Trade News

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats have scrapped a $4,500 bonus tax credit for electric vehicles made with domestic union labor that was opposed by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as they seek to wrap up negotiations on a spending deal.

“It’s gone,” Manchin said in an interview at the Capitol Tuesday.

The Build Back Better legislation passed last year in the House would have increased the $7,500 consumer tax credit to as much as $12,500, as part of a White House-backed effort to ensure that EVs are “manufactured by workers with good jobs.”

But the plan came under fire from Manchin, a swing vote in the evenly split Senate, as well as from non-unionized EV-maker Tesla Inc. and foreign-owned automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

West Virginia is home to a major Toyota engine and transmission parts plant. Manchin has been a strong supporter of the operation, which was built in 1995 near Charleston, W.Va.

“At this point, what we …

Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday cut its July global production plan by 50,000 vehicles as semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 parts supply disruptions continued to curb output.

The world's largest car maker by volume expects to make 800,000 vehicles next month, it said in a statement.

"As it remains difficult to look ahead due to the shortage of semiconductors and the spread of COVID-19, there is a possibility that the production plan may be lower," the Japanese company said.

Toyota and other car makers continue to struggle with supply-chain disruptions and component shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic including those resulting from recent lockdowns in China.

Automakers are also having to compete for limited semiconductor supplies with other manufacturers such as consumer electronics device makers.

Toyota stuck with its annual global production target of 9.7 million vehicles, although the company signa…

PARIS -- Supplier Forvia said it increased the company's share capital by around 705 million euros ($740.9 million) and will use the proceeds to fund the acquisition of German peer Hella.

Forvia, which was formerly known as Faurecia, announced its name change following the closing of the Hella deal in February, which will likely create the world's seventh-largest automotive supplier.

Forvia predicted sales of around 23 billion to 24 billion euros this year, with a profit margin of 4 percent to 5 percent.

Magna International is bullish that the industry’s sweeping shift to electrified vehicles will be beneficial to its bottom line.

Whether it be all-wheel-drive systems or its fast-expanding battery enclosures business, CEO Swamy Kotagiri says the world’s fourth-largest supplier is poised to succeed. That is why the company recently upgraded its outlook for electrification-based sales by $500 million.

Kotagiri outlined Magna’s plans and how the company is offsetting supply chain woes and the chip crunch in an interview with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc and News Editor Peter Sigal.

How will Magna capitalize on the transition to electric cars? Will it gain share or lose some share?

With the trend toward increased electrification in cars and the arrivals of new entrants, Magna is not only increasing its content per vehicle, but it also has a larger addressable market.

What do you mean?

If you look at our dire…

General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler parent Stellantis said on Tuesday they are making masking optional at all U.S. facilities.

In mid-May, the Detroit 3 and the UAW -- which have a COVID-19 joint task force -- reinstated a requirement that employees wear masks in southeastern Michigan where there are high levels of COVID-19.

The task force said on Tuesday if a facility is in a high-risk county as identified by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) it "strongly recommends masking" but they will not be required. 

BERLIN -- Germany's government will not agree to European Union plans to effectively ban the sale of new cars with combustion engines from 2035, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.

In its bid to cut planet-warming emissions 55 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels, the European Commission has proposed a 100 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from new cars by 2035. That means it would be impossible to sell combustion engine cars starting then.

European Parliament lawmakers backed the proposals this month before negotiations with EU countries on the final law take place.

Speaking at an event hosted by Germany's BDI industry association on Tuesday, Lindner said there would continue to be niches for combustion engines so a ban was wrong and said the government would not agree to this European legislation.

Lindner, a member of the pro-business Free Democrats, which shares power with the Social Democrats and Greens, said Germany would still be a leadi…

U.S. startup Redwood Materials Inc. on Tuesday said Toyota Motor North America has become the latest auto industry giant to join its comprehensive electric vehicle battery recycling initiative.

Redwood Materials, whose partners include Ford Motor Co. and EV battery maker Panasonic Holdings Corp., aims to lower EV costs by lessening dependence on imported materials while also reducing the environmental impact. 

The five-year-old firm has focused initial work at a 175-acre campus in northern Nevada, but plans to build an even larger complex in southeastern U.S., its CEO and founder, JB Straubel, said in an interview. Straubel was a co-founder of Tesla Inc. and was the EV maker's chief technical officer. 

The new facility would be able to supply Toyota's planned $1.3 billion battery plant in North Carolina, as well as Ford's planned battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky with South Korea's SK Innovation Co.

Redwood Materials is rampi…

Polestar and Gores Guggenheim, the special purpose acquisition company planning to merge with EV maker, said Tuesday that they expect the deal to raise at least $850 million.

The companies foresee the merger closing on Thursday, subject to Gores Guggenheim stockholder approval.

If that happens, Gores Guggenheim's Nasdaq listing under the ticket symbol GGPI will switch to the combined companies' new symbol, PSNY, and start trading in New York on Friday.

A bell-ringing ceremony in New York is planned for June 28 as Sweden has a national holiday on Friday.

Polestar first announced plans to list as a public company on the Nasdaq with Gores Guggenheim last September.

The companies noted Tuesday that the preliminary redemption elections are expected to reach a maximum of 25 percent. The lower the number the better for redemptions, as it shows Gores Guggenheim's shareholders back the merger, according to a source close to the deal.

“T…

The Toyota Sequoia has grown bigger and more refined, with greatly improved fuel economy and increased driver-assistance and technology features as part of a sweeping makeover that sees the SUV migrate to the automaker's new F1 global light-truck platform.

The big SUV's first major redesign in more than a decade should allow the Sequoia to better compete against large body-on-frame SUVs such as the GMC Yukon, Jeep Wagoneer and Ford Expedition.

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia goes on sale late this summer priced from $59,795, including shipping. The three-row, body-on-frame SUV comes standard with Toyota's new iForce Max hybridized powertrain that debuted on the 2022 Tundra full-size pickup. It was designed and engineered specifically to improve power and torque instead of just fuel economy.

The iForce Max powertrain produces a maximum 437 hp and 583 pound-feet of torque from a twin-turbo V-6 engine and 10-speed automatic transmission, givin…

DOHA -- Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said a 10 percent cut in salaried staff at the electric vehicle producer will happen over three months, as the world's richest man predicted a U.S. recession was more likely than not.

His remarks were his most detailed explanation of job cut plans and his first in-person appearance since Reuters reported at the start of this month that the company needed to cut staff by about 10% and was pausing hiring worldwide.

Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum organized by Bloomberg, Musk said the cuts would apply only to salaried workers, meaning a 3.5 percent reduction in total headcount, changes he described as "not super material."

But he expressed concern about the prospect of a U.S. recession.

"It's not a certainty, but it appears more likely than not," he said.

Musk's outlook echoes comments from executives, including JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs President John Waldron. A "hurricane…

Maryann Keller, one of the first women on Wall Street to cover the auto industry and later a widely respected consultant who became a formidable critic of management at Detroit's automakers, died on Thursday, June 16. She was 78.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Connecticut confirmed her death.

Keller, routinely the No. 1 auto analyst in Institutional Investor's widely watched ranking of the top stock pickers at leading brokerage houses, wielded enormous clout and influence over boardrooms and showrooms. Her books, meticulously reported with unprecedented access to company insiders, became must-reads for dealers, suppliers, journalists and anyone else who desired to go behind the scenes.

Her clarity and insight, biting at times, could move a company's stock price in either direction with the release of a new report, or a traditional buy or sell call.

With an appreciation for comprehensive, hands-on research, well before the Internet an…

Mercedes-Benz has named Paul Gao, most recently a senior partner at McKinsey in Hong Kong, to the newly created post of chief strategy officer, with a special focus on Asian markets.

Gao has spent the last 20 years at McKinsey, where he has advised international and Chinese automakers on all aspects of the business, from product development to corporate strategy, Mercedes said in a news release on Tuesday. 

At Mercedes, he will report to CEO Ola Kallenius and will steer the company's overall strategy.

Gao has "essential know-how about China and other Asian growth markets," Kallenius said in the release. "This makes Paul the right choice to further enhance the international profile of our brand, our management and our company."

China is Mercedes's largest market, with 758,863 sales in 2021, a decline of 2 percent over 2020. That represents about 36 percent of Mercedes’ global passenger car sales.

Chinese buyers prefer the au…