Lexus & Kia on Top, BYD Share Sale, & Dick’s Sporting Goods Trade Playbook

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Welcome to Friday with Cirillo, the day where Paul rolled out one day after Cirillo got in his new seat. We are talking about new JD Power dependability rankings, Berkshire Hathaway selling off BYD shares, and Dick’ Sporting Taking a play out of the automotive playbook.


Lexus takes back the top spot for dependability, while Kia dropped to 3rd overall while maintaining their top spot with mass market brands. 

• Most Dependable Model(s) - Tie
  • 1: Lexus RX
  • 1: Toyota C-HR
• Compact SUV
  • 1: Kia Sportage
  • 2: Buick Envision
  • 3: Jeep Cherokee
• “Infotainment technology continues to be a sticking point for many automakers, representing twice as many problems as the next largest category, vehicle exteriors.”
• “This year's study includes Tesla owner responses for the first time, with Tesla scoring 242 problems per 100 vehicles.” -Remain unranked due to Tesla restricting data

Berkshire Hathaway recently sold off a large portion of their shares in Chinese EV automaker BYD.

• Berkshire initially invested in BYD in 2008, purchasing 228 million shares for $232 million.
• “The sale on February 3 lowered Berkshire's holdings in BYD's issued H-shares to 11.87% from 12.26%, the filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday showed.”
• The sale accounts for $139 million in share value
• Warren Buffett’s company has now sold nearly 95 million of its original shares of Chinese electric carmaker.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is expanding on their new trade cycle management strategy by expanding their Trade In events to 19 states and 200 events in 2023.

• Athletes can exchange their used sports gear and receive DICK'S gift cards or have the option to donate to select local sports organizations. Items that do not qualify for trade-in can be donated or recycled responsibly.
• The average trade-in total was $88 and almost all attendees said they would be interested in reselling used gear at least once a year.
• Brendan Candon, CEO of SidelineSwap, said "Last year's trade-in events with DICK'S clearly showed that DICK'S athletes loved the convenience of trade-in events, and enjoyed being able to easily turn their used sports & outdoors gear into credit to spend at DICK'S."

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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