Page 36 - On The Move - Volume 17, Issue 4

New Light-Vehicle Sales Continue to Recover GM to Build Electric Pickup
for Nikola Under Partnership
New light-vehicle sales continued to recover in August from April lows. August’s SAAR of 15.2
million units marked a 4.8% increase from July’s SAAR of 14.5 million units but is down 11% com-
pared with August 2019. And through eight months of 2020, new light-vehicle sales were off by General Motors is taking an 11 percent stake in start-
20.7% compared with the same period in 2019. Raw sales volume in August 2020 totaled 1.33 mil- up electric truck-maker Nikola Corp. under a partnership
that calls for GM to engineer and assemble Nikola's first
lion units, representing a decline of 19.1% from August 2019. However, there were two fewer selling
days last month than in August 2019, which also included the Labor Day sales weekend. While the vehicle, the companies said on September 8th. Under the
differences in the sales calendar contributed to a lower raw volume of sales in August, the sale vol- agreement, GM will build the Nikola Badger, an electric
umes in September will likely see a boost compared with September 2019. and fuel cell pickup planned for production in late 2022,
After adjusting for daily selling rates, retail sales volume in August was off by 10% year over using GM's proprietary Ultium batteries.
"This strategic partnership with Nikola, an indus-
year, according to Wards Intelligence. Since April, fleet sales volume has decreased more than retail
sales volume. Fleet sales fell by roughly 32% compared with August 2019. While significant, it was try-leading disrupter, continues the broader deployment
actually a smaller fleet sales drop than in recent months, which averaged 66% in the April-July 2020 of General Motors' all-new Ultium battery and Hydrotec
period. Vehicles sold in August spent less time on dealer lots and had lower average discounts com- fuel cell systems," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a joint state-
pared with August 2019. According to J.D. Power, 45% of vehicles sold this August spent fewer than ment. "We are growing our presence in multiple high-vol-
ume EV segments while building scale to lower battery
20 days on the lot, up from 35% in August 2019. Average incentive spending per unit is expected to
be $4,105, down $49 from August 2019 and $848 from its high in April 2020. and fuel cell costs and increase profitability. In addition,
Based on inventory levels at the beginning and end of the month, dealers turned roughly 50% applying General Motors' electrified technology solutions
of their inventory in August. OEMs have been working hard to restore production, especially in pop- to the heavy-duty class of commercial vehicles is another
ular segments such as crossovers and pickups, but steady sales led to inventory levels rising only important step in fulfilling our vision of a zero-emissions
future."
0.9% throughout August. At the end of the month the industry-wide days’ supply was 52 days, down
from 55 days in July 2020 and 61 days in July 2019. And days’ supply for the GM will receive $2 billion worth of shares in Nikola
crossover, pickup and SUV segments all remain below the industry benchmark and be able to nominate one director, the statement said.
of 60 days. The agreement will commercialize GM's fuel cell
These inventory constraints—coupled with low consumer confidence, technology in high volumes and extends the use of its fuel
cell system to the semitruck market.
persistently high unemployment, and tightening credit standards—still pres-
ent some economic headwinds. However, given steady monthly gains in re-
tail sales and the expectation that inventory levels will continue to rise, we Nikola will facilitate sales and marketing for the Bad-
remain optimistic about the new-vehicle sales recovery for the rest of the year. ger and will retain the Nikola Badger brand. Nikola will
Source: NADA Market Beat unveil the Badger in December at the Nikola World 2020
event in Arizona.
"Nikola immediately gets decades of supplier and
Dodge, BMW, Nissan, and Genesis Win Praise in manufacturing knowledge, validated and tested produc-
J.D. Power Multimedia Quality Study tion-ready EV propulsion, world-class engineering and
investor confidence," Nikola founder and Executive Chair-
man Trevor Milton said in the statement. "Most impor-
The Dodge Challenger, BMW X6, Nissan Sentra and Genesis G70 led each segment in a J.D. Pow- tantly, General Motors has a vested interest to see Nikola
er study measuring multimedia quality and satisfaction. J.D. Power's redesigned 2020 U.S. Multime- succeed."
dia Quality and Satisfaction Study measures owner satisfaction with the quality, design, and features GM said it is continuing to develop the Ultium batter-
of their vehicle's multimedia systems. ies, which will be produced through a joint venture with
The Challenger was the top performer overall, with the most satisfied owners and lessees. On a LG Chem in Ohio. The automaker plans to include silicon
1,000-point scale, the vehicle scored a 938. anodes and lithium metal anodes to improve range, af-
Brent Gruber, senior director of global automotive at J.D. Power, told Automotive News the study fordability and reduce usage of expensive metals.
found Nissan was the only Japanese brand that ranked above average and that domestic brands per- Earlier this year, GM said it would co-develop two
formed best. electric vehicles for Honda with its Ultium batteries, and
But the study said, "Owner satisfaction with such systems is among the least satisfying aspects last week the automakers signed a memo of understand-
for the vehicle experience." Gruber said 23 percent of overall automotive consumer problems are ing to form a North American automotive alliance that may
with the multimedia and infotainment systems. And the top 10 problems with multimedia systems include a range of vehicles sold under both brands and
are design related. further cooperation in purchasing, R&D and platforms.
Owner satisfaction drops by 173 index points when over-the-air problems are experienced. "This Source: Automotive News
is very concerning, considering the rapid growth of remote update capabilities for multimedia and
infotainment systems," Gruber said in a statement. He told Automotive News that smartphone users
expect vehicle updates to be as seamless as their smartphone updates. "Manufacturers need to en-
sure that updates have been thoroughly tested with a very high probability for success."
The study found that one way to boost owner satisfaction was to add virtual assistant integration.
The study also analyzed suppliers of navigation and speaker systems, but many of the sources
for those systems were not available. Mobis, Hyun-
dai MnSoft, Aisin and Telenav won kudos for navi-
gation systems. Alps Alpine and Harman Interna-
tional won high marks among speaker suppliers.
The 2020 U.S. Multimedia Quality and Satis-
faction Study is based on responses from 87,282
purchasers and lessees of new 2020 models. The
survey was conducted from February through May.
Source: Automotive News

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