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INEXPENSIVE CARS

Risky borrowers face more hurdles getting car loans in COVID recession

October 7, 20201 min read

Borrowers with risky credit may face more hurdles when it comes to getting car loans after the COVID-19 recession. (Photo: Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press)

Car buyers never had an easy time finding a decent car loan if their credit wasn’t up to snuff. But lately, they’re needing more money for a down payment to get into that car and they’re staring at higher rates than many would expect.

Lower income workers have been hit hard during the pandemic as they experience big layoffs at retailers or restaurants. And if they’ve held onto a job, many are clocking far fewer hours under capacity limits designed to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Many struggling workers are the most likely to be hurt financially by the pandemic, economists say, and the least likely to be able to adjust quickly over time economically.

How struggling households take on debt matters, especially

AUTO

Auto dealers face a business revolution as EVs gain market share

October 7, 20201 min read

It was Friday morning, and eight members of the sales staff at Felix Chevrolet were gathered around the table for a weekly seminar led by Darryl Holter, the boss of the venerable downtown Los Angeles dealership.

a truck is parked on the side of a building: A Chevrolet Bolt, the company's electric vehicle, is fitted with a battery at a GM assembly plant in Michigan. Automakers are preparing for a sea change in consumer acceptance of EVs. (Duane Burleson / Associated Press)

© (Duane Burleson / Associated Press)
A Chevrolet Bolt, the company’s electric vehicle, is fitted with a battery at a GM assembly plant in Michigan. Automakers are preparing for a sea change in consumer acceptance of EVs. (Duane Burleson / Associated Press)

This may be one of the more unusual educational efforts in Southern California. The students get weekly reading assignments, on which they’re quizzed, just as in regular schools. But the topic is unusual: how to sell customers on electric cars.

The working-class Latinos who make up Felix’s core market haven’t been early adopters of novel products such as EVs. The obstacles include the perception that EVs as more expensive than conventional cars

AUTOMOBILE DEUTSCHLAND

Auto dealers face a business disruption as EVs are poised to gain market share

October 6, 20201 min read

I want them to know what distinguishes an electric car, I want them to talk about the rebates and other programs so they can line up the price points closer to that

CONVERTIBLE

2021 BMW 4 Series Convertible: No roof, same horrifying face

September 30, 20201 min read

2021-bmw-4-series-convertible012 — A cool, salty ocean breeze will distract you from a lot of things, that is until something highly reflective drives by.

BMW

Love it or hate it, but the new BMW corporate schnozz for the 4 Series is here, and the odds are good that you’ll be seeing it regularly pretty soon. We’re not huge fans of it, but we have been curious as to whether lopping the roof off of the 4 Series would do anything to improve its looks. Thankfully, BMW has done just that, and though the results are less than stunning in our opinion, taste is subjective, and you may feel differently.

Beyond the way it looks, there’s plenty to like about the 2021 BMW 4 Series convertible, including its generally spicy powertrains (which we’ve covered elsewhere) and high level of safety and convenience technology — but the coolest part of the 4 Series ragtop is

BARGAIN CARS

How Bruce Kenan sued for a tax bargain on his Skaneateles Lake homes; “a slap in everybody else’s face”

September 29, 20201 min read

In 2018, Skaneateles town officials raised the property tax assessment on Destiny USA partner Bruce Kenan’s two lakefront mansions to $7 million.

Unhappy with that, Kenan went to court and argued that was too high, that they really should be valued at $2.7 million. They settled somewhere in the middle: $4.7 million.

Then, less than a year later, Kenan put the properties up for sale.

Kenan’s asking price? $8.4 million.

That’s three times the amount he argued in court they were worth.

The Kenans are like other wealthy landowners in New York who use their money and lawyers to negotiate more favorable tax bills, town Assessor Michael Maxwell said.

Maxwell said he sees it again and again in Skaneateles and in Lake George, a ritzy Adirondack town where he is also a part-time assessor.

“The whole thing to me is just a slap in everybody else’s face,” Maxwell said.

Kenan’s

AUTO

Crowds in face masks pack China auto show

September 26, 20201 min read

Crowds in face masks pack China auto show

10-day Beijing extravaganza opens five months after original date

Tickets were limited this year in a bid to reduce crowds, although crowds surged through the exhibition centre shoulder-to-shoulder. (AFP Photo)

BEIJING: Crowds packed a mega motor show in Beijing on Saturday — the only major international auto event this year — as manufacturers hope to boost the world’s biggest car market despite the coronavirus battering demand.

Delayed for five months because of the pandemic, the 10-day event opened as China has largely brought the virus outbreak under control, although travel restrictions mean most overseas executives appeared virtually to introduce their new motors.

But this did not stop a packed audience in mandatory face masks from cheering as new cars were driven on stage to be shown off.

The fact the glitzy gathering was going ahead marked “a symbol of hope” in the

AUTO

Crowds in face masks pack out China auto show after virus delay

September 26, 20201 min read

Crowds packed a mega motor show in Beijing on Saturday — the only major international auto event this year — as manufacturers hope to boost the world’s biggest car market despite the coronavirus battering demand.

But this did not stop a packed audience in mandatory face masks from cheering as new cars were driven on stage to be shown off.

The fact the glitzy gathering was going ahead marked “a symbol of hope” in the industry, BMW China CEO Jochen Goller told the crowds Saturday morning.

Tickets were limited this year in a bid to reduce crowds, although crowds surged through the exhibition centre shoulder-to-shoulder.

China’s auto industry is showing signs of recovery after

AUTO

Auto Technicians Caught on Hidden Camera Servicing Car Without Face Masks or Gloves

September 23, 20201 min read

With so many commuters weary of mass transit in the wake of COVID-19, millions of Americans are commuting by car. That means a lot of drivers are flocking to repair shops for basic services like an oil change.

But are you getting what you pay for? And what precautions are they taking in the age of coronavirus?

To find out, Inside Edition rigged an SUV with hidden cameras inside the car, under the car and under the hood. We also placed an Inside Edition sticker on the oil filter to see if it would actually be changed. Then, producer Sarah Chatta took the car to service stations throughout New York.

Major chains like Meineke say they’re “committed to keeping you safe” and taking “enhanced safety measures” to avoid the spread of COVID-19. But that’s not what our hidden cameras caught at a busy Meineke shop in Brooklyn.

A mechanic was

INEXPENSIVE CARS

Car and home insurers face ban on hiking prices for existing customers at renewal

September 22, 20201 min read

What is the regulator proposing?

The FCA says its study of the insurance market shows that a customer with typical risk who has been with their insurance provider for more than five years pays an average of £85 extra for car insurance and £108 extra for home insurance compared to a new customer. Some 10 million car and home insurance policies are held by people who have been with their provider for five years or more.

The regulator also found some firms target price increases on customers who are less likely to switch, and can use practices that make it harder to leave.

Here are the key reforms proposed by the FCA:

Car and home insurers would need to offer existing customers a renewal price that’s no higher than they would offer a new customer using the same sales channel. If a firm wants to increase prices for its existing

AUTO DEAL

Rivian, other startups face ban from Michigan dealers in direct-sales fight

September 21, 20201 min read

Michigan auto dealers are trying to block startup electric carmakers such as Rivian Automotive Inc. and Lucid Motors Inc. from following in Tesla Inc.’s footsteps by selling vehicles directly to consumers and servicing them in the state.

A bill introduced in the Michigan Legislature last week would block any manufacturer other than Tesla from selling cars to customers without a dealer as an intermediary and from owning and operating service and repair facilities. It could come up for a vote as soon as Tuesday, according to a Rivian official.

Rivian has maintained a major engineering operation with 750 employees in Plymouth for the last few years, but has been moving some of those positions to California in recent months.

The 11-year-old company has raised about $6 billion from backers including Ford Motor Co. and Amazon.com Inc. It expects to begin production of its first two vehicles — a battery-powered pickup

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