How to Save Big on Fleet Maintenance
In the first six months, Wrench saved one company in the Northwest tens of thousands in hard and soft costs for vehicle maintenance.
GM’s Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids Not In Future Line-Up
Just a year ago, GM changed its tune about the possibility of hybrids—and plug-in hybrids like the much-loved Chevrolet Volt—in the company’s near-term future.
Put simply, GM was finished with hybrids. There will be no follow-ups to the Volt, no long-rumored plug-in hybrid crossover, and even no more hybrids on the way.
With the electric Hummer still little more than a Super Bowl tease, and the electric Cadillac that will lead GM’s new EV push not to be revealed until April, GM’s annual presentation to investors Wednesday included some doubling down on its strategy to axe hybrids and focus only toward electric vehicles.
Read the article at Green Car Reports.
Chrysler Struggles to Stay Relevant
Once boasting a broad array of products, the Chrysler brand is today a shadow of its former self, with just the Pacifica and Voyager minivans – the last originally sold as a Plymouth model – and the 300 sedan.
With sales of minivans relatively flat, and demand for the big four-door fading fast, along with the rest of the sedan market, observers have begun asking questions about Chrysler’s long-term viability.
As parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles moves closer to its official merger with France’s PSA, the two companies will have close to a dozen different brands to deal with, a number that may simply be too many to cope with.
Read the article at The Detroit Bureau.
How to Negotiate with a Procurement Team
Imagine the feeling: after months of courting a new client, who has given every indication that a lucrative contract award is imminent, you receive an email from their procurement team stating that there will be a competitive bidding process with specific terms and conditions.
This unsettling scenario is increasingly familiar to many sellers – and most assume that negotiating is more or less futile. They are about to enter a predicament we call "winning the pitch but losing the negotiation.”
Rather than deciding how to respond to ultimata and threats, sellers can instead use two key moves to improve their fortunes: Analyze the Set-up and Shape the Process.
Read the article at Harvard Business Review.
Elon Musk Warns Car Buyers That ‘Gas Cars’ Residual Values Will Plummet In Coming Years’
Tesla CEO Elon Musk aims for Tesla vehicles to become revenue-generating assets for their owners and also warns that it’s a risk buying gasoline cars due to the potential for an accelerated depreciation.
The electrification of the auto industry is getting ready to accelerate significantly in the next few years, and it will have a broader impact than people think in a shorter timeframe.
With all the new EVs hitting the market in the next few years, car buyers will adopt the same mind-set that electric vehicles will take over and even if they are themselves not ready to buy a new electric car, they will not buy a new gasoline car in fear of the resale value.
Read the article at Electrek.
