vehicle

Buying a vehicle in Tampa Bay

By Betty C. Morrow 1 month ago

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Auto dealers admit now is not the best time to buy a new car. New models are few and far between thanks to a global supply chain shortage.

A lack of microchips used in the manufacturing of vehicles is hamstringing car companies.

Automobile analytics company, Cox Automotive, projects 13 million new vehicle sales recorded in the U.S. last month. That is nearly three million less than November 2020.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Brian Dreggors, general manager of Imperial Motorcars in Pinellas Park, Florida, said. “It’s very challenging.”

Dreggors sells second-hand vehicles at Imperial Motorcars.

Fewer vehicles in the pipeline result in fewer vehicles on his lot.

“If you look out on the lot, we probably have about 15 cars on hand, right now, we usually have about 25 to 30,” Dreggors said.

Dreggors and other used car dealers rely on auctions from new

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Nissan to invest $17.6 billion to ramp up electric vehicle offering

By Betty C. Morrow 2 months ago

An electric concept car from Nissan is displayed at the company’s showroom in Yokohama, Japan, on November 29, 2021.

KAZUHIRO NOGI | AFP | Getty Images

Japanese automotive giant Nissan is to invest 2 trillion yen (around $17.6 billion) over the next five years to speed up the electrification of its product line.

Nissan said on Monday it would aim to roll out 23 new electrified models by 2030, 15 of which will be fully electric.

It is targeting a 50% electrification mix for its Nissan and Infiniti brands by the end of the decade.

On the battery front, the firm is planning to introduce all-solid-state batteries, or ASSB, to the market by 2028. A pilot ASSB facility in the Japanese city of Yokohama will be readied “as early as fiscal year 2024”, Nissan said.

In a speech outlining the plans, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said his company was focusing

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Rivian, the Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker, seeks to raise $8.4 billion in IPO

By Betty C. Morrow 3 months ago

FoxNews.com automotive editor Gary Gastelu discusses the startup Rivian. 

Amazon-backed electric car maker Rivian is seeking a valuation that would place it among the world’s most valuable automotive companies when it goes public in the coming days, according to an amended S-1 filing on Monday.

Rivian said it expects to offer 135 million shares of its Class A common stock priced between $57 and $62 per share. An additional 20.25 million shares will be made available to the IPO’s underwriters. Rivian could raise as much as $8.4 billion when it debuts if shares trade at the high end of its range, or a total of more than $9.6 billion if underwriters exercise their options.

The California-based company’s filing indicates a targeted valuation of more than $53 billion based on outstanding shares, though that number could change based on investor demand and market conditions. The Wall Street Journal reported Rivian

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Record Revenues, Gross Profit Per New Vehicle, As Demand Outstrips Supply

By Betty C. Morrow 3 months ago

As high demand and low new-car inventories drive record high prices across the U.S. auto industry, dealership group Sonic Automotive reported record third quarter revenues of $3.1 billion, a 20.6% increase vs. a year ago, and net income of $84.5 million for the quarter, up 41.2%,

“Consumer demand is still very, very strong,” said Sonic Automotive CEO David Smith, in a phone interview on Oct. 28, following a conference call to announce third-quarter earnings.

“Our new-vehicle days-supply is at an all-time low. The demand for new vehicles is at an all-time high, and we’re at an all-time record gross profit per vehicle, in our new-vehicle sales,” he said.

Smith said in the earnings call that Sonic’s 84 franchised, new-car dealerships had a record low of only around 2,400 new cars and trucks in inventory, representing a 10-day supply at the current

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