Trade News

The rear-wheel-drive M2, one of the most celebrated and revered nameplates in BMW's lineup, is getting a bigger footprint and power boost to enhance its driving dynamics.

The second-generation car, redesigned and reengineered for 2023, will be powered by a turbo inline six-cylinder engine with 453 hp, up 48 hp. Transmission choices are a standard six-speed manual gearbox or eight-speed automatic.

The latest M2 is 180.3 inches long, 74.3 inches wide and 55.2 inches tall, making it 4.1 inches longer, 1.3 inches wider and 0.3 inch lower than the outgoing version.

BMW says the M2's 108.1-inch wheelbase is a critical factor in its agility. The wheelbase is 4.3 inches shorter than that of the BMW M4 coupe but 2.1 inches longer than the previous M2, helping to enhance front and rear legroom.

BMW said track width has increased by 1.5 inches, to 63.7 inches, in the front and 0.16 inch, to 63.2 inches, in the rear, matching the M4.

Notable exterior…

NEW YORK -- Authorities found children as young as 13 working at a Korean-operated supplier to automakers Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp., and have fined the company and a labor recruiter, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Alabama Department of Labor said Tuesday.

In August, authorities accused Alexander City, Ala.-based SL Alabama in federal court of violating child labor laws.

Regulators did not accuse Hyundai and Kia of wrongdoing in the case.

The action against SL Alabama, which supplies lights and mirrors for Hyundai and Kia assembly plants in the U.S., came following a July Reuters article that documented child labor practices at another auto parts supplier in the state, Hyundai-owned Smart Alabama LLC.

The U.S. Department of Labor said in a release that workers aged 13-15 were found at the SL Alabama plant and said it had fined the company, a unit of Korea's SL Corp., around $30,000. SL Alabama agreed to implement new monitorin…

Honda makes a massive battery investment in Ohio. A look at GM’s latest effort to connect EVs with the power grid. Nissan takes a bath to get out of Russia. Plus, a conversation with the CEO of Amprius and the head of its new investment partner about the battery company’s ambitious plans and what makes its technology unique.

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For more than a decade, Germany dominated the U.S. luxury sales Grand Prix. But it's 2022, and American luxury is back.

Texas' Tesla Inc. has entered the final quarter with a mile-long U.S. sales lead, leaving former premium segment champions BMW and Mercedes-Benz squabbling over second place.

While Tesla does not break out sales by market, the Automotive News Research & Data Center estimates Tesla delivered 114,000 cars and crossovers in the third quarter, rocketing 47 percent higher from a year earlier.

So far this year, the EV maker has a 112,050-vehicle sales lead over No. 2 BMW.

Overall, premium-brand sales tallied 539,807 cars and light trucks in the third quarter, up 7.1 percent while the broader industry's deliveries flatlined.

The lift in quarterly sales comes as luxury vehicle supply improves.

As of Sept. 26, the average dealer days' supply for luxury brands in the U.S. was 47, slightly higher than the 44 days' supply …

The Credit Acceptance Portfolio Program is designed to help enrolled dealers increase credit approvals, cash flow and profits through competitive financing for nonprime and subprime customers.

Dealers enrolled in our program have two advantages:

1) The ability to say ‘YES’ to every customer regardless of credit history

2) The opportunity to get paid 3 ways on every contract through our Portfolio Program.

Learn more about how the Credit Acceptance Portfolio Program works and how it can benefit your dealership by downloading our guide.

Toyota is partnering with Google Cloud to bolster its artificial intelligence-based speech services.

The partnership aims to improve in-vehicle infotainment systems' voice recognition, something drivers have continuously complained about in the past few years.

Improvements will go toward Toyota Voice Assistant. The system has been leveraging Google Cloud technology since 2018, according to a Tuesday press release.

The new partnership's results are already being seen in some models' infotainment systems — including those of the 2023 Toyota Corolla, Tundra and Sequoia and the 2023 Lexus NX, RX and RZ, the release said.

In the future, the partnership will help develop Speech On-Device, a new product from Toyota and Google Cloud. The main draw is its ability to use speech recognition without the Internet, keeping the system local to the vehicle's multimedia system processors.

Part of the goal is making speech reco…

Improving the Shipping Experience to Grow Cross-Border E-Commerce

Not only has the pandemic accelerated the growth in online shopping domestically in most parts of the world, it has also meant more consumers are now willing to make online purchases from abroad. And retail and direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands are keen to tap into the potential to build online sales internationally.

A key challenge is getting the customer experience right—especially the shipping and delivery strategy. Eliminating friction, delays, and doubt is crucial. You should make it as easy and straightforward for crossborder shoppers to order, track, and if necessary, return their goods as if they were making online purchases domestically.

Based on a e2open survey of 2,035 online shoppers in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia, this report explores consumers’ views on cross-border e-commerce. How open are they to placing online orders with companies in other countries and why? Which prod…

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd. expects its net income to surge to as much as $1.4 billion in the third quarter as the biggest maker of electric-vehicle batteries benefits from strong sales to the automotive industry.

CATL, investing heavily in expanding its production capacity, predicted the profit jump of as much as 200 percent in a stock filing on Monday. The Ningde, Fujian-based company also said net income could top $2.5 billion in the nine months through September, up 132 percent compared to the same period last year.

CATL has made spending commitments in the region of $20 billion to build new, bigger factories at home and abroad including in Hungary with Mercedes-Benz AG, and also plans to tap resource-rich Indonesia for expansion. In August, the manufacturer unveiled half-year results that marked a recovery from a disastrous start to the year. Profit for the six months through June climbed 82 percent to $1.1 billion, as CATL cope…

Renault could reduce its $6 billion stake in Nissan. Audi considers its first U.S. factory amid new EV tax credits. Carvana has another license suspended, this time in Michigan. Plus, a conversation about how soon hydrogen vehicles are to full production with Faurecia Clean Mobility's Chief Engineer of Hydrogen Storage Tarek Abdul-Baset.

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. 

iPhone / iPad

“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

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A mass recall is just the sort of speed bump that Rivian Automotive Inc. didn’t need.

Whether the fledgling EV maker runs into a bigger barrier will depend on how quickly management fixes the problem and whether it’s followed by other glitches.

Rivian said Friday that it’s recalling roughly 13,000 of the 14,000 electric trucks and SUVs made at its assembly plant in Normal, Ill., because of concerns that a bolt in steering assemblies wasn’t sufficiently tightened. 

No accidents were reported, and the fix appears to be simple and straightforward. However, the recall comes just as the company was starting to rev up assembly after falling short of early production targets. 

“This is a black eye for Rivian as the company is just now starting hit its stride,” Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in a note to investors today. “The last thing any Rivian investor wants to see in a shaky market is a broad recall that hurts the brand …

Nissan Motor Acceptance Co. launched a lease program today called SignatureFLEX that has customers start with 5,000 miles per year and add more as needed throughout the life of their contract.

The flexible lease is available on the Rogue and Rogue Sport crossovers and the Pathfinder SUV. Nissan Motor Acceptance expects to offer SignatureFLEX on additional models early next year.

The work-from-home trend, combined with rising gas prices, puts an extra strain on consumers having to guess their driving needs for the next three years at the start of a lease.

Jim DeTrude, vice president of NMAC sales and marketing, said customer data show a desire for lower-mileage leases. In response, Nissan last year introduced a 10,000-mile-per-year lease that became the most popular option for its new-car contracts. That was a change from 2020 when 67 percent of new-car leases were 12,000 miles per year.

NMAC created SignatureFLEX in part because of "the trends we …

Mills Automotive Group, which made a three-store acquisition last year, has remained in expansion mode in 2022, buying another three dealerships since March, including a rare Bentley store.

Mills Automotive is led by CEO Damian Mills, now chairman of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers.

Mills Automotive, of Charlotte, N.C., bought Jaguar-Land Rover Columbia in South Carolina from auto retail giant AutoNation Inc. on July 18, a JLR spokesman confirmed. The dealership's name remains. Columbia is South Carolina's capital.

AutoNation acquired the dealership in September 2021 as part of its 11-store purchase from Peacock Automotive Group. AutoNation of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ranks No. 1 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., retailing 262,403 new vehicles last year.

The acquisition expands Mills' presence in South Carolina. It also has Stellantis, Alfa Romeo-Maserati and Ford-Lincoln stores in…