Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Veterans Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11. Thanks to everyone who has served and sacrificed for our country.
Twenty years ago, General Motors had eight U.S. brands — four times as many as Toyota. Ford Motor Co. did, too, when you include its controlling stake in Mazda at the time.
GM had just closed a ninth brand, Oldsmobile, in 2004.
Today, there are four left at GM and just two at Ford. Meanwhile, Toyota is moving in the opposite direction.
Soon, Toyota Motor Corp. could have as many brands in the U.S. as GM. The Japanese automaker plans to bring its Century line of bespoke, hand-built vehicles stateside in the near future. It's also turning its "GR" designation into a full-fledged, high-performance brand.
Not much is known about that plan yet, with Chairman Akio Toyoda promising to reveal more details by year end. Until then, Automotive News detective Larry P. Vellequette analyzes the clues Toyota has dropped so far.
Toyota isn't the only automaker that has expanded its brand portfolio in recent years.
Hyundai split off its top-end models into Genesis a decade ago, Volvo spun off Polestar, and Volkswagen is adding Scout. Of course, the undisputed king in this area is Stellantis, which sells exactly half of its 14 global brands at U.S. dealerships.
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Speaking of new additions, the No. 1 U.S. auto retailing group, Lithia Motors, has tacked on two luxury dealerships in Southern California.
The Kia Telluride is getting bigger as well. The redesigned large crossover is bulking up for the 2027 model year, with a reveal set for the Los Angeles Auto Show this month.
And a federal judge in Chicago allowed the insurer of two dealership groups to pursue breach of contract claims arising from the summer 2024 CDK Global cyberattacks.
That's all for now. Enjoy the rest of your day. If you want to view this story on your browser click here.
— Nick Bunkley, leader of the automaker team
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