Autonews - Current Issue

• newInside the messy problem called Ghosn's ‘haircut'
  Testimony in the Tokyo trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly claims former CEO Carlos Ghosn was afraid of being fired if the world learned how high his income was.
  - 33 mins ago 24 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• newBiden redirects course on emissions standards
  The new president's order directs the Department of Transportation and the EPA to reconsider the Trump administration's 2019 decision to revoke California's authority to restrict tailpipe emissions and review fuel-efficiency standards by July.
  - 33 mins ago 24 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• newWho’s who at Stellantis
  See the entire roster of top 43 executives, with photos, titles and their roots to either PSA or FCS.
  - 33 mins ago 24 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• NTSB says automakers need to better arm emergency responders
  Crash investigators are increasingly concerned about the risks lithium ion batteries pose.
  - 1 day ago 23 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• EV design for Japan's tight turns
  Toyota returns its electric efforts to Japan with the C+Pod, a two-seat battery-powered runabout it says paves a new road in EV micromobility.
  - 1 day ago 23 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• GM, Unifor go from strife to ‘right solutions’
  Since November GM and Unifor have agreed to new contracts that include up to $1.8 billion in new investments in the automaker's Canadian assembly plants.
  - 1 day ago 23 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• Dealer anniversaries
  40 with BMWJay Wyatt, left, dealer principal of Valley Auto World BMW in Fayetteville, N.C., receives a 40-year award from Neil Ashton, area manager for BMW of North America. 25 with Chevrolet, Cadillac, BuickMike Molstead, left, president o…
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 5:00am -

Autonews - Dealers

• Hank Aaron, baseball Hall of Famer and former Georgia auto dealer, dies at 86

  

  The legendary home run king for several years owned an Atlanta-based auto group with BMW, Mini, Honda, Toyota, Jaguar and Land Rover franchises.
  - 1 day ago 22 Jan 21, 7:39pm -
• CarLotz shares start trading after reverse merger

  

  The company began trading shares Friday under the "LOTZ" ticker symbol. CarLotz CEO Michael Bor said going public should help raise the online used-car retailer's profile and visibility.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 3:13pm -
• CarGurus promotes finance chief Jason Trevisan to CEO

  

  Founder and former CEO Langley Steinert will now be executive chairman of the expanding vehicle listings company.
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 11:45pm -
• Early EV adopters likely to buy another, J.D. Power finds

  

  The study found that the likelihood for EV owners to purchase another EV from the same brand lessens as satisfaction declines.
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 8:02pm -
• Cadillac to take 500 reservations for Blackwing sedans

  

  The GM luxury brand will start accepting $1,000 deposits after revealing the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing sedans Feb. 1.
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 6:03pm -
• Former NADA President Leon Edwards dies at 89

  

  Edwards, a Chevrolet dealer from Birmingham, Ala., was NADA president in 1995.
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 10:56pm -
• VW ends Golf production in Mexico

  

  The higher-priced Golf R and Golf GTI will continue in the U.S. for the 2022 model year, imported from Germany. The base-model Golf hatchback will be phased out in the U.S.
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 9:31pm -

• Chase secures Rivian as latest private label partner

  

  This is Chase's first direct-to-consumer private-label automaker partnership.
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 6:03pm -
• Biden's pick for CFPB chief outspoken about enhanced regs for dealers

  

  Rohit Chopra aired his views on indirect auto lending as part of the case the FTC pursued against New York dealership Bronx Honda.
  - 4 days ago 20 Jan 21, 4:59pm -
• Mass. dealership group to pay $1 million in unemployment scheme settlement

  

  The state's attorney general alleges Colonial Automotive Group furloughed sales employees last spring and then asked them to complete some unpaid work while they received unemployment benefits.
  - 4 days ago 20 Jan 21, 11:51am -

Autonews - Europe News

• newRenault adds a second EV platform, for smaller cars

  

  The Renault-Nissan Alliance CMF-B architecture is being modified to accept batteries. The first models to use the platform will be the Renault 5 and an EV for the automaker's Alpine sporty brand. 
  - 22 hours ago 23 Jan 21, 8:00am -
• Pandemic 'scars' will not heal quickly, European suppliers say

  

  More supply chain disruptions, factory lockdowns and border closures are threats until mass vaccinations occur, industry group CLEPA said. But there are reasons for optimism, including billions in COVID-19 relief and consumer savings that have yet t…
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 3:59pm -
• Volvo will triple EV output at Belgium plant

  

  Volvo estimates that by 2022 EVs will account for about 60 percent of the Ghent factory's total production capacity. 
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 2:15pm -
• UK seeks right result for Vauxhall plant as Stellantis decision looms

  

  The UK's business minister said the government was keen to secure further investment at the Astra plant in Ellesmere Port after Carlos Tavares said the automaker was weighing whether to build EVs in Britain.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 1:15pm -
• UK, not Nissan, gains most from Brexit deal

  

  The UK stands to gain from a shift in battery production from the U.S. to Britain with the likely creation of jobs, while Nissan looks as though it was left with no choice.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 11:24am -
• VW Group operating profit drops by half in 2020

  

  The automaker, whose brands include Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Skoda and Seat, said a robust sales recovery in the second half helped earnings.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 11:09am -
• Peugeot brand names Micheron as product director

  

  Jerome Micheron, who held a similar position at the overall PSA Group, will replace Laurent Blanchet, who moves from the Peugeot brand to become director of market intelligence at Stellanis.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 7:50am -

• Nissan to source more UK batteries after Brexit deal

  

  Brexit has become an opportunity for Nissan, according to the automaker's chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 7:43am -
• Stellantis synergies will 'shield' Fiat's Italian factories, Tavares says

  

  Fiat's European plants will be benchmarked against PSA factories to help improve quality and lower costs but Tavares repeated to Italian unions a pledge that no plants would be closed as a result of the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 6:02am -
• 38 executives to report directly to Tavares at Stellantis

  

  CEO Carlos Tavares will have an unusually large number of direct reports at Stellantis. He says that digital tools developed in the pandemic will make it possible to govern the far-flung group, which will sell cars in more than 130 countries.
  - 2 days ago 22 Jan 21, 6:02am -

Autonews - Marketing

• Washington Auto Show postponed amid ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

  

  The event was scheduled to run March 26 through April 4 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation's capital.
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 8:33pm -
• Early EV adopters likely to buy another, J.D. Power finds

  

  The study found that the likelihood for EV owners to purchase another EV from the same brand lessens as satisfaction declines.
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 8:02pm -
• Cadillac to take 500 reservations for Blackwing sedans

  

  The GM luxury brand will start accepting $1,000 deposits after revealing the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwing sedans Feb. 1.
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 6:03pm -
• Subaru expands Feeding America donation, advertising

  

  The latest spot, which will run in 15- and 30-second formats and launches Thursday, fits into the marketing identity built around the idea of love that Subaru has fostered since 2008.
  - 3 days ago 21 Jan 21, 1:30pm -
• AN Research & Data Center adds more stats, insight

  

  Automotive News is partnering with an expanded roster of information partners to enhance its data center.
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• For his 90th birthday, a 4th Corvette

  

  Cecil Clark Chevrolet threw a birthday party for Chuck Cook when he took delivery of the store's first 2021 Corvette.
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 5:00am -
• 'Reverse early-bird special' alleviates Ariz. store's service problems

  

  Findlay Subaru Prescott began offering afternoon discounts on oil changes and other routine maintenance in an effort to combat morning backlogs in the service department.
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 12:18am -

• Ford ads stress unity following Capitol riot

  

  The spots, called "Builders," debut Saturday during college basketball on Fox and are the latest in Ford's "Built for America" series of commercials that began in 2020.
  - 8 days ago 16 Jan 21, 1:44pm -
• Ford's Matt VanDyke to become CEO of FordDirect

  

  VanDyke, currently Ford's director of marketing, will take over the digital lead-generating company Feb. 1.
  - 8 days ago 15 Jan 21, 9:05pm -
• Kia drops ‘Motors' from name on path to rebrand

  

  In changing its name to Kia Corp., from Kia Motors Corp., the company is reaching for a new identity that better reflects its push into new fields.
  - 9 days ago 15 Jan 21, 12:00am -

Detroit News - Auto Insider

• newAir bag recall to cost $610 million, Ford Motor Co. says

  

  The costly recall has hit many major automakers as federal regulators pull back the dangerous air bags.       
  - 5 hours ago 24 Jan 21, 12:50am -
• newPayne: American Speed Festival revs up Detroit fall autopalooza

  

  The inaugural American Festival of Speed will take place at M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Sept. 30-Oct. 3, completing a trifecta of fall Metro Detroit auto shows       
  - 8 hours ago 23 Jan 21, 9:47pm -
• Austria's car industry on rocky road to electrification

  

  The captains of Austria's automotive industry need to stop making combustion engines now in order to salvage greener electric growth by the end of the decade, according to a new government study.       
  - 1 day ago 23 Jan 21, 3:43am -
• SPAC deals propel electric carmakers to public markets

  

  Until June last year, Tesla Inc. was the only dedicated electric carmaker based in the U.S. on the stock market. Then special purpose acquisition companies took over Wall Street       
  - 1 day ago 23 Jan 21, 3:39am -
• VW posts $12.2B profit in show of pandemic resilience

  

  Volkswagen AG said a robust sales recovery toward the end of the year helped cushion annual results from the effects of the pandemic.       
  - 1 day ago 23 Jan 21, 3:33am -
• Ram to auction first 1500 TRX truck to support United Way for Southeastern Michigan

  

  Only 702 of this $88,570 special launch edition are being made in Sterling Heights; they were sold out in three hours       
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 10:08pm -
• Payne: Toyota Prius 2020 Edition celebrates 20 years as a electric icon

  

  The OG Toyota Prius turns 20. The geek's green car, its hybrid tech is more relevant than ever today.       
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 10:05pm -

• Car Radio, Episode 39, Pts 1/2: Fix/Brooke on NACTOY winners, Boyle/Elantra Car of Year, North on Detroit Auto Show, more

  

  Ep39: Fix/Brooke on NACTOY winners, Boyle, Hyundai Car of Year, North on Detroit Auto Show, Bronco Sport, Ram TRX, Acura TLX       
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 6:58pm -
• Buttigieg says he'll bring 'bottom-up' perspective to transportation policy as secretary

  

  Pete Buttigieg, Biden's nominee to lead the Dept. of Transportation, called for further investment in infrastructure under the new administration.       
  - 2 days ago 21 Jan 21, 6:50pm -
• Payne: Hyundai Sonata and Elantra N Line are fast, furious 'n' 'ffordable

  

  N for Nürburgring, and the track-tested, fun Hyundai Elantra and Sonata spice up the sedan segment.       
  - 3 days ago 21 Jan 21, 6:19am -
• Mercedes joins Tesla, VW in race to sell small electric cars

  

  Mercedes-Benz is taking on one of the most complex industry challenges with the rollout of its battery-powered EQA: selling small electric cars without a big profit squeeze.       
  - 3 days ago 21 Jan 21, 3:55am -
• Hyundai Sonata and Elantra N Line

  

  Good news, enthusiasts. The Performance Club has taken new members. Everyone raise their glass to the Hyundai N Line.       
  - 3 days ago 21 Jan 21, 3:03am -
• Corrupt UAW boss wore wire while playing golf with union brothers

  

  Edward "Nick" Robinson is portrayed as a pivotal figure in an investigation that has led to the convictions of 15 people and oversight of the UAW.       
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 10:59pm -
• Biden to tell U.S. agencies to review fuel efficiency standards, overturning Trump

  

  President Joe Biden is set to order U.S. agencies on Wednesday to review fuel efficiency standards, according to the president's transition team       
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 10:06pm -
• Payne: Hold on, Detroit 4Fest joins Metro Detroit's fall auto-palooza

  

  The auto show may be downsized for 2021, but late September is still shaping up to be an auto blowout in SE Michigan. Jeep to sponsor Detroit 4fest       
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 9:35pm -
• Edmunds: Top automotive tech at CES 2021

  

  Automakers appeared more reserved in their proclamations for the future at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show       
  - 3 days ago 20 Jan 21, 7:15pm -
• US probes complaints that Ford tailgate recall didn't work

  

  NHTSA says it has 11 complaints that a recall of power tailgates on 300,000 Super Duty pickups failed to rectify the issue       
  - 4 days ago 20 Jan 21, 3:31pm -
• US rejects Ford, Mazda requests to avoid Takata recalls

  

  The U.S. government's highway safety agency has rejected a request from Ford and Mazda to avoid recalling about 3 million vehicles       
  - 4 days ago 20 Jan 21, 3:26pm -
• GM, Cruise to partner with Microsoft for self-driving vehicles

  

  General Motors Co. and its autonomous partner Cruise LLC have entered long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft Corp., driving GM shares higher.       
  - 4 days ago 19 Jan 21, 9:18pm -
• Stellantis CEO says PSA-FCA merger is a 'shield' for auto jobs, but doesn't rule out cuts

  

  The combination creates the world's fourth-largest automaker by volume with roughly 400,000 employees       
  - 4 days ago 19 Jan 21, 8:55pm -
• EV truck maker Rivian receives $2.65B in latest investment round

  

  The Plymouth-based EV startup Rivian Automotive LLC said Tuesday it received $2.65 billion in its latest funding round.       
  - 5 days ago 19 Jan 21, 4:52pm -
• Stellantis shares close up in Europe on first day of trading

  

  STLA stock will begin trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange       
  - 5 days ago 18 Jan 21, 6:47pm -
• Auto CEO little known in Detroit takes over a $51 billion empire

  

  The newly-minted merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and PSA Group is poised to raise the global profile of an under-the-radar chief executive       
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 5:28pm -
• Canadian GM workers ratify contract for commercial electric van production

  

  Members of Local 88 on Sunday supported the proposal by 91%       
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 5:12pm -
• Why Stellantis makes some American autoworkers nervous

  

  But U.S. workers have less to worry about than their European counterparts when it comes to Stellantis NV, experts say       
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 5:01am -
• Audi delays some production, idles 10,000 workers due to chip shortage

  

  A global semiconductor shortage is forcing Audi to delay the production of some high-end cars and furlough workers.       
  - 6 days ago 18 Jan 21, 1:42am -
• Fiat Chrysler, Groupe PSA merger Stellantis closed Saturday. Here's what to expect

  

  It is the third time in as many decades that the old Chrysler Corp. and its brands will fall under the control of a foreign automaker       
  - 8 days ago 16 Jan 21, 2:24pm -
• Fiat Chrysler, Groupe PSA merge to become Stellantis

  

  Stellantis is the fourth-largest automaker in the world by volume with the scale to invest in future technologies       
  - 8 days ago 16 Jan 21, 11:13am -
• GM to build commercial EV van in Canada

  

  General Motors plans to build an electric delivery van at CAMI Assembly in Ontario       
  - 8 days ago 16 Jan 21, 4:16am -
• Lordstown Motors debuts electric truck

  

  Lordstown Motors debuts 'Endurance' electric truck      
  - 74 days ago 11 Nov 20, 2:59am -