Trade News

A California dealership group and a former customer have agreed to a $2.5 million class-action settlement in a case surrounding ringless voicemails — a practice that is popular among auto dealers.

The allegations against Moss Bros. Auto Group, based in Riverside, Calif., claim the company continuously used ringless voicemails that amounted to "aggressive unsolicited marketing" that violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

Ringless voicemails are phone calls that deliver messages directly to a consumer's voicemail and do not trigger a typical ring on an individual's phone. The plaintiff said the messages are "essentially the same as the method for transmitting text messages."

Due to their nature, ringless voicemails cannot be blocked in the same way other unsolicited calls can. Some car dealers have adopted the method as a way to telemarket to customers without being accused of violating the law.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohi…

WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. said on Friday it is issuing a new recall for 100,000 U.S. hybrid vehicles over fire risks, and expanding an earlier recall after a series of reported fires.

The new recall covers certain 2020 through 2022 model-year Ford Escape, Maverick and Lincoln Corsair vehicles with 2.5-liter hybrid/plug-in hybrid engines. Ford said in the event of an engine failure, significant quantities of engine oil and fuel vapor may be released that could accumulate near ignition sources, resulting in a potential under-hood fire.

Dealers will modify the "under engine shield and active grille shutter" to address safety concerns, Ford said. There are no accidents or injuries associated with this issue and customers do not need to park the vehicle outside.

Ford is separately expanding its recall of 2021 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs for under-hood fire risks by another 27,000 U.S. vehicles after five additional fires were reported after …

Wholesale used-vehicle prices fell as anticipated in June, signaling the start of the seasonal summer cooldown in prices.

Cox Automotive said Friday that its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which tracks vehicles sold at Manheim's U.S. auctions, fell 1.3 percent in June compared with May. The first half of 2022 was marked by cooling prices, save for May, the one month in which the index slightly increased.

Wholesale prices remained 9.7 percent higher in June than they were in the year-earlier period. Those numbers are adjusted for mix, mileage and seasonality. On a nonadjusted basis, the index fell 1.8 percent in June from its May level, with prices up 11 percent year over year.

"It is notable that the seasonal factor is now more favorable and likely will be throughout the summer months," Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said during Manheim's July quarterly conference call. "Prices are clearly retreating from their record highs this past w…

Japanese automakers express shock and sadness over former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination. Tesla keeps the U.S. luxury crown. Self-driving tech firm Argo AI sheds about 150 workers. Plus, Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals (AFIP) Executive Director Shannon Robertson talks about the FTC’s recent push to toughen regulatory language around certain dealership F&I practices.

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It is taller than expected, clearly crossover inspired and generally bulky but sporty, images of Toyota's forthcoming Crown sedan show.

Plans for a redesigned, hybrid edition of one of the most venerated nameplates in Japan were reported in April, but details were scarce on how the vehicle would be styled.

Images posted to Japan's government patent office in late June, first reported by Motor1.com, show a sedan with a variety of styling cues. The sloped rooftop indicates coupe or fastback, but the lifted height suggests crossover. A source told Automotive News in April that the new Crown will be a primary replacement for the axed Avalon sedan. The ride height and positioning, Car and Driver noted, seems reminiscent of the last-generation Subaru Outback sedan.

A countdown on Toyota's website indicates the 2022 Crown will premiere Friday, July 15. The latest Crown model will be sold in North America, Automotive News reported in April.

The new Crown'…

ZF Friedrichshafen has named Holger Klein, a current management board member focusing on China, as its next chairman and CEO, succeeding Wolf-Henning Scheider, who will leave the company at the start of 2023.

The world's third-largest auto supplier also said CFO Konstantin Sauer and Commercial Vehicles chief Wilhelm Rehn would leave the company. Those changes take effect at the end of 2022, the supplier said Friday in a statement.

Scheider, 60, joined ZF in 2018 from Mahle, where he was chairman and CEO. Before that he was head of the Automotive Technology business at Robert Bosch. He announced in March that he would be stepping down at the end of this year.

Klein, 52, joined ZF in 2014 from management consultancy McKinsey. He led the integration of TRW Automotive after ZF's purchase of the U.S. supplier in 2015, and in 2017 became head of the Car Chassis Technology Division.

Klein has been a member of ZF's management board since 2018, with…

U.S. auto safety regulators have opened a special investigation into a fatal pedestrian crash in California involving a 2018 Tesla Model 3 where an advanced driver assistance system is suspected of use.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cited the California incident in an emailed update on Thursday but did not identify the specific crash.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported June 7 that a Tesla went airborne and struck and killed a woman. NBC-7 in San Diego said a 39-year-old man was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs in the incident.

NHTSA had previously opened 35 special crash investigations involving Tesla vehicles in which advanced driver assistance systems like Autopilot were suspected of being used since 2016.

NHTSA typically opens more than 100 special crash investigations annually into emerging technologies and other potential auto safety issues that have, for instance, pre…

TOKYO — Akio Toyoda praised former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, assassinated Friday in a rare shooting on the street in Japan, for his leadership in trying to revive the country's economy.

Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minster, was gunned down shortly before noon in the western prefecture of Nara as he was delivering a campaign speech on behalf of a candidate.

Japan's parliamentary elections are this Sunday.

Gun violence is extremely rare in Japan, where firearms are strictly regulated. The killing in broad daylight during a campaign stump stunned a nation that prides itself on safety.

Toyoda, in his role as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, issued a statement expressing shock and sadness at the killing. Toyoda eulogized Abe for his efforts in diplomacy and national security, while commending his moves to shore up Japan's economy.

Toyoda, who also is president of Toyota Motor Corp., the nation's biggest automake…

Tesla Inc. tightened its grip on the U.S. luxury sales crown in the second quarter, according to new-vehicle registration data that suggests the automaker's original plant in Fremont, Calif., has been humming along while its factories in Berlin and China have struggled.

U.S. registrations of Tesla's four-vehicle lineup rose 66 percent in the first five months of the year to 179,574 vehicles, according to data from Experian this week. BMW was in second place in the luxury segment with an 11 percent drop in new registrations to 133,209 compared with last year.

The numbers include all models, including gasoline and hybrid vehicles from legacy automakers.

Since Tesla does not break out sales data by region, new-vehicle registrations serve as a proxy for comparison purposes, but they lag behind the official U.S. sales data posted by most automakers on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Lexus was No. 3 in the U.S. luxury race with 112,296 registrations in t…

U.S. stock markets closed June 30 to the worst first half of the year since 1970, with the S&P 500 falling 21 percent as rising inflation and high interest rates plagued the U.S. economy.

All the major segments of the U.S. auto industry suffered their share of Wall Street's distress.

From the ongoing semiconductor shortage to the war in Ukraine, the auto industry has faced numerous challenges over the past two years. With market volatility expected to continue through at least next year and economic experts predicting a recession in the first half of 2023, Automotive News spoke to industry experts to see where auto equity markets are headed for the second half of the year and beyond.

Automotive News compiled a sampling of equities in each automotive category.

Automakers

According to the Automotive News analysis, U.S. automakers' stock prices on average fell 48 percent in the first half of the year and over 27 percent in a year-over-y…

Four dealership groups expanded their portfolios with second-quarter acquisitions, each buying one store.

Here's a look at the deals involving import and domestic brand dealerships and stores in Oregon, Iowa, Florida and Ohio.

Mario Hernandez and Teton Auto Group added a fourth Toyota dealership to their portfolio with the acquisition of Coos Bay Toyota in Oregon on May 26.

Hernandez, dealer principal of Teton Auto, and the group bought the dealership from brothers Guy and Lee Hawthorne, according to Jesse Stopnitzky of Performance Brokerage Services, a buy-sell firm in Irvine, Calif., who represented the Hawthorne brothers in the transaction.

Teton will keep the store's name. Coos Bay, along the Pacific Ocean, is north of the California border and is southwest of Portland.

Hernandez and Jim Parker founded Teton Auto in 2005 when they opened their first store, a Toyota dealership, in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Teton Auto has since expanded into …

TOYOTA CITY, Japan — Lexus' new yoke-style steering looks funky, and it drives a little funky.

But the Japanese premium brand plans to advance the technology by combining jet-age looks with an advanced, ultraprecise steer-by-wire system in the upcoming RZ all-electric crossover.

The high-tech setup, tested by Automotive News in June at Lexus’ proving ground, also one-ups the yoke steering system deployed by Tesla by resolving one of that system’s confounding issues. Tesla's butterfly design, reminiscent of an airplane control or Formula One wheel, earned lackluster reviews when it debuted in the Model S and Model X because drivers must awkwardly spin it all the way around. But since the yoke has a flat top and bottom, there is no easy handhold.

Tesla also dropped the wheel's turn indicator stem and moved that function to buttons on the face of the yoke. That meant that the buttons can confusingly end up on the opposite side of the steering control when …