Trade News

A 50-year-old woman has been charged with felony embezzlement for allegedly stealing about $71,000 from a Toyota dealership in Philadelphia, Miss., local station WTOK reported. Philadelphia is in central Mississippi, northeast of Jackson.

Latisha Jones Smith was formerly the comptroller for Doc's Toyota, according to WTOK. Smith had been let go by Doc's Toyota on Jan. 5 for undisclosed reasons unrelated to the embezzlement charges, WTOK reported. The store had been auditing its books in the intervening months, according to WTOK.

Doc's Toyota and Smith declined to comment. .

Smith might be facing additional charges in Louisville, Miss., from when the dealership was located there. Sean Holdiness, chief of the Louisville Police Department, told Automotive News that charges are likely to be filed against Smith upon completion of their investigation.

Smith has since posted bail, WTOK reported.

The northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang is considering buying a stake in Hong Kong-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings, giving it exposure to a local joint venture with BMW Group, according to people familiar with the situation.

The municipal government is discussing a potential acquisition of a 30 percent stake in Brilliance China held by state-backed Brilliance Automotive Group Holdings Co., which is in a court-led restructuring process, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is confidential.

A 30 percent stake in Brilliance China is worth about $588 million based on the company’s current market value of around HK$15.4 billion ($2 billion). Shares of Brilliance China closed 2.7 percent higher after climbing as much as 5.1 percent following the Bloomberg News report.

Shenyang is considering eventually acquiring control of all of Brilliance China, the people said. Buying a stake of 30 percent or more in a Hong Kong-lis…

New UAW President Shawn Fain is singling out Stellantis, saying the union’s relationship with the automaker is “fractured.” Jaguar Land Rover is now just JLR as it reorganizes for a new era. Plus, Informed.IQ’s Jessica Gonzalez talks about leveraging AI in the auto lending industry for credit decisions and loan servicing.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

Android

Spotify

UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday said the union's relationship with Stellantis has been "fractured" by the company's decision to indefinitely idle its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, with the future of the facility a likely flashpoint in upcoming contract negotiations.

"When the CEO of the company can fly over here and go to our plants and threaten our members about future product and absenteeism but can't take the time to reach out to us and have discussions with us, that's a problem," Fain said in an virtual interview with the Automotive Press Association in Detroit. "Meanwhile, we have plant closing moratoriums in our contracts; it's a flat-out black and white violation, what they're doing right now. When they take actions like that that hurt our members, things aren't going to be good."

Fain said he has not met with Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares but has delivered stern warnings to other company executives. He stopped short, however, of saying the u…

Elon Musk is counting on full-self driving and other new technologies and vehicles at Tesla Inc. continue to drive the electric carmaker's value far beyond its automotive rivals. 

Some analysts and investors worry that Tesla's industry-leading market valuation is threatened by factors including price cuts that have undermined its margins, delays in rolling out new models and revisions to its full self-driving software. 

"Tesla faces an increasingly uphill battle to secure its competitive position, which makes its current valuation look even more unrealistic," said David Trainer, CEO of investment research firm New Constructs. "The Tesla bull case has centered around the company's growth goals, which it is failing to meet." 

Tesla's stock, which dropped 9.75 percent to $162.99 on Thursday, is valued at about 43 times expected earnings, down from astronomical levels above 200 times in 2021, according to Refinitiv data. Even after that drop,…

A West Coast auto retailer bought and sold dealerships, a dealer acquired his first Ford store, a group grew to three stores and two brothers expanded their holdings, all in transactions that closed in the second and fourth quarters of 2022 and the first quarter this year.

Here's a look at the deals involving import and domestic stores and dealerships in Montana, Washington, Texas, Massachusetts and Iowa.

Campbell Auto buys one store, divests anotherCampbell Auto Group ventured outside of Washington for the first time with its latest acquisition, while also recently selling a Seattle area dealership.

Campbell Auto, of Edmonds, Wash., north of Seattle, on June 1 bought Billion Kia of Missoula in Montana from Billion Automotive, according to Kurt Campbell, who co-owns the Campbell group with his brother, Craig.

"My brother fell in love with Montana," Kurt Campbell told Automotive News. "And then this Kia opportunity came up and we decided to go for…

The two existing Hyundai and Kia U.S. factories could play a key role in Hyundai Motor Group's strategy to localize electric vehicle production ahead of the 2025 opening of its massive $5.5 billion Metaplant in Georgia.

Six new models for Hyundai, Genesis and sibling Kia will come from the EV and battery complex under construction outside Savannah.

Jose Muñoz, CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America, told Automotive News at the New York auto show this month that all of the EVs Hyundai and Genesis will sell by 2030, which are expected to account for half of its sales, will be built in the U.S.

The Metaplant will have the capacity to build up to 500,000 EVs depending on demand, but its opening is still two years away. In the meantime, Hyundai Motor Group is mobilizing the plants it already operates in the U.S.

Last spring, Hyundai's plant in Montgomery, Ala., underwent a $300 million upgrade that lasted five months to add a battery installat…

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp.'s CEO on Friday gave a stark assessment of the Japanese automaker's work ahead in China, saying it must move faster as competition in the world's biggest auto market surges.

Toyota is under pressure in China from local brands such as BYD Co. that have moved aggressively in tapping into the country's growing market for battery-powered and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

"We need to increase our speed and efforts to firmly meet the customer expectations in the Chinese market," Toyota CEO Koji Sato, said during a roundtable interview with members of the foreign media in Tokyo.

"Considering the impact of the Shanghai motor show, I believe China will become an advanced market for EVs."

The world's biggest automaker by sales used the Shanghai auto show this week to unveil two new EVs, a move that will double the number of EVs it markets in China under its mainstream brand.

The company said this month it will la…

Polestar will take over part of Saab's former car plant in Sweden to extend its R&D operations in Europe.

The EV maker will conduct powertrain development for the Polestar 5, a Tesla Model S rival, and the Polestar 6 roadster at a 15,000-square-meter building in Trollhattan, Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche reported.

Polestar will also test powertrains, electric motors and batteries for the upcoming models at the new R&D center.

Polestar will rent the building from the city of Trollhattan, Automobilwoche said.

The site was previously used for powertrain development by Saab and then by National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS).

Saab collapsed in 2011 and NEVS closed down last month.

Polestar also has R&D facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden, which is about 90 km south of Trollhattan, and in Coventry, England. In England the automaker is developing its own lightweight bonded-aluminum platform that will un…

Maserati wants to give customers the luxury of choice amid the industry's shift to electric vehicles.

The new Grecale crossover, with its numerous powertrain offerings, is a prime example of this approach.

The Grecale, which arrived in the U.S. in late 2022, has two mild-hybrid trims and a high-performance conventional gasoline model with a 523-hp V-6 engine derived from Maserati's MC20 supercar. The next step for the Grecale is full electrification, and when that version arrives in the fourth quarter, it will be the Italian brand's first electric crossover.

The story is the same across Maserati's portfolio, with a mix of internal combustion engines that includes V-8 entries and a promise of broader electrification.

Maserati is not a large brand, but the support from parent company Stellantis has enabled it to pursue such a varied slate.

"The only reason we can do this is because we're part of Stellantis," Maserati Americas CEO William Pef…

DETROIT — The development of a new, nonlinear supply chain will be key to unlocking hundreds of billions of dollars in potential annual revenue from software, industry executives said on a panel at SAE's World Congress.

The traditional supplier tier model is "falling apart," said Maria Anhalt, CEO of software specialist Elektrobit. As automakers look to develop software-defined vehicles, they're increasingly working directly with software providers or tech companies instead of relying solely on traditional Tier 1 suppliers, she said.

"Many OEMs or tech giants come directly to us to start collaborating or co-developing something," she said during a Wednesday panel. "It's not like a tier hierarchy anymore. It's not a chain. It's a graph that can be pulled in both directions."

Industry executives expect much of the value of future vehicle models to stem from software products and services instead of simply the initial sale of the vehicle. Investment bank U…

A conversation with Lincoln’s new president Dianne Craig, who says the brand needs fewer dealers and a more flexible EV strategy. Plus, income drops for AutoNation and Ally in the first quarter, and profits fall for Tesla.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

Android

Spotify