, the company appears to be serious about setting things right inside America and may actually be in a unique position to pull this off.

The Miami Beach Police Department has revealed its newest recruitment tool — a Rolls-Royce modified with MBPD graphics and flashing lights. 

Ford has announced its new dealership training platform for the United States, noting that it will utilize artificial intelligence to better familiarize sales teams with product knowledge, corporate history, while likewise making them better at engaging with customers.

Following a nine-week hold on F-150 Lightning allocations to dealers, Ford has announced it will be resuming shipments. Meanwhile, Tesla reportedly delayed Cybertruck deliveries. The rumor is that it needed to address some quality concerns. But the reasons assumed vary and the company hasn’t said anything about the issue, and likely won’t since it disbanded its PR department years ago. However, this may not be the victory for Blue Oval that it appears.

The State of New Mexico has denied a petition put forward by automotive dealers to ease off on planned electric vehicle mandates. The groups had claimed that forcing electrification would hamper commerce by encouraging residents to purchase more vehicles from neighboring territories and were limiting residents freedom of choice. However, a governor-appointed state Environmental Improvement Board reportedly voted to deny the challenges late last week.

Vehicle inventories are now approaching the highest levels seen since the summer of 2020. This is according to a report from Cox Automotive, which stated that the month of February opened with the industry seeing an average new vehicle supply of 80 days. However, the figure still doesn’t match the supply averages seen at the start of 2020.

Last week, Ford CEO Jim Farley asked a group of dealers for some open and honest feedback while promising to spend the next few weeks visiting showrooms. The point was to create a conversation between the automaker and dealerships that have grown annoyed with some of the changes Ford has been asking them to make. However, the latest from the North American Dealers Association (NADA) meeting makes it sound like the relationship may still be dicey.

A recent survey, conducted by Automotive News, has indicated that automotive dealerships are still broadly dissatisfied with the Biden administration’s strategy to force the United States to pivot toward all-electric vehicles. According to the 2024 Dealer Outlook Survey, 83 percent of respondents said the government was pushing the transition toward EVs too quickly and mucking up the auto market.

Buick reportedly spent 2023 closing a lot of dealerships. The brand lost 47 percent of its American retail locations through the year, which has been attributed to General Motors buying out storefronts that refused to invest in the necessary changes required to sell all-electric vehicles.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the finalization of the new Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS) rule designed to prevent auto dealers from utilizing bait-and-switch tactics and hidden junk fees. While these are technically illegal already, CARS is supposed to give the FTC more leeway in determining what constitutes fraud and serve as a warning to dealers that may be crossing the line.

Roughly 4,000 U.S. dealerships are asking President Joe Biden to reconsider proposed federal regulations they’ve alleged would mandate an unrealistic national shift toward battery-electric vehicles consumers simply aren’t buying.

A New York judge has halted Ford and Lincoln from instituting a specific set of requirements before allowing dealerships to sell the brands’ all-electric vehicles. This comes after five stores operating within the state launched a lawsuit against Ford Motor Co. for introducing a new certification process for EVs. The issue was that the automaker was asking too much from dealerships and effectively favoring those with deeper pockets by forcing changes that required significant financial investments.

Ford introduced its tiered dealer program nearly twelve months ago, splitting stores interested in selling electric into “Model e Certified Elite” and “Model e Certified.”

The United States doesn't have a monopoly on shady car dealerships.