Mini executives want the brand's U.S. dealerships to pursue used-car sales with more vigor. Higher used-car sales would help Mini and its retailers at a time when new-car sales have slumped. So Mini USA launched a program at the beginning of the year that pays dealerships bonuses for hitting used-car sales targets. Each Mini store gets a customized target. If a store hits its target, it will receive additional margin of 1 percentage point of the vehicle's sticker price on each new-car sale. Thomas Felbermair, vice president of Mini Region Americas claims that the used-car bu...
Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday issued two recalls for approximately 3,000 vehicles in North America. The largest involves a call-back of about 2,500 2017 Explorer SUVs, F-150 and Super Duty pickups. The affected vehicles have an improper weld between the driver seat back and the manually operated seat back recliner mechanism that may fail to comply with certain federal motor vehicle safety standards. The vehicles include:• 2017 Ford F-150s built at Dearborn Assembly Plant from Dec. 11 2016 to Dec. 16, 2016.• 2017 F-150s built at Kansas City Assembly Plant Dec. 8, 2016 to Dec....
According to the National Safety Council, there are more than 27,000 car accidents each and every day in the United States. Nobody is seriously injured in the majority of these crashes, but the vehicles definitely sustain damage, and not all of that damage is reported to insurance agencies or repaired. In most cases accident damage is "typically reported by an insurance agency or body shop," while other times "visible paintwork or damage was highlighted by an inspector, but un-flagged by a vehicle history report." Here is the list of the vehicles most likely to be involved ...
The U.S. auto boom that fueled record sales and profits is winding down. General Motors CEO Mary Barra claims that the auto industry is changing more today than it has in the past 50 years. It's true that the U.S. auto sector had a close call during the 2008 financial crisis, when both GM and Chrysler needed federal bailouts to survive bankruptcy. But that was a pretty straightforward crisis, caused by excess labor costs and a plunge in auto sales due to a wrecked economy. The challenge today is posed by electric and self-driving cars, and it is far more fundamental. Automakers ...
About one in seven driving Americans may likely purchase an electric vehicle as their next car, according to an AAA poll, meaning that as many as 30 million Americans may pony up for an electric car within the next three to five years. While some of the motivation is environmental, survey recipients say that lower maintenance expenses and solo access to high-occupancy-vehicle lanes are also among the factors behind potentially going electric. The poll indicates that about as many people are planning to buy an electric vehicle for their next car as are looking to buy a pickup, which...
