Trade News

Hyundai and Kia racked up more U.S. sales gains in March, setting records for the month, as inventories continue to improve across the industry.

Volume rose 27 percent to 75,404 last month at Hyundai, with retail deliveries increasing 15 percent to 68,312. Hyundai said sales to fleet customers represented 9.4 percent of March volume.

The company ended March with 53,119 cars and light trucks in U.S. inventory, down slightly from 54,156 at the close of February but up from 17,271 a year earlier.

U.S. sales advanced 20 percent to 71,294 at Kia, its fifth-straight month of a gain of 20 percent or more.

Kia said four models — Carnival, Sportage, Telluride and Forte — set March records while sales of electrified models increased 10 percent, even as deliveries of the EV6 slumped 69 percent to 988 from 3,156 a year earlier.

Kia has one of the lowest days-supply of vehicles across the industry and on Saturday said production and avai…

Jeep's latest collection of Easter Jeep Safari concepts features a mix of eco-friendly powertrains, luxury and the brand's trademark ruggedness.

The seven concepts were scheduled to be tested the first weekend in April on the off-road terrain in Moab, Utah, for the 57th annual gathering of Jeep enthusiasts — one of the largest off-road gatherings in the world, hosted by Moab's Red Rock 4-Wheelers club.

Jeep uses the event to glean insights from off-roaders and give designers and engineers hands-on experience in the wilderness to help them develop future models.

Mark Allen, head of Jeep exterior design, said team members who are first-time participants in the Moab adventure always come back "a changed person" with a "different perspective of their role in creating Jeeps."

"I always say, if you work on Jeep — you're an engineer, designer or if you touch it in some way or the other — I need you to know Jeep," Allen said. …

Disclaimer: This TV show will be a dramatization of real events.

Who better to portray a heavyweight in the auto industry than a heavyweight in the entertainment industry?

"Fall of the God of Cars," a six-part dramatic TV miniseries on former Renault Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn and his Great Escape to Lebanon from Japanese custody, will star Tony Shalhoub. The American actor with Lebanese roots made his big break as the title character of "Monk," a detective dramedy that aired from 2002 to 2009. He is currently cast in the critically acclaimed comedy series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."

The versatile Shalhoub has five Emmys, a Tony and a Golden Globe on his resume.

"Carlos Ghosn was a superstar of the car industry, the first person ever to have simultaneously been CEO of two Fortune 500 companies," British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom said in a statement. "It is wonderful to have Tony Shalhoub on board to play this complex…

DETROIT — The UAW's International Executive Board — fractured into different ideological camps for the first time in more than 70 years — attempted to project unity at the union's quadrennial bargaining convention here as it heads into consequential contract talks with the Detroit 3 later this year.

But for all the talk of solidarity against a common foe, not so subtle signs remained of a messy election that concluded just hours before delegates convened.

Members who spoke of their affiliation with the Unite All Workers for Democracy reform caucus were booed, some resolutions from anti-establishment groups were voted down and the invocation of former President Ray Curry's name drew some of the loudest applause over the course of the three-day event.

Still, union leaders, even those from rival factions, tried to rally members for what UAW Vice President Chuck Browning called a "window of great opportunity" to win better wages and benefits from the autom…

Jeep's electrification plans have at least one dealer charged up to get a new Jeep dealership.

Las Vegas dealer Josh Towbin sold his previous Jeep store, but now he wants back in as the brand reshapes its lineup with electrified vehicles. This includes the Recon and Wagoneer S battery-electric vehicles that made appearances at a Stellantis dealer meeting last month in Las Vegas.

Stellantis detailed more than 30 new products for numerous brands at the meeting, the first of its kind in eight years for retailers who were with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles before the 2021 merger that brought it and France's PSA Group together as Stellantis.

The Recon is an eco-friendly off-roader inspired by the Wrangler, while the Wagoneer S is an upscale midsize entry with a design language that separates it from its larger three-row counterparts. Both models are slated to go into production in 2024.

Towbin, who owns Towbin Automotive Group, said the Recon's off-road p…

Service departments must start bolstering their customer retention efforts now or risk significant revenue declines in two to three years when warranties on new cars purchased in 2022 expire and typical levels of customer defections ensue, warns a service and parts trainer.

Lee Harkins, CEO of M5 Management Services, said the steep decline in new-car sales in 2022 is driving this scenario. According to the Automotive News Research & Data Center, lingering supply chain and inventory woes caused light-vehicle sales to drop 8 percent last year compared with 2021, to 13.4 million — the lowest number since 2011.

Here's Harkins' premise: It's not unusual for a typical dealership service department to experience customer defection levels of 60 to 70 percent after a conventional new-car warranty of three years and 36,000 miles expires.

With a significantly reduced pool of new-car customers, that 30 percent group of nondefecting custom…

Elon Musk is in tweeting purgatory again.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the billionaire must delete his 2018 Twitter post suggesting that Tesla Inc. workers could lose stock options if they formed a union and joined the UAW, as it violated labor law.

The decision is a victory for the National Labor Relations Board and a blow to Tesla, which has vehemently opposed the UAW's years-long effort to unionize the EV maker's workers.

It also puts Musk in the awkward spot of having to retract one of his many incendiary tweets after he's become the owner of Twitter Inc.

The tweet said: "Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing?"

The labor board had ruled that Tesla repeatedly broke U.S. law, including by firing a union activist, and directed the company to ensure that its chief executive officer's threatening tweet is eras…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday said it was approving California's plans to require a rising number of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks as the state pushes to cut pollution.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said as a result of the plan, "half of all heavy duty trucks sold in CA will be electric by 2035."

"Time to stop playing small ball," he added.

Under an executive order Newsom signed in 2020, California plans to mandate by 2045 that all operations of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles be zero emission where feasible, shifting away from diesel-powered trucks.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) had sought waivers from the Clean Air Act to set heavy-duty vehicle and engine emission standards. California has been joined by Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington and Vermont in adopting the rules.

CARB has noted heavy-duty vehicles greater than 14,000 pounds comprised 3 percent of vehicles on Calif…

The Treasury Department spells out how battery components and critical minerals will be measured for EV tax credits. General Motors is dropping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from its future EVs. A prominent auto dealer advocate leaves his post. Plus, improve service customer satisfaction with more processes and better processes.

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Ford CEO Jim Farley's total compensation fell slightly in 2022 to $20,996,146, according to the company's annual proxy statement.

Compensation for four of Ford's top five named executives dipped from the prior year, largely because they received fewer incentives. Doug Field, Ford's chief advanced product development and technology officer, was the lone named executive whose compensation rose.

Farley's base salary remained unchanged at $1.7 million, while his stock awards and non-equity incentives dipped slightly. The company said his 2022 compensation amounted to 281 times the median total compensation of all Ford employees.

Farley earned $22.8 million in 2021.

The results follow a year of "frustrating" financial and operating results at the automaker. Ford posted adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $10.4 billion dollars last year and a $2 billion net loss.

The day after reporting the results, Farley told employees that he woul…

Wholesale auctions provider KAR Global on Friday said that Jim Hallett, who was the company's CEO from 2009 to 2021, is retiring from his role as its executive chairman.

Hallett, 69, was appointed executive chairman of KAR Global in 2021. He is also stepping down as chairman of the company's board of directors, a role he held since 2014. Michael Kestner, KAR Global's lead independent director since 2019, will assume that role April 1, while Hallett will remain a member of the board, the company said in a news release. Peter Kelly, 54, succeeded Hallett as CEO of KAR Global in 2021.

Hallett joined the company in 1993 as president of the auction unit ADESA Canada. In 1996, he became CEO of ADESA. He led its initial public offering in 2004 and oversaw its buyout and merger with Insurance Auto Auctions Inc. in 2007.

The combined company went public in 2009 as KAR Auction Services Inc. In 2019, IAA was spun off into a separate entity. In May 2022, KAR Global …

Longtime Colorado Auto Dealers Association CEO Tim Jackson, a high-profile voice for dealers in the state and nationally, parted ways with the organization on Friday.

In a release, the board said it has appointed Matthew Groves, its vice president of legal, regulatory and compliance, as interim CEO, effective immediately.

Jackson, 66, has been CEO of CADA since 2004. Among his most recent dealer advocacy efforts, this year he championed a legislative effort to force automakers to reimburse dealers for warranty work at the higher rates dealers charge retail customers.

"The ultimate decision to depart was a joint one with Tim and the [CADA] board," Groves told Automotive News on Friday. He said he "has a great relationship with Tim, who gave me a job when I first got to Colorado. I'll continue to keep the train running" as interim CEO. "I understand he's got big plans for the future, and we'll be happy to support him with his new venture."