WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 – A General Motors partnership with suppliers to use sustainably sourced natural rubber tires is transforming the landscape of the automotive industry in ways that will reduce deforestation and human and labor rights violations.

The landmark initiative will be the topic of an interview and panel discussion featuring David Tulauskas, director of sustainability at GM; Michael Stuewe, senior advisor at the World Wildlife Fund; and Ellis Jones, senior director of Global Environmental, Health, Safety & Sustainability at Goodyear, at COMMIT!Forum, Oct. 10-12 at MGM National Harbor, near Washington.

“Purpose as Your Compass: How the Auto Industry is Driving Sustainability” will analyze the dynamic developments in auto industry sustainability, accountability, and supply chain transparency, and examine how partnerships, technology, and innovation are melding to meet customer expectations and company sustainability goals. Tulauskas, Stuewe, and Jones will discuss how they have united their efforts to use sustainable natural rubber in its tires.

Through collaboration with governments, rubber industry associations, environmental NGOs and major tire suppliers, GM expects to create greater transparency around natural rubber harvesting from farm to factory, while simplifying supply chain operations. The automaker purchases almost 50 million tires each year.

GM anticipates that the initiative will help to both preserve and restore forests, reduce the company’s carbon footprint and lower business risk associated with supply-chain sourcing. Other projected benefits include increasing natural rubber farmers’ product yield and quality, improved local economic and social development, and better protection of wildlife and the long-term availability of natural rubber as a resource and commodity.

“We encourage all automakers, competitors, peers, and suppliers to join in this effort to accelerate this progress,” said Steve Kiefer, senior vice president of global purchasing and the supply chain at GM.

GM is working to create an industry roadmap that will be in place by the end of the year, and it will meet with stakeholders to develop purchasing requirements and methodology to track natural rubber through the supply chain. As sustainable natural rubber policies are put in place for tire manufacturers, automaker demand should accelerate results.

Adopting a zero deforestation stance toward should reduce the human and labor rights violations and land grabs long associated with rubber production, according to WWF.

Focusing on theme, “Brands Taking Stands,” this year’s COMMIT!Forum event will feature more than 60 speakers, panelists, and interviews that will examine the role of corporate responsibility practitioners at a time when companies are aligning with causes that are good for business, good for the communities they serve, and good for the nation and world at large.

About COMMIT!Forum

COMMIT!Forum (http://www.commitforum.com) is an annual gathering of corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioners with emphasis on networking, case studies, new research, and compelling presentations from companies committed to making progress against an ambitious environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda. The event is produced by the Corporate Responsibility Association and CR Magazine

Alexandria, VA (August 2) – The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) today released July's sales figures for the international nameplate automobile industry. Brands sold by America's 9,600 international nameplate franchises accounted for 58.6 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States in July, up from 55.4 percent in June.

AutoData Corp. reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for July 2017 was 16.73 million, its third consecutive month below the 17 million unit mark. Sales of all brands, unadjusted for business days, were down 7 percent from last July. Industrywide, 1,415,139 light vehicles were sold in July, down from 1,474,360 in June and 1,519,249 a year ago. So far this year, international brands represented by AIADA have fared slightly better than their domestic counterparts, down just 1.2 percent in sales compared to a 4.9 percent drop by the domestics.

Auto sales are now on track for their first decline in volume since the 2008 recession. However, some brands found reason to celebrate in July. Subaru saw a 6.9 percent improvement and Toyota sales were up 3.6 percent. While Honda's sales were down 1.7 percent, its Acura brand improved 3.7 percent. Of international brands, Hyundai saw the greatest dip in July with a 30.1 percent drop in sales, in part due to a decision to cut fleet sales by 77 percent.

"Dealers anticipate customers will be drawn to their stores this fall by attractive new models and incentives," said AIADA President Cody Lusk. "We consider a market where consumers are purchasing 16 to 17 million new vehicles a year to be extremely healthy."

International auto sales in the U.S. totaled 828,772 in July, up from 816,332 vehicles in June but down from 848,268 units in May. Asian brands occupied 49.6 percent of July's market, up significantly from 46 percent in June and 47 percent in May, and well ahead of the domestic nameplates' 41.4 percent market share. Overall, Asian nameplate dealers sold 702,615 light vehicles last month, a 2.7 percent drop from a year ago.

European brands sold 126,157 units last month, down from 138,161 units in June and 135,995 units a year ago. Europeans brands occupied 8.9 percent of the U.S. market in July, down from 9.4 percent in June but equal to their market share one year ago. Their July sales were down 7.2 percent from July 2016.

To read AIADA's complete coverage of July's international nameplate auto sales, click here.

About AIADA: Established in 1970, AIADA is and continues to be the only association whose sole purpose is to represent America's international nameplate automobile franchises that sell and service the following brands: Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Scion, Smart, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. These retailers have a positive economic impact both nationally and in the local communities they serve, providing more than 500,000 American jobs. Visit AIADA online at www.aiada.org.

Contact: Libby Newman 
NewmanL@aiada.org 
703-519-7800

SAN FRANCISCO (August 2, 2017) -- Drive Motors, which builds ecommerce solutions for the largest car dealerships in the country, officially announced today that it has raised $5.2 million in total funding with the completion of its seed round, led by Bullpen Capital, with participation from existing investors: Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Perkins Coie LLP, Emagen Entertainment Group, and others. Drive Motors transforms car-dealership websites and showrooms into ecommerce destinations, and, since completing Y Combinator’s incubator program in 2016, has grown to over 1,000 car orders per month.

"We are excited to back Drive Motors as they have captured the elusive Millennial car buyer for dealers, by selling cars the way Millennials like to buy -- online with full information -- and yet delivering twice the profit to dealers for the convenience," said Duncan Davidson, a general partner of Bullpen Capital, who will join Drive Motors' board as part of his company's investment. "It's a great example of thinking outside the bubble, and leveraging the existing value of brick- and-mortar businesses, rather than being disruptive for the sake of it.”

Since launching online checkout for car dealers in 2016, Drive Motors has surpassed 1,000 car orders per month, and $250 million in annual order volume for its dealership customers. Current customers include top-grossing dealerships from the largest dealership groups in the country, including Atlanta-based Fortune 500 company Asbury Automotive Group, which was one of Drive Motors’ first customers and has since rolled out online checkout across their entire group of stores.

“It’s always seemed odd to me that buying a new car is so incredibly complicated. It seems like something that should just work, once I’ve picked out what I want,” said Aaron Harris, partner at Y Combinator. “Drive Motors is actually making that happen for the first-time ever, and they’re doing it in a way that actually aligns the dealers and the buyers. That’s a big leap forward.”

According to a recent survey from Drive Motors, which regularly analyzes data to inform the industry about car-shopping trends, nearly half of all online orders are placed between 5pm and 10am, and nearly half are placed on mobile phones. Drive Motors has observed that car buyers prefer to visit the dealership showroom as part of their research process, but prefer to make their purchase decision after-hours, from home. The company will use its new funding to expand its dealership network, and develop more features to streamline the car-ownership experience.

"Ecommerce is rapidly becoming essential to top-grossing car dealerships, and this funding will allow Drive Motors to offer dealers of all sizes a full-stack solution that streamlines marketing, financing, contracting, servicing, and more," said Aaron Krane, CEO and founder of Drive Motors. “Frictionless ecommerce is a win-win for buyers and dealerships, alike."

About Drive Motors:

Drive Motors builds ecommerce experiences for auto dealerships. For dealerships, Drive Motors offers an online-checkout experience that integrates effortlessly into their own website and showroom, and transforms their dealership into an ecommerce destination. For buyers, Drive Motors offers a simple, end-to-end checkout experience that removes sales pressure from the showroom, and lets people buy at home in their comfort zone. For more information, visitdrivemotors.com/dealers and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Lisa Hagendorf