Early 2022 Auto Sales Forecasts Are Disheartening

After a tough couple of years, consumers went into 2022 hopeful that unhinged automotive pricing and lean dealer lots would be a thing of the past. However, analysts and industry groups have gone from being cautiously optimistic just a few weeks ago to fairly sullen about the prospects of North American shoppers locating anything that could be considered a square deal.

Goldman Sachs recently issued a report that attempted to encapsulate the whole picture, citing sustained congestion at the ports, pandemic-related factory closures, market inflation, millions of people just dropping out of the workforce, and continued complications stemming from the semiconductor shortage. It estimated that vehicle pricing would fail to go down — and may even pitch up in the first half of 2022 — until all of the above issues have been addressed. But it was hardly the only group chiming in or suggesting that the hard times could last through 2023, as the goalpost for what should be deemed acceptable is moved yet again.

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CarMax Acquires Edmunds in $400 Million Deal

Yesterday, used-car giant CarMax announced it finalized a deal to acquire automotive consumer advice site Edmunds, in a deal worth just over $400 million.

CarMax promises it’s magnanimous, and that Edmunds and its advice will operate independently of CarMax and its sales.

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As ATPs Rise and Loan Terms Grow Obese, Trade-ins Are Less of a Trade-off

Auto loan terms have been creeping up for as long as anyone can remember. Back in 1997, the average financing period on a new car was somewhere around 54 months. That crept up to over 60 months by 2004 and has only continued to climb. Over the past decade, the typical automotive loan term has ballooned by almost 30 percent. According to an analysis by Edmunds, the average financing period on a new vehicle sold in the United States surpassed 70 months in March of 2020.

While automakers’ recent introduction of loans extending up to 7 years (especially now that COVID-19 is hampering sales) has exacerbated the issue, we were already sitting on a 69-month average in October of 2019. Why would someone voluntarily agree to such a lengthy agreement? They may not have much of an alternative due to similar growth in vehicle transaction prices.

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2015 Volkswagen GTI Long-Term Final Update (And Fun With Car Buying Scammers)

The automotive media slobbered over the redesigned 2015 Volkswagen GTI sporty hatchback ever since its introduction two years ago. I put 13,500 miles on mine over the past year and I agree that it is one of the great all-around fun cars available today.

I just went through the process of selling it, and that is when the real fun began.

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Want Your Vehicle to Retain Its Value? Make Sure It's Big, or Bigger

If you’re looking to get the most money back when you drop your car onto the used market in five years, better get into something large and utilitarian.

Large and midsize trucks and SUVs grab the top five-year resale values in Edmund’s 2016 Retained Value Awards, with conventional and luxury midsize and large cars depreciating the most.

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Edmunds: Millennials Savvier Car Shoppers Via Mobile Technology

According to a study, Millennials not only prefer to shop for cars via mobile devices, but also at the dealership.

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Edmunds Retracts Haggling Parody Amid Dealer Outcry

As you all know, the TTAC Zaibatsu prides itself on not having to worry about things like upsetting brands for telling it like it is for a given product. Of course, this does sometimes mean we get blackballed by said brands for not drinking the Kool-Aid, but we have our ways around those roadblocks.

Alas, Edmunds doesn’t have those ways, resulting in a series of ads retracted after a number of dealers took issue with the content.

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Edmunds: 2014 SAAR May Best 2006 Peak

The surge in United States auto sales last month could push the final figures to a height not seen since 2006 when January 2015 rolls around.

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Which Car Holds Its Value Best? Here Are The 2013 Resale Champs

We all know that the value of a car crashes the moment we drive it off the dealer lot. Some do more, some less. Edmunds compiled which brands and makes hold their value more than others.

On a brand level the most prudent cars are made by Acura (honorable mention to Lexus and Infiniti), and, for the more rugged types, by Jeep (honorable mention to Ram and Jeep.) However, people choose brands, but buy cars. So here are Edmunds’ “Best Retained Value Awards” by segment.

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Generation Why: Finally, Some Hard Data Shows That Young People Do Care About Cars

Something I’ve long maintained (and that has been backed up by many of the B&B) is that young people still like cars and do care about them. The issue of falling car ownership among young people is largely an economic one. The cost of living is going up while wages are stagnating. Gasoline is expensive. Student debt, smartphones and rent are more important obligations than car payments, insurance and fuel. All of that can be quantified with data.

What hasn’t been so easily demonstrable was that young people still like cars, despite the wishful thinking of many who cheer for the end to the automobile era. Now we finally have some good research that backs up my gut feeling.

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Analysis: Google Cars Gets Ready To Retail Rumble

Google’s autonomous car program tends to get the lion’s share of attention when discussing the tech giant’s auto initiatives. But lurking in the background is a more immediate project that has the potential to finally “disrupt” (as Silicon Valley types are so fond of saying) online automotive sales.

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Edmunds is Tired of the Lincoln MKZ

If you need proof that Lincoln really is down right now, here it is: they must be down, because Edmunds is kicking them. The same blog that tossed the Volt’s salad with an enthusiasm worthy of Tom Colicchio has placed its newest MKZ tester into the stocks for a bit of the ol’ public shaming. At the crux of the issue: the disgusting fact that, when fitted with the same tires found on the BMW M5, the Lincoln MKZ outperforms it in the Edmunds slalom test.

Just kidding. There’s more to it than that. Or is there?

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Blind Spot: America's New Motor City

Throughout the history of the automobile in America, one city has been synonymous with the industry and culture of cars. Booming with America’s great period of industrialization, Detroit became the Motor City, the hometown of an industry that created a blue-collar middle class and a culture based on personal mobility. But as America has entered the post-industrial age, as the focus of our economy has shifted from production to consumption, Detroit has been left behind. Long used to defining consumer tastes, Detroit was caught unawares by the changes wrought by globalization and the rise of information technology. And as America’s traditional auto industry struggles to redefine itself in the new economy, another Motor City is rising to meet the challenges of a new age.

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America's Fastest Cars – Fastest Off The Lot, Vrooooom ...

This list, compiled by Edmunds.com shows America’s 50 hottest and fastest cars. They are so fast that dealers can’t keep them on the lot. Off the truck, out of the door.

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Which Car Holds Its Value Best?

If you read, maybe even follow Steve Lang’s advice on car buying, then you know how important and hard it is to fight the dreaded depreciation of your car. The minute you drive it off the dealer’s lot, it has lost a good chunk of its value. Some cars hold their value well, others not so much. Here are the best.

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