Trade News

Twitter Inc.’s lawsuit against Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk over a canceled $44 billion buyout of the social-media platform is set for a five-day trial starting Oct. 17 in Delaware, a judge ruled.

The decision late Thursday by Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick comes after Musk’s lawyers claimed Twitter wanted an Oct. 10 start date “without justification.” Twitter said it wasn’t opposed to Oct. 17 as long as it was assured of a full five-day trial.

McCormick agreed earlier this month to fast-track the trial over the Musk’s failed deal to acquire Twitter for $54.20 a share, which he nixed over claims that usage statistics for the social-media platform are inflated by spam and robot accounts.

Twitter claimed Musk, the world’s richest person, was dragging his feet on setting the schedule and lobbed a letter onto the court docket without sharing it with his opponents. McCormick, in her eight-page order, warned both sides that any pre-trial informa…

Stellantis' state-owned Chinese partner accused the European company of disrespecting customers in the world’s biggest auto market in an escalation of a dispute over their failed Jeep venture.

Guangzhou Automobile Group on Friday said comments Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares made the previous day on how trust had broken down between the two companies over their Chinese manufacturing partnership were “unbelievable.”

Several Stellantis ventures “failed to achieve success, which is the result of a lack of respect for customers in the Chinese automobile market,” GAC Group said in a statement.

The latest twist in the months-long back-and-forth comes after Tavares on Thursday during earnings presentations and an interview with Bloomberg Television flagged growing risks of operating factories in China because its politicians are increasingly meddling in business.

Tavares added that GAC did not want to abide by the binding memorandum of understanding the c…

A deal in the U.S. Senate resurrects expanded EV tax credits. A look at the latest financial results, including record earnings for Stellantis. A former U.S. auto executive could be part of a swap to get WNBA star Brittney Griner home from Russia. Plus, Automotive News GM reporter Hannah Lutz talks about the automaker's disappointing quarterly earnings and its product plans for the coming years.

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Asbury Automotive Group Inc. generated record net income of $201.4 million during the second quarter, bolstered by dozens of new Larry H. Miller Dealerships locations it purchased at the end of 2021.

That translated to a net income gain of 32 percent compared with the second quarter of last year, Asbury reported Thursday. Asbury's revenue rose 53 percent to $3.95 billion.

Asbury CEO David Hult said Asbury also set records with $352.1 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, and $10.04 in adjusted earnings per share. However, Asbury's same-store revenue fell 7.2 percent, and same-store gross profit stood essentially unchanged for the quarter.

"With two full quarters with our expanded dealership portfolio, our incredible team across the nation delivered a sequential increase in adjusted EBITDA of 5 percent and adjusted EPS of 8 percent over the first quarter of 2022," Hult said in a statement Thursday.

Asbu…

Specialty vehicle manufacturer Shyft Group Inc. saw decreases in both net income and revenue in the second quarter due to supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures.

Net income plunged 67 percent to $5.3 million, the company said in its second-quarter earnings report Thursday. Sales slipped 4.8 percent to $232.2 million in the same period.

Shyft CEO Daryl Adams told investors on a conference call Thursday morning that chassis supply disruption continued to disrupt the company's fleet vehicle business. He said supply disruptions peaked for the company in April but steadily eased in May and June.

"The improvement came from the release of units that were produced but on hold at the end of the quarter as well as increased production levels at the OEMs," Adams said. "While the OEMs are not yet back to full production, the improvement does give us confidence as we look out into the second half of the year."

Shyft Group rebranded from Spartan Mo…

With the surge in connectivity taking place on our roads, LexisNexis Risk Solutions contracted with a research firm to survey over 2,000 U.S. connected car owners to gauge their expectations towards their connected services programs. The results of the survey offer a map of opportunities for OEMs to further engage with their customers, create new and used vehicle brand loyalists, and realize the return on investment for their connected vehicle technology. Low activation rates of connected services free trials are related to lack of awareness and opportunity to enroll, rather than lack of interest.

66% of the respondents were not aware of connected services before purchasing/leasing their new or used connected car. Over half (57%) were not offered a connected services free trial at the dealership when purchasing/leasing their new or used connected car. Eight out of ten (81%) consumers who were offered a connected services free trial accepted it, and nearly half of them…

With the surge in connectivity taking place on our roads, LexisNexis Risk Solutions contracted with a research firm to survey over 2,000 U.S. connected car owners to gauge their expectations towards their connected services programs. The results of the survey offer a map of opportunities for OEMs to further engage with their customers, create new and used vehicle brand loyalists, and realize the return on investment for their connected vehicle technology. Low activation rates of connected services free trials are related to lack of awareness and opportunity to enroll, rather than lack of interest. 66% of the respondents were not aware of connected services before purchasing/leasing their new or used connected car. Over half (57%) were not offered a connected services free trial at the dealership when purchasing/leasing their new or used connected car. Eight out of ten (81%) consumers who were offered a connected services free trial accepted it, and nearly half of them (45%)…

Hyundai Motor Co. is making key executive shifts, including the appointment of Randy Parker as CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

The changes follow the expansion of responsibilities for Jose Muñoz, who is global COO of Hyundai Motor Co. as well as CEO of Hyundai Motor North America.

Parker will be responsible for leading Hyundai's commercial automotive operations in the U.S. and will report directly to Muñoz, the automaker said in a statement on Thursday.

He is one of the first African Americans to be named CEO of an automaker in a regional market. He's also the second Black CEO named in the U.S. auto industry this month. On July 12, Lordstown Motors Corp. named Edward Hightower as its new CEO -- the first Black CEO of a U.S. automaker in more than 100 years.

In his current role as senior vice president of national sales for Hyundai Motor America, which he assumed in 2021, Parker has had oversight of all aspects of sales and distribution.

Bob K…

Sonic Automotive Inc. reported lower net income but higher revenue for the second quarter as new- and used-vehicle volume at its franchised dealerships and its EchoPark used-only stores dropped.

Sonic's net income tumbled 17 percent to $94.8 million, while revenue increased 9 percent to $3.65 billion, an all-time record, the Charlotte, N.C., retailer said Thursday.

Sonic also announced it was backing off certain goals for the EchoPark standalone used-vehicle unit and ending a strategic review of the business, with no action taken.

"Despite persistent industrywide headwinds that contributed to lower new vehicle sales volume as a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions and inventory constraints, we continued to see strong new vehicle pricing and consumer demand during the second quarter," Sonic CEO David Smith said in a statement.

Smith also said Sonic has "made significant progress" on the integration of RFJ Auto Partners Holdings, a 33-store de…

DETROIT -- Automotive electronic supplier Visteon Corp.'s net income and revenue soared in the second quarter amid new product launches and cost recoveries from the semiconductor shortage.

The company, based in suburban Detroit, said in its second-quarter earnings report Thursday that net income surged 318 percent to $24 million, up from an $11 million loss in the second quarter last year. Net sales for the automotive supplier rose 42 percent to $848 million, excluding currency fluctuations.

The increases came after Visteon launched 11 new products during the second quarter, including a 12-inch digital cluster for the Ford Express and Ranger.

The company said it generated $3.1 billion of new business in the first half of 2022, down from $3.2 billion in the first half of 2021. Over half of the new business programs came from EV variants, Visteon said.

"We launched 11 new products in the quarter and 27 in the first half [of the year], across multip…

Great Wall Motor Co., China’s largest domestic light-truck maker, appointed Mu Feng as new general manager following the resignation of long-time general manager Wang Fengying.

Mu, 47, will be responsible for the overall management of the company, Great Wall said this week.

After joining Great Wall in 2007, Mu has long been in charge of R&D at the company, though his responsibilities were later expanded to include product strategy and vehicle assembly. 

Wang has served as Great Wall’s general manager for nearly 20 years. She resigned from the role on July 24, but will continue to remain engaged in the company’s strategic management, Great Wall noted. 

At Chinese companies, the role of a general manager is similar to that of chief executive officer. 

Great Wall was established in 1984 in the north China city of Baoding as a light-duty truck manufacturer controlled by the Baoding city government. 

It was restruc…

China’s new-vehicle market is rebounding strongly for the second straight month in July behind eased government anti-pandemic measures and a tax break on gasoline-powered cars, the China Automobile Dealers Association said. 

Retail sales of passenger vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles industrywide will rally 18 percent from a year earlier to 1.77 million in July, the trade group predicts. 

The forecast is based on a survey it conducted earlier this month, with around 80 percent of carmakers expecting to see double-digit sales growth in July, CADA said. 

Demand for electrified passenger vehicles including full electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles remains strong, with retail sales expected to surge 103 percent to around 450,000 in July, the trade group added. 

In June, retail sales of sedans, crossovers, SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles rebounded 23 percent to top 1.94 million. Deliveries of ele…