Trade News

A jury last week ordered an Albuquerque, N.M., Chevrolet dealership to pay a customer more than $2 million in damages for unfair practices and spot delivery regulation violations.

Albert Smith traded in two vehicles to Reliable Chevrolet in a spot delivery deal in 2020, Smith's attorney Susan Warren, of the Law Offices of Feferman, Warren & Mattison in Albuquerque, told Automotive News. Warren said Reliable Chevrolet defrauded Smith by outlining financing terms they knew a lender would not take and damaged his credit when it missed loan payments for which it was responsible.

Concluding a lawsuit that spanned more than two years, the jury awarded Smith $87,000 in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages. A spokesperson for Reliable Chevrolet said the store "disagrees with the jury's decision" and "will be appealing the verdict and award" but would not comment further.

A spot delivery occurs when a customer is allowed to take their …

Young women contemplating a career in the automotive industry should take risks while being true to their values, says Bev Goodman, CEO of Ford Motor Co. of Canada, who once worked in service and parts on her way to the top job.

“As I reflect back on my career and journey, it’s the importance of taking chances and putting yourself out there and trying new things that are scary,” Goodman said during a fireside chat at the second annual Empowering Auto conference Sept. 18 in Toronto. “Sometimes things are pushed on you that feel really scary. Sometimes you’ll fail, but you’ll learn from it. I took chances, I tried.”

Goodman was among the roster of speakers at the conference, which drew more than 550 people, including 250 students. The industry-wide event is designed to inspire, educate, support and encourage women and diversity in the automotive industry.

The lineup included author and MBA instructor Fotini Iconomopoulos, who offered tips on the art of ne…

Eleven Petra Automotive products will be launched under the Mopar brand for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat dealerships in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the Cypress, Texas, company announced this month.

The Petra products offered by Mopar include chemicals to help maintain the fuel system, diesel fuel system and air conditioning system of the vehicles serviced. Mopar hopes to increase fixed ops profits for participating dealerships by offering the premium products.

Petra will provide training to Stellantis dealership technicians on how to use the application tools and cleaning products properly, train advisers on how to best offer these services to the customer and provide any necessary point-of-service materials. Qualifying Stellantis dealers also will receive factory rebates and loyalty benefits. Dealerships new to the program can receive free equipment with their initial qualifying purchase.

"We are honored to have 11 of our p…

Bank of America is offering a supply chain module to its popular CashPro platform, giving supply chain participants the benefits of a digital global trade finance solution.

CashPro Supply Chain Solutions is designed to give supply chain organizations that require fast decisions and transparency in goods movement and payment processes. The first module, Open Account Automation, addresses invoice approval and payment.

“With global commerce operating 24/7, companies need the ability to view and act on information in as close to real-time as possible. Open Account Automation offers that transparency and the ability to self-serve,” said Jay Davenport, global co-head of Corporate Sales in GTS at Bank of America. “Buyers will now have a more complete view of when and where their goods are in the supply chain and sellers will have visibility into when and what they’ll be paid.”

Faster invoice payment

The Open Account Automation module speeds up the tim…

Electric vehicles are growing in popularity and market share. And as their numbers on the road grow, so does the cost and length of time it takes for collision shops to put these vehicles back together, according to an EV trends report by CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc.

In 2022, the average time between the last repair estimate and the collision work being completed was nearly 58 days for EVs, more than 12 days than for non-EVs. Getting the vehicle into the shop added seven full days, and repairs required an additional five days.

Last estimate assignment sent to vehicle (in days)EVs: 35.3Non-EVs: 28.2

Repair started to repair completion (in days)EVs: 19.5Non-EVs: 14.3

"They always say focus on your top 10 percent. But I think you have to be cognizant of why are we in an industry shortage— It's not the income. It's not the workload; demand is there. Something else is going on. ... There's no easy solution to it because there's pros and cons with every aspect of pay that we look at. But there's a lot of respected people that I've seen step out of the industry and in listening to them and really trying to understand what it was ... what led up to it, I think pay and pay structure — [is] definitely hurting our industry in some respects. If a flat rate tech gets it, they can produce phenomenal income — but that's not everybody. That's not the majority; that's that top 10 percent. What happens to the bottom 10? You hear about it. And then that 80 percent in the middle — some of them grit it, get through, but I think a lot of them silently exit, and that's what we've experienced now. How do we adapt and change and provide opportunities and…

A technician who fatally struck a pedestrian while taking a service customer's vehicle for a test drive after an oil change failed to get his conviction for "careless driving involving unintentional death" overturned.

A three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania upheld Liam Crosby's conviction and $500 fine in the Sept. 7, 2021, death of 89-year-old Susan Simpson, who was on the sidewalk when she was hit by a 2018 Nissan Armada. Crosby's driver's license also was suspended for six months.

The charge is considered a summary offense under state law and is regarded as a nontraffic crime that is less serious than a misdemeanor.

Crosby had been working at Piazza Nissan of Ardmore for seven months at the time of the accident, the decision said.

"As part of his duties, it was standard for Crosby to road test, service and road test again a customer's vehicle before it would be returned," the Montgomery County Distr…

Volkswagen’s third-generation Tiguan has undergone a sleek makeover that the automaker claims reduces the compact crossover’s drag coefficient to 0.28Cd from 0.33.

New styling accentuates the lower part of the light truck’s grille, which extends to the edges where air curtains help reduce drag by flowing air more efficiently around the front wheels.

VW has included light strips across the front and rear of the vehicle, bringing the styling of the Tiguan in line with more recent designs. It can also be specified with high-definition matrix LED headlights.

VW has moved interior features including heating and ventilation controls on to the dashboard screen, which measures up to 15 inches. Like the VW Passat, the new Tiguan runs what the automaker calls its MIB4 (modular infotainment matrix 4th generation) digital architecture for cockpit and central screen displays.

The plug-in hybrid version of the new Tiguan will have an electric range of up to 10…

Stellantis on Wednesday said it had submitted a new contract proposal to the UAW, while General Motors sought to counter what it called “misinformation” by sharing more financial details of its latest offer.

Stellantis presented its latest offer on Tuesday, according to a spokesperson. The company said the proposal — its fifth since negotiations began — "focused on subcommittee open issues," but gave no further details.

A UAW source on Wednesday confirmed that the union had received a new offer from Stellantis. It's the first new offer from any of the three automakers since the UAW went on strike against them Friday, Sept. 15, the source said.

Talks were continuing between the UAW and all three companies ahead of the union's Friday deadline to show "serious progress" toward new contracts. Absent that, UAW President Shawn Fain has said he plans to have workers at more plants join the strike.

A source with knowledge of the negotiations said GM an…

Penske Automotive Group Inc. on Wednesday said its PAG International subsidiary, together with Sweden's Hedin Mobility Group, submitted a cash offer to buy U.K. auto retail giant Pendragon, just two days after rival dealership group Lithia Motors Inc. announced its plan to purchase most of the same company for $350 million.

Pendragon in a Wednesday regulatory filing said its board considered the proposal, but concluded that it "fundamentally undervalues the company and is therefore not in the best interests of shareholders or other stakeholders" and rejected the Penske-Hedin bid.

Reuters valued the bid price of 28 pence (35 cents) per share at about $486 million.

Pendragon added that the board is "excited about the future prospects for Pendragon as a result of the transaction announced with Lithia Motors."

Lithia declined to comment Wednesday.

Lithia's plan announced Monday includes buying Pendragon's 160 retail locations in the U.K. Mos…

Detroit-based seating supplier LM Manufacturing has temporarily laid off 650 workers due to the UAW strike shutting down its customer.

The company, a joint venture between Canadian auto supply giant Magna International Inc. and minority-owned LAN Manufacturing, made the move in response to a work stoppage Friday that has halted production of Ford Motor Co.'s Bronco, among various other makes and models by the Detroit 3.

Magna spokeswoman Tracy Fuerst confirmed the temporary layoffs began Wednesday. Production at LM Manufacturing's new plant launched just a few months ago after completion of an $18 million build-out at the Bedrock-owned, former Sakthi Automotive site in southwest Detroit. Fuerst said the company is not offering to supplement unemployment benefits and plans to bring back employees once production resumes.

The company had been competing with crosstown competitor Lear Corp. and other suppliers for employees. The tight labor market contrib…

Unifor plans to have members vote on its tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co. of Canada “before the end of the week,” though precise timing for ratification meetings is still being finalized, a union spokesperson told Automotive News Canada Wednesday.

The union representing about 5,600 hourly workers at Ford assembly and engine plants in Ontario, as well as several parts distribution and office locations, struck a tentative three-year deal with the automaker late on Sept. 19, nearly a full day after its initial strike deadline had passed and six weeks after bargaining began.

Unifor President Lana Payne said the tentative agreement addresses “all of the items” members raised as priorities before talks opened in August.     

“We believe that this agreement will solidify the foundations on which we will continue to bargain gains for generations of autoworkers in Canada,” she said in a statement.

The deal has been unanimously endo…