Trade News

At first glance, Akio Toyoda seems woefully out of sync with today's carbon-obsessed world when he fires up his GR Corolla race car and tears off down the straightaway at Fuji Speedway.

But even in an era all charged up about electrification, the Toyota Motor Corp. chairman insists his roaring, combustion-powered hot rod is just as gentle on the environment as any electric vehicle.

Why? Because its turbocharged 1.6-liter three-banger slurps up clean-burning, zero-emission hydrogen, not carbon-laden gasoline. Toyoda has been putting the technology through its paces since 2021 as his company joins an increasingly pitched global battle against carbon dioxide.

Automakers, suppliers, labor unions and governments may debate the best and fastest ways to mitigate emissions of this greenhouse gas and blunt its impact on the global climate. But there is one matter few disagree on, and the Toyota boss best sums up that zeitgeist: "Carbon is our enemy."

Not…

Automakers have sent retailers enough new vehicles to restore a 30-day supply to three major publicly traded auto groups, based on first-quarter earnings reports.

"New-car inventory is building," Sonic Automotive Inc. President Jeff Dyke said on the company's first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, April 27.

One auto group saw the time for increased incentive spending drawing near, while another reported discounting well-stocked vehicles below sticker.

However, some brands remain severely tight on inventory, according to public group executives, with more than one company singling out Toyota as in scant supply.

"As we look to May, the asymmetrical market positions of each manufacturer could become more apparent," Thomas King, president of J.D. Power data and analytics, said in a statement Thursday. "Brands with higher inventory levels may participate in the tradition of Memorial Day promotions and discounts to generate sales, while other …

Under pressure from their customers to decarbonize, automotive suppliers are rethinking how they design, build and dispose of their products and are making changes to their operations so that they can become more sustainable.

The changes range from relatively small tweaks, such as installing more eco-friendly lighting in offices, to completely altering the types of products they build or where they build them.

Here are examples of how suppliers are changing their ways to become better environmental stewards.

Forvia, the world's seventh-largest parts supplier, in November launched a brand, Materi'act, focused on the development and manufacturing of sustainable materials. It makes products ranging from green steel and sustainable carbon fibers to compounds created from recycled and bio-based materials. Those materials include an alternative to leather made of pineapple fibers, as well as compounds developed with hemp and its agricultural byproducts…

Creditors holding about 90 percent of Carvana Co.'s bonds have been pitching the beleaguered used-car company on ways to pare down debt and improve liquidity, including a proposal for a debt-for-equity swap, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

The group, represented by White & Case and PJT Partners, recently offered to swap a substantial amount of unsecured notes for equity in Carvana, the people said, asking not to be named discussing a private matter. The bondholders also said they would allow the company to pay some of its interest with additional debt, a feature known as payment-in-kind.

The proposal isn't final and terms could change. Carvana has not formally engaged with the group's offers, the people added, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.

Bondholders had earlier signaled their interest in moving their existing unsecured positions into new first-lien debt and allowing the company to pay interest in k…

When Craig Courtney became finance director in 2017 for Taylor Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Bourbonnais, Ill., about 55 miles south of Chicago, his vacation days often were spent leading church mission trips to the Dominican Republic.

With just one full-time F&I manager and one assistant, no department guidelines and a dot matrix printer, Courtney wanted to ensure his department was prepared to handle the dealership's F&I operations anytime he was in the Caribbean with no cell service. So Courtney wrote and printed an 18-page manual on everything — from how to book a sale and lease to detailed updates on every open deal. He told his two staffers: "It's just so you don't get lost."

In late 2019, Courtney further regulated his store's F&I operations introducing e-contracting to speed up contracts in transit and Darwin digital F&I menus to make the sales process more consumer-friendly.

With updated systems and a new F&a…

Lucid Motor's Gravity crossover is heading into a new phase of development before its 2024 launch. The luxury three-row electric vehicle will begin testing in camouflage on U.S. roads, the automaker said.

New images reveal the Gravity's visual similarity to the highly aerodynamic Air sedan that's been on sale since late 2021. Lucid has promised to set records for range and efficiency with its first crossover.

The EV maker, which has said preorders for the Air are falling, is expected to open order books for the Gravity in the first half of this year. Pricing has not been announced. The Air starts at $89,050 with shipping.

"This luxury electric SUV will offer comfortable seating for up to seven adults and their gear, the driving dynamics of a sports car, and greater electric range than any SUV," Lucid said in a statement.

Derek Jenkins, Lucid's senior vice president of design, said last month that the Gravity would have…

Land Rover is expanding the Defender 130 lineup for 2024 with a new trim, the Outbound.

Also, a thumping 493-hp supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 will be optional for some models of both the 110 and the 130.

The Outbound, powered by JLR’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine, is a luxurious five-seat version of the long-wheelbase Defender that offers 88.85 cubic feet of storage space behind the second row of seats, a cargo area designed to hold camping gear, wetsuits and other off-road excursion items. The Defender 130 Outbound starts at $85,975 including shipping.

A flat tire helped Phil Almas pump up his technician ranks.

Serge Akilimali's Volkswagen had a flat tire in the impound lot across from Ganley Subaru in Wickliffe, Ohio, where Almas has been service director for more than seven years. When Akilimali asked if he could get his flat fixed, Almas learned the Congo immigrant was a service technician at a local Toyota dealership.

Like most service directors, Almas is always on the lookout for new wrench turners. The 12 technicians working in Ganley Subaru's service department handle around 65 repair orders a day, six days a week.

"After talking with him, I had him fill out an application and eventually hired him," Almas said. "His work ethic is out of this world."

Akilimali had attended an Ohio automotive technical college but still had much to learn. He's now working to get his certification as a master tech. But Almas recognized the young man had drive and an eagerness to …

Mary Barra's total compensation in nine years as CEO of General Motors has surpassed $200 million.

Barra received a pay package worth just less than $29 million in 2022, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. That made her the highest-paid Detroit 3 CEO for an eighth consecutive year.

Barra, 61, earned 0.5 percent less last year than she did in 2021. Her salary was unchanged at $2.1 million, option awards increased 24 percent to $4.9 million and nonequity incentive compensation declined 18 percent to $6.3 million. Stock awards, which account for the majority of Barra's compensation, increased 0.3 percent to $14.6 million.

In determining her pay, GM's board of directors noted that the company achieved records for adjusting pretax earnings, global revenue and profit-sharing for hourly workers, according to the filing.

Barra's compensation topped the $25.6 million that Stellantis shareho…

California regulators on Friday approved new rules requiring all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state in 2036 be zero-emission, a day after the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted reduced emission regulations for locomotives.

"With these actions requiring all new heavy-duty truck sales to be zero emission and tackling train pollution in our state, we're one step closer to achieving healthier neighborhoods and cleaner air for all Californians," said Governor Gavin Newsom.

The rule also require transitioning existing fleets to zero-emission vehicles. Big rigs, local delivery and government fleets must transition to zero emission by 2035, garbage trucks and local buses by 2039, and sleeper cab tractors and specialty vehicles by 2042.

The board estimates the reduced pollution from the truck rules would result in $26.6 billion in health savings from fewer asthma attacks, emergency room visits and respiratory illnesses, and save $48 bil…

General Motors plans to build a $200 million electric vehicle parts plant that would create 1,000 new jobs and support assembly of the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV.

The project would cover 87.3 acres of the site where the Detroit Pistons' former arena was demolished in 2020. It would consist of 1.05 million square feet of EV parts assembly and distribution space, plus about 50,000 square feet of office space, according to documents filed with the city of Auburn Hills, Mich., whose planning commission will consider the proposal next week.

It would serve GM's nearby Orion Assembly plant, which currently builds the Chevrolet Bolt EV but is getting a $4 billion overhaul for electric pickup production to begin in 2024.

The EV parts plant would have about 350 workers per shift, according to the city documents. Draft plans for the project were presented to the city in July.

Construction would begin this July and be completed in November 2024.

Online used-vehicle retailer Vroom Inc. said this week it reduced its headcount by approximately 120 employees, or about 11 percent of its Vroom-specific work force.

The reduction is included as part of an "organizational restructuring" that Vroom has implemented amid a reexamination of "all facets of the business," the company said in a Wednesday regulatory filing. Vroom employed 1,323 employees as of Dec. 31, 2022, according to its latest annual report. However, that total declined in January when the retailer reduced its headcount by approximately 275 employees.

Vroom has tied the employee reductions to its pursuit of executing a long-term, cost-cutting-focused business plan it shifted to last year.

"The decision to reduce staff this week, while difficult, is consistent with our commitment to our long-term roadmap and objectives for the year to prioritize unit economics and growth, improve our customer experience, reduce cost per unit and maximize li…