- Topmarq Dealer Weekly
- Posts
- Volume 01, Edition 6
Good morning,
Welcome to Topmarq Dealer Weekly, your snapshot of industry news and happenings. In this edition, we check out some interesting spikes in used car sales, what’s good and bad with CarMax, and how Jeep beat Toyota.
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Market at a Glance
A slight increase in pre-owned sales dollars
Some lackluster brands seeing an increase in used car values
Pre-owned Lexus numbers stay in the red
The latest numbers from cargurus.com reveal another uptick in used car prices. The average transaction is now $30,732, an $81 increase from what we reported last week and a 0.94% increase over the previous 30 days.
The modest bump is part of the industry’s normal ebbs and flows, while some individual brands see a 2% or greater increase in second-hand transactions over the past month. Specifically, Buick (2.64%), Chrysler (2%), Fiat (2.16%), Lincoln (2.59%), and Tesla (4.59%). Except for Tesla, none of these brands are on fire on the new car scene, so this activity is even more interesting for used models.
In the last issue, we mentioned the puzzling 18.35% plunge in used Lexus transaction amounts over 30 days. The decline continues at a somewhat less dramatic rate of “only” 13.57%.
CarMax Points The Finger At Consumers
It’s not us; it’s the market. In announcing its recent earnings reports, CarMax blamed declining consumer confidence for a 5.2% drop in retail sales in the fourth quarter to 194,318 vehicles. Buried in the company’s cheerful (aren’t they all?) news release, CEO Bill Nash remarks, “While the fourth quarter was adversely affected by macro factors….” JPMorgan downgraded CarMax to a neutral rating.
But other numbers offered better news for the mega-retailer. The company’s share of the used vehicle market (vehicles up to ten years old) increased to a record 4.0% for 2021, a 13% increase from its 3.5% share for 2020. Net revenues for the fiscal year rose an eye-popping 68.3% to $31.9 billion.
Do you hear that giant sucking sound? It’s CarMax vacuuming up available inventory. Last quarter, the company bought about 324,000 vehicles from consumers, a 69% increase versus the same period in 2020. CarMax reports that 162,000 of these autos were acquired through its instant online appraisal program. For the fiscal year, the company purchased approximately 1,412,000 cars from consumers (a 95.5% increase from the prior year); about half were through an instant online appraisal.
Jeep Wrangler 4xe Surprise
In this week’s “what the…?” moment, we learn that the Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid outsold the Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in for the first quarter of 2022. It wasn’t a fair fight, 8,346 against 5,233. Even the RAV4’s 42-mile range (double the Jeep’s capacity) couldn’t help. But, availability issues with the Toyota may account for the results. A quick read of this article from Green Car Reports highlights what’s going on with other Stellantis plug-ins.
License and Registration, Please…
This story may not help the bottom line, but it will put a smile on your face (or a worrying thought in the brain). Take a few minutes to watch this viral video of San Francisco police trying to deal with an unoccupied autonomous vehicle. The car, owned by GM’s Cruise, caught the cops’ attention for operating without headlights, and the confoundment ensued. It’s a safe bet some law enforcement agencies are looking at updating their procedures after this incident. Cruise tweeted some details.
Cruise/Twitter
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