Shoot us a Text.
It’s a great Thursday in Retail Auto as we dig into the top OEM’s of 2023. We also talk about Fisker's change of heart on the Dealership model as well as Costco’s willingness to embrace accountability.
GM will be
keeping its top spot in U.S. auto sales for 2023, marking the industry's best performance since the pandemic selling approximately 2.6 million vehicles, a 14.1% increase from 2022. They slightly outperformed Toyota which saw a only a 6.6% rise.
- The U.S. auto industry sold about 15.5 million units last year, with electrified vehicles making up nearly 17% of sales.
- Toyota's electrified vehicle sales, including hybrids and EVs, jumped 30.4% to represent almost a third of their overall sales volume
- Many other brands saw record numbers across the board including Tesla who vehicle increased deliveries by 38% YoY to 1.81 million while production grew 35% YoY to 1.85 million
- Fisker produced 10,142 Ocean SUVs in 2023 but delivered less than half, citing difficulties in logistics and lack of physical stores.
- The startup has two showrooms (LA and NY) but is unable to execute sales or test drives
- “Some people don’t want to drive three hours or fly to another state to see a vehicle,” he said.
- Fisker plans to launch more mainstream vehicles like the $30,000 PEAR and an electric pickup, Alaska, necessitating a more robust sales network.
- Other EV startups, including VinFast and Polestar, are also adopting dealership models, contrasting the online sales model popularized by Tesla.
- The company aims to sign up at least 50 U.S. dealers this year, recognizing the franchise-dealer model's efficiency in reducing inventory costs and reaching more customers.
Costco's leadership is taking a self-critical stance on a recent vote leading to the
unionization of a Virginia warehouse, seeing it as a wake-up call to their own management style, not a knock on their team.
- The unionization of a Costco warehouse in Norfolk with the Teamsters is seen by current and former CEOs Ron Vachris and Craig Jelinek as a managerial failure, not employee dissatisfaction.
- In a letter that was emailed to employees and posted in breakrooms, the CEO’s co-wrote, "We're not disappointed in our employees; we're disappointed in ourselves as managers and leaders."
- This is the the opposite of Amazon's adversarial response to unionization, as Costco embraces a more cooperative stance.
- Approximately 18,000 Costco employees, representing 5% of the workforce, were already unionized, with the Teamsters representing them.
Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.
Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/
JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/
