Trade News

TOKYO — The rebalancing of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance opens a new chapter for the long-uneasy Franco-Japanese partnership in the wake of the arrest of its former chairman.

But one man still fighting its past, former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, says the carmakers missed a golden opportunity to better strengthen their position as a leading global auto group.

Under the plan envisioned by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, the alliance partners would have achieved unprecedented scale and Nissan would have assumed the leading role, said Kelly, the American director charged in Ghosn's 2018 alleged financial misconduct case.

"Nissan would have been first among equals," Kelly told Automotive News on Feb. 6, shortly before the companies unveiled their restructured cross-holding framework.

"I do think it relates back to everything that happened in 2018, and different visions for the group," he said. "Clearly, the vision for the group here looks to …

BERLIN - Volkswagen's supervisory board will assemble on Friday for a planning round postponed from last November in which it will discuss plans for which models to produce at which plant, a source close to the company told Reuters on Friday.

The supervisory board will meet again in early March to conclude the plans and prepare to present them on March 14 in the carmaker's annual results conference, the source said.

The planning round, first reported by German business paper Handelsblatt, is the first since Volkswagen and Porsche Chief Executive Oliver Blume took over the company last autumn.

Among the topics on the agenda is whether to build a new factory for the Trinity model near its Wolfsburg headquarters, a plan conceived under former Chief Executive Herbert Diess but which was called into question at the end of last year.

The Volkswagen brand chief said in December that the carmaker would decide by early February whether to build the factory…

WASHINGTON — A large majority of dealers surveyed by Automotive News said they are taking steps to sell electric vehicles, but they have mixed opinions on the federal government's role in supporting the transition and accelerating consumer adoption.

Roughly 82 percent of the dealers are selling or preparing to sell EVs at their stores, according to responses in the 2023 Dealer Outlook Survey of 264 dealers and dealership managers. That's slightly higher than last year's results of about 80 percent in a survey of 196.

To get ready, most respondents surveyed in January said they have installed charging infrastructure, followed by purchasing and installing service department equipment and training or hiring technicians specifically for EV maintenance and repair.

While dealers said they're feeling pressure from automakers to invest in EVs and the necessary infrastructure and store upgrades to sell and service them, they also cited the Biden administration …

ZEELAND, Mich. — Automotive mirror supplier Gentex Corp. has agreed to pay $4 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges involving the company's alleged accounting failures with executive and employee bonuses.

Additionally, CFO Kevin Nash has agreed to pay $75,000 to settle similar charges of violating the Securities Exchange Act.

The SEC announced the charges and settlement payments on Tuesday. The charges involved "financial reporting, books-and-records, and internal accounting controls violations arising out of the company's accounting for its executive and employee bonus compensation programs," according to the SEC.

Under the settlement, Gentex (Nasdaq: GNTX) and Nash agree to cease-and-desist orders in addition to the civil fines. The settlement neither admits to or denies the SEC's findings.

"We're pleased to have settled this SEC inquiry and to arrive at a resolution to put the matter behind us and to continue the j…

TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. said the global semiconductor shortage is bottoming out but still cut its global sales forecast as it warned that tight supplies will likely drag into the latter half of 2023.

Japan’s No. 2 automaker trimmed 250,000 units off its sales outlook for the current fiscal year ending March 31, citing lingering chip woes and uncertainty about the pandemic in China.

Honda now expects worldwide volume to dip under the 4-million-level to 3.85 million units.

The new sales target would register as a 5.4 percent sales decline from the previous fiscal year – as opposed to Honda’s previous forecast for a slight overall sales increase.

The volume languishes far below Honda’s global production capacity of 5.14 million.

Speaking at Honda’s quarterly earnings announcement on Friday, Operating Executive Eiji Fujimura said the supply of semiconductors is expected to pick up, but only in the second half of the coming fiscal year. That co…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ J.D. Power: EV charger reliability worsens

The reliability of the electric vehicle charging network is getting worse with at least 1 in 5 charging attempts by drivers failing last year, according to a new J.D. Power study.

Widespread problems are occurring as EV adoption grows at twice the rate of charger installation and the industry and government plan to invest billions of dollars into charging infrastructure.

Many charging stations are aging, lack routine maintenance and face software hiccups.

The number of failed charging attempts climbed steadily from 15 percent in the first quarter of 2021 to 20 percent in the first quarter of 2022 and rose to more than 21 percent by the third quarter, according to J.D. Power's Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study released Wednesday.

Satisfaction with Level 2 chargers and Level 3 chargers hit its lowest point in the third quarter since J.D. Power began its EV p…

CHICAGO — Volkswagen's reengineered 2024 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport crossovers will lose their V-6 engine options in favor of a standard turbocharged inline-four engine — one that will maintain the previous generation's 5,000-pound tow rating — while gaining a more upscale interior.

The three-row Atlas and two-row Atlas Cross Sport are getting a rework in part to line up an eventual changeover to a battery-electric powertrain for the brand's largest crossovers. The two vehicles are due for one last full redesign in 2026 before the introduction of what the brand refers to as a B-segment electric vehicle later in the decade. The reengineered vehicles were shown Thursday at the Chicago Auto Show.

For 2024, the Atlas family will come equipped with a single powertrain variant: a 269-hp turbocharged inline-four mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, capable of generating 273 pound-feet of torque. VW says the new powertrain is expected to provide improved f…

Toyota pulls the sheet off the 2024 Grand Highlander in Chicago. Nissan expects cratering sales of its small cars to recover soon. Plus, a conversation with Hyundai Motor North America's Olabisi Boyle, who says Hyundai may pass on its Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to customers who lease an EV.

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Ram's first electric pickup officially has a name.

The truck, slated to enter production in 2024, will be known as the 1500 REV.

Ram CEO Mike Koval, who was scheduled make the announcement Thursday during the Chicago Auto Show, said the name will be easy to market and "helps with the showroom distinction between the historical ICE [models] and the new EV future."

Koval said the REV is a "direct descendant" of the 1500 Revolution concept that debuted last month at the CES expo in Las Vegas. The Revolution concept used the STLA Frame platform for full-size, body-on-frame electric vehicles that allowed designers to create the truck's unique proportions.

The REV name is simple and straightforward, Koval told Automotive News. "We believe it's easy to understand; it's easy to communicate. We think our customers, both our current customers as well as new customers who are considering our brand, will understand it."

Ram also is demonstrating an int…

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The three-row 2023 Kia Telluride plays sidekick for a desperate dad who forgot his baby's binky in the automaker's latest Super Bowl commercial, but the story doesn't end when the spot is over.

That's when the fun starts.

Kia is presenting three alternate endings for the 60-second ad exclusively on its TikTok channel to keep the story alive and generate engagement.

After seeing each outcome, Kia wants viewers to share how they'd like the adventure to end, said Russell Wager, Kia America's vice president of marketing.

The ad is scheduled to debut Thursday on NBC's "Today" show. It will air in the third quarter of Sunday's game. The spot was created by David & Goliath, Kia's agency of record.

"TikTok is where the conversation is, more so than Twitter and Facebook and Instagram during the Super Bowl, so we wanted to have that dialogue started before, and carry on afterwards," Wager told Automotive News. …