Toyota will use this month’s Chicago Auto Show to introduce a long-promised larger three-row crossover to its U.S. lineup, while Volkswagen and Subaru will rely on the Windy City’s massive McCormick Place to showcase updates to strong-selling crossovers on opposite ends of the size spectrum. The Chicago show is in its 115th year, and with
Volkswagen dealers would have had a really good 2022 if not for a couple of things, the new chairman of the Volkswagen National Dealer Advisory Council said. First, the production shortage held sales back. Second, they were hit with a surprise announcement in May that Scout Motors will be revived as an EV brand, with
The latest ‘sphere’ concept from Audi may be the most advanced and utilitarian of the bunch. The fourth in the series of battery-electric vehicle concepts — a self-driving sportback crossover — can transform into a small pickup capable of carrying bicycles or other gear. And it features an augmented reality interface. The Audi Activesphere concept
As someone who has been selling new Toyotas for more than 50 years, Steve Gates said he never would have believed that he and his fellow brand dealers could have had as much success as they did last year with so few vehicles in stock. “I was absolutely certain, when this all started, I thought
Audi dealers and the brand accomplished something pretty remarkable in 2022: They found the balance point when market share, inventory, sales and incentives achieved equilibrium, allowing the automaker and its dealers to maximize profitability, the chairman of the Audi National Dealer Council says. Don Flow, CEO of Flow Automotive Cos., a dealership group headquartered in
Carl Hahn, the visionary German executive who championed the Beetle and Microbus in the U.S. and later led Volkswagen Group’s international expansion into China in the 1980s, died Jan. 14. He was 96. Hahn died in his sleep at his home in Wolfsburg, according to a spokeswoman from his charitable foundation. A ceremony is planned
If you’re a dealer who had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reseal, resurface or restripe your new-vehicle sales lot with the least amount of hassle, you might be out of luck. New-vehicle inventories are starting to build again — and relatively quickly — thanks to a combination of low incentives and higher interest rates that have
There was a shocking statistic in my colleague Pete Bigelow’s story last week about CES that should cause ulcers in automotive investors around the globe. Automakers and others have committed those resources, investing more than $530 billion across autonomous, connected, electrified and shared mobility technology since 2010, according to the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility
As inventories slowly recover, top Toyota Motor North America executives say there may be about 5 million to 7 million new-vehicle customers waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity to jump back into the market. But affordability challenges — the result of high sticker prices and demand, a pullback in incentives, rising raw materials costs
Making new sedans sexy to consumers is proving to be an increasingly heavy lift in the U.S., so Volkswagen settled on ensuring that the debut of its upcoming electric sedan at CES is “lit” — albeit temporarily — while giving the car a new name and a unique camouflage scheme. The German brand has renamed
