Executive Dealer Reporting

Top Headlines We Are Reading At Foundation

• Cox Automotive: 2023 Industry Insights and Sales Forecast
  • Foundation Takeaway: The automotive industry appears to be entering another transition period, but a familiar one of a normalized market. Inventories are on the upswing, new inventories are up 66% YoY with used down -3% YoY but stabilizing. Headwinds still exists with consumer sentiment, inflation and inflated interest rates but forecasts have 2023 new vehicle sakes at 14.8M, 1M more than the 13.8M sold in 2022 equating to a 7% YoY increase. On the flip side used is forecasts to fall to a still healthy 35.6M units, -1.6% YoY decrease from 2022 36.2M. Dealerships will have to focus on internal operations in 2023 as vehicle sales won’t fall from the sky like we’ve seen the past 2 years. BONUS READ: Cox Automotive Offers 10 Predictions for 2023  which predicts 1M electric vehicle sales in the US in 2023.

• Automotive News: 2022 New Vehicle Sales Recap
  • Foundation Takeaway: 2022 New Vehicle sales (retail and fleet) landed at 13,865,892 which equates to YoY decrease of -7.9% vs. 2021’s 15,059,846. The final sales numbers are a stark difference from beginning of the year forecasts which were originally at 15.8M, just showing the impact of inventory constraints caused by the chip shortage that drained new vehicle sales to a decade low figure.

    • Brand-by-Brand Headlines:
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    • GM: Q4 U.S. sales rise 41% as supply improves
      General Motors, driven by strong light-truck deliveries, reported a 42 percent increase in fourth quarter light-vehicle volume, with sales rising 44 percent at Chevrolet, 42 percent at GMC and 75 percent Cadillac. Buick was the only GM brand to post lower volume in the final quarter of 2022, down 6.5 percent, extending the brand’s declines to six consecutive quarters.

      GM also reclaimed the title of top-selling automaker in the U.S. in 2022 by nearly 150,000 units after Toyota Motor grabbed the crown in 2021. GM, the market’s longtime leader until 2021, reported U.S. deliveries of 2.258 million last year, up 2.5 percent, while Toyota Motor sales tallied 2.1 million, down 9.6 percent.
      https://www.autonews.com/sales/gm-q4-us-sales-rise-41-supply-improves

    • TOYOTA: Dec. deliveries advance but end 2022 off 9.6%
      December deliveries rose 3.5 percent at Toyota Motor, with a 6.6 percent rise at the Toyota division offsetting a 16 percent decline at Lexus. Both brands continue to be hampered by some of the industry’s lowest inventory levels, with Lexus sales now dropping 11 straight months. Toyota, the leading brand in the U.S. since April, lost the title in December to Ford by some 10,000 units.
      https://www.autonews.com/sales/toyota-dec-deliveries-advance-end-2022-96
    • FORD: 2022 volume slips despite strong December
      At Ford Motor Co., December volume increased 3.3 percent behind gains of 2.7 percent at the Ford division and 17 percent at Lincoln. The No. 3 automaker in the U.S. finished 2022 with sales of 1.86 million, down 2.2 percent.
      Ford said U.S. sales of the F-Series truck tallied 653,957 in 2022, making it America’s best-selling truck for 46 consecutive years and the best-selling vehicle for 41 years straight.

      The company said it finished 2022 with gross inventory of 398,000 cars and light trucks, or a 60-day supply, with 45 percent of it in transit, up from 372,000 units at the close of November and 247,000 at the end of 2021.
      https://www.autonews.com/sales/fords-2022-us-sales-edge-down-despite-strong-december

    • STELLANTIS: Deliveries slide 13% in 2022 on weaker Jeep, Ram volume
      Stellantis said fourth-quarter volume skidded 16 percent behind a drop of 18 percent at Jeep, 39 percent at Chrysler and 15 percent at Ram. Only Dodge posted a sales gain, 15 percent, in the final quarter.
      Volume also declined 25 percent or more at two of the company’s smaller brands: Fiat and Alfa Romeo. Sales at Jeep and Ram, FCA’s biggest brands, have now dropped six consecutive quarters. Stellantis’ overall U.S. deliveries dropped 13 percent in 2022.
      https://www.autonews.com/sales/stellantis-deliveries-slide-13-2022-weaker-jeep-ram-volume
    • HONDA: Rough 2022 delivers steepest decline among major automakers
      Honda Motor Co., still struggling to secure chips for key models to rebuild depleted stockpiles, said December sales dropped 11 percent, with the Honda division down 11 percent and Acura off 5.5 percent. The company’s 2022 sales skidded 33 percent, one of the steepest declines among major automakers last year. The company said it is starting 2023 with about 40,000 new vehicles in inventory and has advised dealers that stockpiles won’t return to normal levels until fall 2023 at the earliest.
      https://www.autonews.com/sales/honda-logs-steepest-decline-among-major-automakers
    • NISSAN: Sales stumble 25% in 2022, largely on chip shortages Nissan Group’s fourth-quarter U.S. sales dropped 2 percent to 191,012 vehicles, with the Nissan brand off 3.6 percent, its sixth straight quarterly decline, while Infiniti deliveries rose 24 percent. https://www.autonews.com/sales/nissan-sales-stumble-25-2022-largely-chip-shortages
    • HYUNDAI: 2022 closes on high note Volume jumped 40 percent last month to a December record of 72,058 at Hyundai Motor America, driven by a 27 percent rise in retail deliveries. Hyundai said it was its fifth straight month of record retail sales, with utility vehicles accounting for 74 percent of retail volume.While it finished the year with five consecutive monthly sales gains, Hyundai’s 2022 U.S. sales tallied 724,265, a 2 percent decrease compared with 2021. The company said it ended December 2022 with 37,379 cars and light trucks in U.S. inventory, down slightly from 39,898 in November but up from 21,420 at the close of 2021. https://www.autonews.com/topic/december-us-sales#:~:text=HYUNDAI%3A%202022%20closes%20on%20high%20note
    • KIA: December, Q4 records At Kia, sales rose 25 percent to a December record of 60,422, its fifth straight monthly advance. The company posted U.S. sales of 693,549 in 2022, down 1.1 percent from 701,416 in 2021. https://www.autonews.com/sales/kia-caps-2022-december-q4-records
    • SUBARU: 11% gain in December, finishes supply-constrained year down 4.7% Subaru posted its fifth consecutive monthly increase, with December volume up 11 percent but down 4.7 percent for the year.  https://www.autonews.com/sales/subaru-11-gain-december-finishes-year-down-47
    • VW: Lowest U.S. tally since 2010 Volkswagen’s U.S. sales fell 18 percent in the fourth quarter to 68,970 and finished the year down 20 percent, at 301,069, on continuing supply and production issues. Audi deliveries rose 63 percent in the fourth quarter to 54,054 but slipped 4.7 percent to 186,875 for the year. https://www.autonews.com/sales/vw-lowest-us-tally-2010
    • Mazda racked up its third straight monthly gain with a 41 percent increase in December volume, but finished the year down 11 percent.

• Latest Google Gearshift 2022 Automotive Path to Purchase Research
  • Foundation Takeaway: Google has released their latest Gearshift 2022 Automotive Path to Purchase study for auto shopper behaviors. Google has been conducting this study for several years (Foundation’s team of former Googlers helped lead this study while there). Search remains the #1 research tool for auto shoppers. Price and Inventory remain the #1 and #2 influencers of dealer selection and buyers would rather do those steps of the purchase online. 20% of buyers said they change brands due to inventory constrains with 73% of buyers visiting 1-2 dealers on average.