Trade News

China’s biggest-selling auto brand withstood a raging price war that engulfed the country this year, with BYD posting second-quarter profit that surged 145 percent.

Net income more than doubled to 6.8 billion yuan ($930 million) after the company sold a record number of plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles during the three months ended in June.

While fierce competition in China led to the slowest revenue growth in more than a year, BYD still generated 140 billion yuan in quarterly sales, according to Bloomberg calculations based on its first-half earnings.

China’s auto market has been embroiled in a fierce price war this year, with Tesla leading bold price cuts.

BYD’s still-robust financial performance will help as it navigates another period of market discounting with a preferred strategy of cutting prices on newly released models.

On the weekend, BYD unveiled a slightly cheaper range of 2023 Tang vehicl…

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. said it will restart operations at its assembly plants in Japan on Wednesday, after a production system malfunction brought domestic output to a halt at the world's biggest-selling automaker.

Toyota will resume operations at 25 production lines of a dozen plants in its home market from Wednesday morning and add the final two plants from the afternoon, it said.

The company continues to investigate the cause of the glitch, which it said was not due to a cyberattack and prevented it from ordering components.

The plants together account for about a third of the automaker's global production, Reuters calculations showed.

Toyota's domestic production had been on the rebound after a series of output cuts it blamed on semiconductor shortages. Output was up 29 percent in January-June, the first such increase in two years.

Its Japan output averaged about 13,500 vehicles daily in the first half, Reuters calculations showe…

The 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid is boosted by the automaker's fifth-generation hybrid technology.

The Corolla Cross Hybrid has an extra 25 hp and delivers a 23 percent increase in combined fuel economy compared with last year's model. It comes equipped with a hybridized 2.0-liter engine delivering 194 hp with an estimated 37 mpg combined in fuel economy.

As in the nonhybrid model, the Corolla Cross Hybrid comes standard with Toyota's new touchscreen infotainment system and safety features including lane-keeping, blind spot monitors and rear cross-traffic alert. The vehicle is available in five trim levels: LE, XLE, S, SE and XSE.

Journalists had a chance to drive the Corolla Cross Hybrid and we've collected some early reviews.

Drives tame

"The Corolla Cross hybrid comes with a 196-hp powertrain that combines a 2.0-liter four-cylinder and three electric motors. Toyota packs in plenty of standard driver assistance and infotainment tech…

Porsche will dial up the Cayenne lineup's performance with its most powerful variant yet.

The 2024 Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, available in crossover and coupe body styles, will arrive in the second quarter.

The crossover will start at $148,550, while the coupe version starts at $153,050. Both prices include shipping. The midsize Cayenne is Porsche's second-best seller after the Macan compact crossover, accounting for 8,911 sales in the first half of this year.

This summer's midcycle freshening feels more like a redesign. It features a significantly changed powertrain, chassis, design and in-car technology.

But the third-generation Cayenne is likely the final combustion engine version. Production is expected to end in early 2029, according to AutoForecast Solutions.

Porsche aims to put sports car performance in a crossover body with the latest electrified Cayenne variant, which can do a 0-to-60-mph sprint in 3.5 seconds and hit a top spe…

Join Automotive News for a LinkedIn Live discussion at noon Thursday on the future of hydrogen fuel cells for automotive and adjacent industries.

Guests Jackie Birdsall, senior engineering manager for Toyota’s fuel cell integration group, and Bernd Heid, senior partner at McKinsey & Co., will be joined by Automotive News Staff Reporters Hannah Lutz and Molly Boigon.

They’ll discuss the challenges and opportunities for hydrogen fuel power and take your questions. We welcome questions in advance in the comments section on our LinkedIn post.

Stellantis has added Charge Enterprises to its roster of partner companies helping its more than 2,600 U.S. dealerships prepare to sell electric vehicles.

Charge Enterprises, whose president is former General Motors and Ford executive Mark LaNeve, is the automaker's fourth recommended partner for dealer EV readiness in the U.S., Stellantis said Monday. It joins Future Energy, Vehya and AG.

"As our partners in the automotive industry transition to electric-vehicle sales and service, our goal is to provide our 2,600-plus U.S. dealers with high quality options that meet their individual EV integration needs within every area of the dealership business," Jeff Kommor, Stellantis' head of U.S. sales, said in a statement.

"Charge is equipped with the automotive experience, client-centric approach and technical expertise needed to help support our dealers and make this implementation safe, reliable, scalable and flexible for future demands."

Dealers can w…

Unifor members vote to strike the Detroit 3, if necessary. South Korea clears a path for Hyundai to strike. And a study says it has gotten much harder to find late-model cars under $20K. Plus, why Boston consulting group is so optimistic about the pace of EV adoption.

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Shawn Fain, president of the UAW since March, has declared “war” on the Detroit 3 automakers, with contract demands that even he calls “audacious,” including proposals for a 46 percent raise, a return to traditional pensions and a 32-hour work week.

Now the 54-year-old who began work as an electrician at a Chrysler casting plant in 1994, is threatening to take his 150,000 UAW members out on strike. If he doesn’t have contracts with General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler parent Stellantis by the Sept. 14 deadline, the UAW could strike all three simultaneously — something it has never done.

“The deadline is the deadline,” Fain said an interview earlier this month at the UAW’s Solidarity House headquarters along the Detroit River. 

Fain, whose demeanor leans more Sunday school teacher than fire-breathing union leader, has brought back a tough-talking style evoking the labor movement’s roots in America. He’s part of a new generation of leader…

Unifor members at the Detroit 3 automakers followed the lead of the UAW and delivered overwhelming strike mandates, authorizing job action, if the union and the companies can’t agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Unifor’s current contracts with Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis expire at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Sept. 18, 2023.

The two sides opened formal negotiations Aug. 10 in Toronto.

Unifor paused negotiations to hold the strike votes over the course of the weekend. The results of the strike votes are tabulated and broken down by company below. The results were similar to the votes by UAW members announced Friday.

On Aug. 27, Unifor said it will continue to provide regular updates on the status of negotiations at the autotalks.ca website.

Union President Lana Payne previously said “members’ expectations are very high.”

“Canadian autoworkers have sent a strong message to [Detroit 3] automak…

BYD said its electronics unit has struck a deal with U.S.-based manufacturer Jabil to buy its mobile electronics manufacturing business in China for 15.8 billion yuan ($2.2 billion).

The deal will expand BYD Electronic's customer base, product portfolio and its smartphone components business as it looks to capture Jabil's potential growth in the sector.

Singapore-based Jabil Circuit, which manufactures printed circuit boards, established a unit this month that absorbed its product-manufacturing businesses in Chengdu and Wuxi, which will now be sold to the Chinese group.

Although now best known for its electric vehicle business, BYD started out by selling electronic components. In 2007, it listed its BE unit on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

BE's major business has been selling electronic components for consumer electronics products such as smartphones and laptops. This was one of three key business segments for BYD Electronic, accounting for more…

HONG KONG -- Chinese EV maker Xpeng said it would buy Didi's electric car development business in a deal worth up to $744 million that will see it supply vehicles to the ride-hailing giant, boosting production and cutting costs.

The all-stock deal with Didi calls for Xpeng to launch an A-class model next year under a new brand, in a project called MONA, which will be priced in the 150,000 yuan ($20,000) price tier. Xpeng's current offerings are mostly priced above 200,000 yuan.

The deal comes after Xpeng and Volkswagen Group in July announced a partnership in which VW will invest $700 million in Xpeng and the two companies jointly develop electric vehicles in China.

"As an EV startup, we are not as skilled as established automakers like Volkswagen in terms of scale and cost management in the 150,000 yuan segment ... the partnership with Didi will ensure better-than-expected initial scale for the car …

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor Co.'s unionized workers have won permission to go on strike, the union said on Monday, raising the probability of the company's first wage-related industrial action in five years.

The National Labor Relations Commission, a South Korean government organization that handles labor disputes, cleared the way for strike action at the country's top car maker, the Hyundai Motor union said in a statement.

The commission recognized large differences in positions between the company's management and union, Yonhap News Agency said on Monday. A commission spokesperson was not available for comment.

The union said it would gather on Wednesday to decide what the next move would be. Members had voted on Friday to walk out unless the company accepted demands for wage increases and an extension of the retirement age.

Union officials have said they would continue talks with management regardless.

If the strike goes forward, it would be …