Delighted Thursday! It’s April 11, 2024 and here it is Morning shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.
First gear: European Tesla investors are fed up with Elon Musk’s anti-union stance
In Sweden, Tesla mechanics protested against the company. This is not unusual in Sweden, where unions are common, but it does not seem to have attracted the attention of CEO Elon Musk. It seems Musk thinks the whole “strike” is over, but investors are less certain. From Reuters:
Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, KLP investors may ask the automaker’s annual general meeting to address CEO Elon Musk’s reluctance to engage in collective bargaining, Na pension fund Uy said on Thursday.
The strike by Tesla mechanics in Sweden, one of the country’s longest-running labor disputes, has for months disrupted the automaker’s operations and drawn concern from some. Nordic institutional investors.
On Monday, Musk said “the storm has passed through that front.” But the strike continues and the union leading the strike told Reuters this week that it may intensify the strike.
KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, was a signatory to a December letter sent by Nordic investors expressing their concerns about the strike in Sweden and Tesla’s reluctance to concede bargaining rights collective.
I wish I had enough money to pretend the real barriers many of my companies were facing didn’t exist. At a certain net worth level, reality no longer applies to you in your daily life, so it’s easy to get caught up in thinking that it won’t apply to your business either. This is basically “Success” imminent, except a publishing empire plays Grimes.
2nd gear: The cars are back in stock
Since COVID-19 destroyed the supply chain, cars have been difficult to access. Dealers like this, as it means price increases for whatever they can have in stock, but those days appear to be coming to an end – inventory is back to 2020 levels. From Automotive news:
According to Cox Automotive, new car inventory in the US continued to increase in March and reached its highest level since December 2020.
Cox said inventory was at 2,837,400 in its latest estimate, a 74-day supply, up slightly from last month. Cox said a year ago it was 1.9 million vehicles, up 35% from the previous year.
Cox said inventory varies greatly based on sticker price. Cars priced between $30,000 and $40,000 were in the tightest supply, at 59 days, while cars priced under $20,000 were in supply at 66 days. Cox said cars priced between $20,000 and $30,000 have a 67-day supply. The largest supply among vehicles priced between $60,000 and $80,000 after 98 days, down slightly from last month.
Every body mission completed: We solved the biggest problem of 2020. What do you mean Everybody is doing Still infected with the virus? Now that there is a vaccine, they shouldn’t have it anymore. That’s how they work – you make a vaccine and then no one has to think about the extremely contagious brain disease anymore. Let’s go back to the office, everyone.
3rd gear: Will your insurance premiums increase? You’re not alone
Having a new car is great: It smells good, the materials are pristine, the center screen hasn’t gotten any grease stains from driving past it. But then you have to buy insurance – and that’s gotten a little worse in recent months. From Reuters:
In one of the cruel twists of an inflation-stricken US economy, auto prices are falling after record increases during the COVID-19 pandemic. But at least some of that benefit goes to consumers who are being gobbled up by rising auto insurance rates that for some models now account for more than a quarter of the total cost of owning a vehicle.
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“We’re hearing from some shoppers that they’re holding out on buying a car — or returning one — because they have enough money to buy that car, not the money to insure it.” , an auto valuation and research company in Irvine, California.
Tucker said Kelley Blue Book recently added insurance guidance to its list of buying tips, urging shoppers to get an insurance quote before dropping any money.
Auto insurance prices vary widely across the country and are affected by everything from what local collision repair shops charge to the potential for damage from tropical storms and wildfires. According to insurance shopping site Insurify, the average cost in the US for complete auto insurance increased 24% last year and is now just over $182 a month. The company said 63% of drivers it surveyed see fares increasing in 2023 and predicts fares will rise another 7% in 2024. But that number could grow.
I, once again, cannot recommend motorcycling enough. I have comprehensive insurance on my GS – a BMW, no less – and I pay under $40 a month as a driver with a less-than-perfect record. Two good wheels.
4th gear: CarMax is selling more cars for less money
CarMax is an interesting business model — buying and selling cars, regardless of specific brand — and it has grown into a nationally recognized name. However, things haven’t looked too good for the company over the past few months, according to fourth-quarter results analyzed by Automotive news:
Used car retailer CarMax Inc. on Thursday reported net income of $50 million in the fourth quarter, down 27% from the same period a year ago. Revenue for the quarter ending February 29, 2024 decreased 1.7% to $5.6 billion.
CarMax, in Richmond, Virginia, also said it sold more used vehicles to retail customers in the fiscal fourth quarter than in the same period a year earlier. The company said it retailed 172,057 used vehicles in the fourth quarter, up 1.3% from the same period last year. Same-store used vehicle sales increased 0.1%.
CarMax said gross profit per retail used car was $2,251, down $26 from the fourth quarter of last year.
CarMax sales overall were down in 2023, but a high-volume, low-margin fourth quarter was abysmal. A business is only considered booming when you actually make money from it.
Reversed: Unlucky number
Neutral: Can you see the Solar Eclipse?
I drove nearly 1,000 miles back to my old college town on the path of total eclipse, only to have cloudy skies on eclipse day. The darkening sky is still amazing, but I guess I need to start Plan your trip to Australia.
On the Radio: Total Yuppies – “Ordinary Life”
Talking about my old college town. See if you can spot college-aged Amber in some of these photos.
