Trade News

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Greg Brannon's message to the auto industry is probably not what many technology suppliers want to hear these days.

It's that the industry's race to fully automated driving is misguided, and most consumers don't want it.

Brannon, director of automotive engineering and industry relations for the membership-based driver services organization AAA, brought his argument to the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars here this week, where automated driving is a hot topic.

"There's just no business case for full autonomy for individual ownership," Brannon said during the event. "What we're trying to say is, let's do a better job of the safety technologies that people can go out and purchase today, the features they really want and are willing to pay for."

Brannon told the audience that his blunt view was not merely his own. A survey of AAA's 62 million members found that 77 percent of respondents said they wan…

Wheel supplier Superior Industries International Inc. reported a positive quarter on Thursday, with a staggering jump in net income and a tamer climb in sales despite hurdles such as supply chain issues and commodity costs.

The Southfield, Mich.-based company's net income increased 535 percent from the second quarter of 2021 to $10.8 million. This is a continuation of a turnaround for the company, which posted a net loss of $43.2 million just two years ago in the second quarter of 2020.

Net sales rose about 24 percent to $431.5 million. Wheel sales fell around 4 percent quarter over quarter, with the company blaming reduced light-vehicle production and inflation.

CFO Tim Trenary said the income increase could be primarily attributed to rising aluminum costs being passed to customers.

"This business environment is so extraordinary," Trenary said. "We've been clear that we expect our customers, who have demonstrated retail …

German supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. opened a lighting factory in Changzhou last week to supply automakers in eastern China.    The $10.2 million plant is run by Hella’s automotive lighting joint venture with Beijing Hainachuan Automotive Parts Co., a subsidiary of BAIC Motor Group Co.

The factory, with a production area of some 12,000 square meters, will mainly make lighting products featuring advanced technologies used in the front of vehicles. 

For example, Hella said it has started producing a continuous light band for a domestic Chinese electric-vehicle maker, without identifying the customer. 

The light band, consisting of a single module, is more than two meters long and extends across the entire face of the vehicle.

The Changzhou factory employs nearly 150 people and the workforce will double in the medium term, according to the German supplier. 

The new plant is the third factory Hella has establ…

SHANGHAI – Government lockdown measures aimed at containing a surging coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc on China’s car dealerships in the first half of the year.

Stores with mass-market international brands were hit hardest during the period, when lockdown measures stymied showroom traffic and disrupted light-vehicle output and shipments. 

Moreover, there seems to be no immediate end to their woes, as demand for luxury brands remains robust and domestic automakers fortify a formidable presence in the electrified vehicle market, according to a China Automobile Dealers Association report released this week. 

The report, based on a survey CADA conducted in July, shows 27 percent of dealerships in China were profitable in the first six months, down from 54 percent for all of 2021.

Among stores with global mass-market brands, only 12 percent made money in the first half. 

By contrast, 14 percent of stores with Chinese brands and …

Vehicle listings company TrueCar saw a steep revenue drop in the second quarter and deepened its net loss as it reported pressure from a shortage of inventory and rising vehicle prices.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based TrueCar on Tuesday reported a net loss of $11 million in the quarter ended June 30, wider than a $7.3 million net loss in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue sank 36 percent to $42.3 million, which company leaders attributed to pressure on its close rates because of inventory and pricing conditions. TrueCar's pay-per-sale transaction revenue made up a smaller share of its dealer revenue in the second quarter than a year earlier, the company reported.

"A recovery in the global supply chain is likely still multiple quarters away in our view, and uncertainty remains high due to geopolitical events and headwinds like a slowing U.S. economy and rising interest rates," CEO Mike Darrow told analysts on an earnings call Wednesday.

"We continue to e…

Ford reports sales jump while rivals slump. More questions about the proposed EV tax credit extension. A big supplier cuts jobs to brace for recession, while one automaker brushes off the notion. And Cadillac rolls out new marketing for its EV crossover, looking to reach new shoppers and give them a feeling of exuberance.

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DETROIT — BorgWarner Inc. saw a slight increase in revenue and a slip in net income amid its acquisition of Rhombus Energy Solutions for $130 million, the auto supplier said in its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday.

In a statement, the company said it paid the initial $130 million for the electric vehicle charging provider at closing and will pay $55 million in the form of contingent payments over the next three years.

"We believe that we can leverage the local knowledge and footprint of Rhombus to complement our existing ... charging capability to accelerate organic growth," BorgWarner CEO Frederic Lissalde said in a Wednesday morning phone call to investors. "We plan to leverage both synergies across product quality engineering, supply chain manufacturing and global sales. We also see potential synergies with battery system customers."

Lissalde said the company anticipates the acquisition will add $10 million in revenue in…

WASHINGTON — Automakers represented by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation expressed concern Wednesday that a "significant number" of electric vehicle buyers would be unable to use the tax credit as proposed in the Democrats' revised spending bill.

"We support — 100 percent — Sen. [Joe] Manchin's goal to reduce dependence on foreign nations for minerals and [are] committed to growing America's EV supply chain and adding jobs and capacity here," John Bozzella, CEO of the alliance, said in a statement Wednesday.

"But a likely result of this bill — as currently constructed — is that a significant number of consumers will not be able to take advantage of this credit in the early years when it is needed the most," he added.

Many of the alliance's members, which include the Detroit 3, Toyota and Volkswagen, are forming partnerships with battery suppliers and other EV-related companies in North America as they seek to gain a foothold in a more localized bat…

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Advanced driver-assistance systems are commonly seen as the building blocks of fully self-driving vehicles. However, industry executives increasingly consider advanced driver-assist and autonomous capabilities separate systems evolving at different speeds to serve different markets.

"They use a lot of the same sensors, but the difference is that on the Level 2 vehicle, the most capable sensor in the vehicle is a human," Nick Sitarski, Toyota vice president of integrated vehicle systems, said during a Tuesday panel at the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars here.

Level 4 systems, by comparison, require far more technology because they allow the vehicle to drive itself under most conditions.

"You need to re-create what the human is doing ... and that's a very complex and costly thing to do," Sitarski said.

That's why the first autonomous vehicles deployed onto streets will b…

A giant Chinese supplier of EV batteries decided to push back announcing a multibillion-dollar North American plant to supply Tesla Inc. and Ford Motor Co. due to tensions raised by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter.

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world's biggest maker of batteries for electric vehicles, has been considering at least two locations in Mexico near the Texas border, as well as sites in the U.S., for the plant. China's CATL has been in an advanced stage of site selection and negotiating incentives, in anticipation of announcing its selection in the coming weeks.

CATL now plans to wait until September or October to make the announcement, the people familiar with the process said Tuesday, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. The concern is that an announcement could stoke tensions at a sensitive time in U.S.-China ties amid the controversial…

Dealership technology company Cars.com reported a smaller profit in the second quarter but gains in revenue and dealership customers as it navigated an ongoing vehicle inventory shortage and an economy affected by inflation and higher interest rates.

Chicago-based Cars.com on Wednesday reported net income of $5.5 million in the quarter ended June 30, down 7 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue increased 5 percent to $162.9 million, growth the company attributed largely to its dealership customer base and adoption of its digital software tools.

Revenue from automakers, including for advertising, fell 13 percent from the second quarter of 2021.

"Our platform strategy is working. Revenue is growing and diversifying, and margins are expanding. The business continues to prove resilient and sustainable," CEO Alex Vetter told analysts Wednesday. "Despite the challenges of the current environment, we have confidence in our a…

U.S. new-vehicle sales slump persists in July. General Motors tries to stop quick re-selling. Carvana is back at work in Illinois -- for now. Supercar brands are on a roll. Plus, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer discusses the importance of the Chips and Science Act to industrial employers in her state, including GM, Ford, and Stellantis.

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. 

iPhone / iPad

“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify

"Daily Drive" is available on Spotify. Click here to subscribe to "…