Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker, Tesla receives its largest-ever order for electric Semis, Magna International provides a business update and J.D. Power crowns the GMC Sierra with the best resale value, anywhere.
Full with Pride
Tesla has received its largest order ever for electric Semis—and it came from a Mississauga, Ont.-based trucking conglomerate.
Pride Group Enterprises (PGE) announced last Wednesday that it had placed a deposit to secure the initial units and build slots. The company also said it could also eventually consider adding 500 Semis to the bill.
“We believe that electrification is the way of the future as we work together across multiple industries to reduce our carbon footprint,” PGE CEO Sam Johal said.
The company said it was busy investing in the necessary infrastructure needed for parking, charging and maintenance at its locations to support the arrival of the all-electric class 8 trucks.
Moves for Magna
Magna International reported its third-quarter financial results last week, with sales down two percent for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2020.
Magna, which tracks its financials in U.S. dollars, earned US$405 million profit on sales of US$9.13 billion in the third quarter, returning to profitability after losing money last summer.
The results worked out to earnings of $1.35 per diluted share, or $1.95 per share, adjusted — above the forecasted earnings of $1.33 per share on sales of $9.07 billion expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.
During the same period in 2019, there was a labour strike at General Motors in the U.S., and the auto parts maker lost $233 million, or 75 cents per diluted share, on sales of $9.32 billion.
Magna says it now expects slightly better results for the full year, raising its 2020 sales expectations to $31.5 billion to $32.5 billion. The company’s board announced a dividend of 40 cents per share for the third quarter.
The executives cite strong launches of GM SUVs and Magna’s work on the Ford Bronco and Cadillac Escalade.
Sierra sums
According to J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Resale Value awards, the GMC Sierra 3500 has the best resale value.
For this year’s awards, 270 models were evaluated using nearly 600,000 transactions, taking the used vehicle wholesale prices. That’s what dealers pay for vehicles, making it more relevant to vehicle owners than retail used car pricing. This year’s results use 2017 model year vehicles for the calculation.
J.D. Power’s Resale Value Awards are entering their third year, and let buyers know which vehicles are most likely to keep their value three years into your buying experience.
“Our transaction database shows which models have the lowest depreciation costs, hence providing consumers with a key component in the total cost of ownership of the vehicle they plan to purchase or sell,” said Jonathan Banks, vice president & general manager of vehicle valuations at J.D. Power.
