Trade News

The Automotive Hall of Fame is developing a new, permanent exhibit and educational program that will highlight the contributions of African Americans in the automotive industry.

Founded in 1939 at The World's Fair, the Automotive Hall of Fame has honored nearly 800 individuals from around the world who have impacted and influenced the automotive and mobility industries.

There have been some African American people recognized, "however we realize that there are Black people that have contributed to the automotive industry in the past that we have not recognized and that they are under-represented," Executive Director Sarah Cook said.

"We plan to highlight several key aspects of Black contributions that created the industry, including the labor, invention, design, engineering, and leadership that created the modern automotive manufacturing industry," Cook said.

The exhibit and educational program will explore how mobility, vehicle ownership and roa…

MOSCOW – Volkswagen Group will stop output in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, where VW and Skoda cars were being assembled under contract with GAZ Group, a trade union said, citing the company's message to the plant's staff.

VW announced in March that production at its Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod sites would be suspended until further notice amid Western sanctions, and vehicle exports to Russia would be stopped with immediate effect.

Citing VW’s announcement to the staff made on Tuesday, the Workers' Association trade union told Reuters that the German company would end its operations in Nizhny Novgorod, about 430 km northeast of Moscow.

The reason for the move was a "lack of EU-produced parts, critically important components from Ukraine and lack of domestically made equivalents, disruption of logistics chains and inability to predict the terms and conditions of resumption of work," chairman of the trade union Dmitry Trudovoy said, citing VW's statement to its…

A new center for electric vehicle teaching, training and development is in the works at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus.

The Michigan Electric Vehicle Center is expected to be built in collaboration with the state and university, according to UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald.

"The creation of the Michigan Electric Vehicle Center will allow the state to leverage the existing resources at U-M and the state's other educational institutions to focus on the future of electric vehicle technology and workforce development," Fitzgerald said in an email to Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News. "It will be designed to leverage the existing facilities within or near the College of Engineering on North Campus."

The project's existence came to light Friday following Michigan lawmakers' approval of a $77 billion budget that included $1 billion in earmarks. The largest appropriation – $130 million – was made for the new EV training cent…

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. light-vehicle sales rose 1.8 percent in the second quarter behind improving inventories and continued strong demand for the company's newest products.

The automaker's quarterly gains were largely driven by its performance in June, when sales jumped 32 percent over year-ago levels thanks to strong results for its largest, most profitable vehicles. Truck sales rose 26 percent in June while SUV sales jumped 36 percent.

U.S. sales jumped 31 percent at the Ford division and 41 percent at Lincoln in June. Ford division volume had dropped year over year for four straight months, and Lincoln ended a streak of 12 consecutive monthly declines year over year.

Ford said sales of its three electric nameplates totaled 4,353 in June, which puts it behind only Tesla in U.S. EV volume. The automaker has said it plans to be the clear No. 2 behind Tesla by the end of next year before challenging it for the top sales spot.

For the quarter, Ford …

Group 1 Automotive Inc. has completed the sale of its Brazilian operations.

The Houston-based dealership group said Tuesday that its subsidiary GPI SA LLC closed on the share purchase agreement transaction with Original Holdings S.A. of Brazil.

Group 1 said Original Holdings bought equity interests of UAB from Group 1 for 510 million in Brazilian reals, or about $94.5 million. UAB had operated 16 dealerships at the end of 2021 that represented BMW, Honda, Land Rover and Toyota and produced about 1.7 billion Brazilian reals, or about $315.1 million, in annual revenue.

Group 1 CEO Earl Hesterberg has said that the public auto retailer faced difficulties in growing the Brazil operations.

"As announced last year, our strategic decision to exit the Brazilian market and redeploy capital to other growth opportunities is in the best interest of our shareholders," Hesterberg said in a statement Tuesday. "We look to continue growth via acquisitions in both …

HONG KONG -- China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group said on Tuesday it would start taking pre-orders for its first model, a key milestone for the unit of embattled property developer China Evergrande group.

The start of preorders for the crossover comes after Evergrande Chairmen Hui Ka Yan vowed within 10 years to shift the group's primary business from real estate to the automobile venture, which has itself struggled for capital.

The all-electric model is the Hengchi 5. Preorders, which are not binding, will begin on Wednesday.

Mass production of the Hengchi 5 has been delayed to the third quarter from June, according to company executives' recent statements. Evergrande has been reeling under more than $300 billion worth of liabilities.

Evergrande New Energy Vehicle says it aims to make 1 million vehicles a year by 2025.

Evergrande is working on a debt restructuring plan. Its EV arm has struggled to secure external investments and has n…

In the wake of the Federal Trade Commission's proposal of new, sweeping regulations on car dealership price advertising and F&I product disclosure, a client of Hudson Cook partner Jean Noonan asked her, "Wasn't all of this already illegal?"

Yes and no, said Noonan and other compliance experts who explored the rationale and timing of the draft regulations in interviews with Automotive News.

The FTC already can take action if dealerships violate the federal prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices, according to Shannon Robertson, executive director of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals. But this entails the agency going to court and proving the behavior was indeed unfair or deceptive, he said.

"There's an entire process there," Robertson said.

But if a particular behavior is specifically defined as illegal by itself in a regulation, it's easier for the government to make its case, according to Robertson.

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The styling fared far better in private clinics with consumers than most General Motors vehicles that came before it, according to Cadillac officials.

It is one of the most aerodynamic utility vehicles ever designed and engineered by GM.

And among all the knobs, switchgear, sun visors, cupholders, seating and other parts that can be seen and touched by driver and passenger alike, not a single one is shared with another GM vehicle, say the engineers and designers who have turned a 2020 concept into Cadillac's newest production vehicle.

That the 2023 Lyriq, Cadillac's first all-electric vehicle, is unique and exclusive is all by design. It was created specifically to draw new and younger customers with a penchant for the cutting edge to Cadillac, a 120-year old brand facing a key battle of its lifetime as Tesla, Lucid, Polestar and other EV startups carve up the luxury market.

The Lyriq is also the lead vehicle for the lead brand as GM introduces a…

American Honda saw second-quarter U.S. sales slide 51 percent to 239,789 as the automaker continued to battle supply issues, which it called especially "severe" during the period.

Combined Honda and Acura sales fell 54 percent to 71,048 in June. Through the first six months of the year, the brands logged combined deliveries of 506,207 sales, a decrease of 39 percent.

As both brands juggle inventory challenges, they are rolling out a plethora of new and redesigned models.

Mamadou Diallo, vice president of sales for American Honda, said in a statement that production and sales associates were working "tirelessly" to meet consumer demand with such a large number of updated products coming online.

Honda's redesigned, second-generation HR-V subcompact crossover arrived on dealership lots in June and racked up 6,000 customer pre-orders. The new Acura Integra was a highlight last month, becoming the brand's top-selling car. Read more

Volvo Cars has warned COVID-19 lockdowns in China could hamper its delivery of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the third quarter.

The Swedish carmaker pointed to a shortage of components as a reason for sales in June falling 27 percent compared to the same month last year.

However, the automaker is starting “to see a marked improvement in its manufacturing situation, with the number of cars produced in June being the highest in the year,” according to a statement.

The development marks the latest supply-chain issue to grip the global auto industry.

Last week saw Tesla cite factory shutdowns in Shanghai as a reason for disappointing car deliveries while General Motors issued a profit warning amid a backlog of 95,000 vehicles that can’t be sold until semiconductors arrive to finish assembly.

Volvo said its half-year global sales fell 24 percent to 291,301 cars.

The company, which wants half of its sales to come from full-elec…

Volkswagen may be cutting cars from its American lineup, but a new full-electric sedan, the ID Aero, is headed to the U.S., likely after it launches in China and Europe.

VW showed a near-production concept of the midsize sedan in China last week, ahead of a planned sales launch in 2023. It will be built in Germany and China, where cars remain popular and key entry points for many brands.

The ID Aero uses the same MEB platform as other VW Group full-electric vehicles.

The aerodynamically optimized body has a low drag coefficient, 0.23, VW said. The exterior design includes illuminated touch surfaces in place of door handles, and a sloping roof, giving it a fastback look.

The concept is "a pretty accurate preview of the car to come," said Stephan Wöllenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars in China.

The aerodynamic shape will help give the production version a range of up to 385 miles from a 77-kilowatt-hour battery, based on the Worldwide…