Compact car surge, EV leasing reaches new heights, U.S. vehicle charging network expands

Hey everyone. Hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend.

Great lineup of content for you this week — including Len Short, the founding chairman of Lotlinx on tomorrow’s episode of the Car Dealership Guy podcast.

Find out how Len went from a Porsche salesman to a tech founder and the ways his team stays on the cutting edge of automotive data and dealer inventory management.

— CDG

1. The return of the compact car: why buyers are shopping smaller

Consumers are increasingly turning to smaller vehicles in 2024, a sudden reversal from pre-pandemic trends which saw pickups and big SUVs dominate car sales.

Why this matters: Automakers who have long neglected their compact car lineups risk losing market share to competitors if they fail to accommodate this shift in customer demand … Read more

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2. Leasing now makes up over 35% of EV transactions

Leasing continues to be one of the most popular options for electric vehicle buyers, accounting for more than a third of all EV transactions in the first quarter. This is nearly three times the percentage recorded a year earlier.

Why it matters: While electric cars continue to retail at prices well above gas-powered vehicles, leasing is providing an alternative path to ownership for consumers from a wider range of incomes and credit scores … Read more

Billions of dollars in the auto industry vanish each year thanks to a booming crime:

Synthetic identity fraud.

According to the Federal Reserve, it’s the fastest-growing financial crime in the U.S. Here’s how it works: fraudsters cook up fake identities, build credit profiles using real and fake information, and then finance a vehicle with zero plans to pay. A few months of payments keep them under the radar, but soon, they're gone with the vehicle, leaving dealers and lenders holding the bag.

Don't be fooled by outdated fraud protection. The crooks are getting smarter, their schemes more high-tech. Experian Automotive can help you outsmart them, predict and prevent fraud before it strikes, and save your bottom line.

3. EV charging network expands despite public doubts

In the race for EV charging dominance, several companies lead the pack in bolstering infrastructure, demonstrating the urgency to remove barriers to widespread adoption. 

Driving the news: There are now more than 183,000 publicly available charging ports across nearly 50,000 stations, an increase of more than 13,000 ports in the last three months, according to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation … Read more

• NASCAR debuts electric race car prototype ahead of Chicago Street Race.

• Stellantis' head of software business, Mamatha Chamarthi, leaves in another senior executive departure.

• U.N. launches global road safety campaign in U.S. with a goal of reducing deaths by half.

• Porsche sticks with plans to stop some combustion model production.

• All new cars sold in Europe must now be fitted with intelligent speed-assist (ISA) software.

Thanks for reading everyone.

— CDG