Trade News

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk subpoenaed former Twitter Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey as he fights a lawsuit by the social media company seeking to make him complete the $44 billion buyout he proposed.

Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, has been a backer of the Musk bid, tweeting in April that Musk was the “singular solution I trust” to take over the company. He stepped down as Twitter CEO last year.

The notice of subpoena, filed Monday, came amid a flurry of filings that also included notice of subpoenas served by Musk on Friday on Kayvon Beykpour, former head of consumer product at Twitter, and Bruce Falck, formerly in charge of revenue product.

Dozens of people, banks and funds have been subpoenaed in the legal fight playing out in Delaware over the deal. The push to gather information and interview important figures in the deal comes ahead of an expedited schedule for the trial, slated to begin Oct. 17 and last five days.

Musk says Twitter wasn’t honest with…

Ford says it will eliminate 3,000 jobs this week. Tesla raises the price of “Full Self-Driving” to $15,000. Porsche sets a high target for electric Macan sales. Plus, a conversation with former Tonight Show host Jay Leno from the Woodward Dream Cruise near Detroit.

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DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. plans to eliminate 3,000 jobs globally this week, according to a letter sent to employees Monday and obtained by Automotive News.

The automaker is cutting 2,000 salaried positions and 1,000 agency jobs, CEO Jim Farley and Executive Chair Bill Ford said. Affected employees in the U.S., Canada and India will be informed this week, the letter said. A Ford spokesman confirmed the letter as authentic.

"Building this future requires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century," Farley and Ford wrote. "It requires focus, clarity and speed. And, as we have discussed in recent months, it means redeploying resources and addressing our cost structure, which is uncompetitive versus traditional and new competitors."

The cuts are expected across a variety of roles, including purchasing, and are expected to come in both its Ford Blue and Model e divisions. Cuts are also being made at Ford C…

Majority has landed a spot on General Motors' creative roster as "agency of record for branded diversity marketing initiatives," to help increase electric vehicle adoption among diverse audiences.

The 18-month-old, Atlanta-based agency joins the automaker's other multicultural agencies, including Carol H. Williams Advertising, Spike DDB and Casanova. In a press release, GM referred to Majority as its "fourth diverse agency of record."

GM could not be reached for comment on how specifically duties would be divided among the four agencies.

The purpose of the agencies is to “help increase EV adoption, amplify cultural moments and social injustice and elevate the GM brand,” according to a statement by the company. The automaker's other agencies include Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann/Commonwealth, Jack Morton and Dentsu's Carat.

“Majority shares our belief that this is a cultural inflection point, not j…

The clock is ticking on internal combustion, and that’s creating external consternation as the auto industry’s supply chain retools for electric vehicles. Automotive News asked three veteran observers—Craig Renneker, vice president of innovation at American Axle & Manufacturing Inc.; Hugh Foran, executive director of the Advanced Development Center at Teijin Automotive Technologies; and Kacie Freeberg, senior director of the industrial value stream team at ORBIS Corp.—to discuss those challenges and also present opportunities to recharge operations for the electrified era.

Q: As the auto industry transitions from the internal-combustion engine—and along with it, the parts that go into that powertrain—what are the new opportunities for suppliers from electric vehicles?

Craig Renneker: EVs represent completely new opportunities for growth from both a technology and revenue standpoint. This is an exciting time for suppliers willing to consider new capabilities and …

Volkswagen Group has sealed an agreement with Canada to secure access to raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium for vehicle and battery production, people familiar with the accord told Bloomberg.

The memorandum of understanding will be signed during German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s current trip to Canada and is designed to shorten supply chains for VW’s facilities in the U.S. and avoid difficulties linked to tariffs and tax regulations, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The move has partly been prompted by new rules that President Joe Biden signed into law last week, the person added.

Volkswagen and Canadian government leaders have scheduled a virtual press conference for Tuesday "to announce an agreement to jointly advance electric mobility in the country."

Spokespeople for VW did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Bloomberg.

The Biden administrati…

In 1978, Lyn St. James read an article about the Ford Mustang in Car and Driver. The story had a sidebar about Ford’s interest in marketing the Mustang to women by providing competitive and racing opportunities. 

St. James had been racing for fun for years and earned her competition driver’s license at age 27. She was ready to get more serious and was looking for a sponsor. “I wrote letters to everyone at Ford who was quoted in that article, asking them to sponsor me,” she says. She got a letter back from Ford, congratulating her on her racing success and telling her to keep them informed about her career. So she did. She raced whenever she could and sent her results to the Ford team. After a dogged pursuit, in 1981, she became one of the first female race car drivers to receive a full-season sponsorship.

Her subsequent story is legendary: St. James was the first woman Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500, in 1992 — and she had six more Indy 500…

TOKYO -- Japan's Hino Motors said it will suspend shipments of small trucks after confirming that a widespread data falsification scandal included those models, highlighting deepening problems at the Toyota Motor Corp. unit.

Truck and bus maker Hino's President Satoshi Ogiso told a Monday news conference that during a transport ministry investigation additional misconduct regarding emissions was found that affects more than 76,000 vehicles.

The scandal, which came to light in March, was previously not believed to have impacted the smaller trucks, which have been sold since 2019.

Toyota owns 50.1% of Hino.

"We are extremely disappointed that Hino again betrayed the expectations and trust of its stakeholders," Toyota President Akio Toyoda said in a statement.

Hino said in a statement that some 76,694 vehicles of its Dutro small truck model were impacted, bringing the total number of vehicles involved in the scandal to more than 640,000.

…

Tesla Inc. will start charging $15,000 for the driver-assistance features it calls "Full Self-Driving," raising the price of the controversial product for the second time this year.

The hike for customers in North America will take effect Sept. 5, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday. The current $12,000 price will be honored for orders made before that date, he wrote.

Tesla’s use of the name Full Self-Driving, or FSD, has been criticized because the features require active supervision and don’t make its vehicles autonomous.

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles has accused the company of misleading consumers about FSD and its more limited Autopilot system. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also has opened two separate investigations into whether Autopilot is defective.

Musk, 51, said in June that solving issues with the company’s self-driving technology will be pivotal to the company’s valuation.

“That’s really the differenc…

Robert BoschNorth America

Vice President of Electrification

ErichBanhegyi

Big Break: Being project leader of the team that designed Bosch's first hybrid drive — an e-motor and clutch — which debuted in 2010.

Age: 43

Valeo

Regional Operations Quality Director

FernandaBarrales

Big Break: Moved from sales into a more technically challenging management career track in project management and manufacturing.

Age: 41

Honda Developmentand Manufacturingof America

Chief Engineer, Senior Manager

AnnieBoh

Big Break: Gaining buy-in from upper management to lead the business development of Honda's wind tunnel facility in the U.S.

Age: 42

Stellantis

Vice President of Jeep…

That hot new electric Kia GT is a glimpse into today's industry drama

Kia unveiled its new EV6 GT model Friday at the annual high-end auto event in Monterey, Calif. We tell you about it on Page 1 this week because it's interesting news — but also because it serves as a portal into the many dramas of today's car business.

The EV6 GT is an electric car from a mass-market brand, but it's stoked with 576 hp and a 3.4-second zero-to-60.

There are other performance EVs suddenly coming out, and you can see them scattered through this week's issue. Check out Vince Bond Jr.'s Page 1 piece on the newly revealed Charger Daytona SRT from Dodge. It's an electric muscle-car concept. Who knew there would be such a thing?

But why not? Electrification is a new ballgame. The industry is flying into it and you can read about all the new EVs just now being unveiled on several pages of this issue.

But there's also uncertainty in the mix.

We tell you th…

The Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands have startled the industry with their rapid rollout of future electric vehicle strategies. A swath of EVs, many designed on Hyundai Motor Group's new flexible shared architecture, the Electric Global Modular Platform, or E-GMP, are now in the works.

The automakers plan to invest more than $16 billion to introduce new battery-electrics by 2030, including 11 Hyundai brand models and six luxury Genesis vehicles.

At the same time, sibling brand Kia intends to have eight battery-electric vehicles in its U.S. lineup by 2029.

That includes the EV6 compact crossover that went on sale this year, the redesigned Niro EV, the EV9 three-row crossover that it will build starting in 2023 and possibly a midsize electric pickup.

But with the signing into law of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Korean brands' aggressive product plans may be under a cloud. The sweeping law changes the rules for how federal EV tax credits will be…