by David Lazarus
Jonathan and Nicole Helali have been putting off buying a new car because of high prices. But with a baby arriving in a few weeks, they’re making the rounds of local car dealers – and are hopeful they’ll get a good deal.
“I feel like the ball is more in our court now, compared to like a few months ago, when it was more in their court,” Jonathan says.
He’s right. Up to a point.
During the pandemic, chip shortages and inventory issues caused prices of new and used vehicles to skyrocket. That’s finally changing.
“Throughout most of last year, almost everybody was paying above MSRP,” says Ivan Drury, director of insights for Edmund’s. “The last two months of 2022, we saw consumers finally start to break and get that below MSRP deal that they’re accustomed to.”
But we’re not out of the woods. Used-vehicle prices rose 2.5% in January from the previous month – the largest monthly increase since 2021. And borrowing costs are at the highest level in years thanks to a series of interest rate hikes.

“If you’re a consumer and you’re thinking, oh, I’m going to do some wheeling and dealing, I’m going to get them way below sticker, that’s probably not going to be the case,” says Matt Degan, senior editor of Kelley Blue Book.
The rule of thumb is to always do your homework before buying a vehicle. That’s even more important at a time when the market remains in flux. Start with financing.
“Remember, you’re not just looking for the best deal on a car,” Degan says. “You’re looking for the best deal on the loan. So you know, go to your bank, go to your credit union, see what they can do, get preapproved.”
The average price for a new car is $50,000. That’s a big chunk of change – up 30% since 2019. Certified pre-owned cars can be a smart compromise between new and used.
Many Californians like the hassle-free convenience of leasing. But the shortage of new cars in recent years has cut into availability.
“You’re starting to see some lease deals reappear, especially in the L.A. region, especially when it comes to luxury vehicles,” says Drury. “But they’re not as prevalent as they used to be.”
Electric or gas is a question all local buyers are asking. By 2035, new vehicles sold in California will have to be electric. So we’re in a transitional phase that’s starting to see EV prices gradually coming down and new models appearing.
But don’t rush. Every expert I spoke with said the car market will remain tight for at least another year. So if you don’t need new wheels right now, like the Helalis, maybe you just want to wait.
The big e-Ute has everything the EQS sedan offers, plus more room and a surprising amount of off-roadability.
By Mark Vaughn

Mercedes-Benz continues its march toward carbon neutrality with this latest addition to the all-electric EQ family: the EQS SUV. It is big, it is loaded, and it is powered by nothing but electrons. The EQS is the latest step forward in what Mercedes promises will be “the next era of mobility.”
“We call it Ambition 2039—our strategy to create a carbon-neutral fleet of passenger vehicles across the globe within the next 20 years,” Mercedes says.
And there is no turning back.
“What I think we should be certain about is that we need to decarbonize,” says Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius in a satellite interview from Stuttgart recently. “So, if you’re looking at all the scientific research, I speak from time to time to a fellow Swede named Johan Rochstrom who leads the Potsdam Institute (for Climate Impact Research in Germany. He’s also a professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam).
“That is one of the leading climate research institutes in the world. He’s one of the leading scientists. If you speak to a guy like that you take all the political noise out of the debate and you look at what’s happening. It’s very easy to come to the conclusion we need to do something.”
And that something is electric cars and SUVs. Mercedes has a first-class seat on the electric gravy train and it’s powering full-speed ahead.
“We have made a very clear decision as far as Mercedes-Benz is concerned,” Källenius says. “Once you have the sense of urgency, somebody has got to solve the problem. And where does the problem end? On the desk of our engineers.”
So far, those engineers have delivered the Mercedes EQS sedan and the smallerEQB SUV, both on the market now. The EQE sedan and SUV are coming. But herewith they deliver the newest entry, the EQS SUV.

“The SUV offers plenty of space, comfort and connectivity for up to seven passengers in its avant-garde, luxurious interior,” Mercedes touts. “Thanks to powerful electric motors, responsive 4Matic all-wheel drive and an intelligent OFFROAD driving mode, the EQS SUV is capable of tackling light terrain with ease.”
It is big—a feeling you can’t avoid once you crawl inside, but if you look at the specs it sits on the same 126.4-inch wheelbase as the EQS sedan. The front and rear overhangs are more abbreviated, so it’s actually a little shorter than the sedan overall (201.8 inches versus an even 207). Of course, it has more ground clearance, as much as 8¾ inches when you crank the adjustable air suspension to off-road and gain an extra inch.
And it can go off-road. You may be surprised how much you can accomplish in the dirt in one of these luxo-liners. Mercedes set up a steep off-highway loop in the mountains outside Denver for us, and it was really something to see the big brute crawl up some fairly steep dirt on its M&S tires and then use its optional 10 degrees of rear steer to wrangle through tight turns. The turning radius is 39 feet with the stock four degrees of rear steer and 36.4 feet with optional ten degrees.

Most of the time EQS SUV owners will be confined to city dwelling, where the optional seven-seat configuration will coddle the carpool way more than the carpool deserves. I actually sat in the third-row seat and put the second-row seatback into position and I survived, albeit somewhat claustrophobically. Middle and front-row occupants will have no complaints at all.
Inside, the EQS SUV is very much like the EQS sedan, albeit with a higher roof. In front of you sprawls the optional and possibly overindulgent MBUX Hyperscreen, wherein MBUX stands for Mercedes-Benz User Experience. It is the be-all end-all of automotive dashboards, at least until they get holograms inside cars. It runs virtually the width of the dash, transmitting pretty much any information you could ever imagine you’d want, and taking requests for infotainment you might not have known you needed. If you weren’t interested in overindulgence, you probably wouldn’t be shopping EQS SUVs. There is up to 74 cubic-feet of cargo space inside, too. Underneath all this luxury is the same all-new chassis on which rides the EQS sedan. It’s not a converted ICE chassis, but one made just for electric motors and big batteries. In this case the battery is 108.4 kWh, enough to keep the 6228-pound brute of a ute going for up to 300 miles.

The EQS SUV launches in two models: the 450+ offers a rear-mounted electric motor driving the rear wheels with 355 hp and 419 lb-ft of torque, while the EQS 580 4Matic gets one motor in front and one in the rear, with 536 hp driving all four wheels. The EQS 580 also makes a hill-climbing 633 lb-ft of torque. More versions are expected, including a Maybach somewhere down the line that may look like the car shown in Munich last year at what used to be known as the Frankfurt auto show.
The SUVs offer ranges of 285 miles for the EQS 580 4Matic and 305 miles for the rear-wheel-drive-only 485+ (though some engineers at the launch were quoting 300 miles for the RWD model). Towing capacity is just under 4000 pounds, though how much that affects range was not included in the discussion.
I drove both models on many different roads, including twisty mountain two-lanes. There, the 6000-pounder wrestled the corners mightily, cranking down the body almost before it could start rolling. The large SUV had to manage its mass somehow and comes away feeling artificial to anyone raised on cars with passive springs and shocks, which is to say, all of us.
Of course, no one buys a three-row SUV for handling. In city and suburban traffic, where these SUVs will spend their entire lives, the EQS left me wanting for nothing. All the infotainment, the “Hey Mercedes” voice activation, and even the adjustable disco bordello interior light trim package were all luxurious.

What would you compare this to? A summer’s day? How about a GMC Yujon or a Ford Expedition—bigger than an EQS but only half the cost? They pollute, too. The Mercedes ranges from $105,550 for a RWD EQS 450+ Premium to $133,350 for the top-of-the-line EQS 580 4Matic Pinnacle and spits out only electrons in its wake. The Lexus LX 600 is still fairly new, costs 20 grand less to start, and is loaded with luxury, but it has tailpipe emissions and an ugly spindle grille.
The Range Rover is about ten grand less and loaded with prestige among the swanky real estate agents who crave them, but dependability rests at the bottom of the JD Power charts. The Tesla Model X has been around forever and has a similar number of surprise and delight features, but is matched with outrage and PO features, too, at least according to anecdotal information, which is as close to statistically significant data as we can get on that SUV.
So where does the Mercedes EQS SUV fit in this crazy, changing world? Mercedes’ history of new and innovative engineering backs up the brand as it boldly goes into a zero-carbon future. Unlike at Tesla, at Mercedes there are 400 guys named Gunther all making sure the door latches work, and even more than that, making sure the drivetrain lasts forever. Or close to it.
Welcome the all-electric future. And if you have more than 100 large to spend on a car, welcome the new EQS SUV into your driveway charging port.
By Dustin Hawley
Volvo’s all-electric flagship SUV, the new EX90, will be revealed on November 9th, and the standard safety in the newest model will exceed that of any Volvo that preceded it.
The new Volvo EX90 is a car designed to understand drivers and their surroundings in an effort to keep them, their passengers, and others in traffic safe. Volvo’s new technology is focused on understanding human behavior based on both outside sources and the company’s own safety research. The system can also get more intelligent and safer over time, learning from new data and receiving updates.
Additionally, the EX90 comes with an invisible shield of safety that includes Volvo’s latest sensing technology, which allows the vehicle to understand a driver’s state of mind and the world around them.
State-of-the art sensors, including cameras, radars, and LiDAR work in tandem to create a 360-degree real-time view. LiDAR technology senses the road in front of you, regardless of the time of day and also at highway speeds. It has the ability to see small objects hundreds of feet ahead, creating more time for the system to inform the vehicle to act and avoid.

Volvo’s research indicates that its software and sensors could help reduce accidents that result in serious injury or death by up to 20 percent. The automaker also estimates that it can even improve overall crash avoidance by up to 9 percent, which could lead to a reduction of millions of accidents over time.
Inside the new EX90, Volvo’s invisible shield of safety also looks out for drivers by utilizing special sensors and cameras powered by in-house developed algorithms that gauge eye gaze concentration. This technology enables the EX90 to see when a driver is distracted, fatigued, or otherwise inattentive by alerting them with a soft nudge, with a more insistent alert action if needed. In the event that a driver fell asleep or had a medical event while driving, the EX90 is designed to stop itself safely and call for help.
Volvo plans to release further details about its all-electric flagship in the coming weeks before the global reveal on November 9th.
Apparently a victim of Hurricane Ian, this rare McLaren P1 succumbed to storm surge.
By Andrew Beckford
Imagine being fortunate enough to have a Mclaren P1 hypercar and 2022 Rolls-Royce Phantom sitting in your garage free to drive when ever you want. Now imagine that just a short while after purchasing those cars, you watched both cars float away unceremoniously as your garage floods with water. Yes, let’s get the world’s-smallest-violin jokes out of the way, because one owner witnessed and chronicled in real time that every gut-cramping scenario as, apparently, Hurricane Ian bore down on Florida this week.

Images of a flooded bright yellow McLaren P1 and white Rolls-Royce Phantom this appeared on Instagram during Hurricane Ian, but we’re awaiting confirmation from the poster that this in fact happened this week, as there have been many social media postings of damage and loss that turned out to be from past storms. From the poster’s Instagram account, we can surmise they live in or frequent Naples, Florida, which was hit hard by Hurricane Ian this week.
Their property—where the Rolls and McLaren are seen parked in numerous images—appears to be beachfront, with a door opposite the primary garage entrance opening up to a view of water (pre-flooding). Images of the new-to-this-Instagrammer’s P1 began appearing on their page September 16 of this year, about two weeks before Ian strengthened into a near-category-5 hurricane. So, while it certainly looks like this is the workd of Ian, whether or not it is, having two vehicles with a combined value well over $4 million float away from you, sucks.
Instagram posts seem to capture the exact moments when the garage began to flood and the vehicles started to float away. The poster continued to chronicle the saga of the runaway supercars with follow-up posts showing the McLaren P1 almost half submerged in water, then another of the P1 coming to rest surrounded by fallen tree branches. Finally, after the branches were cleared away the P1 is seen resting on top of a toilet.

The Rolls-Royce came to a rest simultaneously resting atop a fallen tree and what appears to be the hood of a brand new Honda Accord. The fact that two very large vehicles that both weigh thousands of pounds (well, the Rolls is quite a lot heavier than the McLaren) could so easily be lifted up and taken away is a testament to how powerful nature can be.
As previously stated, we haven’t spoken with the owner yet so we have no idea if the vehicles are covered by insurance from flood damage. It will be interesting to see if these cars end up on Copart’s auction block within the next six months. It’s too bad that neither the McLaren P1 nor the Rolls-Royce Phantom were designed to purposely sail on water like the Tesla Cybertruck can.
Reuters
BERLIN — Germany’s government will not agree to European Union plans to effectively ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.
In its bid to cut planet-warming emissions by 55 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels, the European Commission has proposed a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035. That means it would be impossible to sell combustion engine cars starting then.
European Parliament lawmakers backed the proposals this month before negotiations with EU countries on the final law take place.
Speaking at an event hosted by Germany’s BDI industry association on Tuesday, Lindner said there would continue to be niches for combustion engines so a ban was wrong and said the government would not agree to this European legislation.
Lindner, a member of the pro-business Free Democrats, which shares power with the Social Democrats and Greens, said Germany would still be a leading market for electric vehicles.
By Timothy Boyer
Tires can make a huge difference in your driving and riding experience and safety. And while looking for tires, don’t fall for advertisement gimmicks and tire models a tire center may be pushing because of poor sellers that they need to unload. Instead, be sure that you base your buying decision less on the price, and more about what impact the tire choices have toward braking, handling, ride, noise, and fuel economy.
What Car Tire Buyers Want
With that in mind, a recent tire survey consisting of 15,945 CR member responses tallied by the good people at Consumer Reports found that car owners are clear on their top preferences when buying a new set of tires:
• All-weather grip (54 percent)
• Brand (43 percent)
• Handling (40 percent)
• Treadwear warranty (40 percent)
With consumer needs in mind, CR analysts performed extensive tire testing that revealed that there are significant differences between brands and models—particularly in grip and tread life.
“The best tires shine for impressive braking and handling, hydroplaning resistance, and for all-season and winter tires, snow traction and stopping on ice are important,” says Ryan Pszczolkowski, Consumer Reports’ tire project leader. “By choosing a top-rated tire, drivers can often enhance the performance and safety of their car.”
To help steer car buyers in the right direction, CR analysts developed a brand rating based on individual tire tests and have recently presented the Brand Scores for 16 of the 32 brands tested with each tested using four or more car models.
TIRE BRAND REPORT CARD
Here are the ranked tire scores calculated for the top four brands
NO. 1: MICHELIN. SCORE: 69
While Michelin tires are often among the most expensive models, CR analysts report that they tend to be a good value when factoring in performance and tread life.
Recommended Michelin Tires
• All-season: Defender T+H
• All-season performance: CrossClimate2
• All-season SUV: CrossClimate SUV
• UHP summer: Pilot Sport 4s
• UHP all-season: Pilot Sport A/S 3+
• Truck all-terrain: LTX A/T 2
• Winter/snow: X-Ice Snow
• Performance winter/snow: Pilot Alpin PA4
• Truck winter/snow: Latitude X-Ice XI2
NO. 2: VREDESTEIN. SCORE: 68
Among the oldest tire manufacturers, this European tire maker has been building tires for more than a century and is turning its focus toward North American tire buyers.
Recommended Vredestein Tires
• UHP all-season: Quatrac Pro
• SUV all-season: HiTrac
• Truck all-terrain: Pinza AT
• Performance winter/snow: Wintrac Pro
NO. 3: CONTINENTAL. SCORE: 67
While a notable brand, Continental tires often rank among the best tires, but not always—five of the eight tested Continentals earned a CR recommendation, so tire buyers will want to pay close attention to each models’ particulars and performance findings.
Recommended Continental Tires
• Performance all-season: PureContact LS
• UHP summer: ExtremeContact Sport
• Truck all-season: TerrainContact H/T
• Truck all-terrain: TerrainContact A/T
• Winter/snow: VikingContact 7
NO. 4: GOODYEAR. SCORE: 67
One of the largest tire manufacturers in the world, Goodyear puts out some solid tires; however, each model needs to be assessed for its performance ratings to ensure you find the correct one to meet your needs.
Recommended Goodyear Tires
• SUV all-season: Assurance ComfortDrive
• UHP all-season: Eagle Exhilarate
• Winter/snow: WinterCommand Ultra
To find out more details about how the remaining twelve brands did under Consumer Reports tire brand scoring system, be sure to become a member of CR where I have found that a little investment in a membership today can definitely pay off in your purchases tomorrow toward automotive-related products and advice.
By Michael Sasso and Raeedah Wahid
As the cost of a used car has soared, mechanics are finding themselves inundated with ailing high-mileage vehicles, overhauling engines on autos once bound for the junkyard and having delicate conversations with desperate customers.
The dramatic climb in new- and used-car prices has changed the calculus of when to repair and when to replace. It’s put mechanics in an uneasy position as financial advisers, often offering the final word on whether a clunker is worth fixing. Americans who before the pandemic would buy another car rather than pay a few thousand dollars for a repair are now having to shell out $5,000 or more.

In Athens-Clarke County, where the University of Georgia’s affluent student body belies the 25% poverty rate, garage owner Kevin Thain says his crew is working customers through end-of-service-life decisions on a weekly basis. It isn’t unusual lately to see fixes running over $10,000. “We’ll look at the vehicle, and if it’s got smoke coming from under the hood, or making a whappity-whappity-whap sound, they’ll ask me, ‘Is this car worth fixing or not?’ ” he says. “You hate to be like the doctor calling the family into the consultation room, but sometimes we are that.”The high cost of vehicles and gasoline is rippling through the U.S. workforce, eating away at the gains from a tight labor market. Used-car inflation amounted to 37% in the year ended December 2021, while new car prices jumped 12%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The average list price of a used vehicle in December exceeded $28,000 for the first time, according to Cox Automotive, whose Kelley Blue Book is a go-to guide for people buying or selling used vehicles. While some data suggest the peak is past, Cox chief economist Jonathan Smoke says prices wont be dropping sharply. Wholesale used-vehicle values should fall only 3% by yearend, he wrote last month.
The surge is changing kitchen-table economics, particularly for low-income households. A nonprofit that assists Athens’s poor, the Ark, reports that clients are increasingly favoring jobs with a shorter commute or within walking distance. A thousand miles west in Lincoln, Neb., factories a half-hour outside of town can’t find enough workers willing to make the drive, so a local franchise of staffing agency Express Employment Professionals is looking into starting a pickup and drop-off service. But millions of American households still are desperate to keep vehicles running for commuting to work, fetching groceries, or taking kids to school. In a country with vast rural expanses and spotty public transportation, a reliable car is essential. Vehicles for change, a Maryland-based charity that equips the poor with cars, estimates that having access to a vehicle bumps up its clients’ pay as much as $8,000 a year.
Dixon Collins, 58, operates a small garage in Athens set among buy-here-pay-here car lots and a waste-hauler’s yard. Goats bleat in a pen behind his metal shop. He points to a black Chevy Tahoe in his lot that had $5,000 of work done on it, despite having clocked 300,000 miles. His customers are using credit cards and loans from families to pay for repair bills, he says. “What people would not even think about spending on a car before, they’re spending on it now.”
Nationwide, the average cost of a repair performed at a franchised car dealership is up 10% for the year ended December and up 20% from two years ago, according to dealer software provider Xtime Inc., a unit of Cox Automotive. (The big jump also reflects rising costs for labor and parts.)
People used to balk at a repair if the price hit $1,500 and instead would buy a replacement vehicle, says Ross Colket of Colket Automotive Technical Services in suburban Philadelphia. Customers’ tipping point now is closer to $2,500, he says.

Colket approaches customers cautiously when breaking the news that a repair will run into the thousands: He describes each needed fix methodically. “You ease into it,” he says. “You give them the description of what’s going on with the car, and I save the price of it for the tail end of it.” He’s been putting people on repair schedules, too, so they can spread the work over time.In suburban Seattle, garage owner Bryan Kelley’s relatively affluent customers used to consider buying a new car when a repair’s cost hit $3,500. “I don’t know where that number is right now,” says Kelley, owner of Valley Automotive Repair & Electric. “I’m seeing $4,000 and $5,000 repairs more often than I ever remember.”
Higher prices for goods and services of all kinds are weighing on the unemployed and poor. Nationwide the average cost of a gallon of gas is up 40% from a year ago, to $3.41, according to the American Automobile Association. Some 72 million adults reported that paying their usual household expenses was “somewhat” or “very” difficult in the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent Household Pulse Survey, ended on Jan. 10. That’s about 12 million people more than in a similar survey through mid-August.
In Georgia, Chayney Shear fires up her 2010 Ford Fusion four nights a week to make the 60-mile round trip from Atlanta’s Suwanee suburb to a retail distribution center in Jefferson. It has no power steering and more than 200,000 miles on it, and the 22-year-old single mother of four worries what would happen if it broke down. “The prices for used cars, they’re horrible,” she says. “They’re charging what they truly aren’t worth.”
Amber Coleman of Lawrenceville, Ga., is reluctantly shopping for a used car, sifting through unattractive possibilities like a five-year-old Honda Pilot with a bit under 100,000 miles on it. A local dealership wanted almost $30,000 for that one, which was out of the question. She reached her tipping point when the Kia service center inspecting her 2016 Sorento called to tell her the vehicle needed a new engine. “I immediately went into panic mode,” Coleman, 44, recalls. “I said, ‘I don’t have $9,000 to give anybody.’ ”
By Paige Ellis
Joe Tarin of Corsa Auto Repair and Sales surveys his downtown Toronto lot with a stoic smile.
To pedestrians shuffling by, the used car dealership likely appears plenty full, with coupes and sedans parked bumper to bumper. But in fact, Tarin says his inventory is down as much as 35 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“After the pandemic, it’s extremely hard [to find used vehicles] and the prices have gone up extremely,” he noted. “So when we’re retailing it, the price is obviously going to be a bit higher.”
With inflation in Canada rising at the fastest pace in 18 years in October, virtually everything consumers buy has become more expensive. But amid a crippling microchip shortage and corresponding reduction in new car production, price hikes in the used vehicle market have been very severe.
According to AutoTrader.ca, the country’s largest online marketplace for pre-owned cars, the average list price of a used vehicle surged 27 per cent year-over-year in November to $31,875. Previously, the mean price of a used car had never surpassed $30,000. Inventory, meantime, dropped 17 per cent.
“One of the things that’s always been true about cars is that you buy a car and it’s worth less as soon as it leaves the lot,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association. “This past year, the average value of used cars has gone up. It’s never happened before. It defies all economic modelling.”
Volpe said new car production was the “first domino” to fall during the pandemic. Without the semiconductors necessary to complete their vehicles, automakers were forced to slash output and park their unfinished inventory in sprawling lots. The issue then spread to auto parts suppliers, rental service companies and used car dealers, which rely on a steady flow of new cars and trucks.
“Dealership groups usually have about 60, 70 days of inventory on hand,” Volpe noted. “They’re down to a week or two weeks in some cases. It’s really unprecedented.”

To pedestrians shuffling by, the used car dealership likely appears plenty full, with coupes and sedans parked bumper to bumper. But in fact, Tarin says his inventory is down as much as 35 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“After the pandemic, it’s extremely hard [to find used vehicles] and the prices have gone up extremely,” he noted. “So when we’re retailing it, the price is obviously going to be a bit higher.”
With inflation in Canada rising at the fastest pace in 18 years in October, virtually everything consumers buy has become more expensive. But amid a crippling microchip shortage and corresponding reduction in new car production, price hikes in the used vehicle market have been very severe.
According to AutoTrader.ca, the country’s largest online marketplace for pre-owned cars, the average list price of a used vehicle surged 27 per cent year-over-year in November to $31,875. Previously, the mean price of a used car had never surpassed $30,000. Inventory, meantime, dropped 17 per cent.
“One of the things that’s always been true about cars is that you buy a car and it’s worth less as soon as it leaves the lot,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association. “This past year, the average value of used cars has gone up. It’s never happened before. It defies all economic modelling.”
Volpe said new car production was the “first domino” to fall during the pandemic. Without the semiconductors necessary to complete their vehicles, automakers were forced to slash output and park their unfinished inventory in sprawling lots. The issue then spread to auto parts suppliers, rental service companies and used car dealers, which rely on a steady flow of new cars and trucks
“Dealership groups usually have about 60, 70 days of inventory on hand,” Volpe noted. “They’re down to a week or two weeks in some cases. It’s really unprecedented.
Experts also note the impact of the supply chain crunch on used car dealers has been uneven. Whereas more traditional retailers saw their inventory dwindle as the microchip shortage took hold, online used-vehicle sellers have managed to buck the trend.
Clutch Canada Inc., for example, saw its inventory balloon over the course of the pandemic.
The online buyer and seller of used cars had just 89 vehicles in its inventory at the end of the first quarter of 2020. Today, they boast 1,250 used cars and trucks.
“We’re a technology company at heart,” said Dan Park, chief executive officer of Clutch. “So our secret sauce is the software engineers, the data scientists and the analysts that we have that buy inventory every day.”
Park said that unlike traditional used car dealers, which rely heavily on trade-ins to replenish their stock, his team taps auctions, wholesales and private sales.
Still, Park noted it has become harder to source used vehicles, particularly given rental services’ depleted fleets. And as a result, prices for Clutch and its buyers have climbed.
On average, he said prices for vehicles selling on the online platform are up 16 per cent compared to the start of the pandemic.
According to Ian MacDonald, the chief marketing officer at AutoTrader.ca, carmakers may be learning the value of production discipline, and re-evaluate their inventory models.
“Maybe [automakers] will have less of an appetite to build up that inventory,” he said. “Because when demand is constant or even high… and the supply is constrained, many [carmakers] have realized that they don’t need to be quite as generous with incentives and things like that. There’s a higher margin for them.”
- Pioneering concepts for in-car entertainment
- New entertainment format and mobile movie theater offer an experience for all the senses
- Audi e-tron: Mobility is sustainable, personal, and intelligent even today
Continue Reading
Vehicles Affected: Approximately 6,100 model-year 2015-16 Mercedes-Benz C300 sedans; model-year 2017-19 C300 cabriolets and coupes; model-year 2017-19 Mercedes-AMG C63 cabriolets; model-year 2015 Mercedes-AMG C63 S sedans; model-year 2018-19 Mercedes-Benz C300 and C350esedans; model-year 2018-19 Mercedes-AMG C63 sedans, C63 S coupes and C63 S cabriolets; model-year 2018 Mercedes-AMG C63 cabriolets and coupes, C63 S sedans and C63 S coupes, and Mercedes-Benz E300, E400 cabriolets and coupes; and model-year 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS450 sedans and E450 cabriolets and coupes, all equipped with rear-wheel drive.
Continue Reading