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GM program sees dealers taking on way more loaner cars

Given the volume of vehicles we're talking about, this is a significant development for GM's bottom line. Bring your car into the dealership for service, and you may need a loaner car in exchange. And with so many recalls being carried out, that means a lot of loaners – especially at General Motors dealerships. That could be one of the reasons why GM is massively expanding its loaner fleet program. While many Chevrolet and Buick-GMC dealerships have an on-site rental car location operated by a third party like Enterprise (which may or may not provide a GM vehicle), others manage their own loaner fleets. But while the range of dealerships operating such fleets was once small, reports Automotive News, the number has been growing rapidly: from the locations responsible for only 20 percent of those brands' sales two years ago to about 90 percent today. The impetus for that growth comes down to a massive expansion of GM's Courtesy Transportation Program. The initiative encourages dealers to ramp up their loaner fleet to a maximum size determined by GM, with a mix determined by the dealer itself, so that a showroom in Texas can be bolstered with a fleet of pickup trucks and a dealer in California can employ more Volt and Camaro Convertible loaners. The dealership gets a $500 credit for each vehicle its puts in its fleet, and can use those vehicles as loaners for service customers, as multi-day test drivers or to rent out separately. The vehicles remain in the dealer's fleet for 90 days or 7,500 miles, then they can be sold as used, but with new-car incentives. The dealer gets a fleet of loaners, customers get to use the loaners, try out a new car overnight or buy a barely used car with attractive incentives, and GM gets to clock more sales. But therein lies the kicker: the automaker counts the dispatch of the loaner new vehicle to the dealership as a new-car sale, which could end up distorting its sales figures. Counting loaner vehicles as sold vehicles is something of an industry-standard practice, but given the volume of vehicles we're talking about, this is a significant development for GM's bottom line. One dealership - Paddock Chevrolet in Kenmore, NY, for example - had no loaner fleet two years ago, but now runs a fleet of 50 vehicles. Multiply that by the 4,000 or so dealers GM has across America and you're talking about the potential for hundreds of thousands of these sorts of sales.

GM recalls 668,000 SUVs due to faulty anchor bars for child seats

DETROIT — General Motors is recalling more than 668,000 small SUVs in the U.S. because owners may not be able to hook child seats to the anchors. The recall covers certain 2020 to 2023 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain SUVs. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted on its website Thursday that the rear-seat lower anchor bars may have had too much powder coating. That could make them too thick and prevent a child seat from being installed. GM says no crashes or injuries have been reported. The automaker is asking owners to install child seats using the seatbelts until the latches are repaired. Dealers will inspect the anchors and replace the finish if necessary. Owners will be notified by letter starting June 26.   Recalls Chevrolet GM GMC SUV child safety car seat

2019 Los Angeles Auto Show | Autoblog Podcast #605

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Associate Editor Zac Palmer. This week, the main topic of discussion is the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show. Of course, they've gotta talk about the Ford Mustang Mach-E — and its questionable naming scheme. They also run down some other L.A. show highlights including the Toyota RAV4 Prime, Kia Seltos, Lexus LC 500 Convertible and Audi RS Q8. Then they talk about the cars they've been driving: the 2020 Chevy Silverado with the Duramax diesel engine and the 2020 Subaru Legacy Touring XT. Autoblog Podcast #605 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown L.A. Auto Show 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E (and here's a little more about the name) 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime 2021 Kia Seltos 2021 Lexus LC 500 Convertible 2020 Audi RS Q8 2020 Chevy Silverado Duramax 2020 Subaru Legacy Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: