Trade News

Lidar maker Luminar Technologies' new contract manufacturing facility is up and running ahead of schedule.

Expected to open later in the second quarter of this year, Luminar's Monterrey, Mexico, factory is producing and shipping its Iris sensors to Volvo, company spokesperson Milin Mehta told Automotive News. They will be installed in the Swedish automaker's EX90 electric crossover, expected to be available as a new model in 2024.

Luminar's Mexico factory is owned and operated by Celestica, a Canadian multinational firm that provides companies with supply chain electronics manufacturing services. Luminar owns the factory's equipment and automated line.

Celestica operates another low-volume production facility for Luminar in Monterrey.

The new factory is 118,000 square feet. It has the capacity to produce 250,000 sensors a year, but that can be increased to 500,000 annually. The facility features 40,000 square feet of clean room space that meets In…

WASHINGTON — The Inflation Reduction Act signed into law last August revised a consumer tax credit for new electric vehicle purchases while creating two other credits for used and commercial or leased EVs.

Here's a brief explainer on the differences between them.

Buyers who meet certain income thresholds can get a tax credit of up to $7,500 for North American-assembled new EVs that meet sticker price restrictions. Starting Tuesday, April 18, the credit will be split in two, with $3,750 for EVs that meet increasingly stringent battery component requirements and another $3,750 for those that meet escalating critical mineral requirements. Starting in 2024, the credit will be transferable to dealers at the point of sale.

Buyers who meet certain income thresholds can get a tax credit that's equal to 30 percent of the total cost of a used EV and capped at $4,000. Vehicles must be at least two model years old with a sale price at or below $25,000. Used vehic…

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a lower court's decision that bundling Guaranteed Asset Protection coverage does not make an auto loan subject to the Military Lending Act, or MLA.

Two of the three appellate judges at the Richmond, Va., court ruled that based on the MLA's language, a retail installment contract that finances the vehicle purchase and GAP coverage "is for the express purpose of financing the car purchase" and therefore does not fall within the definition of consumer credit covered by the MLA.

Lawyers for defendant United Auto of Fort Worth, Texas, had argued the lower court correctly ruled under the "plain language" of the statute. The guaranteed asset protection loan was secured by the car and was for the purpose of financing it.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Defense had argued a car loan that includes GAP financing would not receive the exemption Military Lending Act regulations allow…

In the wake of a quarter in which CarMax kept per-vehicle profits steady despite widespread affordability and economic concerns, the used-vehicle giant is pledging to focus on improving both its efficiency and customers' and employees' experiences.

CarMax executives said this week that the retailer continued trimming costs in its fiscal fourth quarter that ended Feb. 28, a period in which persisting vehicle affordability challenges amid increased interest rates, tightened lending standards and shrunken consumer confidence dinged sales. But even though the company's retail sales tumbled 13 percent to 169,884 vehicles compared with the same period a year earlier, CarMax took in gross profit of $2,277 per used vehicle it retailed, up $82 from the year-ago period.

The profit preservation came at the expense of volume. CarMax CEO Bill Nash noted that external title data showed market share gains the retailer made in the first half of its fiscal year were offset by …

SHANGHAI -- China's Zeekr brand has hired a former Lexus executive to steer its operations in Europe, as the electric vehicle maker owned by Geely plans to enter the market later this year.

Spiros Fotinos, who spent 24 years with Toyota Motor and led brand management at Lexus globally, joined Zeekr in September as CEO of Zeekr Europe to oversee the brand's operation in the region, a memo seen by Reuters showed. He was head of Lexus Europe from December 2019 until September 2022.

A Zeekr representative confirmed the appointment of Fotinos, and on his LinkedIn page he is listed as a vice president at Zeekr, based in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Fotinos was named an Automotive News Europe Rising Star in 2012, when he was head of marketing, sales planning and logistics at Toyota Spain.

The previously unreported move underscores Zeekr's efforts to establish a foothold in the premium EV segment in the home markets of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

Zeekr on …

Hyundai Motor Co. is making the most out a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that allows automakers to pass along a $7,500 clean vehicle tax credit to buyers if they opt to lease an electric vehicle.

The law, enacted in August, immediately disqualified EVs assembled outside North America from credit eligibility. And Hyundai's three EVs — the Ioniq 5 and Kona crossovers and Ioniq 6 sedan — are all built in South Korea.

Jose Muñoz, CEO of Hyundai and Genesis North America, told Automotive News the impact of that rule was "significant," and Hyundai's EV market share dropped "the moment" the law was put in place.

To remain competitive, Hyundai is leaning on a section of the act, called 45W, that lets the tax benefit reach consumers if they lease their EV instead of buy it.

"We've tried to maximize the utilization of the so-called 45W paragraph, which allows for sales through the lease channel to benefit from the $7,500 tax advantage," Muñoz sa…

Tesla Inc. won’t have a presence at the Shanghai auto show, despite a slew of other international carmakers planning on attending and unveiling new models.

China’s major automobile show kicks off on April 18 for media and opens to the general public on April 20.

While the event was canceled last year due to China’s COVID restrictions, Tesla received unwanted publicity at the show in 2021, when a Model 3 owner climbed atop a display vehicle and yelled that her father, who was driving at the time, almost died because her Tesla’s brakes failed.

The protest was captured on video and went viral in China. Tesla eventually made a public apology after facing criticism from local authorities and state-run media, without acknowledging any defect.

A Shanghai-based Tesla representative confirmed the company would not attend this year’s show but said there’s no particular reason for that.

The electric-vehicle maker has been cutting prices in China and…

GM’s robotaxi unit Cruise says it is moving into a new phase of rapid growth. Tesla continues to tower over the rest of the luxury market. And Upstream Security’s Shira Sarid-Hausirer talks about some surprising cyber threats to EVs.

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SUVs cause more severe injury to bicyclists than cars, a new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.

The tall front end of SUVs can strike bicyclists higher on their bodies above the center of gravity. This results in riders getting knocked down, where they can be run over, rather than being thrown onto the hood of the vehicle, said IIHS statistician Sam Monfort, the lead author of the study.

The study analyzed data from 71 Michigan bicycle crashes that involved a single SUV or car and a bicyclist age 16 or older. The severity of injuries inflicted by cars and SUVs was compared using the Abbreviated Injury Scale — which assesses injuries by body region — and the Injury Severity Score, which combines injuries from different regions into an overall assessment.

Ground-impact injuries were twice as common on SUV crashes, the study showed. Trauma to the body was 55 percent higher for SUVs than for cars. Scores for head injuries inflicted by…

Andrew Wareing, a 24-year Nissan veteran, takes over as purchasing boss for the Japanese automaker's Americas region starting May 1.

Wareing, 53, will oversee purchasing for Nissan's operations in the region, including vehicle assembly and engine manufacturing plants in the U.S., Mexico and South America.

He will also oversee supplier quality assurance, purchasing project management and supplier relations.

Wareing is currently regional vice president of purchasing for Nissan in Africa, the Middle East, India, Europe and the Oceania region.

The executive started his career with the automaker as a buyer at the Nissan Motor Manufacturing plant in Sunderland, England.

Wareing succeeds Hiroshi Izumiyama in the role. A Nissan spokesperson was unable to share specifics about Izumiyama's next assignment.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global said on Thursday that it is working with Chinese carmakers to develop its own robotaxis, which it aims to put into service by 2025, revealing a concept one with robotic arms it called "Didi Neuron."

The company said that it is collaborating with multiple new energy carmakers in China on developing robotaxis.

"We hope they can enter Didi's network and provide services by 2025," Didi Autonomous Driving COO Meng Xing said at a company event that was livestreamed online.

"We hope they will be domestically produced. We hope the supply chain is controllable, and even 90% of the key components inside can be domestically produced," he said.

He also showed off a robotaxi concept car called "Didi Neuron", with robotic arms that can help passengers pick up luggage.The blue and white vehicle had no driver's seat, maximizing space for passengers.

Didi also announced a lidar sensor and a car computing device at the event…

SHANGHAI -- The Shanghai auto show is around the corner. But only a small number of global automakers have disclosed what they will exhibit at the event. 

Is it because they are unprepared for the Chinese market’s rapid shift toward electric vehicles or do they want to keep consumers waiting until the last minute?

Only six international brands have disclosed what they plan to show, signaling they aim to impress local audiences with new EV models. 

The Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV, an ultraluxury full-electric utility vehicle, will make its global debut at the Shanghai auto show, Mercedes-Benz said this week. 

The new electric EQE crossover, and the redesigned, long-wheel-base version of the GLC crossover, will also be revealed for the first time in China.

Two new models under the Toyota brand’s bZ series of EVs will be exhibited for the first time globally. 

The two EVs will be rolled out in the Chinese market…