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New-vehicle inventories rose slightly last month to their highest point in nearly two years as production constraints continue to ease, according to data compiled by Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

Cox's most recent estimate of the U.S. inventory is 1,893,855 vehicles, a 56-day supply. That is up from the 1,828,290, or a 58-day supply, in the previous month, and about 70 percent above where inventory was a year earlier. Still, it remains down roughly 540,000 vehicles compared with the same point in 2021, when inventories began shrinking quickly.

Cox computes days' supply based on the selling rate of the previous 30-day period.

Cox said midsize, compact and subcompact cars continued to have the tightest supplies among volume segments, while full-size cars and full-size pickups had the highest days' supply among nonluxury vehicles.

Inventory levels for Detroit 3 brands were returning to…

WASHINGTON — In contrast to President Joe Biden's nonbinding zero-emission vehicle goal, the EPA's aggressive new campaign would have the legal authority to force the automotive industry to make some tough decisions as it hastens its electrification strategies.

The agency last week unveiled its strictest-ever vehicle pollution standards for cars and light trucks for the 2027-32 model years, requiring 13 percent fleetwide average emissions reductions each year and a 56 percent reduction in average emission target levels from the 2026 model year.

If finalized, the proposed standards could mean electric vehicles would make up more than half of new-vehicle sales by the 2030 model year and two-thirds by 2032. It would mark a massive leap from the current market, with EVs accounting for 5.6 percent of U.S. light-vehicle registrations, according to Automotive News data.

"This is a big step toward the sunset of the combustion engine," sa…

Rivian is shifting to an internally developed electric drive unit to help boost factory throughput. Lucid’s production and deliveries fall. The Jeep Wrangler’s dominance of the plug-in hybrid market keeps growing. Plus, founder of the popular Fixed Ops Roundtable Ted Ings joins the show to talk about shining a light on automotive service and parts.

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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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