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Automotive repair

Regina auto repair shop transitions to 4-day work week

Employees at a Regina auto repair shop may never experience a case of the Mondays again. Earlier this month, Kinetic Auto Service (KAS) switched to a four-day workweek schedule for its employees. “I think in the end, it will increase productivity and we just have to work out the kinks as we go,” said KAS president and CEO Erin Vaughan. KAS employees will work 10 hours a day from Tuesday to Friday. The new schedule is a trial run stemmed from employee feedback. Vaughan believes it will improve her employees’ work-life balance. She hopes her staff can spend more time…

Automotive News

Shift Q1 earnings: Company reviewing ‘strategic alternatives’

Online used-vehicle retailer Shift Technologies Inc. said Thursday its board of directors is working with management and financial and legal advisers to assess a range of “strategic alternatives” for the company. in a statementShift said its board of directors was conducting a process to “explore and evaluate strategic alternatives, including exploring a potential sale of certain operating businesses, third party investment or partnership opportunities and/or funding alternatives for our marketplace business, to further enhance value for all stakeholders.” The company said its board did not set a timetable for the completion of the review process. There is “no assurance” it…

Automotive News

Braking defect prompts Tesla’s big recall in China

Tesla Inc. recalled virtually every car it’s sold in China due to a braking and acceleration defect that may increase crashes and safety risks. The automaker will deploy an over-the-air software fix to more than 1.1 million vehicles produced in Shanghai from January 2019 to April this year, plus some models imported into China, the State Administration for Market Regulation said Friday in a statement. The defect relates to Tesla’s regenerative braking system, which makes use of energy created when drivers take their foot off the accelerator by sending power to the car’s battery. The vehicles haven’t allowed drivers to…

Used Cars

Facebook Marketplace Bans Dealers From Posting Used Cars For Sale

Facebook Marketplace is that magic place where everyone can offer their used vehicle and reach hundreds and thousands of potential buyers. If you are an authorized dealer, however, as of January this year, you are no longer able to publish listings on the platform via the Facebook business page. Industry specialists believe this is an attempt from Meta, Facebook’s parent company, to push car dealers toward paid advertising. In an official press statement, the social media company said it is “simply changing how inventory may be displayed in the future” and that “for auto businesses, we continue to invest in…

Automotive News

Kia and Hyundai Break-Ins On the Rise in Kent

Social media challenges, which have steadily increased since 2020, range from silly and benign to downright dangerous and harmful. One of the latest harmful challenges to hit social media this summer is the “Kia Challenge”—and it continues to gain momentum across the country. The Kia Challenge is a TikTok trend that encourages social media users to steal Kias manufactured between 2011-2021 and Hyundais made between 2015 and 2021. These models are being targeted because they don’t come with an engine immobilizer, which is a piece of hardware that prevents the engine from starting if the matching chip in the key…

Automotive News

45% of used-vehicle loan terms ‘frighteningly’ long at 84 months, up from 25% in 2021

With high vehicle values ​​and high interest rates compromising affordability, buyers — particularly entry-level ones — have been forced to extend borrowing time frames, Ross said. “Consumers are looking to stay in a consistent monthly payment range to what they used to previously, so the only thing they have is to elongate that loan term,” he said. Ross, Karwel and Abraham saw little relief in sight for buyers as both new- and used-vehicle inventories remained tight. UPSIDE: MORE F&I SALES For dealers, however, the longer loan timelines are creating opportunities. Finance and insurance products, once pitched when selling new-vehicle sales,…

Automotive News

McLaren reportedly confirms four-door model and next flagship supercar

See Full Image Gallery McLaren’s on-again, off-again four-door model has received the green light for production, according to an unverified report. The company is also allegedly working on a new flagship model that will take the torch from the long-retired P1 and get Formula One-derived technology. Citing anonymous dealer sources, industry trade journal Automotive News wrote that the first four-door McLaren model will make its debut by the end of the 2020s. “[McLaren will] bring in another class of automobile in 2028. Stay tuned. It may have four doors and four seats,” Jamie Corstorphine, the British company’s director of product…

Automotive News

Cupra announced Raval as the name of small electric hatchback

Also on Thursday, the Seat announced record operating profit for the first quarter of 2023, at 144 million euros, compared with five million euros in the first quarter of 2022. Revenue was 3.6 billion euros, 48 ​​percent higher than the first quarter of 2022. Cupra began as a trim line of Seat and became its own sub-brand under former CEO Luca de Meo, now CEO of Renault Group. Cupra is now Seat’s main growth driver, Seat said. Seat said Cupra sold 46,600 units during the first quarter of 2023, 83 percent more than in the same period in 2022. Seat…

Used Cars

Used car brands with the biggest price increases in 2023

The last few years have been tumultuous for used cars, to say the least. Prices and supply are all over the map, leaving many to wonder if things will ever calm down. Unfortunately, prices likely won’t return to normal for another few years, but most brands have seen average prices drop over the last year. CarGurus’ used car price trends show that most vehicles have fallen, but some have continued to rise. The list of used cars with the most significant price increases includes some familiar names we no longer see in the new market. Ten brands with the largest…

Automotive Deals

US auto parts supplier signs deal to buy Quebec’s Uni-Select in $2.8-billion deal

LKQ Corp. has signed a deal to buy Quebec-based Uni-Select Inc. in a roughly $2.8-billion deal that aims to boost the US automotive equipment supplier’s aftermarket business amid a thriving market. Under the agreement, LKQ will pay $48 per Uni-Select share in cash for the aftermarket auto parts distributor. The purchase marks a 19.2 per cent premium over the $40.28 closing price of Uni-Select shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday. The transaction, which needs shareholder approval, also requires antitrust clearances in Canada, the US and the UK and approval under the Investment Canada Act. LKQ chief executive Dominick…