Contract talks between the UAW and Detroit 3 automakers are in the critical post-Labor Day stretch, with a Sept. 14 contract expiration approaching.The union seeks a self-described “audacious and ambitious” list of demands that include a 46 percent raise, a return to traditional pensions and a 32-hour work week.Ford, GM and Stellantis have made their offers to the union public. The UAW has so far been critical of the proposals.Follow this liveblog for regular updates.
Live updates: An auto show, a battery show and Automotive News Congress
It will be busy next week in the heart of the U.S. automotive world.Industry leaders will convene in Michigan for three major events — the North American International Detroit Auto Show and the Automotive News Congress, both in Detroit, and the Battery Show in the suburb of Novi. The future of transportation will come into sharp focus at all three.The Automotive News Congress theme is Investing in Innovation. There will be keynote sessions with General Motors President Mark Reuss, Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra and Hyundai Motor Co. COO Jose Muñoz.The Battery Show will zoom in on pressing issues such as battery plant timelines, regulations and recycling, while the auto show will feature the latest in electric vehicles and includes a mobility forum.Automotive News will cover each right here.
New Toyota chief tech officer to radically ramp up r&d efficiency
DETROIT — When the Toyota Prius hybrid compact car debuted some 25 years ago, its breakthrough fuel-sipping gasoline-electric drivetrain shattered industry norms.
In doing so, the Prius also proved that Toyota Motor Corp., a company renowned for safe and reliable, but conservative, cars could throw down the gauntlet with revolutionary new technology.
Now, Toyota wants to rekindle that pioneering spirit by overhauling its R&D operations to be better, faster and cheaper in a cultural shift to unleash its engineering corps' creative juices.
The goal is shedding Toyota's traditional risk-averse mindset to deliver vehicles that are revolutionary, not just evolutionary, to compete in the ultracompetitive age of new mobility.
Leading the charge in North America is newly appointed Chief Technology Officer Mike Sweers, the truck-crazy Toyota veteran who took the helm of the region's R&D nerve center on July 3.
Detroit 3 tease reveals, including Ford F-150
The 2023 Detroit auto show, while smaller than pre-pandemic events, is expected to showcase at least a handful of reveals from the city's hometown automakers.
Ford Motor Co. plans to unveil a freshened F-150, including an updated hybrid variant. General Motors has press conferences scheduled for its GMC and Cadillac brands, while Stellantis has one scheduled, for Jeep.
Overall, the show says 35 brands will be represented through manufacturer- and dealer-sponsored displays. Notable among the 16 corporate exhibitors will be electric vehicle giant Tesla, which traditionally has avoided the Detroit show.
"We're thrilled to be able to bring auto show audiences a broad spectrum of brands and vehicles," Rod Alberts, the show's executive director, said in a statement. "As a dealer association-backed auto show, one of our main goals is to display all the brands that are sold in our region. This blend of bringing together corporate- and dealer-supported vehicles …
Women in fixed ops management roles create a supportive environment
Jennifer Lewis-Hodgson was working as an assistant in a body shop when an insurance appraiser she worked with recommended her for the collision center manager job at Grossman Chevrolet-Nissan in Old Saybrook, Conn.
"I came in here with zero management experience," said Lewis-Hodgson, who has managed that collision center since November 2019. "But when I had questions, [the Grossman management team] had the patience to really hear what I was trying to say."
Women aren't lining up to fill fixed ops job openings at dealerships, but some stores are successfully attracting women. Those that do are finding female managers enable a dealership culture that creates a great work environment for all employees.
"As we have had success hiring women, training women and finding women who stand out in this industry, we have realized women bring such an interesting culture to the dealership — one that is different than the traditional male manager…
Toyota dealers: Room in lineup for a Ford Maverick fighter
As an upstart interloper in a market dominated by what was then "The Big Three," Toyota established a beachhead in the U.S. pickup market five decades ago with a small, fuel-efficient, utilitarian offering that separated itself from the much larger trucks rolling out of Detroit.
Today, Toyota's pickups are much larger, as is both the Japanese automaker itself and its share of the total U.S. market, where the brand is one of the last full-line automakers left. But as Ford's small, fuel efficient, utilitarian Maverick pickup continues to leave consumers waiting months for delivery, could a return to its heritage with a Corolla-based pickup give Toyota a second pickup segment to dominate, like it does with the Tacoma?
"We've obviously watched Maverick closely," Toyota brand head Dave Christ told Automotive News ahead of this week's Toyota dealer meeting in Las Vegas. "If you think about our pickup trucks, they've gotten bigger over the years. You …
New-vehicle inventories top 2 million for first time since April 2021
After a long, slow climb back, new-vehicle inventory levels in the United States topped 2 million last month for the first time since April 2021 as the industry continues to move away from production disruptions, according to estimates by Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center.
Cox Automotive estimated inventories at 2.06 million vehicles in its latest report, up more than 837,000 vehicles from a year ago, or 68 percent. Inventories reached their lowest levels in September 2021, when they dropped under 830,000, Cox said, and spent much of the next year hovering between that low and 1.1 million, before beginning to steadily gain ground in August 2022.
Despite the recent gains, automakers and dealers still have about 1.4 million fewer vehicles on their lots today than they did at the same point in 2019, and about 400,000 fewer than they did at this point in 2020, according to Cox estimates.
Asian brands conti…
Asbury could grow to 4th largest group with deal
Nearly two years after purchasing Larry H. Miller Dealerships in one of the largest deals in auto retail history, Asbury Automotive Group Inc. has lined up an encore.
Publicly traded Asbury plans to buy the privately owned Jim Koons Automotive Cos. of the mid-Atlantic in what would be the first dealership megadeal since the frenzied fourth quarter of 2021. That time period, in which fellow public retail giants Group 1 Automotive Inc. and Sonic Automotive Inc. also bought large private groups, solidified the latest era of dealership consolidation.
Asbury, of Duluth, Ga., on Friday, Sept. 8, said it had agreed to spend $1.2 billion to purchase Jim Koons Automotive, a top 25 dealership group. The deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter or early in the first quarter, would add 20 franchised dealerships, six collision centers and one used-car store to its portfolio.
The Koons group reported $3.2 billion in revenue and sales of 26,188 new vehicles in 2…
Volvo Cars cuts jobs and expenses in U.S., Canada to prep for EV era
Volvo Cars is restructuring its U.S. and Canadian operations as part of an $88 million global effort to tighten spending, drive efficiencies and update its work force for an all-electric future.
Volvo Car USA and Canada President Michael Cottone said the initiative, code-named CORE+, is "all-encompassing."
"There's not any area of the business that is not impacted," Cottone told Automotive News. "We have [many] different reports and jobs, and we're looking at them to make sure these are the ones that give us the biggest impact and put our resources toward them."
The Swedish automaker is cutting more than 10 percent of its nearly 1,000 white-collar work force in the U.S. and Canada, a source briefed on the plan told Automotive News. Volvo will also trim its regional ranks through early retirement offers. The head count reduction is expected to take effect by early October.
Adam Clarke, Volvo’s head retail network development and customer experienc…
Dealers will register soon for new, used EV tax credit transfers
WASHINGTON — Dealers in the coming months will be able to sign up for preapproval for point-of-sale tax credits on new and used electric vehicles, a senior Treasury official told reporters Thursday. Details were not yet clear.
Starting in January, consumers will be able to transfer EV tax credits of up to $7,500 to dealers at the point of sale so those funds can be applied to the down payment. The credit transfer is allowed under the Inflation Reduction Act's Section 30D credit for new EV purchases and the consumer incentive for used EVs, known as 25E.
"In the next few months, dealers will be able to register via an online IRS portal," Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Lily Batchelder said in the press briefing. "In January, registered dealers will be able to submit 'clean vehicle' sales information to the IRS and promptly receive payments for transferred credits."
The U.S. Treasury Department also said it plans to issue more guidance by Dec. 31 that …
5 stars of the Munich auto show
MUNICH -- The IAA Mobility show here that kicked off on Monday showcased a range of important new cars, giving fans of auto shows hope that the format might revive in Europe.
Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Renault, Seat, Volkswagen -- as well as the Chinese newcomer Avatr -- were among those unveiling new cars, while Chinese automakers BYD, Dongfeng Forthing, Leapmotor, Seres and Xpeng used the event to make announcements about their European expansion.
These were the five cars that caught our eye in Munich.
Mercedes built the Concept CLA Class its own two-story, windowless showroom in the heart of Munich, where the vibe was more fashion show than auto show. A light display from the car itself showed off extensive use of LEDs on the grille, roof and within the cabin, which has “spa-like elegance,” according to the automaker.
Unlike other concepts at the event, the CLA Class made heavy use of chrome. The car previewed an electr…
Magna sees EV battery enclosures generating $2.5 billion in sales by 2027
Diversified supplier Magna International Inc. said Thursday it expects to generate $2.5 billion in annual revenue from electric vehicle battery enclosures by 2027, up significantly from just $100 million in 2022.
The enclosures, which house high-voltage batteries and other important EV components, are seen as a major area of growth for North America's largest parts supplier as it looks to position itself for success as automakers roll out new EVs. This year, the company committed around $700 million to expand battery enclosure production at two plants in Michigan and Ontario in order to supply battery enclosures for the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup.
The $2.5 billion estimate for 2027 battery enclosure revenue is significantly higher than last year's estimate for 2027, when Magna expected around $1.5 billion. Magna expects sales of between $400 million and $500 million this year, with that figure rising to between $1.6 bil…