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Hey everyone,
Happy Saturday! It’s been a busy two weeks with recalls from Stellantis and Ford.
Ford recently spoke with CDG News about improvements in quality and reliability. And for related updates, you can always keep up with the latest recalls on the CDG Recall Tracker.
— CDG
First time reading a CDG Newsletter?
Welcome to The Weekly, a roundup of the top five auto industry headlines of the week.
New York dealership files $15M lawsuit against General Motors
New York dealership Sun GMC, Inc., has filed a lawsuit against General Motors, seeking $15M in damages and a jury trial. The complaint alleges that the automaker deliberately starved the dealership of inventory in an attempt to drive it out of business.
Filed June 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the lawsuit states that GM has, for several years, grown stingy with the dealership’s inventory, causing a negative impact on the dealer's customer scores and sales goals.
"Sun cannot sell what it is not supplied," the lawsuit states.
It all seems like an attempt to put dealership owner Patrick Cassino out of business, according to his attorney, Leonard Bellavia, Esq., founding partner of Bellavia Cohen P.C.
GM representatives did not immediately return an email requesting comment.
Fixed ops director flexes lifetime warranty, need for speed retention success
Aiming to redirect customer traffic from aftermarket stores to his dealership, Chris Skinner, fixed ops director for Granbury Nissan in Texas, went to his advisors and staff to make changes.
Driving the news: Skinner said they really wanted to attract customers back, and part of that involved speeding up visits, including in the service lane.
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Piazza fights store blindness, 5% drop in close rates with fresh eyes
After more than 40 years of experience in the auto industry, Dave Rogers knows sometimes the answers to issues can’t be found without a fresh set of eyes.
As the Fixed Ops Director at Piazza Auto Group and overseeing 30 stores, he’s working to improve performance, productivity, and retain customers. Part of that improvement is overcoming “store blindness” and doing consistent tracking and reviewing.
Fresh eyes pays off: Ever looked at a problem so often that you can’t see what’s wrong until someone else points it out? The answer is probably yes, which is why Rogers recommends reaching out to someone else for that fresh look.
Texas poised to overtake California in U.S. new-vehicle sales, says JD Power
Texas is closing in on California as the largest vehicle market in the U.S., with the Lone Star State becoming increasingly important to automakers and dealers beyond its pickup-truck roots.
The details: Long considered the epicenter of American car culture, California is steadily losing ground to Texas in new-vehicle sales, according to a new JD Power report.
California's share of U.S. light-vehicle retail sales has fallen from 12.5% to 11.4%, while Texas' share has grown from 9.3% to 10.8%.
Trump signals support for right-to-repair as debate over vehicle service access intensifies
President Donald Trump met with top auto industry officials last week to discuss their position on right-to-repair as independent repair shops continue gaining traction against dealerships in vehicle service.
The details: Speaking during an announcement on actions to support U.S. coal production, Trump appeared to signal support for independent repair shops in the ongoing right-to-repair debate.
Some lawmakers and independent repair groups are pushing for separate legislation that would give vehicle owners access to vehicle data related to diagnostics, repair, calibration, and recalibration, a move opposed by many auto industry groups.
