Trade News

Chipmaker Nvidia showcased a high-performance automotive computer designed to advance processing of in-vehicle entertainment and automated driving functions.

The technology was unveiled Tuesday at the company's GTC event in San Jose, Calif. Analysts say the computer is designed to keep Nvidia ahead of rival Intel and its Mobileye automotive chip subsidiary.

Nvidia's latest tech, called Drive Thor, can control automated driving, driver-assist systems, infotainment, digital instrument clusters, occupant-monitoring and more from a single computer. This permits multiple vehicle functions on a single system-on-chip instead of spreading them across several electronic control units, lowering costs and streamlining development.

Drive Thor follows other Nvidia tech advances that debuted this year, including a graphics processing unit called Hopper and a central processing unit called Grace.

"What they've done with Thor is taken Grace and Hopper and put th…

Ford expects higher costs to mean lower earnings this quarter. GM backs tough emissions targets. Tesla’s upcoming ‘Optimus’ robot faces plenty of skeptics. Plus, a conversation with Bloomberg News Detroit Bureau Chief David Welch about his new book “Charging Ahead: GM, Mary Barra, and the Reinvention of an American Icon.”

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Dodge Charger and Challenger production at Ontario’s Brampton Assembly Plant is scheduled to end in 2024, but according to forecasting firm AutoForecast Solutions, both muscle car programs will stay in the province, while an electrified product from Jeep will take over their floorspace at Brampton.

The next Chargers and Challengers will be built at Stellantis’ assembly plant in Windsor, Ont., said Sam Fiorani, vice-president of global vehicle forecasting at U.S.-based AFS.

“They’re going to share the same platform with the next-generation minivan when it rolls around,” he told Automotive News Canada.

Stellantis confirmed in May that Charger, Challenger and Chrysler 300 production would end in Brampton in 2024 when the plant pauses for a retool. It also said the Windsor Assembly Plant would host STLA Large, a new vehicle platform catering mainly to battery-electric vehicles.

But the company has not disclosed any future product mandates for Brampton…

Rental car company Hertz Global Holdings plans to order up to 175,000 General Motors electric vehicles over the next five years, the latest move by the rental car firm to add zero-emission models.

Hertz and GM on Tuesday announced a joint agreement in which the rental car firm will order Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop EVs through 2027. Hertz expects to begin taking delivery of Chevrolet Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs in early 2023.

The multi-billion dollar, multi-year deal could be the first of many GM agreements to supply EVs to rental car companies, said Steve Carlisle, the automaker's North American operations chief, on a conference call.

"It's an enormous first step," Carlisle said, adding that GM is in talks about similar deals with other rental car companies.

GM CEO Mary Barra said in a statement the automaker's work "with Hertz is a huge step forward for emissions reduction and EV adoption that will help create thousands of new EV …

Auto supplier BorgWarner Inc. said it plans to acquire the vehicle electrification business of Hubei Surpass Sun Electric Co., expanding its electrification foothold to China.

BorgWarner on Tuesday said it will take on SSE's EV solution, Smart Grid and Smart Energy businesses. Based in the Hubei province of China, SSE supplies EV charging services to Chinese consumers, as well as those in more than 70 other countries, according to BorgWarner's statement.

Terms of the transaction value the business at 410 million yuan, or $58.4 million at current exchange rates. About 267 million yuan, or $38 million of that, will be paid upon closing, BorgWarner said.

The latest acquisition follows BorgWarner's August purchase of Rhombus Energy Solutions, which supplies patented technology to EV makers and charging and grid service providers.

Acquiring SSE "makes good business sense" as BorgWarner expands its fast-charging capabilities, CEO Frédéric Lissalde said …

Ford Motor Co., citing inflationary pressures throughout the supply chain, said Monday it expects to end the third quarter with adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of between $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion, down from the $3 billion in adjusted earnings it posted over the same period a year ago.

The company's latest third-quarter guidance is also below the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $2.98 billion.

The automaker, however, reaffirmed its full-year guidance of $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion in adjusted EBIT, which would be 15 to 25 percent more than it earned in 2021.

The automaker said that inflation-related supplier costs during the third-quarter will run about $1 billion higher than it originally expected.

It expects to finish the period with between 40,000 to 45,000 unfinished vehicles waiting on parts. Most of those vehicles, it said, will be high-margin trucks and utility vehicles.

Ford…

Uber Technologies Inc. said Monday a hacker affiliated with the Lapsus$ hacking group was responsible for a cyber attack that last week forced the ride-hailing company to temporarily shut several internal communications.

Uber said the attacker had not accessed any user accounts or the databases that store sensitive user information such as credit card numbers, bank account or trip details.

"The attacker accessed several internal systems, and our investigation has focused on determining whether there was any material impact," Uber said, adding that investigation was still ongoing.

The company said it was in close coordination with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice on the matter.

Friday's cybersecurity incident had brought down Uber's internal communication system for a while and employees were restricted to use Salesforce-owned office messaging app Slack.

Uber said the attacker logged in to a contract…

An employee at a New Orleans-area Hyundai dealership has been arrested after allegedly shooting and killing a co-worker in the store's service center.

Brian Taylor, 23, was arrested Friday, Fox 8 reported. He allegedly shot Zakary Stewart, 22, around 5:30 p.m. Friday at Hyundai Slidell in Louisiana.

Slidell Police said that the two had been "allegedly feuding for the past week."

Stewart had recently moved from Alabama and had been staying with friends in the area while working at the dealership.

In a statement to Fox 8, Stewart's family called the alleged crime "a senseless act of violence."

A spokesperson for Hyundai Motor America said in a statement to Automotive News that the automaker is cooperating with authorities.

"We are concerned by any violent incident at one of our dealerships," the spokesperson wrote in an email. "We will work with the dealer to gather more information and ensure a tho…

Porsche looks to go zero-to-$75 billion with its IPO. Stellantis’ CEO says Detroit’s pared-down auto show is actually a good thing. Ford and Hyundai chip away at Tesla’s big EV lead. And Automotive News reporter John Irwin talks about what he saw at The Battery Show in Novi, Michigan.

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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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HANOVER, Germany — Daimler Trucks is migrating its battery chemistry to a formula that eliminates nickel and cobalt to improve durability and reduce competition with the passenger car business for scarce materials.

Daimler will gradually move its vehicles to lithium iron phosphate batteries it has developed in partnership with China's CATL. Iron and phosphate cost far less and are easier to mine than other battery materials.

"They are both cheap and plentiful almost everywhere and will definitely help to reduce the pressure on the battery supply chain as adoption grows," said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst with Guidehouse Insights.

Daimler, the German parent of Freightliner and Western Star truck brands, announced the strategy as it debuted a longer-haul electric truck for the European market at IAA Transportation 2022 on Monday.

"My fear is if the entire passenger car market, not just Tesla or the high-end cars, moves to batteries, there will be a f…

SHANGHAI - Tesla is reevaluating the way it sells electric cars in China, its second-largest market, and considering closing some showrooms in flashy malls in cities like Beijing where traffic plunged during COVID restrictions, two people with knowledge of the plans said.

The shift would put more emphasis on stores in less-costly suburban locations that can also provide repairs as the company works to meet Elon Musk's goal of improving service for existing customers, many of whom have complained of long delays, they said.

As part of that push, Tesla is looking to ramp up hiring of technicians and other staff for service jobs in China, one of the people said. Tesla's China recruitment website showed more than 300 openings for service jobs as of Thursday.

Tesla said on Monday that it is still expanding its sales channels in China at a normal pace.

Musk said last week on Twitter, in response to a Tesla owner in Texas who com…

Traffic fatalities on U.S. roads declined in the second quarter, halting an almost two-year rise even as Americans are driving more.

Some 10,590 people died in car crashes from April through June, down 4.9 percent from the same period in 2021, according to estimates the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released Monday. Fatalities had been increasing since the third quarter of 2020.

"Although it is heartening to see a projected decline in roadway deaths in recent months, the number of people dying on roads in this country remains a crisis," Ann Carlson, NHTSA's acting administrator, said in a statement. Carlson recently assumed the role after Steven Cliff stepped down to return to the California Air Resources Board.

The rate of road fatalities during the first half of the year was 1.27 per 100 million vehicle-miles traveled, NHTSA said, a slight decline even as people spent more time behind the wheel. Total U.S. driving …