Trade News

Electric Fords are headed to Norway.

Ford Motor Co. last week said it would begin exporting its F-150 Lightning pickup to Norway, which it called "the world's most advanced electric vehicle market."

Ford said the plan was spurred by voracious consumer demand in Norway, where EVs accounted for 80 percent of new-vehicle sales last year.

Norway, which aims to have only zero-emission vehicles on sale by 2025, will be the first country outside North America to get the Lightning.

Deliveries will begin next year, Ford said.

"I've had customers literally banging on my door and pleading for us to bring the electric pickup to Norway," Per Gunnar Berg, the managing director of Ford Norway, said in a statement. "F-150 Lightning is the perfect match for many customers in Norway — uniquely capable of quenching our thirst for adventure while embracing our passion for protecting the environment."

Ford's embrace o…

Many in the auto finance industry are optimistic a recent appeals court ruling about the Military Lending Act will put the case to rest.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit on April 12 affirmed a lower court's decision that bundling guaranteed asset protection coverage does not make an auto loan subject to the Military Lending Act. Two of the three judges ruled that based on the law's language, a retail installment contract that finances the vehicle purchase and guaranteed asset protection 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 Military Lending Act.

"This ensures that thousands of vehicles owned by service members and their families will not be in jeopardy or subject to repossession," the American Financial Services Association said in a statement. "This case again highlights flaws of the [Military Lending Act], which we h…

New tailpipe emission regulations proposed by the EPA could serve to speed up electric vehicle adoption in the U.S., with the agency expecting EVs to make up 67 percent of all new light-duty vehicle sales by 2032 under the rules.

But to meet those targets, automakers will need their suppliers to quickly ramp up their own EV parts programs. Considering the financial stress many suppliers find themselves under after years of materials shortages and inflationary pressure, that could prove to be easier said than done, said Dan Rustmann, co-chair of Detroit law firm Butzel Long's global automotive group.

"The OEMs try to pass down costs and pressure as much as they can through the supply chain," Rustmann said. "But the supply chain is already heavily burdened because of inflation and the lingering effects of the pandemic and shortages."

Last week, the EPA released the strictest limits on tailpipe emissions in its history, a move that …

DETROIT — Lloyd Reuss, a mechanical engineer who rose to become General Motors president in the early 1990s, died on Friday. He was 86.

Reuss, a classic company man with sharp political instincts and a passion for performance, was the father of Mark Reuss, GM's current president and head of the automaker's regional and international operations, global product development programs, quality and design.

Mark Reuss posted the news of his father's death on Facebook.

Lloyd Reuss became GM president on Aug. 1, 1990, as part of incoming Chairman Robert Stempel's executive team.

As president, he was an early supporter of the GM Impact, a concept car that debuted at the 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show, and became the GM EV1, a forerunner to today’s EVs.

Mary Barra, GM chair and CEO, in a statement, called Lloyd Reuss "a talented executive and leader of GM and .. a strong force for good in the community with his service, dedication and tireless efforts on…

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.

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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…