New York (CNN) — Now that the United Auto Workers union has started a strike, the US auto market is about to be thrown into turmoil all over again.

Auto sales hadn’t entirely recovered from the pandemic, but car shopping in the United States could change once more.

Dealerships will stay open

You will still be able to shop for cars, even at Ford, GM and Stellantis dealers. They’re not going to shut down, as car dealerships are independent franchises that aren’t owned by the company whose logo is on the building.

What’s more, they will still have cars to sell for a while. Most of those dealers have vehicles on hand to sell for a few weeks yet, and the current strike plans will initially impact only some of their product lines, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Cox Automotive. The strike’s impact will be nothing like the Covid pandemic and the computer chip shortages that largely shut down the entire US auto industry in recent years, he said.

Besides, new car dealers also sell used cars and, even if the flow of new cars suddenly stops entirely, they will continue to do so. They also service cars, and their service operations will continue, as well, although parts supplies could be hampered.

The auto manufacturing crises of recent years have left auto dealers better prepared to deal with disruptions, said Scott Kunes, chief operating officer of Kunes Auto and RV Group, which owns more than 40 dealerships in the Midwest.

“We already started to take some action a few weeks ago, when it looked like the strike was pretty imminent,” Kunes said. “We started to stock up on used vehicle inventory, especially in the domestic makes, and some of the hotter models.”

His dealers also took steps get more new vehicles onto their lots.

Vehicles could get more expensive

Not all automakers are facing a strike right now. Not even most of them. Toyota, BMW, Hyundai, Nissan, Tesla, Volvo and Subaru, just to name some, are still producing cars, trucks and SUVs in the United States, and their workers are not unionized.

But dealerships for the Japanese and South Korean automakers have always tended to have less vehicle inventory on-hand than those for the Michigan-based automakers, Kunes said. Ultimately, this could translate to pricing pressure as domestic automaker inventories start to run low and their competitors may not have the vehicles ready to pick up the demand.

For now, at least, the strikes are confined to factories making only a few specific models. If the strike drags on a long time, said Tyson Jominy, an industry analyst with JD Power, prices will start to rise again. They probably won’t reach the levels reached during the computer chip shortages but, in the worst case, it could come close.

Not all production will stop immediately

At plants where workers aren’t out on strike, production will presumably continue. For now, the UAW has called strikes at three final assembly plants, where vehicles are built to be shipped to consumers. That means this strike currently only impacts buyers shopping for those particular models.

So, if you’re in the market for, for instance, a Ford Bronco, a Jeep Wrangler or a GMC Canyon pickup, you should probably get to the dealership soon before inventories start to get really thin in a few weeks.

If the UAW calls strikes on plants that build things like engines and transmissions, that would be more disruptive. Work could continue for a while at final assembly plants but, before long, production would be impacted by a lack of major components coming from factories that have been shut down, said Thomas Goldsby, professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee.

These companies also import a few of their models from European and Asian factories that aren’t impacted at all by strikes in the US, such as GM’s Chevrolet Trailblazer, made in South Korea, and Stellantis’s Italian-built Dodge Hornet.

You may be waiting longer

In the wake of Covid-related manufacturing slowdowns, more car buyers had turned to factory-ordering their new vehicles rather than just picking from whatever was already on dealer’s lots. That’s good for consumers who can get vehicles precisely suited to their wants and needs. Carmakers like it, too, because any company would rather make products that are already sold before they leave the assembly line. But if you want to do that now – or if you already did order a vehicle that hasn’t been built yet – you could be waiting longer.

While pickup truck inventories are well-stocked, said Jominy, they will run down if the strikes go on a long time. And truck buyers, being especially brand loyal, will probably just wait it out rather than shopping for competitive models like the Toyota Tundra or Nissan Frontier.

It pays to be flexible

Before the strikes started, auto dealerships had reasonably healthy inventories of new vehicles, according to Michelle Krebs, an analyst with AutoTrader. That’s good, especially for dealerships affiliated with these automakers. That means they’ll still have vehicles to sell for a few weeks, but, as the strike wears on, the choices available will start to dwindle. As the options dwindle you could try making a deal on one of the “ugly duckling” vehicles left hanging around on the showroom floor.

Or maybe it’s just not exactly the color you wanted but, hey, close enough.

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(CNN) — Progressive and State Farm, two of America’s largest auto insurers, are refusing to write policies in certain cities for some older Hyundai and Kia models that have been deemed too easy to steal, according to the companies.

Several reports say the companies have stopped offering insurance on these vehicles in cities that include Denver, Colorado and St. Louis, Missouri. The insurance companies did not tell CNN which cities or states were involved.

The Highway Loss Data Institute released insurance claims data last September that confirmed what various social media accounts had been saying: Some 2015 through 2019 Hyundai and Kia models are roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of similar age, because many of them lack some of the basic auto theft prevention technology included in most other vehicles in those years, according to the HLDI.

Specifically, these SUVs and cars don’t have electronic immobilizers, which rely on a computer chip in the car and another in the key that communicate to confirm that the key really belongs to that vehicle. Without the right key, an immobilizer should do just that — stop the car from moving.

Immobilizers were standard equipment on 96% of vehicles sold for the 2015-2019 model years, according the HLDI, but only 26% of Hyundais and Kias had them at that time. Vehicles that have push-button start systems, rather than relying on metal keys that must be inserted and turned, have immobilizers, but not all models with turn-key ignitions do.

Stealing these vehicles became a social media trend in 2021, according to HLDI, as car thieves began posting videos of their thefts and joyrides and even videos explaining how to steal the cars. In Wisconsin, where the crimes first became prevalent, theft claims of Hyundais and Kias spiked to more than 30 times 2019 levels in dollar terms.

“State Farm has temporarily stopped writing new business in some states for certain model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles because theft losses for these vehicles have increased dramatically,” the insurer said in a statement provided to CNN. “This is a serious problem impacting our customers and the entire auto insurance industry.”

Progressive is also cutting back on insuring these cars in some markets, spokesman Jeff Sibel said in an emailed statement.

“During the past year we’ve seen theft rates for certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles more than triple and in some markets these vehicles are almost 20 times more likely to be stolen than other vehicles,” he wrote. “Given that we price our policies based on the level of risk they represent, this explosive increase in thefts in many cases makes these vehicles extremely challenging for us to insure. In response, in some geographic areas we have increased our rates and limited our sale of new insurance policies on some of these models.”

Progressive continues to insure those who already have policies with the company, he said. Progressive is also providing them with advice on how to protect their vehicles from theft.

Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, said it was very unusual for auto insurers to simply stop writing new policies on a given make or model of vehicle.

“They generally want to expand their market share depending on where they’re doing business,” he said.

Hyundai and Kia operate as separate companies in the United States, but Hyundai Motor Group owns a large stake in Kia and various Hyundai and Kia models share much of their engineering.

Engine immobilizers are now standard on all Kia and Hyundai vehicles, the companies said in separate statements. Both automakers also said they are developing security software for vehicles that were not originally equipped with an immobilizer. Kia said it has begun notifying owners of the availability of this software, which will be provided at no charge. Hyundai said its free software free update will be available next month.

Hyundai also said it is providing free steering wheel locks to some police departments around the country to give local residents who have Hyundai models that could be easily stolen. Hyundai dealers are also selling and installing security kits for the vehicles, the company said.

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(CNN) — General Motors makes a big deal out of the Ultium battery technology underpinning its new and upcoming electric vehicles like the Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer EV and the Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup. But the GM EV that’s a hit with customers right now is, ironically, the Bolt, a model that was first introduced back in 2016 and that doesn’t use the new Ultium battery packs GM boasts about in its newer models.

As electric cars go, the Bolt is getting old. In fact, the Bolt has bounced back in a big way from a major crisis last year, when GM had to halt production because of an issue that could lead to battery fires in some cases. Customers were also warned to treat their battery packs gently and to avoid charging their cars indoors until the issue was resolved. CNN Business even questioned, earlier this year, whether GM might be about to “pull the plug on the Bolt.“

Then, in April, with the battery issue resolved, and gas prices coincidentally spiking, GM restarted Bolt production. Sales took off like a Corvette Z06 in Launch Mode. The Bolt EV and its new, more SUV-like sibling the Bolt EUV had record sales in the third quarter of the year with 14,000 being delivered to customers. Sales have come back so strongly, in fact, that GM now plans to increase production from 44,000 Bolts this year to 70,000 next year.

The Bolt still sells in far lower numbers than the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, as Tesla accounts for just under two-thirds of the EVs sold in America, but the Bolt is the best-selling non-Tesla EV in the US. It even outsells the Tesla flagships, the Model S and Model X, according to a recent report from Kelley Blue Book.

“I would say the people that are getting the Bolt are probably just people who grind every day on their commute looking to save money on gas,” said Brian Moody, executive editor of AutoTrader.com. “Well, you can’t save money on gas if you spend $70,000 on the car.”

The average electric vehicle sold in America costs about $76,000, according to data from Edmunds.com. The Bolt’s closest competitor, in terms of price, is the Nissan Leaf, but the Leaf sells in much smaller numbers. In both vehicles, though, the most attractive feature is probably that low price.

Last summer, GM announced it was dropping the price of the Bolt EV to just under $27,000, a 27% drop from before the recall. That turned the Bolt into America’s cheapest electric vehicle. Prices for the new Bolt EUV, which is taller and roomier, dropped to a base of about $28,200, $6,300 less than before. For the 2023 model year, price dropped again. The 2023 Bolt EV now has a starting price of $25,600 and, for the Bolt EUV, $27,200. (Meanwhile, GM is offering cash incentives on those more expensive 2022 model year vehicles.)

The Leaf has a starting price of about $28,000, but the Leaf is still eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit that is not available for the Bolt. It’s unclear if the Bolt will, once again, be eligible for tax credits when the full terms of the Inflation Reduction Act come into force in January.

Pent up demand from the months-long factory shutdown in April helped boost sales earlier in the year, said Bradford Franz, director of marketing for Chevrolet. But the price drops also helped a lot, he said, as did the introduction of some new design and trim features for the 2023 model year, like a sporty-looking “Redline” package for the EUV.

An overall increase in electric vehicles certainly also helped. In the US, EV sales rose 67% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to Kelley Blue Book’s report.

As with other cars, even the inexpensive Bolts get much more pricier when options are added. A 2022 Bolt EUV Premium recently tested by CNN Business had a sticker price around $43,000, before incentives. It had things like heated and cooled front seats, wireless phone charging and wireless Apple CarPlay, and Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free highway driver-assist system.

It did not have all-wheel-drive, though. Despite being SUV-like, the Bolt EUV is only available with front-wheel-drive. Its EPA-estimated driving range on a full charge of 247 miles — 12 miles less than the Bolt EV — is good for the price, but it’s not amazing compared to more expensive EVs. Perhaps of more concern might be its maximum “fast charging” speed of just 55 kilowatts which means that, at a fast charger, Bolt owners can add up to 100 miles of range in 30 minutes while some other EVs can take in far more energy more quickly.

While it’s not exactly exciting to drive, the Bolt EUV is a respectable and practical vehicle with ample storage space in the back and surprisingly roomy backseats. Like many electric cars, it can be driven “one pedal” style, with the car braking gently as the accelerator pedal is lifted. That feature can be turned on and off, in case you want to coast like a regular car. Overall, though, the car’s interior materials and overall feel, which are fine for a $30,000 car, don’t quite match what buyers might otherwise get in cars costing over $40,000.

The Bolt was mildly redesigned for the 2022 model year, around the same time the EUV version was added to the lineup. It got a a slightly new look around the front and back ends, plus a few added features including the availability of that Super Cruise technology. Still, the Bolt is based on older engineering, which has helped keep its price down.

The Bolt being based on that old EV engineering means that GM is still making money on vehicle development work that was done years ago, said Moody. Hence, the low prices and, from that, renewed popularity. For customers who don’t need the latest stuff, it’s a good fit.

“I think they did the math and the math says there’s enough people that want that that it could be worthwhile,” said Moody.

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With travelers staying close to home and airports turned into virtual ghost towns, rental car companies have taken a huge hit during the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday Hertz, which also operates the Dollar and Thrifty agencies, declared bankruptcy. Industry experts expect the company to sell off a large portion of its fleet.

And that should bring about some deals car shoppers might very well want to consider, experts say.

Deep discounts

Even when we were not in an economic crisis, shoppers could often find a good deal on a used car at one of the major car rental agencies, including Hertz, Avis or Enterprise.

Rental car companies routinely sell off cars, usually after a year or two of service. For instance, Enterprise, which also operates the Alamo and National brands, sells a million used cars a year globally, according to a spokeswoman.

And they often sell these cars online with no-haggle pricing and at a significant discount to other used car sellers.

When Ivan Drury, an auto industry analyst with Edmunds.com, sought to buy a used car last year he purchased a 2018 Ford Fusion Hybrid from Avis.

He had previously done an analysis of used car prices in 2017 for his job and found, to his surprise, that rental car companies were selling their own used cars at much lower prices than other used car dealers. Depending on the specific model, buying directly from a rental company rather than a used car dealer could save anywhere from 5% to 15%, he found.

“In some instances,” he said, “the discounts are just so good, I was kind of floored.”

Take advantage of tryout periods

All of the major car rental companies — Hertz, Enterprise, Alamo Avis, Budget and others — list their used rental cars for sale on their web sites. Shoppers can search inventories and test drives are usually much more generous than you’ll find at typical used car dealers. Drury said he was able to take his car out for hours before deciding to buy it.

Hertz will even bring the car to you for a test drive if you live within 75 miles of one of their rental locations.

Shoppers can also “rent to own” a car. Hertz’s Rent2Buy program offers three-day rentals for prospective buyers who can then buy the car if they like it. Enterprise offers a seven-day buy back period on its used cars. During that week, the car can be returned for the purchase price, minus a $200 restocking fee, according to the company’s website.

But is the car in good shape?

The idea of buying a used rental car makes some people uneasy. The car may have had a brutal life. Renters have little incentive to treat a car gently, the thinking goes. Rental cars also often drive more miles in a year than cars owned or leased by an individual.

On the other hand, rental car companies have an incentive to maintain the cars well to preserve as much value in them as possible and to make sure their customers don’t have issues with them.

Potential buyers should take advantage of the long try-out periods to get the car inspected by a mechanic and make sure it has no hidden issues, said Jon Linkov, an editor with Consumer Reports magazine. Rental companies do offer “certified” used car programs and promise thorough inspections. But it’s still always better to get an independent inspection, Linkov said.

Shoppers should also research vehicles just as they would before buying any used car, said Linkov. Some used cars are just better and more reliable than others no matter where they’re purchased.

He also recommends buying from one of the major rental car companies rather than a smaller operation. That’s because smaller rental car companies may be selling cars that were already used when they bought them.

Check out your financing options

Shoppers should also research their financing options before buying, Linkov said.

Again, that’s always a good practice regardless of where you’re buying the car. The rental companies often have good financing options for customers with excellent credit — Avis, for instance, is offering 0% down and no payments for 45 days — but you might do even better on your own working with a bank or credit union.

Hertz and Avis Budget Group did not return requests seeking answers to specific questions about their operations.

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General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler will begin to gradually restart their US factories Monday, with some big changes put in place to help protect workers from the coronavirus.

At Ford 59,000 factory workers, about 80% of the workforce, are expected to show up for work, according to the company. At GM, about 15,000 of the company’s 48,000 factory workers are expected to report to work on Monday, with more expected to report in coming weeks as the ramp up in production continues, a spokesperson for the company said. Meanwhile, about a third of Fiat Chrysler’s hourly workforce, or about 16,000, are expected to start Monday, according to the company.

The workplaces they will be returning to will look somewhat different from the ones they left in mid-March.

“We work really hard at imagining a world with Covid-19 in an assembly plant,” said Ford CEO Jim Hackett in an interview with CNN Friday. “So they have lots of consideration, of course, for social distancing. We used to have two people, for example, that would be inside the vehicle as it’s going down the assembly line. We stopped that.”

All three companies have said they would thoroughly and frequently clean facilities and allot extra time between work shifts to do so. At Ford, for instance, factories that had been running on three shifts, or essentially around the clock, will work on two shifts to allow extra time for cleaning. At Fiat Chrysler factories, 10 minutes per shift will be allotted for cleaning.

The automakers said they will also screen employees with questionnaires before they leave for work and administer temperature checks as they enter plants or other facilities.

Employees who have recently been exposed to someone with the coronavirus or exhibit a high temperature or other Covid-19-related symptoms will be sent to local clinics for testing before they are allowed to return to work.

While in factories, employees will work at least six feet apart from one another whenever possible, the companies said. Employee workstations will be separated by clear plastic panels. Workers will also wear surgical-style face masks and clear plastic face shields or goggles whenever they’re required to work close to one another. Ford will also be testing watches that warn wearers if they get too close to someone who is also wearing one of the devices, Hackett said.

All three companies will also make changes to how “common areas,” such as dining areas, are used in order to keep employees apart from one another. Fiat Chrysler shared an image of a break area table that normally seats six that now has plastic dividers that reduce its seating to three.

These practices are based, in part, on the experiences at the companies’ factories that have reopened in Asia and Europe.

“Absolutely, I would feel comfortable sending my family to work at Ford,” Ford’s chief operating officer, Jim Farley, said recently when asked how confident he felt in the steps the company was taking.

Both Ford and GM have also been operating a few plants in the US in order to make personal protective equipment and ventilators for healthcare workers. Ford has also been manufacturing face masks for its own workers around the world. Both companies also have some warehouses operating to distribute parts for repairs. Workers at those US plants have been trying out the safety protocols and equipment that will go into wider use in the US as factories reopen.

Employees at Ford’s currently operating US plants will be sharing their experiences with other employees. Among other things, they will describe what it’s like working with masks and face shields on and the best ways to wear and use them, said Kiersten Robinson, Ford’s chief human resources officer.

CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich contributed to this report.

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Ford plans to make as many as 50,000 simple ventilators for coronavirus patients within 100 days and plans to continue producing 30,000 per month after that, the company announced Monday.

The automaker said it will make the ventilators at its Rawsonville Components Plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The factory will be staffed by 500 United Auto Workers union members who have volunteered to work on the project, Ford said.

The ventilator is currently being made by Florida-based Airon Corp. and has been licensed by GE Healthcare. Ford has been working with GE Healthcare to help it increase its ventilator output.

The Airon Model A-E ventilator that Ford will produce operates on air pressure alone and requires no electricity. Airon currently makes three of the ventilators per day at its factory in Melbourne, Florida. Ford’s plant will produce the ventilators around the clock with three shifts of workers, Ford said, and it will make 7,200 of the devices per week.

Ford is also working with GE Healthcare to increase GE’s own production of its more advanced ventilators. It’s also working on designing a simplified GE Healthcare ventilator device that Ford could also produce.

Other automakers have also vowed to help manufacture ventilators on a large scale. General Motors is partnering with another ventilator maker, Ventec Life Systems, to help increase Ventec’s production. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he plans to manufacture ventilators at a Tesla plant in Buffalo, though the company has not shared details about that effort.

A few other companies, including Dyson in the United Kingdom, are also designing new ventilators and pledging to help traditional medical supply manufacturers ramp up their production.

On Monday, Virgin Orbit announced it was also seeking to produce ventilators, making it one of the first aerospace companies to get involved. The California-based rocket startup said it has been working with UCI Health, a California research hospital, and the University of Texas at Austin, to create a prototype for a so-called “bridge” ventilator — a simple device that the company says can be quickly manufactured on a large scale.

Kevin Zagorski, an engineer who typically works on rocket engine design, is heading up Virgin Orbit’s ventilator manufacturing efforts. He said that if the bridge ventilator design gets approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its design in the coming days, Virgin Orbit could soon begin producing hundreds or thousands of the ventilators per week at its Los Angeles factory. The company also plans to share the ventilator designs with other manufacturers in aerospace and other industries, who may be able to take up production as well.

Bridge ventilators could be used to treat some of the less critically ill Covid-19 patients in order to free up more sophisticated ventilators for those in dire need, Virgin Orbit said.

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