Trade News

DETROIT — General Motors on Friday said all employees who have been working remotely must report to an office at least three days a week starting later this year, modifying the flexible and intentionally vague "Work Appropriately" approach it adopted during the pandemic.

In an internal message to affected employees, GM said it's making the change because "the COVID-19 situation has dramatically improved" and to encourage more collaboration as the automaker transforms its business in the years ahead. A GM spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the message obtained by Automotive News and provided a statement explaining the change.

"We're committed to maintaining flexibility to ensure our employees can attend to personal commitments, and we will share details with them in the coming weeks," the statement said.

The message to employees was attributed to "the senior leadership team," listing CEO Mary Barra, President Mark Reuss and 12 other top executives. …

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 92 major cities and transit agencies is urging NHTSA to deny separate requests from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors to deploy a limited number of self-driving vehicles without certain human controls or functions on U.S. roads.

In comments submitted to the agency Wednesday, the National Association of City Transportation Officials said it strongly opposes both automakers' requests for temporary exemptions from certain federal vehicle safety standards.

The association — whose member cities include Detroit, Phoenix and San Francisco — argues in part that forcing self-driving vehicles "into the existing regulatory scheme is inappropriate" and that NHTSA instead should use its rule-making authority to establish new performance standards for those vehicles.

It also said the automakers' petitions do not meet the legal standard to receive an exemption and that the exemptions aren't necessary to achieve their cla…

Toyota plans to close its plant in Russia. Ford shuffles its c-suite. Faraday Future’s plan to raise capital sparks death threats. Plus, a conversation about the steps dealership service departments need to take before repairing electric vehicles.

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NEW YORK — Mercedes-Benz will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon Digital Chassis in upcoming vehicles, Qualcomm Technologies Inc. said Thursday.

Mercedes plans to power its vehicles' digital cockpits and telematics systems with the computing platform, Qualcomm said. The company now has a Snapdragon design-win pipeline worth $30 billion, according to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, a figure that reflects Qualcomm's efforts to become a prominent automotive presence.

The Snapdragon Digital Chassis is a set of open, scalable platforms for use in connectivity, digital cockpits and advanced driver assistance systems.

"Our technology partnership is transforming Mercedes-Benz vehicles as we deliver unparalleled compute, performance, AI and safety experiences by providing premium solutions for their next generation of automobiles," Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm's automotive chief, said in a statement.

Mercedes is the latest brand to say it will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon pla…

Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton wasn’t truthful when he claimed his company was responsible for most of the components in a planned pickup truck General Motors was to build for the electric vehicle maker, a GM engineer testified.

“There were no components coming from Nikola,” Scott Damman, a senior manager at GM working on software, told the jury in Milton’s criminal fraud trial Thursday. “They owned the creative design, what the vehicle looked like and felt like, but all of the parts were to come from General Motors.”

Milton is accused of misleading investors by exaggerating the company’s progress toward introducing vehicles for sale and of lying about Nikola’s technology and partnerships. The defense argues he was just following the corporate marketing plan and never said anything he didn’t believe to be true.

The testimony from Damman, whom GM sent to work with Nikola at the time, came in response to questioning about a video interview Milton gave …

New data from NADA show 2022 is shaping up to be another good year for car dealers. Suppliers are hiking charges for all automakers, not just Ford. Tesla recalls more than a million cars for windows that may pinch occupants. Plus, Eric Varton of Yazaki North America talks about his company’s innovative technology and the climate for suppliers right now.

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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General Motors has undertaken a major warehouse and industrial leasing spree supporting electric and autonomous vehicle production at two area plants.

The automaker has inked one deal in Pontiac and is expected to be an incoming occupant of a major Detroit redevelopment project on the city's west side, Crain's Detroit Business has learned. Crain's is an affiliate of Automotive News.

Dan Labes, executive managing director in the local offices of New York City-based brokerage firm Newmark, said GM has signed a lease for about 715,000 square feet of newly built space on 44.5 acres of Pontiac land formerly owned by defense contractor Williams International Co. developed by Flint Development, based in Kansas City.

Newmark represented Flint Development while the Royal Oak office of Chicago-based brokerage firm JLL represented GM.

GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal said in an email that the building will be supplemental "to support logistics and other EV work …

Electric-vehicle battery maker CALB Co. said on Thursday it plans to raise about HK$11.56 billion ($1.47 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering as it looks to raise funds for the construction of battery production lines.

The estimated net proceeds from the Hong Kong listing assumes an offer price of HK$44.50 per share, which is the midpoint of CALB's offer price range.

The company could raise up to HK$13.56 billion based on the maximum offer price of HK$51.00 per share.

CALB said it plans to use the funds to construct EV battery production lines totaling 95 Gigawatt hours for new production facilities in China at Chengdu, Wuhan, Hefei, Guangdong and Sichuan.

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it is reorganizing its executive ranks as it adds new talent and gives a handful of leaders expanded roles in conjunction with the previously announced retirement of Hau Thai-Tang, the longtime product and purchasing chief.

CFO John Lawler will temporarily oversee a makeover of Ford's global supply chain operations as the company looks for a permanent chief. Jonathan Jennings, Ford's vice president of supply chain, also will take on additional responsibility for supplier technical assistance and quality, the company said.

Doug Field, who was chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer, becomes chief advanced product development and technology officer. In addition to his current duties overseeing EVs and software, he'll now be in charge of design and vehicle hardware engineering.

Lisa Drake, vice president of EV industrialization, will now also be responsible for manufacturing engineering. And Jim Baumbick, form…

Visteon Corp. opened a tech center in the central China city of Wuhan this week to strengthen product development and testing capabilities for automotive customers in the key country. 

The tech center, covering a ground area of 3,000 square meters (32,292 sq. ft.), now has more than 100 employees. 

It will mainly conduct development and tests of cockpit electronics, battery management systems and in-vehicle charging products, the U.S. supplier said.

The facility is Visteon’s second tech center in China, following an existing site in Shanghai.