Trade News

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday said that electric vehicles leased by consumers starting Jan. 1 can qualify for up to $7,500 in commercial clean vehicle tax credits, a decision that makes those assembled outside North America eligible.

The announcement is a win for some automakers that earlier this month sought approval to use the commercial electric vehicle tax credit to boost consumer EV access. Automakers said the credit could be used to reduce leasing prices.

The $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act passed in August ended $7,500 consumer tax credits for purchases of electric vehicles assembled outside North America, angering South Korea, the European Union, Japan and others. The new Treasury guidance does not change the definition of what constitutes North American final assembly to make more vehicles eligible for EV purchases.

Treasury said it was using "longstanding tax principles" to determine consumer leasing could qualify for the EV ta…

Automotive News Editor Lindsay Chappell unpacks the biggest stories and trends affecting auto industry suppliers in 2022.

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The United States will introduce incentives on Jan. 1 for delivery firms and other companies to switch to electric trucks as part of a broad push to get gasoline and diesel powered vehicles off roads and out of neighborhoods.

The first-of-its-kind incentives, established under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will offer tax credits of $7,500 or $40,000 depending on the size of the electric vehicle. Delivery companies like FedEx and Amazon.com would qualify at the $7,500 level for many of their electric trucks.

Those tax credits can be combined with voucher programs in California, New York and other states that are spending billions of dollars to convince companies to switch to zero-emissions vehicles. The IRA's commercial EV credits do not have the made in the USA rules that apply to passenger cars.

The U.S. transportation sector, including large and small trucks, buses and airplanes, accounts for more than one-third of the greenhouse…

SHANGHAI -- Honda will recall just over 200,000 hybrid vehicles because of issues with brake pedal sensors in some models, China's State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement on Thursday.

A total of 105,608 hybrid vehicles produced between Oct. 8, 2018, and Sept. 7, 2020, by the Japanese carmaker's venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co. will be recalled, along with another 95,081 units from Honda's manufacturing partnership with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. made between August 27, 2018, and August 6, 2020.

Lubricating oil introduced into brake pedal sensors during the manufacturing process can cause issues with the sensors over time, and the recall would begin from March 31, 2023, the statement added.

Much has changed for auto suppliers in the three years since they last converged at a fully in-person CES in Las Vegas.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the seemingly endless list of sourcing challenges the industry has dealt with and the accelerating shift to electric vehicles have forced suppliers to reexamine their supply chains and contemplate what role they should play in this new world.

And CES provides a broad venue for suppliers to lay out their visions of what they'll look like moving forward.

CES "has been a major focus point for innovations and the latest technologies for many years, and its importance has long since extended beyond consumer electronics," Yves Andres, a member of the Hella management board, said in a statement.

Major suppliers at CES this year, including Robert Bosch, ZF Group, Continental and Valeo, will hold press conferences detailing future endeavors.

Others will also be on the show floor and at nearby …

Exports of electric vehicles from China more than doubled in November, creating a monthly record, mostly fueled by European automakers that farmed out the production to the country.  

Car manufacturers in China exported $3.2 billion worth of electric vehicles in November, up 165 percent from a year ago to reach the highest-ever monthly total, data from the nation's customs authority showed.

European countries such as Belgium and England were the biggest importers, taking up nearly 70 percent of the shipments.

Exports of electric passenger vehicles accounted for more than half of the total car shipments for two months in a row, with November registering a record high of $6 billion in exports.

The numbers come at a time when European automakers, including Volkswagen Group and BMW Group aim to make parts and cars inside China due to limited production capacity at their home markets.

SAIC Motor, the Chinese owner of MG Motors, which has …

Today, as other areas have struggled due to inventory allocation, fluctuating consumer demand, and changing customers’ preferences, service departments continue to drive profitability for dealerships. More importantly, they remain the primary source to build strong, long-term loyalty with customers and to drive new vehicle sales.

Here are three ways dealers can leverage their service lanes to bring in new-vehicle sales and gain a competitive advantage.

Lean in on your service department to drive new-vehicle sales. Build on the old, embrace the new. Customers trust telematics. You should, too. Use incentives. Even small ones can make a big impact.

Automotive News Director of Tech and Innovation Coverage Pete Bigelow discusses the biggest stories and trends in mobility and new technology in the auto industry in 2022.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

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Six years after personal tragedy inspired a mission to end distracted driving, Steve Kiefer said his foundation has made progress despite Michigan roads being as dangerous as ever.

The Kiefer Foundation was launched after Kiefer's son Mitchel was killed in a car crash caused by a distracted driver in 2016, shortly after he graduated from Detroit Catholic Central high school in Novi.

Earlier this year, 59-year-old Kiefer quit his job leading international operations at General Motors to focus full time on the cause. For the auto industry veteran, the joy of the holidays comes with a reminder of what's missing.

"One thing I often say to people is, 'Why does it take losing somebody to change your behavior?'" Kiefer said. "So many people will hear this story and think, 'Oh my God, I feel bad for them, that's terrible.' But it doesn't really change behavior until someone you know is impacted."

As car crashes and distracted driving spike during the ho…

Across a sprawl of streets in southern Beijing, China’s answer to search engine giant Google is charting the path for driverless cars in the world’s biggest electric vehicle market.

Baidu Inc.’s Apollo program, which allows customers to hail and ride a fully autonomous robotaxi, has racked up more than 1.4 million public journeys, and is expanding a network that already covers dozens of square miles across 10 key cities that also include Wuhan and Chongqing.

By next year, the company wants to have the largest autonomous service area in the world — an ambitious target considering it needs to complete with General Motors Co.’s fast-expanding robotaxi unit Cruise and California-based Waymo. Baidu is also being challenged in China by competitors like WeRide and Pony.ai.

The pace of development is on display at a company showroom in Yizhuang district, where an early autonomous model — a boxy red compact 4x4 rigged with steel beams to…

When the Indy Autonomous Challenge racing series made its CES debut last year, the concept of self-driving cars traveling at speeds approaching 170 mph attracted considerable attention.

"There was, I think, a lot of shock and awe that it was even possible in today's day and age," said Paul Mitchell, CEO of Energy Systems Network, the race producer.

The Indy Autonomous Challenge returns to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, Jan. 7, with bigger brains and brawn powering its race cars.

Approximately 10,000 event-goers have registered to attend the race as of Dec. 20. That's a five-fold increase from the 2,000-person crowd last year, an audience limited by pandemic-related restrictions, Mitchell said.

Nine university-affiliated teams are eligible to compete. Their software must still pass safety checks before they qualify. Those that do will showcase hardware improvements that include bigger turbochargers on the identical Dallara AV-21 base v…