October 14, 2016
New 2017 Honda CR-V Hits Showrooms This Winter
According to The Detroit News, a redesigned Honda CR-V will be available in dealerships this winter. It is a vehicle Honda says will have better fuel economy, performance, and function to help it stay atop the highly competitive compact SUV segment. American Honda Motor Co. Inc. chose Eastern Market in Detroit to reveal the new 2017 CR-V to media on Wednesday. Honda is showing the new small SUV about two years after the popular seller was refreshed. It was last fully redesigned in 2011. On the outside, the CR-V is wider and has a more athletic-looking stance than the current model, with a longer wheelbase. It also features LED headlights and taillights in new front and rear styling. Honda also for more flexibility will add a third North American production location for the CR-V at the Greensburg, Indiana, plant. It currently builds CR-V in East Liberty, Ohio, and Alliston, Ontario. For more on Honda’s new CR-V, click here.
Despite What Trump and Clinton Say, Americans Want the U.S. to Be a Global Leader
Is the United States retreating from the world? Anyone watching the presidential campaign can be forgiven for thinking that Americans want little to do with what occurs beyond their borders. Yet, reports The Washington Post, while politicians seem to think that the American public wants to turn inward, recent polling done by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs paints a very different picture of Americans’ attitudes on foreign policy. One of the key indicators of their attitudes about foreign engagement — whether the United States should play an active role in world affairs or stay out — shows that Americans by a nearly 2-to-1 majority favor an active U.S. role (64 to 35 percent). Contrary to much of the 2016 campaign rhetoric, moreover, Americans also generally support the other main pillar of engagement overseas: international trade. Indeed, a solid 65 percent of Americans think globalization is mostly a good thing. For more on how Americans support America’s global leadership, click here.
Volvo Owner Geely Prepares Launch of New Car Brand
According to Automotive News, Chinese automaker Geely Automobile is set to launch a new car brand—Lynk & Co—on Oct. 20, sources said, as it seeks to broaden its appeal by tackling the middle market. The brand's cars are expected to go on sale first in China next year and later in Europe and the U.S. The brand will be used to launch the first vehicle based on the Complex Modular Architecture (CMA) platform developed by Geely and Swedish automaker Volvo, which Geely acquired from Ford Motor six years ago. The new middle market brand will compete in China with Chinese-foreign venture cars such as those produced by General Motors and SAIC Motor Corp.—leaving Volvo to focus on the luxury end and Geely to go up against domestic producers. For more on Geely’s new car brand, click here.
Car Dealer Group Makes Most of New Lease on Life
In 2008, on the eve of the recession, the 15-dealership Cardinale Automotive Group was feeling good about itself, recalls CEO Erich Gail. He tells WardsAuto that a year later, “we were on our butts; we were insolvent.” Annual auto sales had dropped from about 16.2 million units in 2007 to 10.6 million two years later. Cardinale, based in Seaside, CA, and plenty of other dealerships were feeling the pain. Three hundred California dealerships closed during that period as auto sales in the state dropped about 800,000 units. “We were a text-book case of not being prepared,” Gail says. Cardinale survived the near-death experience. “We were given a new lease on life,” Gail says. Armed with that, it has become a different business operation than it had been. “Our guiding principle is that we develop outstanding relationships – not just good ones – where everyone wins: the factory, the dealership and the customer,” Gail says at a recent Automotive Customer Centricity conference in Los Angeles. For more on how one car dealer group is making the most of its new lease on life, click here.
Here's Why Automakers Are Making the Surprising Switch to Bigger Engines
Tougher European car emissions tests being introduced in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal are about to bring surprising consequences: bigger engines. According to Fortune, carmakers that have spent a decade shrinking engine capacities to meet emissions goals are now being forced into a costly U-turn, industry sources said, as more realistic on-the-road testing exposes deep flaws in their smallest motors. Renault, General Motors, and VW are preparing to enlarge or scrap some of their best-selling small car engines over the next three years, the people said. Other manufacturers are expected to follow, with both diesels and gasolines affected. For more on why automakers are switching to bigger engines, click here.
Working for America: Join AIADA's Annual Meeting in New Orleans
International nameplate dealers are working for America. In 2015, they created 570,000 jobs generating a payroll of $32 billion by selling some of the safest, most innovative, and popular vehicles on U.S. roads. Please join AIADA in New Orleans on January 29, 2017, during NADA’s annual convention, for the 47th Annual Meeting and Luncheon. Keynote remarks will be provided by American Honda Motor Co. Vice President John Mendel, who is driving Acura and Honda’s success in the U.S. AIADA will also welcome its 2017 Chairman, Paul Ritchie from Maryland. Finally, the recipient of the 2017 David F. Mungenast Lifetime Achievement Award will be honored. If you’d like to nominate an outstanding member of the industry for this honor, please click here. Register today for AIADA’s 47th Annual Meeting and Luncheon in New Orleans here.
Around the Web
Maritime Blue Porsche 968 Club Sport [CarScoops]
These Cars Are an Engine Swap Away From Being Factory Hot Rods [Autoblog]
The Economics of Dining as a Couple [Bloomberg]
One Day, Cars Will Connect With Your Fridge [NY Times]