Trade News

Renault Group and Nissan Motor Co. will formally unveil the agreement to reshape their alliance on Feb. 6 in London, the companies.

The deal will reshape the two-decade-old alliance to put the two carmakers on an equal footing.

Renault will reduce its controlling stake in Nissan to 15 percent from 43 percent, while Nissan will take a share in Renault's carved-out electric-vehicle business Ampere.

Both sides will be able to exercise voting rights up to 15 percent. Currently Nissan has no voting rights attached to its stake -- a longtime source of contention.

"At this conference, the members of the alliance will present the agreements that will define the new bases for their partnership - presuming prior approval of their respective boards," the companies said on Thursday.

The reshuffling would be the first major overhaul since Renault saved Nissan from near bankruptcy in 1999 by taking controlling stake in the then-flailing Japanese blue chi…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ The charging conundrum faced by commercial electric trucks

LAS VEGAS — Electric truck builders are sounding the alarm on the lack of charging infrastructure and the time it takes to build as the freight and logistics industry transitions to zero-emission transport.

Daimler Truck North America CEO John O'Leary told Automotive News his company has both the manufacturing capacity and customer interest to sell 2,000 Freightliner eCascadia electric trucks this year, but there is a lack of chargers to support them.

"Our customers need to be able to charge any of their trucks anywhere they are," O'Leary said as Daimler prepared to unveil the SuperTruck II, an extra-efficient concept model of its diesel Freightliner, on Wednesday at the Manifest freight and logistics conference here.

There is almost no public infrastructure to power large electric trucks. The charging systems going into distribution centers and other facilities …

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. spent $2.7 million during the fourth quarter on "a significant acquisition that did not materialize," the company said Thursday.

Asbury's sale of nine North Carolina stores in the fourth quarter was also partly agreed to in anticipation of the unconsummated purchase, CEO David Hult told analysts and investors on a call.

Asbury did not specify a reason for the "significant" deal's lack of completion, and it was unclear from Hult and Asbury's comments if the auto retailer had abandoned that transaction entirely. Asbury also did not specify what expenses consumed the $2.7 million other than for "deal diligence."

On the call, Morningstar Inc. analyst David Whiston asked for clarification on what Asbury considered a "large" or "significant" acquisition in light of the group's purchase of Larry H. Miller Dealerships in December 2021. That $3.2 billion transaction included Asbury purchasing 61 franchised an…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.'s fourth-quarter net income fell to $1.3 billion because of continued supply chain struggles, and CEO Jim Farley blamed the automaker's annual loss on poor execution.

For all of 2022, Ford lost $2 billion, and the company's adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of $10.4 billion was more than a billion lower than what it forecast. Farley promised better results in 2023, which he described as a "pivotal year” for the automaker.

"To say I'm frustrated is an understatement because the year could have been so much more for us at Ford," Farley said on an earnings call with analysts late Thursday. "We have deeply entrenched issues in our industrial system that have proven tough to root out. Candidly, the strength of our products and revenue has masked this dysfunctionality for a long time."

In a statement, Farley said Ford left about $2 billion of profits on the table last year. 

Ford CFO John Lawler said roughly half…

TOKYO — When Afeela, the new electric vehicle brand created by Honda Motor Co. and Sony Corp., starts delivering cars in 2026, it won't just consider Honda and Acura dealers to service them.

In the U.S., the new EV venture may also look to brands outside the Honda and Acura dealer networks — including retailers from rival automakers.

"Not only Honda dealers. There may be several opportunities," Yasuhide Mizuno, CEO of Sony Honda Mobility Inc., said about plans for Afeela's critical after-sales network.

"It might be that is the best way for the customer," he said.

Rethinking retail, even if it means disrupting relations with franchised dealers, exemplifies the nothing-is-sacred mindset of Sony Honda Mobility in its quest to reinvent the auto business.

Super-powerful computer chips, extra-long leases, exporting from the U.S. to Japan, video game tie-ups — not to mention, the temerity to team two of Japan's most iconic brands from vastly diff…

SHANGHAI -- China's Xiaomi said on Thursday it had imposed a 1 million yuan ($149,000) penalty on a supplier after it leaked early design drafts of an upcoming vehicle model.

On its official Weibo page, a spokesperson wrote Xiaomi had "dealt seriously" with a Beijing-based molding technology company which on Jan. 22 publicly revealed images of an upcoming vehicle's front and rear bumpers, violating a confidentiality agreement.

Xiaomi did not disclose the name of the company and Reuters could not identify it.

As punishment, the smartphone-turned-car maker said it would impose "economic compensation" of 1 million yuan ($148,763) on the supplier.

The spokesperson added it had instructed the supplier to strengthen its information security management, and develop plans to upgrade its confidentiality measures.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun also circulated the note on his personal Weibo page.

Over the Chinese New Year, images purportedly showing mock …

Berkshire Hathaway, the investment company owned by Warren Buffett, has sold 1.55 million Hong Kong-listed shares of electric vehicle maker BYD for HK$351.81 million ($44.85 million), a stock exchange filing showed.

The sale lowered Berkshire's holdings in BYD's H-shares to 12.9 percent on Jan. 27, down from 13.04 percent, the filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed on Thursday.

Berkshire, which started selling the BYD shares in late August, has accumulatively reduced its holding by more than a third.

Buffett's company acquired 225 million BYD shares in 2008, giving it a 7.73 percent stake, equal to the 20.49 percent stake in H shares, according to BYD's annual report.

BYD was the world's largest plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles maker in 2022, with a total of 1.86 million cars sold, growing faster than Tesla.

Tesla may grab all the attention when it comes to electric vehicles, but Hyundai just bested the market leader on who has the more efficient EV.

Hyundai's Ioniq 6, which goes on sale this spring, has been rated higher than Tesla's most efficient Model 3 on the EPA MPGe scale.

With a combined MPGe rating of 140, the 2023 Ioniq 6 SE rwd also matched the industry's top two nameplates on the EPA efficiency scale — the 2023 Lucid Air Pure awd with 19-inch wheels and the 2023 Lucid Air Touring awd with 19-inch wheels. Both Lucid models are also rated at 140 combined MPGe.

Tesla's popular Model 3 rwd has an MPGe of 132.

MPGe, or miles per gallon equivalent, is the EPA's calculation of an EV's energy efficiency, equal to miles per gallon on an internal combustion engine vehicle. The measurement equates 33.7 kilowatts to 1 gallon of gasoline.

Hyundai said the base SE Long Range version of its 2023 Ioniq 6 with rwd has an EPA-estimated range of 361 …

McLaren's next vehicle takes the 720S, a keystone of the British supercar marque's lineup, and gives it more power, updated styling and a new name.

The new vehicle, internally named 750S, will carry over the 720's 4.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V-8 engine with 710 hp, but it will have an additional 30 hp, a person briefed on the matter told Automotive News.

The 750S features an exterior and interior that borrows design cues from other McLaren vehicles.

The source said the new car is the "perfect blend" of the 720S and the more powerful and lightweight 765LT.

"It's not as extreme as 765, but it is a little more aggressive than 720," they said.

The 750S will be the last non-electrified mainstream McLaren model. The exotic sports car maker has said future vehicles will be either hybrid or all-electric.

A McLaren spokesman declined to comment on future product.

The 750S will take over as McLaren's flagship production model when it …

TOKYO – Honda will use a new hydrogen fuel cell system jointly developed with General Motors in a U.S.-built CR-V crossover.

The fuel cell CR-V will be built in Ohio and will launch in in the U.S. and Japan by the end of next year. Europe sales are still under consideration, Honda said in a statement.

Honda executives said engineers have cut the cost of the next-generation system to one-third that of the system used in Honda's previous fuel cell car, the Clarity sedan that debuted in 2016.

Among other improvements, the durability of the system will be doubled and the low-temperature performance will be boosted, executives said at a briefing here.

The new system starts up significantly faster at temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30 degrees Centigrade).

The new technology is an outgrowth of a joint development between Honda and GM dating back to 2013.

Honda and GM have been pooling resources on hydrogen fuel ce…

Renault and Nissan’s boards are set to approve a landmark deal to reshape their troubled two-decade alliance just hours before an official event unveiling more details of the plan, according to people familiar with the situation.

Renault directors are gathering Sunday followed by Nissan’s board early on Monday, Feb. 6, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing information that has not been made public. Both boards are expected to agree to the proposals, according to the people.

Renault and Nissan this week outlined their in-principle agreement on a deal to rebalance cross-capital ties and cooperation on future projects with a goal of resetting their alliance that also includes junior partner Mitsubishi Motors.

The votes will come shortly before executives from the three companies hold a media conference in London on Feb. 6 to share more about their plans, with final details on timing and venue being ironed out, the people said.

A …