Trade News

Days before it's threatening to strike the Detroit 3, the UAW has reduced its demand for pay raises over the next four years to the mid-30 percent range, according to people familiar with the offer.

The union in recent days has made counteroffers to all three automakers that include the new target. It previously had demanded raises totaling more than 40 percent.

Exact details of the proposal were not immediately available, and the situation remains fluid as all three companies pass counterproposals back and forth. One person familiar with the offers said the UAW's new request was as low as 36 percent.

The union's original demand, announced Aug. 1, called for a 20 percent raise upon ratification followed by four 5 percent raises each of the four years of the contract. With compounding, that would amount to a 46 percent increase by 2027.

The updated range is notable in that it marks a willingness by the union to compromise on one of its top demand…

The automotive industry is advancing at a rapid pace, and many dealerships are successfully applying those advancements to their variable operations. Recent research shows, however, that service departments have fallen behind – meaning there is big opportunity in fixed ops for dealerships willing to take on the challenge.

In this guide, 3 Profit Opportunities for Today’s Fixed Ops, you’ll learn how to apply these proven principles to increase service profits:

Transparency: Build trust with clear pricing, digital quotes for multipoint inspections, and more. Optimization: Increase efficiency with electronic communications, online scheduling, online payments, and more. Integration: Achieve goals by connecting processes and platforms.

South Korea's largest auto supplier, Hyundai Mobis, will mark a major expansion of its North American R&D operations center this week by welcoming customers, politicians and media to the Plymouth, Mich., site for a tech event showing off its newest electrification and autonomous driving technology.

Mobis Technical Center of North America has new or upgraded labs and engineering equipment, as well as a new customer experience center with 18 displays showcasing its latest technology. The investments allow for more development work to be done on site, as well as conducting more technical discussions with automakers such as General Motors and Stellantis locally instead of at Mobis headquarters in South Korea or at trade shows.

The expanded presence is one of the latest investments illustrating how auto suppliers are being nudged to step up with investment money as automakers pursue aggressive targets in EVs, driver-assistance systems and softwar…

Limited inventory, affordability challenges, reduced customer loyalty—we all remember the significant changes brought about by the pandemic. While these issues have started to dissipate, the automotive industry is now entering a new era as electric vehicles (EVs) take center stage. For as many opportunities as this next frontier creates, an equal number of challenges emerge. These headwinds include slowing sales velocity, EV prices that are still higher than ICE vehicles, and a noisy market saturated with new EV models.

In recent months, new-vehicle inventory levels have been on the rise, reaching some of their highest point in two years, according to monthly reporting by Cox Automotive. And when you drill into this issue, you quickly see that EVs are among the segments with the highest inventory — many EVs had more than 100 days’ supply at the end of July 2023. Additionally, Kelley Blue Book reported that the average price of an EV in July 2023 was still several tho…

BEIJING — Western sanctions against Russia are boosting demand for China-made light vehicles, and the surge could continue as long as the sweeping sanctions remain in place, an executive with China's auto association said on Monday.

Chinese automakers are also seeking to assemble vehicles in Russia and localize production, Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer at the China Association of Auto Manufacturers, told reporters.

"There's still huge demand in the Russian market but that won't necessarily be solely reliant on imports," Xu said.

"China's auto exports to Russia will still be in high demand over next 2-3 years and after that China's auto sector will likely increase their localization in the Russian market."

Russia was the top destination for China's auto exports in the first seven months of the year, CAAM data showed, with 464,000 cars sold. Mexico ranked second with 224,000 Chinese imports.

In 2022, Mexico was the top importer of Chinese…

Tesla Inc.'s Dojo supercomputer could power a near $600 billion jump in the automaker's market value by boosting the adoption of robotaxis and its software services, Morgan Stanley analysts said.

The electric-vehicle maker started production of the supercomputer used to train artificial intelligence (AI) models for self-driving cars in July and plans to spend more than $1 billion on Dojo through next year.

Dojo can open up new addressable markets that "extend well beyond selling vehicles at a fixed price," Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Adam Jonas, said in a note on Sunday.

The stock on Monday was on track to add about $46 billion in market value. Morgan Stanley is one of Musk’s key advisory firms, including on the $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc., now known as X.

Tesla shares rose 5.5 percent to $262.66 in early Monday trading.

The analysts' report said: "If Dojo can help make cars 'see' and 'react,' what other markets could open up…

LONDON -- BMW will invest 600 million pounds ($750 million) at its U.K. plant in Oxford to take its Mini brand all-electric by 2030, a fresh boost for Britain's car industry after years of Brexit-related uncertainty.

Starting in 2026, the automaker will make two electric models at the English plant: the three-door version of the Mini Cooper and the Aceman compact crossover.

BMW will also invest in its U.K. plant in Swindon that makes parts for Mini models.

The company did not say what will happen to its engine plant in Hams Hall in a statement released on Monday.

The Oxford factory will make only electric models as of 2030.

The Cooper and Aceman EVs will also be made in China. Exports of the cars begin in 2024.

Had BMW opted to keep electric Mini production limited to China, it would have been a serious blow to the U.K., where car production has halved since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

British business minister Kemi Badenoch …

China’s big tech firms are feeling the pain of being late to the electric vehicle party.

Their push into the world’s largest car market is being hampered by government efforts to rein in an EV industry built at breakneck pace via years of generous subsidies. But as consumer demand takes a hit and Beijing’s strict rules around production licenses endure, aspiring market entrants are being pushed into partnerships with licensed manufacturers, or pivoting their business plans entirely.

“Technology companies need to find their own positioning in this fiercely competitive market,” said Esun Xu, senior consulting director at Frost & Sullivan. “It’s becoming harder for them to get into the game as they face multiple challenges including technological barriers, financial requirements, market competition, regulatory hurdles and supply chain management.”

The toughest hurdle is getting a hold of the permit needed to make an EV. China has granted just a handful…

Toyota has gone from being an environmental darling, lauded for pioneering hybrid technology, to a pariah among many conservationists. Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, defends the company’s commitment to hybrids. And we hear from environmental activists and former government officials who say the world’s largest auto company is dangerously dragging its feet.

Buckle up for a big week

We're heading into a big week for the auto industry — and a really big week for Automotive News.

We start the week off with a couple of exciting releases: One is entirely new and the other is a perennial favorite.

First the familiar: Automotive News readers will get to meet the 2023 class of Rising Stars. These are two dozen leaders and high achievers, age 45 or younger, working at automakers, suppliers and other non-retail entities in the automotive industry. (Young dealership folks are honored with the 40 Under 40 program.)

Also dropping is Driving to Zero, a limited-series podcast about the auto industry's efforts to reduce and even eliminate carbon emissions throughout the value chain and vehicle lifecycle. The first four episodes come out this week with four more to come. Jake Neher, our terrific coordinating producer for audio, led this project as reporter and host on top of his work on Daily Drive, the weekday new…