Trade News

New TrueCar CEO Jantoon Reigersman stands to make at least $500,000 in his first year in charge of the vehicle listings company and potentially millions more through a series of stock awards, according to a July 31 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meanwhile, former CEO Mike Darrow will pull in $1 million-plus in compensation for a year after his June 14 departure, based on a June 15 regulatory filing.

Reigersman was promoted from COO to TrueCar's chief executive on June 14 after the company replaced Darrow and announced a restructuring that has slashed 24 percent of its work force. TrueCar, of Santa Monica, Calif., lost more than $20 million in the second quarter, nearly double its loss from a year earlier.

TrueCar is paying Reigersman, who was 41 upon his appointment, an annual base salary of $500,000, according to the filing last month. He's eligible for an annual bonus of 100 percent of his base salary if certain company and …

The Acura Integra Type S is a souped-up, 320-hp sport sedan that has moved into the brand's halo position this year.

Intended to be a specialty vehicle, the Integra Type S targets the driver more interested in extreme performance. It comes with a standard 6-speed manual transmission and a 2.0-liter engine recalibrated to deliver 320 hp.

The Type S increases output from the standard Integra by 120 hp and 118 pound-feet of torque. Its stance is also 2.8 inches wider, and the front exterior was reworked to improve airflow.

The Integra Type S replaces the NSX hybrid-electric supercar that was retired last year and represents a new product strategy for Acura. This new model costs $51,995, a stark contrast to the previous halo at $171,495, including shipping but before any options.

"We want to create sufficient demand to satisfy enthusiasts yearning for a specialty vehicle like this with limited production and avoid saturating the market because that t…

WASHINGTON — U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating Ford Motor Co.'s handling of a June 2022 recall of nearly 50,000 Mustang Mach-Es after new reports of power loss.

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said it received 12 consumer complaints alleging a high-voltage battery main contractor failure in 2021-22 Ford Mustang Mach-E crossovers that were included in the recall and had been remedied prior to the incidents.

The agency said it has opened the investigation — known as a "recall query" — to assess Ford's recall remedy. About 64,727 Mustang Mach-Es could be affected.

There have been no reports of injuries, fires, accidents or deaths, according to a document detailing the investigation.

In a statement to Automotive News, Ford spokesperson Maria Buczkowski said the automaker is "working with NHTSA to support their investigation."

The June 2022 recall covered 48,924 2021-22 Mustang Mach-E vehicles in the U.S. that were built fr…

Tesla Inc.’s May data breach impacted more than 75,000 people, included employee-related records and was a result of “insider wrongdoing,” according to a notice posted by the office of the Maine Attorney General Friday.

A total of 75,735 people were affected by the data breach, including nine residents of Maine. The people appear to be current or former employees of the Austin, Texas-based automaker.

“A foreign media outlet (named Handelsblatt) informed Tesla on May 10, 2023, that it had obtained Tesla confidential information,” according to a copy of an Aug. 18 letter by Tesla to those impacted that accompanied the data breach notification. “The investigation revealed that two former Tesla employees misappropriated the information in violation of Tesla’s IT security and data protection policies and shared it with the media outlet.”

The letter goes on to state that Tesla filed lawsuits against the two former employees, without specifying in which juris…

Joey Lawrence, well known around Hollywood as a car enthusiast, has never been a big fan of electric vehicles — he’s even publicly criticized Teslas for being poorly made. But now he’s found an EV automaker he can get behind.

The actor not only stars in Vietnamese EV maker VinFast’s first U.S. campaign, breaking this week, but he’s also revived his iconic catchphrase, “Whoa” — from the ’90s sitcom “Blossom” — as the central theme of the spot.

In the 30-second commercial, created by the agency Acceleration, Lawrence is seen using the phrase repeatedly, and in different inflections, to marvel at VinFast’s VF8 electric sedan — which the company began selling in California in 2022. This is the first time Lawrence has used “Whoa” so prominently in advertising.

The spot, directed by Aaron Huisman of Anaheim Studios, goes on to highlight the VF8’s eight body colors, Italian Pininfarina interior design, 10-year/unlimited battery warranty and various …

Crunch time looms for UAW talks

Labor experts called the UAW’s walkout against Chrysler in 2007 a “Hollywood strike” because it lasted just six hours and was more for show than to actually harm the automaker, which was less than two years away from bankruptcy. There have been baseball games and tennis matches that lasted longer than Chrysler workers spent on the picket lines.

My most lasting memory of covering that strike as a reporter for The New York Times was being yelled at by a worker who later found me and apologized, saying it was his first strike and he got too amped up. Then everyone went home before dinnertime.

In this year’s contract talks, the UAW is threatening to call a far more damaging strike — the kind that has actually shut down Hollywood for the past three and a half months. A study released this week estimated that a strike against the Detroit 3 simultaneously could cost the economy some $5 billion in just 10 days and push Michigan …

Labor experts called the UAW’s walkout against Chrysler in 2007 a “Hollywood strike” because it lasted just six hours and was more for show than to actually harm the automaker, which was less than two years away from bankruptcy. There have been baseball games and tennis matches that lasted longer than Chrysler workers spent on the picket lines.

My most lasting memory of covering that strike as a reporter for The New York Times was being yelled at by a worker who later found me and apologized, saying it was his first strike and he got too amped up. Then everyone went home before dinnertime.

In this year’s contract talks, the UAW is threatening to call a far more damaging strike — the kind that has actually shut down Hollywood for the past three and a half months. A study released this week estimated that a strike against the Detroit 3 simultaneously could cost the economy some $5 billion in just 10 days and push Michigan into a recession if it lasted long enough…

Automotive News reporters Hannah Lutz, Molly Boigon and Pete Bigelow discuss the latest mobility headlines, including Waymo and Cruise increasing their San Francisco robotaxi businesses and the EV charging problems revealed by a recent J.D. Power survey.

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It's still tough out there for suppliers, even as the crisis stage of COVID-19 fades into the background.

The pandemic and ensuing microchip shortage took quite an economic toll on parts manufacturers, which might be expected, although automakers and dealers reaped record profits.

Things are getting better for suppliers as the semiconductor supply improves and output becomes more routine and closer to full capacity.

Production rose 15 percent globally in the second quarter from a year earlier, said Nikolai Setzer, CEO of Continental. But he stressed to a group of reporters at the company's North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., last week that the positive numbers are mostly a reflection of the fact that China was still in shutdown mode a year ago.

"It's a lot about the comps," he said. "Times are still challenging."

Inflation remains a challenge for suppliers — arguably for all manufacturers — and Continental is feeling it, t…

A bolt of lightning blew up several vehicles at a Chevrolet dealership in Georgia last week.

Lightning struck a gasoline storage tank near the back of Sons Chevrolet, causing it to explode, an employee told TV station WTVM in Columbus. A Chevy Corvette, several SUVs and a Ram pickup were among the vehicles hit by the blast.

The storm occurred when the dealership was closed and no one was injured. The business was able to open normally despite the damage on its lot.

By mid-2024, General Motors plans to have several new electric vehicle nameplates in production, from the Chevrolet Equinox that was designed with affordability in mind to the Cadillac Escalade IQ costing four times as much.

That's also when the automaker expects to have built 400,000 EVs, on the way to reaching capacity for 1 million a year starting in 2025.

GM will get some help reaching that goal when its second Ultium Cells battery plant with joint- venture partner LG Energy Solution opens in Tennessee this year, joining the one already operating in Ohio. With more battery capacity and more EV nameplates on the way, GM is working to resolve issues that have constrained its ability to scale production.

Production of the Ultium-based EVs that GM already sells, including the Cadillac Lyriq crossover and the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV, started off slower than planned. Production demands are only going to grow, as all four of GM's U.S. brands have EV …