Trade News

WASHINGTON — The nation's top auto safety regulator is seeking more information from American Honda Motor Co. to aid an investigation into more than 1.7 million vehicles for alleged unintended activation of the automatic emergency braking system.

In a letter sent June 14 to Jeff Chang, Honda's division head for product safety, NHTSA is requesting more information concerning the automaker's "collision mitigation braking system," its components and operation.

NHTSA launched the formal safety probe in February after receiving 278 reports alleging inadvertent activation of the braking system in 2018-19 Honda Accord midsize cars and 2017-19 Honda CR-V compact crossovers with no imminent collision hazard present.

The agency is now seeking further details related to the AEB system, including all associated sensors, control modules, hardware, software, data and wiring, and has expanded the scope to include information for all 2017-18 Acura RDX, 2017-19 Honda Ci…

Three dealership groups, including one of the country's largest privately owned auto retailers and a Canadian firm expanding in the U.S., bought dealerships in May and June transactions.

Here's a look at the deals involving import and domestic brand dealerships in Texas, Utah and Tennessee. Two transactions involved retailers ranked on Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups list.

Group 1 Automotive divestiture in Texas

Growing Canadian retailer Steele Auto Group, of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, expanded its U.S. footprint in Texas with the acquisition of a Hyundai store from auto retail giant Group 1 Automotive Inc.

Steele Auto bought Sterling McCall Hyundai South Loop in Houston from Group 1 on June 22, according to Peter Porteous, vice president of business development at Steele Auto.

The dealership was renamed Steele South Loop Hyundai.

"We are thrilled to be growing our presence in the U.S. and Texas," Steele Auto President Kim D…

At least 34 union auto technicians at Mercedes-Benz of San Diego went on strike as the two sides negotiate a new contract.

Technicians from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1484 walked off the job on June 17. Ten technicians remain on the job, a dealership spokesman said.

Pedro Gomez, a technician at the dealership and shop steward for Local Lodge 1484, said the union had been treated unfairly during negotiations by the dealership's owner, Penske Automotive Group Inc.

"We're in the middle of negotiating our third contract. They wanted to take away some of our benefits, including our weekly guarantee," Gomez said. "We feel like it's to the point where they want to intimidate us into submission so that we'll accept the deal we got."

Anthony Pordon, executive vice president at Penske Automotive, said the dealership has adjusted to the shortage of workers at the store.

The dealership offered a 15.1 p…

Toyota Motor Corp. produced 5.3 percent fewer vehicles in May than a year earlier as it slowed output due to supply chain disruptions afflicting automakers around the world.

Toyota's output totaled 634,940 vehicles in May, the Japanese carmaker said Wednesday. The company sold 761,466 vehicles globally last month, down from 840,303 vehicles a year earlier.

Toyota said earlier this year it intended to pause production for the April-June quarter due to global supply-chain issues, with President Akio Toyoda warning that a push to boost output under such conditions could lead to "exhaustion."

Toyota is still shielding itself relatively well from the tumult, including fallout from the Covid lockdown in Shanghai, and intends to significantly raise output in the coming months. The company last week said it aims to boost July-September production 40 percent from a year earlier, churning out an average of 850,000 vehicles a month.

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Tesla Inc. has laid off hundreds of workers on its Autopilot team as the electric-vehicle maker shuttered a California facility, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Surprisingly, the majority of those who were let go were hourly workers, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. As recently as last week, CEO Elon Musk had outlined plans to cut 10 percent of salaried staff but said he would be increasing hourly jobs.

Teams at the San Mateo office were employed in evaluating customer vehicle data related to the Autopilot driver-assistance features and performing so-called data labeling. Many of the staff members were data annotation specialists, all of which are hourly positions, one of the people said.

About 200 workers were let go in total, according to the people. Prior to the cuts, the office had about 350 employees, although some had been transferred to a nearby facility in recent weeks.

Tesla …

TOKYO -- Hyundai is going sleek and rounded with its next electric vehicle, the Ioniq 6 sedan, tapping a "streamliner" look that diverges from the futuristic angles of the Ioniq 5 hatchback.

In releasing official photos of the Ioniq 6 exterior and interior, Hyundai says the "single-curved aerodynamic profile" delivers the brand's sleekest drag coefficient yet and houses a "cocoon-like cabin." Whereas the Ioniq 5 hatch is chiseled and digital, the Ioniq 6 is more flowing and organic.

"Ioniq 6 implements the Hyundai Look design strategy that gives each model a unique appearance, like chess pieces," Hyundai Motor Co. said in a June 29 news release.

The Ioniq 6 follows the Ioniq 5 as the latest entry in the South Korean automaker's Ioniq family of all-electric vehicles. It will be followed by an Ioniq 7 battery-powered three-row crossover.

The Ioniq 5 landed Stateside this year while it debuted in Europe last year. The Ioniq 6 will debut in Eur…

Rivian Automotive Inc. launched the first fast chargers on its Adventure Network this week, designed to provide dedicated electric vehicle charging for owners near off-road areas such as Yosemite, Death Valley and 600 future sites across North America.

The California-based startup launched its first site in Salida, Colo., on Monday with four Level 3 chargers rated at more than 200 kilowatts of output. Under ideal conditions, Rivian vehicles can add up to 140 miles of range in 20 minutes on the charging units, Rivian said in a statement.

Rivian is delivering the R1T pickup to reservation holders and will soon deliver R1S SUVs. Both have a high level of off-road ability. But adventure EVs are new to the market and charging stations are not always close to national parks and camping spots.

"Thanks to its natural beauty and abundant nearby recreational opportunities, Salida is an ideal location for Rivian's first fast charging site," Rivian said. The site in…

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. co-founder and former Subaru of America President Thomas Gibson died June 20 at his Villanova, Pa., home. He was 79.

Gibson founded Asbury Automotive Group in 1994 with financial support from Toronto-based Onex Corp. and a vision to buy large dealerships.

"We are not doing this to make a quick hit," he told Automotive News in 1995. "We are building a good, customer-oriented, stable business."

Gibson was Asbury's chairman from the board's creation in 1995 until 2004, a run that included Asbury's initial public offering in 2002. He also was CEO in the group's early years and again on a brief interim basis in 2001 following his successor's death. He remained with the company until 2007.

Today, Asbury, of Duluth, Ga., ranks No. 5 on Automotive News' most recent list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with retail sales of 109,910 new vehicles and $9.84 billion in revenue in 2021.…

Cox Automotive cuts its sales outlook by almost a million vehicles. J.D. Power says vehicle quality scores have sunk to a new low. German authorities raid Hyundai and Kia. Plus, Inrix's Avery Ash talks about how better data could help combat rising traffic deaths.

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The Federal Trade Commission proposed banning finance and insurance coverage and physical vehicle add-ons "that provide no benefit" and requiring expanded disclosure and consent on such optional products — including a list of prices online.

The agency also is considering cracking down on dealerships' advertising related to the cost of the vehicle itself.

The commission's June 27 notice of proposed regulations was approved by a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Christine Wilson dissenting. An accompanying news release repeatedly depicted physical additions and F&I products as "junk fees," though the four commissioners supporting regulations acknowledged in a separate statement, "Not all add-ons provide no value."

FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioners Noah Phillips, Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya saidthe rule would be their agency's first regulation since the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. That law continued and expanded the FTC's authority over auto dealership…

Honda has executed a complete makeover of the HR-V for 2023 to more directly appeal to North American consumers.

The HR-V, which became the top-selling U.S. subcompact crossover in 2021 and retained the title in the first quarter, has become a core model for Honda and a key entry point to the brand.

The redesigned HR-V subcompact crossover, available in front- or all-wheel drive, moves onto the same platform as the latest Civic, providing a longer wheelbase, more interior space, a more powerful engine and an independent rear suspension.

The latest HR-V, which is 11 inches longer than the outgoing model, becomes a much larger crossover all around compared with the first-generation baby ute that was engineered off the discontinued Fit. It is powered by a 158-hp, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 138 pound-feet of torque, and is paired to a continuously variable transmission. Horsepower has increased by 17 and torque has been improv…

Honda continues to give its light trucks the rugged treatment.

The Passport five-seater was freshened for the 2022 model year with a heavy dose of adventure-oriented styling meant to represent its true capability. The fourth-generation Pilot appears set to follow the same craggy path.

The 2023 Pilot will be revealed this fall and is slated to go on sale by the end of the year. It's a longtime mainstay in the fiercely competitive three-row crossover segment that also includes the Ford Explorer and Toyota Highlander. In 2021, despite the microchip shortage, sales of the Pilot increased 16 percent to 143,000. Honda continues to struggle with supply shortage and logistics challenges, with Pilot deliveries sliding 34 percent to 40,696 through May compared with the same period last year.

A teaser photo of the next-generation CR-V, which will be introduced in July, shows a grille similar to that on the disguised Pilot. Honda is also de…