Trade News

Younger car buyers were less likely to recommend the dealership experience and had more frustrations with the car-buying process than older consumers, according to a survey by CDK Global Inc.

The study, released Thursday, surveyed 1,100 recent car buyers in December and analyzed their preferences and frustrations with the car-buying process by various age groups.

The study classified members of Gen Z as car buyers from the ages of 18 to 25, millennials as 25 to 40, Gen X as 40 to 55 and baby boomers as those 56 and over.

CDK said 81 percent of Gen Z members said their biggest priority when purchasing a car was taking their time and exploring all of their options, compared with only 73 percent of millennials, 60 percent of Gen Xers and only 45 percent of baby boomers. The survey also said members of Gen Z had more difficulty purchasing a vehicle online than older generations.

Brendan Dougherty, CDK's director of product marketing, attributed this t…

Honda's 11th-generation Accord is scheduled to be revealed near the end of the year as a 2024 model with styling that remains sporty. The midsize sedan has been spotted undergoing road tests, and certain exterior changes appear to align it more closely with the 11th-generation Civic that debuted for the 2022 model year.

The compact Civic heralded a new styling direction for Honda that's more driver-centric and minimalist, including cleaner lines, a longer hood and a revised upright grille. The Civic and Accord remain core models for Honda even as cars increasingly lose favor amid Americans' growing preference for utility vehicles.

U.S. sales of the Accord rose 1.6 percent to 202,676 last year, making it the No. 4 seller among all cars. Deliveries slumped 26 percent to 69,893 this year through May as Honda prioritizes newer models such as the latest Civic and more profitable light trucks.

The next Accord appears to keep its fastb…

A new horsepower war is brewing among automakers, and this time the number of cylinders is not a factor. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England last week, Polestar, aiming directly at Porsche, fired the latest shot with a sleek, 884-hp four-door GT — the Polestar 5.

When it arrives in 2024, the dual-motor, 800-volt battery-powered sport sedan will be a direct competitor to the Porsche Taycan, the aging Tesla Model S and Lucid, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz electric vehicles.

"Polestar 5 is a company-defining project. Its progressive design and advanced engineering set the tone for Polestar's future," Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said. "We have great talent on board enabling us to create truly iconic EVs."

A camouflaged Polestar 5 was driven up Goodwood Hill twice daily during the festival, the first time the nearly complete car has been shown in public.

While no performance figures were given, the Polestar 5 promises …

Marelli, the supplier owned by KKR & Co., will enter court-led rehabilitation after failing to complete an alternative dispute resolution process in Japan that lets a company under financial strain continue to operate while renegotiating its debt with creditors.

Hiroshi Watanabe, a spokesman for Saitama, Japan-based Marelli, confirmed the outcome after a creditors meeting Friday.

As part of the turnaround plan, Marelli is seeking the cancellation of about 450 billion yen ($3.3 billion) in debt, out of total obligations of about 1.13 trillion yen, people with knowledge of the matter have said.

The new court-supervised phase, effectively an extension of the ADR process that simplifies the steps needed to reach resolution, is expected to take about a month.

A Marelli spokesman said the entire reorganization process would be handled in Japanese courts, so no Chapter 11 filing would be anticipated in the U.S. About 24 percent of the company's busi…

CarLotz Inc., one of several online used-vehicle upstarts to benefit from pandemic-fueled momentum, is shuttering 11 stores — half of its brick-and-mortar locations — as it dials back growth plans.

The used-vehicle consignment company, in announcing the move this week, blamed vehicle sourcing snafus and said it needed to preserve cash.

The decision to close the stores followed a "strategic review" that showed such a move was necessary to ensure future profitability. Closing those "hubs," as CarLotz calls them, will reduce the company's work force by 25 to 30 percent. CarLotz had 492 employees at the end of 2021.

CarLotz also said it was having trouble sourcing vehicles, a situation that might improve if there are fewer hubs to focus on, CEO Lev Peker said in a news release. The company will look to ramp up the number of vehicles it sources directly from consumers, reducing its reliance on auctions.

"While decisions that impact our teammates are …

A federal judge in California has issued a preliminary injunction in favor of Kia America Inc. and against the would-be seller and purported buyer of a dealership in Palmdale.

U.S. District Judge James Selna found a likelihood of consumer confusion if franchisee Rally Auto Group and would-be purchasers Alam Khan and his Dalia Auto Group continue to use Kia's trademark and other intellectual property.

"The preliminary injunction means that the Dalia defendants are prohibited from continuing to operate the dealership," said James Mulcahy, a franchise law expert in Irvine, Calif., who is not involved in the litigation.

Defense lawyer Victor Danhi said, "Despite the successful sale of its GMC, Cadillac, Buick, Hyundai and Genesis franchises to Dalia Auto Group, with the consent of those manufacturers — including Hyundai Motor Co., Kia's parent company — Kia withheld its consent to the sale of Rally Kia to Dalia Auto Group, a successful dealership group owne…

Swedish automotive supplier Veoneer is being prepared for sale by SSW Partners, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

The closely held investment firm founded by three big-name financial executives is working with advisers on the sales process, which is likely to begin in the coming months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

SSW could sell the entire business to one buyer or consider divesting the two pieces separately, the people said.

The assets include the active safety unit, which supplies radars, cameras and lidar, and the restraint-control systems unit, including electronics for airbags and seat belts. The timing and structure of any deal could change, they said.

SSW was founded in 2021 by former Lazard bankers Antonio Weiss and Josh Steiner as well as former Goldman Sachs Group executive Eric Schwartz. Steiner is chairman of Castleton Commodities International a…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Einride cleared to operate on public U.S. roads, will start in Tennessee this year

Swedish autonomous-truck startup Einride has received regulatory approval to operate its trucks on public U.S. roadways and will begin doing so this year, the company said Thursday.

Einride will launch a pilot program in Tennessee with GE Appliances in the third quarter. The project will help the self-driving truck company showcase the ability of its Pod truck, which is built without a traditional front cab. The company said it received the go-ahead to drive on public roadways from NHTSA.

Einride CEO Robert Falck said gaining NHTSA approval is a significant moment for the company as it looks to expand its presence in the U.S. Einride opened its U.S. headquarters in New York in October and began setting up regional operations in California and Austin, Texas.

"For us, it's all about scaling from here on out," Falck told Automotive News.

…

General Motors' autonomous driving unit Cruise has started charging fares for driverless rides in San Francisco, the company said on Thursday, a step towards commercialization of the service.

Cruise earlier this month became the first company to secure a permit to charge for self-driving car rides in the U.S. city, after it overcame objections by local officials.

Self-driving test cars with human safety drivers have become a constant sight in San Francisco, and completely driverless ones are increasingly common too. Turning them into a fledgling business in a major U.S. city marks a milestone in the long, delayed journey toward driverless taxi service.

The fared driverless rides are currently taking place in the northwest third of the city, the self-driving tech firm said on Thursday, adding that it would expand the service.

SHANGHAI – An urgent need to revive economic growth and consumer spending in the wake of the recent wave of coronavirus infections has prompted Beijing to take a big step and fix a long-standing problem that has undermined used-vehicle sales.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, on Wednesday set a Aug. 1 deadline for all provincial governments to eliminate restrictions on residents’ purchase of used vehicles from other provinces.

China overtook the United States in 2009 as the world’s largest new-vehicle market. But the Chinese used-vehicle market remains underdeveloped.

Last year, some 13.98 million used light vehicles, including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses, changed hands in China, according to a tally from the China Automobile Dealers Association.

By contrast, sales of new light vehicles industrywide approached 21.5 million in 2021.

The potential and opportunities in the used-vehicle market are also refle…

Volkswagen Group, the largest carmaker in China, is adopting a new management structure to create more autonomy and direct oversight, while accelerating decision-making in the key country. 

The changes, effective Aug. 1, are intended to give company executives “greater autonomy to further strengthen its leading position in the dynamic automotive market,” the German group said on June 17.

VW Group has started to convert its broad global car and light-truck lineup across multiple brands to electric-only and faces increased competition from Tesla Inc. and other EV startups, as well as global giants such as General Motors, and China’s traditional carmakers who have made important strides in styling and quality in recent years. 

The core of the new organization will be a China management board, chaired by Ralf Brandstätter, now CEO of the VW brand globally. 

Other members of the board will include the CEOs of the Audi and VW brands in Ch…

Honda Motor Co. has started building an electric-vehicle factory at its joint venture with local partner GAC Motor Co. in the south China city of Guangzhou.

The project is part of the Japanese automaker’s plan to ramp up EV production in China by adding one dedicated EV plant at each of its two local joint ventures. 

The 3.49 billion-yuan ($520 million) plant is slated to begin output in 2024 with initial annual capacity of 120,000 EVs, Honda’s China office said this week.

In January, Honda signed an agreement with local partner Dongfeng Motor Group to construct a similar EV plant in the central China city of Wuhan. 

The Wuhan factory is also scheduled to start production in 2024 with initial annual capacity of 120,000 EVs.

Honda recently launched China sales of the first two locally produced models developed on a new EV platform known as the e:N Architecture F. Both vehicles are compact crossovers.

In April, the e:NS1, ass…