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Dealers mobilize to protect their margins from automaker subscription services

Six individual auto brands — Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo — have established or are trialing a vehicle subscription service in the U.S. Three third-party companies — Flexdrive, Clutch and Carma — run brand-agnostic subscription services. And three automakers — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors — have also launched short-term rental services. Dealers, afraid of how these trends might affect their margins, are building political and lawmaking campaigns to protect their revenue streams. So far, three states are investigating automaker subscriptions, and Indiana has banned any such service until next year. It's certain that those three states are the first fronts in a long political and legal battle. Powerful dealer franchise laws mandate the existence of dealers and restrict how automakers are allowed to interact with customers to sell a vehicle. On top of that, Bob Reisner, CEO of Nassau Business Funding & Services, said, "Dealers and their associations are among the strongest political operators in many states. They as a group are difficult for state politicians to vote against." In California earlier this year, the state Assembly debated a bill with wide-ranging provisions to protect against what the California New Car Dealers Association called "inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers." One of those provisions stipulated that subscription services need to go through dealers, but that item got stripped out when dealers and manufacturers agreed to discuss the matter further. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a moratorium on all subscription programs by dealers or manufacturers until May 1, 2019, to give legislators more time to investigate. Dealers in New Jersey have taken their campaign to the state capitol, asking that the cars in subscription programs get a different classification for registration purposes. Automakers run the current subscription services and own the vehicles. Sign-ups and financial transactions happen online or through apps, leaving dealers to do little more than act as fulfillment centers to various degrees, with little legal recourse as to compensation amounts when they're called on to deliver or service a car. That's a bad base to build on for business owners who've sunk millions of dollars into their operations.

2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe prepares to fight BMW 4 Series

Cadillac introduced its new ATS Coupe at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show today, bringing customers an alternative to the growing range of sport luxury coupes typified by the BMW 4 Series, Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe.
The ATS Coupe, as a slightly more premium offering, ditches the wheezy 2.5-liter engine found in the basic ATS Sedan, but retains the four-door's 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder and 3.6-liter V6. That four-pot turbo benefits from a fettling that has increased torque from 260 pound-feet to 295, although its peak is only available from 3,000 rpm to 4,600 rpm, unlike in the sedan, where peak twist arrives at just 1,700 rpm and sticks around until 5,500 rpm.
Power can be channeled to either the rear or all four wheels by the owner's choice of a Tremec six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission. According to Cadillac, the new Coupe can get to 60 in 5.6 seconds when fitted with the 2.0-liter turbo.

Cadillac ATS Coupe spy photos show more sedate two-door

Remember when the Cadillac CTS Coupe debuted, and we were all like, "Oh hello there?" Well, don't expect the same thing to happen when the new ATS Coupe is unveiled - these brand new (overexposed) spy shots show a two-door that's decidedly more sedate than the angular yet curvaceous and all-around good-looking CTS Coupe. This isn't to say that the smaller Caddy Coupe won't be attractive - the four-door version is plenty pretty, to be sure - it just likely won't have that extra somethin'-somethin' to truly set it apart from the sedan.
Fine, then. We don't doubt that the two-door ATS will be just as enjoyable to drive as its sedan sibling, with a lot of the mechanical stuff likely carrying over unchanged. That includes the powertrain options, meaning buyers will be able to choose from the naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four, turbocharged 2.0-liter four, or larger free-breathing 3.6-liter V6.
Look for the 2014 ATS Coupe to enter production in January of next year, meaning a reveal later this year (LA Auto Show, perhaps?) would be in order.