deal

How to find a deal

By Michael J. Moody 1 week ago

Springtime car-buying season is here, and many hopeful buyers are ending up with a severe case of sticker shock in 2021, because used car prices are higher than ever.

Gary Heflin, owner of Courtesy Automotive, is busy these days.

Eric Oliver, owner of Beyond Exercise gym, has bought two cars from Heflin in the past, and he plans on buying an SUV from Heflin.

“I prefer buying used,” Oliver said. “You can get some good used vehicles in very good shape.”

But used cars are not such bargains anymore, with Edmunds.com reporting prices up 14% over the past year.

Heflin said there are several factors, and one is that new car prices have hit a record high of $40,000 on average.

Combine that with rental fleets no longer flooding the market with cars and buyers flush with stimulus checks, and you have a supply-and-demand imbalance.

“There’s a lot

… Read More

(SAII), Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CAR) – Could Otonomo Be The Best SPAC Deal Of 2021? The Bear Cave Thinks So

By Michael J. Moody 4 weeks ago

Israel-based car data management company Otonomo is going public in a SPAC deal valuing the company at $1.4 billion. The Bear Cave, which normally tries to point out bad companies, shared three key reasons why Otonomo could be the best SPAC for 2021 despite low media exposure.

Large Opportunity: Research firm The Bear Cave believes the opportunity for connected car data is huge and still in the beginning stages. It says Otonomo, going public with Software Acquisition Group II (NASDAQ: SAII), has a large opportunity in the market.

“One opportunity is usage-based car insurance,” the research firm said. This could lead to consumers sharing their data and getting better rates from insurance companies.

Fleet management is mentioned as another area of opportunity within the connected car data market. Avis Budget (NASDAQ: CAR) is mentioned as both a customer of Otonomo and an investor.

Banks could offer more competitive

… Read More

A startup with a modular EV platform plans to go public via SPAC deal

By Michael J. Moody 2 months ago

The wave of electric-vehicle startups going public via so-called reverse mergers shows no signs of slowing, with Israel’s REE Automotive the latest to join the party.

A reverse merger is where a private company is able to go public by being taken over by a company that’s already publicly listed, thus avoiding the complexity of launching an initial public offering. The reverse mergers are typically done with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is set up solely for this purpose, and this is the case with REE which on Wednesday announced it has teamed up with a SPAC known as 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the first half of 2021, with the merged company to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “REE.” REE is expected to receive $500 million out of the deal which already lists some

… Read More

How to find a good end-of-year deal if in the market for a new car

By Jaime E. Love 4 months ago

Ty Wright | Bloomberg | Getty Images

For car buyers, the end of the year typically marks the best time to get a great deal.

Things look a bit different this time around. While there are still discounts and special financing on certain makes and models, those incentives generally are not as generous as in past Decembers, experts say.

“It’s not a buyer’s market, but there are still discounts,” said Ivan Drury, senior manager of insights at Edmunds.com. “Are they as widespread as they were? Certainly not.”

Due to a confluence of factors — including an inventory squeeze from early-pandemic factory shutdowns and the unanticipated demand from homebound consumers wanting to get on the road — discounts are not as high this month as they might have been otherwise.

Basically, dealerships don’t have to push as hard to move cars off their lots. The average time it takes for new

… Read More