Trade News

Google self-driving technology unit Waymo said on Wednesday that some of its vehicles in San Francisco encountered dense fog and briefly pulled over to the side of the road.

The incident, which occurred at around 6.00 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, impeded some traffic movement before the cars moved out of the area as the fog began to clear, Waymo said.

"We have software updates planned to improve our fog and parking performance to address such situations in the future," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

The company's cars use a system consisting of lidar sensors, cameras and radar sensors to perceive their surroundings.

Waymo in December said it was expanding its testing area to all of San Francisco city, after applying for a final permit it needs in California before it can sell fully autonomous rides.

Last week, General Motors' robotaxi unit Cruise said it is recalling self-driving software in 300 vehicles after one of its drive…

Self-driving tech company Zoox Inc. may have created a robotaxi that looks like nothing else on the road today. But the Amazon-owned company says the process it used to ensure its toaster-shaped vehicles met federal safety standards is a conventional one used by other manufacturers.

"People look at it and go, 'How is this possible?' and 'How can you do this?' " Amanda Prescott, director of homologation at Zoox, told Automotive News. "They don't understand the certification process. We've done the same thing as everybody else."

Zoox disclosed more information Wednesday about its self-certification and occupant-protection efforts in the wake of fresh scrutiny from federal regulators.

The company released a video compilation that showed its crash-testing efforts and described the battery of tests it used to determine its purpose-built electric robotaxi met or exceeded the crash-test performance requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Read more

Edward Brown III, a former banking executive who spent the last decade of his career leading Hendrick Automotive Group as CEO, died April 3 at age 74.

Brown had non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to an obituary published by the Charlotte Observer.

Brown joined Hendrick Automotive, one of the country's largest dealership groups, in 2010 as its CFO, and company officials said at that time that he would become CEO in January 2011. Brown had retired six years earlier from a long career as an executive at Bank of America and banks it had acquired.

Rick Hendrick, chairman of the dealership group, said at the time of Brown's appointment that he was chosen for his financial management experience and community involvement. Brown replaced Jim Huzl as CEO in 2011. He retired from Hendrick at the end of 2019, and Rick Hendrick assumed CEO duties for the group at that time.

Brown's obituary named Rick Hendrick as one of six mentors in the former executive's life …

Capital One has decided to terminate its auto dealer services business offering floorplan lending.

"We will be winding down that work this year," a Capital One spokesperson told Automotive News in a written statement. "This has no impact on the CapitalOne Auto Finance business. Our auto business remains well-positioned to support our dealer partners and customers through these market cycles, as we have throughout our bank's history."

Capital One on its website said the dealer services business was dedicated to new franchised car dealers with floorplan needs of $5 million to more than $100 million. The bank has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry and lists floorplan monitoring and tracking software among its dealer services products.

In a follow up phone call, a Capital One spokesperson said floorplan lending comprised about 1 percent of its commercial bank business and was "not core to the long-term priorities of our commerci…

WASHINGTON - A major transport union on Tuesday opposed a request filed by Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo and autonomous driving technology company Aurora for an exemption from rules on warning devices for large semi-trucks, citing safety issues.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said last month it received a joint application from Waymo and Aurora seeking a five-year exemption from rules that require drivers to place reflective triangles or a flare around a stopped truck to alert other drivers and help prevent a crash.

Aurora and Waymo instead want to use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab to avoid the need for human drivers.

The Transport Workers Union of America said the petition is "inappropriate, represents an overreach and a misuse of the waiver and exemption process, and would significantly diminish the safety of our roads. It should be rejected in the strongest possible terms."

It urged the safety board to e…

A look at the near death and resurgence of MG as the iconic brand turns 100. CarMax net income and sales drop in Q1. And BMW sees EV sales double in the first three months of the year.

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

Wholesale new-vehicle shipments in China topped 2.45 million in March, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday, representing a 9.7 percent rebound from a year earlier when Chengdu and Changchun, two major auto production centers, were locked down amid resurging coronavirus cases.

Last month, shipments of new cars and light trucks such as sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses increased 8.2 percent to approach 2.02 million. 

Shipments of new commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks surged 34 percent to 434,000. 

In the first quarter, new-vehicle shipments industrywide dropped 6.7 percent from a year earlier to below 6.1 million, dragged down by weak sales in the first two months.

Light-vehicle sales declined 7.3 percent to 5.14 million while commercial-vehicle demand dipped 2.9 percent to 938,000 in the latest quarter.

Electrified vehicles continue to gain ground in the new-vehic…

Act 2 of Hummer's revival as an EV brand is an SUV variant of the hulking pickup that GMC has been selling for more than a year.

The 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV is launching with the fully loaded Edition 1. Lower trim levels will continue to roll out through spring 2024.

The latest Hummer light trucks are designed, engineered and produced on General Motors' modular Ultium platform. But because the Hummer SUV's wheelbase is 9 inches shorter, it has four fewer battery modules; 20 vs. 24 in the pickup. With the SUV, GMC is targeting a 300-mile range, slightly below the Hummer pickup's estimated 329 miles.

That shorter wheelbase allows for greater maneuverability. GMC expects best-in-class off-road proportions and a turning circle of only 35.4 feet with available 4-wheel steering; that's smaller than a Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Chevy Bolt EUV's 38.3-foot radius.

The GMC Hummer EV SUV Edition 1 will have a limited run of about…

DETROIT — Three top North American purchasing executives and two top supplier CEOs are scheduled to speak during a June 12 roundtable discussion as part of a longtime charity golf outing in suburban Detroit.

The Executive Supply Chain Roundtable is set to begin at 9 a.m. at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Orion Township, Mich. The event precedes the 2023 Automotive Golf Classic, now in its 43rd year of raising funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan. Automotive News is the media sponsor for the event.

Speakers for the roundtable are:

• Jeff Morrison, vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, General Motors

• Robert Young, group vice president of purchasing supplier development, Toyota Motor North America

• Marlo Vitous, senior vice president, purchasing and supply chain management, Stellantis North America

• David C. Dauch, CEO, American Axle & Manufacturing Inc.

• Ray Scott, CEO, Le…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department is proposing an update to a decades-old calculation that determines the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles for NHTSA's fuel economy standards.

The proposed rule-making is in response to a 2021 petition submitted by two environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club, which argued the calculation is outdated and resulted in "significantly inflated" EV fuel economy values.

"Excessively high imputed fuel economy values for EVs means that a relatively small number of EVs will mathematically guarantee compliance without meaningful improvements in the real-world average fuel economy of automakers' overall fleets," the petition said.

For example, applying the current calculation to a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup results in a rating equivalent of about 238 mpg. Under the proposed rule-making — which lowers the petroleum-equivalency factor fo…

General Motors' venture capital arm will lead a $50 million Series B funding round into Energy Exploration Technologies Inc., known as EnergyX, a startup that specializes in lithium extraction technology, the companies said Tuesday.

GM Ventures will lead the round and also reached a strategic agreement with EnergyX to develop the company's lithium extraction and refinery technology, the companies said.

EnergyX is the latest in a series of investments and supply agreements between GM and companies that specialize in battery raw materials, processing, cell production and recycling as the automaker transitions to a fully electric vehicle lineup. In January, for instance, GM said it will take a $650 million equity position in Lithium Americas Corp. and work with the company to jointly develop Nevada's Thacker Pass lithium mine.

"We are committed to securing EV critical minerals that are sustainable and cost competitive to maintain our le…

Chinese car parts makers are facing growing pressure from overseas customers to set up factories outside the country as mounting trade tensions and three years of COVID lockdowns make them wary of relying too heavily on China.

Carmakers from Europe and elsewhere are making direct overtures to manufacturers of everything from cooling components to brake systems and auto charging parts, pressing them to establish plants in places like Vietnam and Indonesia so they can still benefit from their expertise and long-held relationships but avoid the risks China poses right now, according to a number of suppliers interviewed by Bloomberg News.

While some international names like Airbus SE and Tesla Inc. are doubling down on Asia’s biggest economy, the shift is an increasing threat to China’s status as the world’s factory and its bid to regain the trust of global business amid the unpredictability of President Xi Jinping’s rule.

For one manager at a Jiangsu-based…