Trade News

Kia Motors plans to launch six full electric vehicle in China this year through 2027 to shore up its presence in a market shifting decidedly to emissions-free cars and light trucks. 

The GT version of the EV6 crossover will be sold as an import in China beginning in August, according to information the Korean brand disclosed at an event held in Shanghai on Monday.

It will be followed by two locally produced EVs -- the EV5 crossover will arrive in November, followed by the EV9 crossover in 2024. 

Kia didn’t reveal the other three EV models it plans to market in China over the next five years. 

It expects EV products to generate sales of 180,000, or 40 percent of its annual China sales target, in 2030, the Korean brand said.

Kia currently sells only one EV model in China -- the battery version of the K3 sedan. Some analysts expect EVs to account for 35 percent – or 9 million units -- of China’s light-vehicle sales this year.&…

SHANGHAI – Vehicle price cuts initiated by Tesla Inc. in late 2022 have developed into a full-blown industry pricing battle that is engulfing nearly all automakers operating in China.

The heightened competition at home is now prompting Chinese automakers to step up the search for new growth opportunities overseas.

Just this month, several domestic automakers either started constructing assembly plants outside China or disclosed intentions to do so. 

BYD Co., China’s largest electrified-vehicle maker, broke ground on March 10 for a factory in Thailand. The plant, due to launch output sometime next year, will build up to 150,000 vehicles annually after reaching full capacity. 

On the same day, Hozon New Energy Vehicle Co., a Chinese EV startup, kicked off construction of a Thailand plant. Hozon expects the factory to start production in early 2024 witg initial annual capacity of 20,000 vehicles.

Both companies plan to build right-h…

Self-driving technology company Cruise is expanding its California ambitions beyond San Francisco.

Company executives asked California regulators Monday to amend their existing permit to allow for testing of autonomous vehicles throughout the state. Cruise's efforts have been restricted to specified areas of San Francisco.

Should the California Department of Motor Vehicles grant the company's request, General Motors-backed Cruise will be "ready to expand to essentially any city in the state," CEO Kyle Vogt told Automotive News.

While he declined to provide specifics on which California cities the company might target, he signaled Cruise would look southward.

"Warmer cities are, you know, on the table for us in the near term," Vogt said.

That might indicate Cruise is eyeing Los Angeles, a place where robotaxi competitors like Waymo and Motional are already testing self-driving vehicles and planning ride-hailing services. None of those comp…

SAN FRANCISCO — General Motors said it has enough reservations for the GMC Hummer EV SUV and pickup to exhaust its production capacity through next year.

And demand continues to grow, even after the automaker stopped taking reservations. GMC said about 200,000 people have expressed interest by signing up for email updates about the Hummer, including notifications of future reservation openings — on top of the 90,000 reservation holders already in line for the SUV or pickup. The brand will continue to stoke interest through exclusive in-person events while consumers wait for their chance to buy an electric Hummer.

Efforts to keep customers engaged will get a boost as more Hummer EVs show up on the road. Production of the SUV began in January at GM's Factory Zero plant in Detroit, while deliveries of the pickup began late in 2021.

"We had to pause those reservations because they're coming in so quickly that we simply couldn't keep u…

A picture is starting to develop of what Jaguar's U.S. dealership network might look like in 2025 when an all-electric and far more expensive three-vehicle lineup replaces today's models.

It will be smaller — perhaps dramatically so — and many sales could take place digitally as the storied brand looks to reinvent itself after a number of struggles dating back more than 50 years.

Since 1968, Jaguar has had four corporate owners. Its current owner, Tata Motors, bought the brand and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co. in 2008. In addition, Jaguar has dealt with labor issues and battled quality problems as well as suffered through product droughts, outdated plants, executive turmoil and other crises.

Jaguar Land Rover has started the process of reducing Jaguar stores by offering dealers extra allocations of hot-selling Land Rover nameplates, such as the redesigned Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender, if they give up their Jaguar franchises. It's unclear…

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, but indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases in borrowing costs amid recent turmoil in financial markets spurred by the collapse of two U.S. banks.

The Federal Reserve’s actions raise the prospect of higher borrowing costs for new and used vehicles and other forms of credit, notably mortgages.

The average new-vehicle interest rate rose 2.6 percentage points to 7 percent between February 2022 and February 2023 as the Fed increased its benchmark target 4.5 percentage points during that time, according to Edmunds.

“The Fed's decision to hike rates by another quarter percentage point will have varying ramifications throughout the economy, but for car shoppers, this won’t be entirely unexpected given the significant climb that interest rates have made over the last year,” Edmunds senior director of insights Jessica Caldwell said in a state…

Volkswagen AG's financial-services division forecast a substantial drop-off in annual profit as better access to semiconductors and other components leads to normalization in the used-car market.

Earnings in 2023 are expected to be significantly below last year's level, Volkswagen Financial Services said in a statement Tuesday. Operating profit slipped to €5.6 billion ($6 billion) last year from a record result in 2021.Shortages of chips and other disruptions to supply chains and logistics have constrained auto manufacturers' pandemic recovery efforts, driving up prices of both new and used vehicles. Elevated residual values have been a boon to the in-house lending units that carmakers and their dealers tap to help consumers finance car purchases and leases, though their earnings have widely been expected to fall off this year.

"2022 was once again an exceptional financial year strongly affected by special factors," Frank Fiedler, chief financial officer of Vol…

A federal judge in Detroit certified class actions for drivers in 26 U.S. states who accused General Motors of producing faulty transmissions for about 800,000 vehicles from the 2015 to 2019 model years.

Monday's decision by U.S. District Judge David Lawson covers several Chevrolet and GMC trucks and SUVs, several Cadillac models, and the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro, equipped with 8L45 or 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions.

Drivers said the transmissions cause vehicles to shudder, and cause "harsh shifts" including hesitations, lunges, lurches, and making them feel as though they had been rear-ended.

The drivers said GM knew about the defect before selling the vehicles, which they would not have purchased had they known.

In his 60-page decision, Lawson said drivers on a state-by-state basis showed that common issues predominated and it would be more efficient to sue Detroit-based GM in groups.

Individual lawsuits could prove more co…

Hyundai Motor America is recalling more than 167,000 2021-23 Palisade vehicles in the U.S. for possible windshield wiper failure.

The recall is an expansion of a previous recall for the same issue.

Snow or ice buildup might cause the windshield wiper motor to fail or operate intermittently.

Windshield wiper failure can reduce visibility, increasing the risk of a crash, according to NHTSA.

Hyundai previously recalled 122,919 Palisade vehicles for windshield wiper failure in August 2022. The Office of Defects Investigation received six additional complaints of wipers failing in wintry conditions for vehicles excluded from this recall. A recall query has been opened to assess the scope and remedy of the initial recall.

Dealers will replace the driver-side windshield wiper arm at no charge. Owners are expected to be notified by mail beginning May 16. Hyundai will also reimburse owners who previously paid for remedies to the recall issue. The ro…

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - A bit more than one-third of Americans would consider buying an electric vehicle for their next model, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The seven-day poll completed on Monday found 34 percent of all respondents would consider an EV, while 31 percent said no. Among Democrats 50 percent said they would consider an EV, while 26 percent of Republicans and 27 percent of independents said they would consider.

There are now more than 80 EV models for sale in the United States. EVs represented nearly 6 percent of all U.S. sales in 2022, with EV sales up by more than 60 percent last year.

President Joe Biden wants 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in 2030 to be EV or plug-in hybrid models. Tesla Inc. is the leading EV maker in the U.S., but other top-selling models include Ford Motor Co.'s Mustang Mach-E crossover, General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Bolt and Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5.

The poll found 56 percent of respondents wo…

Auto dealerships are irresistible targets for cybercriminals.

The amount of consumer data collected, processed and stored within dealer management systems — Social Security numbers, addresses, credit scores and financing information — is a jackpot for bad actors and identity thieves. The FTC reported 70,000-plus cases of identity theft related to auto loans and leases in 2021 alone.

The Safeguards Rule, which takes effect on June 9, is a set of information security requirements designed to protect consumer data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, destruction or loss. Any financial institution under FTC jurisdiction that's not covered by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act must comply — including auto dealerships.

The Safeguards Rule left many dealerships scrambling to understand requirements and implement security measures. But instead of seeing the rules as more regulatory hoops to jump through, dealerships should view these requi…

Carvana Co. said on Wednesday it expects a smaller core loss in the current quarter due to a raft of cost-cut measures it implemented amid falling used-car sales, sending its shares up 7 percent in midday trading Wednesday.

Carvana expects first-quarter core loss between $50 million and $100 million, down from a core loss of $348 million a year earlier.

The used-car retailer, known for its automated car vending machines, allows users to buy cars online and offers home deliveries, which made it popular during the COVID-19 pandemic when people were confined to their homes.

However, demand for used cars has cooled in recent months, as people cut back on discretionary expenses amid recession worries, heaping pain on the industry already struggling with inventory purchased at higher prices.

In a regulatory filing, Carvana estimated vehicles sold in the first quarter will land between 76,000 and 79,000. Carvana sold 105,185 vehicles in the year-earlier p…