Automotive News - August 12, 2024 - 24

24 * August 12, 2024
Inventory
stays under
3 million
in July
Larry P. Vellequette
lvellequette@crain.com
New-vehicle inventory in the U.S.
held steady in July under 3 million,
though weekly data suggested it briefly
crossed that threshold after more than
four years, according to Cox Automotive.
Inventory
stood at 2.94 million in Cox's
latest estimate, largely flat from about
2.96 million vehicles a month earlier.
Cox estimated days' supply at more than
100 days, but that number was impacted
by the industry's slowed selling rate following
the impact of the CDK Global
Inc. cyberattacks on dealerships.
A year earlier, inventory levels were
about 1 million vehicles lower. Cox estimated
that industry inventory levels
had crossed 3 million vehicles just as
the CDK outage was beginning but retreated
afterward.
The lowest days' supply levels were
largely dominated by Asian automakers,
Cox said. All of Stellantis'
mass-market brands had days' supply
levels in excess of 150 days, Cox said.
Among the seven automakers reporting
monthly sales and inventory, only
Hyundai-Kia saw days' supply increase
in July from the previous month, according
to the Automotive News Research
& Data Center, while Toyota Motor
North America remained the only
automaker among the seven to report
less than a one-month supply.
The seven automakers collectively
had a 34-day supply of cars and a 47day
supply of light trucks, both down
from the previous month, according to
the data center.
Inventory - U.S. car and light-truck, on Aug. 1
Table reflects U.S. inventory for those manufacturers that report monthly
Days' Days'
supply supply
Inventory Aug. 1 July 1
units 2024 2024
Mustang .......................... 8,300
Total Ford car .............. 8,300
Bronco ............................ 27,300
Bronco Sport ................... 31,500
65
65
77
E-series van ..................... 11,700 105
Edge ................................ 13,800
Escape ............................. 28,300
Expedition ....................... 17,000
Explorer ........................... 26,900
F series ............................ 206,000
Maverick .......................... 18,900
Mustang Mach-E ............. 16,400
Ranger ............................ 12,700
Transit ............................. 32,100
Transit Connect (I) ........... 1,000
Ford trk. (D) ............... 442,600
Ford trk. (I) ................ 1,000
Total Ford trk. ............. 443,600
Ford (D) ..................... 450,900
Ford (I) ...................... 1,000
Total Ford ................... 451,900
Aviator ............................. 5,400 366
77
77
97
59 101
97
87 120
68
85
52
75
37
73
82
70
94
56
89 134
59
69
67
69
67
69
69
67
69
85
74
73
88
73
88
87
73
87
90
Corsair/MKC .................... 9,800 100 140
Nautilus/MKX .................. 7,200
58 125
Navigator ......................... 7,500 111 205
Total Lincoln trk. .......... 29,900
Ford Motor Co. car ........ 8,300
Ford Motor Co. trk. (D) ... 472,500
Ford Motor Co. trk. (I) .... 1,000
Ford Motor Co. trk. ........ 473,500
FORD MOTOR CO. ......... 481,800
Integra ............................. 3,200
TLX .................................. 1,300
Total Acura car ............ 4,500
MDX ................................ 6,200
RDX ................................. 8,900
98 132
65
70
67
70
70
39
52
42
40
55
77
90
73
90
89
54
75
58
42
79
ZDX ................................. 4,300 154 383
Total Acura trk. ............ 19,400
Total Acura ................. 23,900
Accord ............................. 30,100
56
53
54
Total Civic ........................ 22,200
Honda car (D) ............. 51,800
Honda car (I) ..............
Total Honda car ........... 52,300
CR-V ................................ 44,200
HR-V ............................... 28,800
Odyssey .......................... 8,800
Passport .......................... 5,100
Pilot ................................. 19,600
69
66
62
Civic (D) ......................... 21,700 27 27
Civic (I) ...........................
500
27
40
31
40
41
57
38
52
43
500 29 30
27
38
29
38
32
60
32
50
40
Prologue .......................... 12,600
Ridgeline ......................... 13,600
Total Honda trk. ........... 132,700
Honda (D)................... 184,500
Honda (I)....................
Total Honda ................ 185,000
Am. Honda car (D) ........ 56,300
Am. Honda car (I) .........
Am. Honda car ............. 56,800
Am. Honda trk. ............ 152,100
AMERICAN HONDA ........ 208,900
Days' Days'
supply supply
Inventory Aug. 1 July 1
units 2024 2024
500
500
Genesis car (I) ............ 14,000 283
Genesis trk. (I) ............ 4,700
Total Genesis (I)†* ........ 18,700
Hyundai car (D/I).......... 38,200
Hyundai trk. (D/I) ......... 91,400
Total Hyundai (D/I)†....... 129,600
Total Hyundai Motors (D/I)† 148,300
Kia car (I) .................. 20,000
Kia trk. (D/I) ............... 86,000
Total Kia America (D/I)* .. 106,000
Hyundai-Kia car (D/I) ..... 72,200
Hyundai-Kia trk. (D/I) ..... 182,100
HYUNDAI-KIA ............... 254,300
Mazda car (D/I) ............ 6,100
Mazda trk. (I)............... 58,700
MAZDA N.A.† ............... 64,800
24
75
47
47
47
49
27
48
42
45
46
46
34
41
41
21
49
31
27
29
32
39
28
30
16
26
23
24
45
91 288
82 119
50
47
31
47
41
31
41
52
49
98
79
83
46
48
47
50
21
43
37
35
47
44
51
47
48
44
42
29
42
39
29
39
45
43
Subaru car (D)............. 8,300 115 134
Subaru car (I).............. 3,600
Subaru car (D/I)............ 11,900
Subaru trk. (D) ............ 33,100
Subaru trk. (I) ............. 20,500
Subaru trk. (D/I) ........... 53,600
SUBARU OF AMERICA† ... 65,500
Lexus car (I) ............... 8,800
Lexus trk. (D/I) ............ 26,000
Total Lexus (D/I) ........... 34,800
Toyota car (D/I) ............ 30,600
Toyota trk. (D/I) ........... 109,500
Total Toyota (D/I) .......... 140,100
TOYOTA MOTOR N.A.† .... 174,900
60 series (I) ..................... 2,200
90 series (I) .....................
22
57
33
27
30
33
49
36
39
22
27
26
27
31
400
Total Volvo car (I) ......... 2,600
C40 (I) .............................
XC40 (I) ........................... 5,300
XC60 (I) ........................... 5,300
XC90 (I) ........................... 7,600
Total Volvo trk. (I) ......... 18,700
VOLVO CAR USA†* ........ 21,300
†Dealer stock and in-transits
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding; (D) = produced in North America; (I) = imported to U.S.
Days' supply: Number of days needed to sell all vehicles in inventory, based on the previous month's daily selling rate
Inventory: Unit count of vehicles on hand at dealerships, factory lots, ports of entry and in transit on a specific date
73 109
48
500 121
48
57
63
57
56
*Estimate
Source: Automotive News Research & Data Center
36
89
71
58
64
64
58
Reynolds acquires
fleet management
software company
Mark Hollmer
mark.hollmer@crain.com
Reynolds and Reynolds Co. has
acquired TSD Mobility Solutions, a
global software company founded
more than 40 years ago focused on
fleet management software and services.
Neither
side disclosed financial
terms.
Reynolds, of Dayton, Ohio, is a
provider of dealer management system
software, services and forms.
TSD, of Boston, offers fleet mobility
software and services for more
than 16,000 dealerships and 3,000
car rental companies in 92 countries.
Hertz and Enterprise are two
of its biggest clients.
Reynolds sees the acquisition as a
synergistic one that taps into evolving
customer needs, said Kasi Edwards,
senior vice president of
strategy and corporate development.
" As
convenience and customer
experience remain a key focus for
dealers and OEMs, the importance
of fleet management is continuing
to grow, " Edwards said in a statement.
" TSD is the leader in this
space and the rental car space, and
we couldn't be more excited about
the future of TSD with Reynolds. "
TSD President Shawn Concannon
will continue in his role after the acquisition.
Reynolds plans to keep
TSD's roughly 115 employees, and
the company will operate independently,
Reynolds said.
Concannon told Automotive
News that TSD is hoping to tap into
" a lot of ongoing growth and synergies "
with the acquisition.
" These guys have got an immense
amount of business opportunities
and businesses they currently have
under their family tree that align
very nicely with TSD and both areas
that we operate in, " Concannon
said.
Concannon said he sees TSD being
" able to really grow quite extensively
in the arena of telematics and
more multiuse scenarios for dealers
as transportation outlets in the future. "
Beyond
TSD, Reynolds and Reynolds-owned
Auto Data Direct acquired
two companies in May -
USA ELT, an electronic lien and titling
service, and Florida ETR, a
print-on-demand temporary tag
provider for automotive and specialty
dealers. In March, Auto Data
Direct acquired Opus VTR, a vehicle
titling and registration service provider.
In
2023, Reynolds acquired companies
including American Guardian
Warranty Services of Chicago,
which provides vehicle service contracts,
limited warranties and additional
finance and insurance products.
Reynolds
also bought DealerCorp
Solutions, a Canadian software
company and partner that provides
digital retailing tools to dealerships,
and AutoVision, a California-based
DMS technology startup that uses
artificial intelligence-driven vehicle
acquisition technology to help retailers
sell more used cars.
DARCARS Honda, its owners face charges
Maryland alleges broad
use of deceptive sales
practices at 'every stage'
Georgia Hall
georgia.hall@crain.com
A DARCARS Honda dealership in Bowie,
Md., allegedly engaged in " unfair or deceptive
trade practices at nearly every stage " of
new-vehicle sales, according to civil
charges filed in July by Maryland Attorney
General Anthony Brown.
The state Attorney General's office alleges
that the dealership along with parent
company Mariam Inc., doing business as
DARCARS Automotive Group, and owners
John Rahmangholi Darvish and Jamshyd
Darvish violated Maryland's Consumer
Protection Act.
The Attorney General's
statement
ket Value " charge, which the statement of
charges alleges is just a dealer markup.
" It is important that if a car dealer is going
to advertise the price of the vehicle, that the
price include everything that the consumer
is going to be charged, " Philip Ziperman,
deputy chief for the Maryland Attorney
General's Consumer Protection Division,
told Automotive News.
A Honda of Bowie spokesperson said in a
statement that the " case is not supported by
The DARCARS spokesperson
said they are " prepared to
defend our company and our
lawful practices in court. "
of
charges says DARCARS Honda tricked customers
by adding a fee equal to 2 percent of
the vehicle's sales price, misleadingly labeling
it as an optional " sales commission. "
However, this fee wasn't a commission, and
customers didn't realize they could refuse
to pay it, according to the filing.
Misleading prices
Since at least January 2019, DARCARS
Honda advertised new-vehicle prices on its
website that were misleading and customers
ended up paying over the advertised
price, including significant charges for preinstalled
equipment and an " Adjusted Marthe
record or the facts. "
" Over the last two years, Honda of Bowie
has cooperated fully with the Maryland Attorney
General to respond to its request for
information and address its concerns, " according
to the DARCARS statement.
The DARCARS spokesperson said they
are " prepared to defend our company and
our lawful practices in court against these
baseless claims. "
Lack of explanation
The dealership also is accused of illegally
financing the sale of add-ons such as
" DARCARS Assurance " and the " DARCARS
Protection Plan. "
The store allegedly included unwanted
equipment and products in the sale and
failed to clearly list and itemize everything
customers were paying for, along with the
costs.
Consumers should " make the dealer explain
everything that's on that piece of paper, "
Ziperman said, and dealers " need to
be as transparent with their consumers as
they can be. "
The Attorney General's Consumer Protection
Division is seeking an injunction
to stop the alleged violations and is also
demanding restitution, economic damages,
penalties and costs for the claimed
breaches of Maryland's Consumer Protection
Act.
What's next
A hearing is scheduled to begin Oct. 29 at
the Office of Administrative Hearings in
Maryland.
If the agency finds DARCARS Honda of
Bowie violated the Consumer Protection
Act, it would require the dealership to
" cease and desist from engaging in unfair
or deceptive trade practices " and take corrective
action, including providing refunds
to consumers, according to the statement
of charges. The dealership also could face a
penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation
of the act.
DARCARS Automotive Group, of Bethesda,
Md., ranks No. 31 on Automotive News'
list of the top 150 dealership groups based
in the U.S., retailing 24,862 new vehicles in
2023.
COURTESY OF DARCARS
DARCARS Honda of Bowie in Maryland has been accused of
violating the state's Consumer Protection Act. A hearing is set.

Automotive News - August 12, 2024

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