Toronto, Ontario — July 23, 2019 — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker: a Texas judge disappoints asTech, expectations rise high for LKQ and Toyota sells where rivals struggle–in Canada.
Judge Jugeth Not
Texas-based remote diagnostics repair giant asTech suffered a setback in its legal dispute with rival AirPro Diagnostics after a Texas judge dismissed the case.
According to documents from the hearing, Repairify, which owns asTech, is pursuing Air Pro for making allegedly misleading statements to its own customers at Asbury Automotive Group, a Georgia-based banner.
The statements, which, according to the allegations, were made over email. While Air Pro does not dispute the allegedly misleading statements were made, it does dispute that they were truthful.
The judge concluded that the case could not be brought before a state court on the grounds that the statements were not received by organizations or persons in Texas, despite the fact that Ashbury Automotive Group runs facilities within Texas.
It isn’t the first time the two competitors have locked horns. In 2017, asTech and Air Pro dropped cases against one another. AsTech had issued the first suit, alleging that two Air Pro employees were working in a position that breached noncompete clauses signed when the pair had worked for asTech. In its countersuit, Air Pro had accused asTech of violating state advertisements.
How’d you do, LKQ?
Rumours of high performance at LKQ last quarter might encourage investment in auto parts giant LKQ.
Though an official quarterly report is not expected until later this week, numerous reports tell a similar story about LKQ’s spring performance.
According to reports, in Q2 of 2019, LKQ saw six-and-a-half percent growth compared to the same period in 2018. It is also expected that the company will see revenues increase by more than nine percent.
Over the past 18 months, LKQ’s stock prices have dropped precipitously. From a record high of $43.47 in early 2018, trading dipped below $24 by the end of the year. The stock saw a brief resurgence this spring, cresting above $30 before falling again. It is now trading at $24.95.
Toyota on Top
Toyota Canada has defied the market trend plaguing other car-sellers’ business in Canada–declining unit sales.
While, overall, Canadians have bought fewer vehicles compared to the same month in the previous year for 13 straight months, in both Q1 and Q2, Toyota’s Canadian subsidiary has posted unit sale increases.
By the mid-year point, the OEM had sold more than 108,000 Toyota units, while the Lexus luxury range sold more than 12,000 units. These numbers represent a 3.1 percent and a 7.1 percent sales increase for Toyota and Lexus respectively.
