December 2015 Used Vehicle Industry Update
Here’s the December report from Jonathan Banks, executive analyst for NADA Used Car Guide.
Honda and GM to Build Joint Fuel Cell Plant
It’s no secret that introducing a new technology is a costly endeavor, and that’s why Honda Motor Co. and General Motors have decided to join forces to manufacture hydrogen fuel cells. Though the two automakers have been working together on this technology since 2013, the decision to jointly manufacture fuel cells is more recent.
The Importance of Partnerships
Element Fleet recognizes that partners and vendors are a huge part of their value proposition - and that they can be instrumental in the creation of game-changing new products and services.
Fleet Smarts!
The next few months will bring us a wealth of timely fleet-smart educational and networking events. NAFA’s webinar ‘Ensuring Fleet & Driver Safety’ takes place Wednesday, the 27th of January. AFLA has a Regional Forum slated for Thursday, February 25th in Tampa with a variety of cogent topics, and The International Fleet Meeting for the global fleet manager is Thursday, March 2nd in Geneva. The CEI Group gives us a ‘Save the Date’ notice for their 2016 Global Fleet Driver Management Workshop to be held March 9-11th in Philadelphia.
NAFA I&E will be in Austin this year – April 19-22, where, by the way, FLEXY Awards will be bestowed upon an honored group of fleet professionals. If you know someone who should be considered for this esteemed award, you have until this Friday, January 22nd, to nominate that special person!
Janice Sutton
Executive Editor
Cheap Gas Leaves Electric Vehicle Sales Stuck in Neutral
Americans bought about 13,000 battery-powered and plug-in hybrid vehicles in December – one of the best months on record for those kinds of cars and trucks.
But that’s only about four days worth of sales of the Ford Motor Co. F-Series pickup, underlining how difficult it is to convince drivers to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles when a gallon of gas at U.S. pumps costs considerably less than $2 (U.S.).
“This is arguably one of the biggest challenges the industry faces,” said Jeff Schuster, senior vice-president of auto consulting firm LMC Automotive Ltd., of Troy, Mich.
