Trade News

An iconic downtown Los Angeles dealership has new owners, a group bolstered its Kia portfolio, an acquisitive auto retailer expanded again and a Stellantis dealership changed hands, all in three fourth-quarter transactions and one deal that closed this week.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic and import stores and dealerships in California, Florida, Tennessee and Indiana.

Two transactions involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Auto retail investment company Open Road Capital and Rinaldi Halim on Dec. 19 bought an iconic Chevrolet dealership in California — known for its sign featuring Felix the Cat.

Open Road and Halim bought Felix Chevrolet in Los Angeles, a dealership dating back to 1921, from owners Darryl Holter and his wife, Carole Shammas, Tim Batchelor, an Open Road Capital partner, confirmed to Automotive News.

Open Road and Halim ret…

WASHINGTON — General Motors' self-driving unit Cruise LLC recalled 300 robotaxis and updated their software after a March 23 crash with a San Francisco bus.

In a document submitted Monday to NHTSA, Cruise said the collision was caused by "an issue related to prediction of the unique movements of articulated vehicles," such as buses and tractor trailers.

In the San Francisco incident, Cruise said its robotaxi initially perceived both sections of the bus as it was pulling out of a bus stop. As the bus proceeded forward into the Cruise robotaxi's lane, the rear section of the bus blocked the front section, and the bus began decelerating.

Cruise told federal regulators that its vehicle "inaccurately determined that the bus was continuing to move forward in traffic based on the anticipated behavior of the front section of the bus, which was by then obstructed, and the [automated driving system] commanded the [autonomous vehicle] to begin decelerating too lat…

WASHINGTON — As the Biden administration works to strike a balance between two objectives — accelerating electric vehicle adoption and securing a domestic supply chain — forthcoming guidance that further constricts battery material and component sourcing rules could tip the scale.

The U.S. Treasury Department last month released its much-anticipated proposed guidance on battery sourcing rules in the Inflation Reduction Act's consumer tax credit for new EVs, known as 30D. The rules are designed to incentivize domestic production and reduce reliance on foreign supply chains.

When those requirements take effect April 18, fewer EVs are expected to qualify for the full $7,500 credit, potentially triggering a short-term slowdown in new EV sales as automakers and consumers untangle the complex eligibility restrictions, industry experts told Automotive News.

Adding to that: Treasury still needs to release guidance on how strictly it will enforce the law's "fore…

Tesla Inc. nominated JB Straubel, a co-founder and former senior executive, to join its board of directors as part of a broader reshaping of the carmaker’s senior management structure.

Straubel would replace Hiromichi Mizuno, who won’t seek reelection, Tesla said in its proxy statement filed Thursday. The company has also named Tom Zhu, who was the driving force behind its Shanghai plant, as its senior vice president for automotive operations.

The proposal to elect Straubel is one of five issues the company has asked investors to consider at its May 16 annual meeting. The proxy contains just one shareholder proposal, in contrast to the eight that investors voted on last year.

That sole shareholder resolution comes from Karen Róbertsdóttir, an investor in Reykjavik, Iceland, who wants Tesla’s board of directors to prepare and publicly disclose a report on Tesla’s key-person risk.

Tesla has regularly said in filings that it is “highly dependent on…

Tesla Inc. cut prices across its U.S. lineup late Thursday after reporting first-quarter sales that were sharply higher but failed to meet CEO Elon Musk's internal goal of 50 percent per year for the foreseeable future.

Earlier this week, Tesla reported first-quarter deliveries of 422,875 globally for a 36 percent increase over last year. Tesla doesn't break out U.S. sales, but Cox Automotive estimated first-quarter deliveries at 180,993.

Tesla also said Thursday that its most inexpensive vehicle, the base Model 3 sedan, would lose half of the current $7,500 federal tax incentive later this month when new battery-sourcing rules take effect.

"Based on new IRS guidance, the $7,500 credit will be reduced for Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive on April 18 to $3,750," the automaker said on its online order page.

On Twitter Friday, Musk said cutting prices was the best way to stimulate sales since affordability is holding back buyers and not demand.

Musk …

TOKYO – New Toyota Motor Corp. CEO Koji Sato, warning that the industry is in a “life or death situation,” plans to turbocharge the company’s EV sales to 1.5 million vehicles in 2026 with the help of a newly developed platform and local production of a three-row, full-electric crossover in North America.

The new dedicated EV architecture will enable Toyota’s future EVs to double their range, thanks to more efficient battery use, and require half the investment and development resources.

In the next three years, Toyota and Lexus will add a total of 10 new EVs, including models on the new platform and others on evolved versions of the current e-TNGA one.

Sato and two top lieutenants, Chief Technology Officer Hiroaki Nakajima and CFO Yoichi Miyazaki, outlined the EV ramp up on Friday in Tokyo as they unveiled a new business vision for Toyota.

It was Sato’s first news conference since taking the helm of Toyota Motor Corp. on April 1, when Akio T…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Plans for Zoom, TikTok in cars raise safety questions

For businesses, Zoom rapidly became the blessing and the bane of the pandemic as companies pivoted to conducting hours of daily meetings virtually. It kept operations going, but there was no escape.

Automakers noticed, and now they are bringing the office into the car by making Zoom available on dashboard screens.

Both Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group are now integrating third-party video apps including Zoom and TikTok into their vehicle infotainment systems but with safety precautions that the automakers say will prevent distracted driving.

"There is a demand from our customers that they would like to use conferencing tools" in the car, said Alexander Schoenhals, a Mercedes-Benz engineer who worked on the third-party app integrations.

German brands are scrambling to compete with U.S. luxury leader Tesla, which announced in December that an over-the-air softw…

CARLSBAD, Calif. — When it arrives in U.S. dealerships in June, the new 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid won't be the cheapest new Toyota with a fuel-saving hybrid powertrain.

But it will be No. 2 — and the least expensive one that's not a sedan.

Starting at $29,305 including shipping, the 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid crossover comes standard with on-demand all-wheel drive and is expected to deliver a combined 42 mpg fuel economy from its fifth-generation hybrid system, the same system underpinning the redesigned 2023 Toyota Prius.

The crossover comes standard with a hybrid 2.0-liter engine paired with a continuously variable transmission, allowing it to deliver up to 196 combined hp.

Sharing the TNGA-C platform with similarly sized Toyota vehicles including the Corolla, the Corolla Cross Hybrid comes in three trim levels — the base S, the SE starting at $30,625 and the XSE starting at $32,400, all with shipping.

All trim levels come standar…

After a period of relative quiet, new signs are emerging that Illinois is on the hunt for one or more new electric vehicle production plants — and that the state may be making some progress.

The renewed chatter stems fromreports today that Stellantis wants to begin making an electric version of its popular Ram pickup truck in America soon. The automaker recently idled its Belvidere Jeep factory but has said it’s considering a possible conversion of the plant to other production

A Detroit paper said today's Stellantis news meant “speculation immediately turned” to the company’s plant in Sterling Heights, Mich. But Illinois and Belvidere also are competing.

Multiple, independent sources with first-hand knowledge report Illinois has put on a major push for the facility, with talks intensifying and near-daily communication among officials here and in Stellantis.

Illinois’ prospects are said to have been improved by General Assemb…

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is on track to propose the toughest-ever U.S. curbs on car pollution, while stopping short of an electric-vehicle mandate or ban on gas-powered models.

The proposed standards on cars and light trucks, set to be announced Wednesday in Detroit, are expected to govern tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide, smog-forming nitrogen oxide and other pollution from vehicles manufactured for model years 2027 through 2032. The plan was described by people briefed on elements of the proposal who asked not to be named because it isn’t yet public.

Major U.S. automakers have pleaded for requirements extending just a few years, while EV manufacturers such as Tesla Inc. insist the administration should take advantage of new federal-government investments in charging and battery production to push for even stricter limits on car emissions. 

The plan is part of a multipronged Biden administration strategy to clamp down on planet-wa…

Seventy-three of the world's 2,640 billionaires are in the automotive industry, according to this year's Forbes ranking of the richest people on Earth.

The wealthiest of those 73 remains Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, though his $44 billion purchase of Twitter helped reduce his net worth to $180 billion. That dropped him to second place overall, behind French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault.

Meanwhile, BMW heirs Susanne Klatten (No. 51) and Stefan Quandt (No. 59) increased their fortunes to a combined $52 billion. Geely Automobile Chairman Li Shufu, whose net worth of $19 billion puts him 84th, is among 18 automotive billionaires in China, compared with 13 in the U.S. Shahid Khan, who owns supplier Flex-N-Gate, is the next highest in the U.S. after Musk at No. 144 with $12.1 billion.

The list includes six U.S. billionaires involved in auto retailing, along with four dealers in Asia and one in Switzerland. Gulf States Toyota owner Dan Friedkin tied with…

LOS ANGELES — Electric vehicle maker Polestar is witnessing the downside of the "asset-light" strategy that is key to its rapid growth plan.

To operate fast and easy, Polestar is reliant on global partners to help produce its models. But when those partners can't deliver according to plan, Polestar's strategy can kneecap its growth.

That is what is happening to the Swedish startup.

Polestar is part of a portfolio of brands controlled by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which includes Volvo Cars, Lynk & Co and Lotus. The Chinese conglomerate's network of global factories, supplier networks and R&D centers allow the young brand to focus on product and technology rather than manufacturing or logistics, according to the plan.

But software-related hiccups in the development of Volvo's new SPA2 vehicle platform could complicate Polestar's ambitions to expand in the U.S. market.

The Polestar 3 midsize crossover, based on the SPA2 arc…