Trade News

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. on Friday said it was studying ways to boost output of gasoline-powered and hybrid F-150 trucks at a Michigan factory as part of a broader plan to boost production of several models.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker also said it is increasing production by more than 80,000 vehicles for its Bronco Sport and Maverick this year, up from 225,000 in 2022.

The automaker reiterated that it is still on track to triple F-150 Lightning EV production this year, targeting an annual production run rate of 150,000 by the end of 2023. The automaker was forced to halt production in early February after a battery fire, and plans to resume production on March 13.

Ford's U.S. F-150 sales fell 9.9 percent in 2022 to about 654,000, including 15,617 F-150 EV trucks, as the company struggled with production and supply chain problems.

General Motors last month said it would idle the Fort Wayne, Ind., assembly plant that builds Chevrolet Silverado and …

Electric vehicle pioneer Tesla has trimmed some of its sticker prices to capture an even larger share of the U.S. EV market. But one of the segment's newest entrants — Swedish electric brand Polestar — has no intention of chasing the front-runner.

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told analysts Thursday on an earnings call that his focus is carving out a niche in the higher-margin, luxury end of the EV market.

While Tesla "is very much concentrating to go mass market in the future to compete with the likes of Volkswagen and Toyota, Polestar's ambition is to go fully into this premium, luxury sports car segment," Ingenlath said. "We are not aiming to produce 10 million cars per year."

Ingenlath's approach is pragmatic.

Polestar has neither the brand awareness nor the profit margin to launch into a market share war with segment heavyweights Tesla and Ford. The Volvo affiliate began delivering its first and only mass-market EV, the Polestar 2 fastback,…

Vietnamese automaker VinFast has delivered its first electric vehicles to U.S. customers, marking its official entry into the North America market.

VinFast, which cut prices on its VF 8 crossover last month, handed over the first 45 units of the midsize EV to customers at its nine California stores on Wednesday, the company said in a press release.

The vehicles were part of a shipment of 999 vehicles that arrived in California in late December. Deliveries were delayed until this month in order to install a software update, VinFast said.

"It's extremely gratifying in fulfilling our delivery promise and to witness the excitement our customers have for the VinFast brand," said Gareth Dunsmore, deputy CEO for global sales and marketing.

The first batch of VinFast crossovers are a limited version called the VF 8 City Edition, available only as part of a $399 per month lease. The lease promotion was cut from $599 per month in February.

VinFast sa…

SHANGHAI -- Tesla sold 74,402 China-made electric vehicles in February, up 32 percent from a year earlier, China Passenger Car Association data showed on Friday.

That was up 13 percent from January, when the U.S. electric carmaker delivered 66,051 China-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Rival BYD with its Dynasty and Ocean series of EVs and hybrids generated sales of 191,664 last month, CPCA data showed.

Tesla had planned to run its Shanghai plant at an average weekly output rate of 20,000 units in February and March after price cuts it made in early January stoked demand.

But the latest weekly data showed its retail sales in China were still running short of the pace seen in the fourth quarter, indicating the bump from discounted prices in its biggest overseas market is waning. 

Tesla's market share in China's new energy vehicle sector, which includes both pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars, slid to 9 percent in February from 10…

MARYSVILLE, Ohio - Honda Motor Co. is moving rapidly to catch up with electric-vehicle competitors in global markets, but the company's top executive said combustion engines could last through 2040 and beyond.

Regarding the Japanese automaker's accelerating transition to EVs, Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said, “I’ve been in the engine development business for more than 30 years, so personally it’s a little threatening. But I have to separate my own feelings from what is best for the business.”

That includes the establishment next month of a standalone business unit to oversee development of Honda's EV and battery business, which eventually could include an investment in charging stations, similar to Tesla Inc.'s Supercharger network, Mibe said in Marysville, Ohio, at the hub of the company’s U.S. operations.

"The charging infrastructure is not at a place that it needs to be for our customers,” he said.Mibe added that Honda is running feasibility studies o…

Growing tensions between franchised dealers and legacy automakers over evolving sales models and vehicle service work are emerging as key issues in statehouses across the U.S. this year.

Several state dealer associations are backing legislation to amend franchise laws that govern the relationship between dealerships and the automakers whose brands they sell. The issues run the spectrum.

Some states, such as Virginia, are proposing language that would prevent traditional automakers from negotiating the sale or lease of a new vehicle directly with consumers or declaring dealers to be delivery agents. Other states want to spell out dealers' role in participating in future subscription revenue that automakers may seek to activate with over-the-air software updates. Proposals to remove automakers' right of first refusal in buy-sell deals — the ability to assign an alternative buyer — also are on the table.

And the question of how much …

When big rigs pull to a highway shoulder, their drivers are required by federal regulations to place three reflective triangles behind the vehicle within 10 minutes of stopping.

In a self-driving world, there's nobody around to perform that task.

That's a problem for companies that intend to deploy driverless trucks, but self-driving tech firms Aurora and Waymo may have an answer.

The two companies are seeking a five-year exemption from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations that address the required placement of warning devices.

Their exemption request will be made public Friday when the administration, which provides safety oversight of commercial motor vehicles, is expected to publish it in the Federal Register. A copy of the application was available online Thursday night.

Instead of triangles or flares at night, Waymo and Aurora have requested their partner motor carriers be allowed to equip truck cabs with flashing w…

The software fix developed by Hyundai and Kia to help protect vehicles it sold without immobilizers from being easily hotwired does not solve the problem for litigants in class-action lawsuits across the U.S. whose cars have already been stolen, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys told Automotive News.

Matt Van Fleet, a senior trial attorney with MLG Attorneys at Law in California, who represents clients in a class-action lawsuit on the issue, called the move "commendable" but not enough to stop the litigation across the country.

"We're thankful that Hyundai and Kia are recognizing that there's a problem, but the bell's already been rung," Van Fleet said.

"The fix does nothing to address the thousands of dollars that our clients have had to dole out to repair the damage caused to these vehicles after they've been stolen, if they're able to recover their cars at all," he said.

Litigants are claiming Kia and Hyundai must p…

Automotive CX is shifting gears. The rapid rise of EV disruptors and mobile/connected innovation is dramatically changing customer expectations of how they buy and service their vehicles. Automotive brands are being pressured to transform the automotive buying and ownership experience, but where does the rubber meet the road in improving the CX automotive journey? To find out, Concentrix Catalyst and Salesforce surveyed leading OEMs and dealers for their perceptions on delivering compelling customer experiences. Download the report and then take our Automotive Maturity Assessment to see how you stack up to the industry compared to your peers.

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Executives at vehicle listings company CarGurus Inc. remain bullish about its wholesale digital trading platform CarOffer, despite a fourth-quarter loss in the newly called out reporting segment of digital wholesale.

CarGurus' digital wholesale segment, which includes dealer-to-dealer and Instant Max Cash Offer services and products sold via CarOffer, booked a $2.6 million operating loss in the fourth quarter, down from $16.7 million in operating income in the fourth quarter of 2021. Digital wholesale revenue in the fourth quarter plunged 33 percent to $120.5 million vs. $178.6 million a year earlier.

"I don't think there's a long-term change," CarGurus President Sam Zales said of CarOffer during the company's earnings call. "We think the biggest opportunity here … is to put CarOffer and CarGurus together to create dealer opportunity to source market and sell their vehicles in the most efficient way possible."

CarGurus acquired a 51 percent interest in…