Trade News

The supply chain is becoming synonymous with disruption. And now a new one could further cloud what was shaping up already as an uncertain holiday season.

Drought conditions have led to a backup of ships looking to traverse the Panama Canal, potentially putting retailer inventory restocking in jeopardy just as North American retailers are looking to build stockpiles back up.

“Ongoing challenges at the Panama Canal are making existing worries for industries even worse," Christian Roeloffs, co-founder and CEO of Container xChange, said in a blog post this week. “New industry information shows that the U.S. economy’s consumer spending has seen an uptick, which is good.  With inventories falling and demand expected to rebound, the Panama Canal, which carries 40% of container traffic from Asia to Europe, is likely to experience increased pressure.”

Backlog begins dropping

The Panama Canal Authority, in an update on Tuesday, said the backlog of vessels wa…

SHANGHAI - The former vice president of autonomous driving at Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng, Wu Xinhou, is joining U.S. artificial intelligence giant Nvidia, he said on Thursday.

Wu did not disclose what role he was taking up at Nvidia but Chinese media outlet Jiemian News said he would become its head of automotive products. It did not give a source for the news.

Wu did not immediately respond to a request for further details from Reuters. Nvidia also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wu, who resigned from Xpeng this month, said on his Weibo account that he had joined Nvidia, posting a photo of himself alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Xpeng's chairman He Xiaopeng.

Wu had led Xpeng's autonomous driving development efforts from 2018 with more than 1,000 engineers in China and the United States.

Chinese automakers such as Xpeng have been big buyers of Nvidia's chips as they equip their cars with intelligent s…

Automotive tool-and-die companies, many of which have struggled financially in the past three years, should soon be in a stronger position as automakers launch more than 130 new electric or hybrid models as well as redesigns for internal combustion mainstays, according to a new study.

Automakers plan to significantly increase spending on tooling in North America ahead of those vehicle arrivals, the study by Harbour Results Inc. and AutoForecast Solutions says.

The study projects automakers' base tool spending in the region is set to hit $7.1 billion in 2025, up from $5 billion last year.

That's because the boom in new models is coming.

Those 130 vehicles are expected to launch between now and 2030, with plans to convert or build 56 plants to assemble them in North America, according to the study. All of those projects require new tools and dies and production machinery.

"I'm very bullish about the tool-and-die industry," said Laurie Harbou…

Ultium LLC, the electric-vehicle joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, is working on a deal to raise wages at its Ohio battery plant, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The two sides are close to a deal that would give workers an interim pay increase to tide them over while management and the UAW  negotiate the plant's first contract, the people said. The deal would raise pay from a starting wage of $15.50 an hour to more than $20 and would give back pay to tenured employees.

A spokesperson for Ultium declined to comment.

Ultium and the UAW are in the midst of negotiating a labor deal for the plant, where workers voted to join the union in December.

Pay has been one of the biggest issues at the battery plant, which is supplying GM EVs such as the Cadillac Lyriq crossover and the 9,000-pound electric Hummer pickup. The Ultium workers make half the top wage at GM’s assembly plants.

That has also made…

Electric vehicle owners report more problems with new technology than owners of gasoline vehicles, according to a J.D. Power study issued Thursday.

The findings come as automakers launch an assortment of high-tech features on new EVs.

Battery-electric vehicle owners reported 4.2 more problems per 100 vehicles than owners of internal combustion vehicles that — besides powertrain — contain the same technology, according to J.D. Power's 2023 U.S. Tech Experience Index Study.

Interior gesture control proved problematic. EV owners reported 18.4 more problems per 100 vehicles, said Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power. The function lets drivers use hand gestures to control vehicle features. For example, drivers can increase radio volume by turning their fingers clockwise or lower it by turning them counterclockwise.

Advanced technologies are more difficult for consumers to use, no matter the vehic…

After years of public and private maneuvering, Illinois finally is close to reeling in a big electric vehicle battery manufacturer.

A crucial step came Tuesday when, according to local officials, the Kankakee County Board approved a property tax abatement needed to lure a battery maker to a 160-acre site in Manteno, a village about 50 miles southwest of Chicago's Loop.

Officials declined to name the company, but sources close to the situation believe it to be Gotion, a Chinese company which also has announced plans for a factory in Michigan.

Manteno Mayor Tim Nugent said his board and other local taxing bodies approved the abatement earlier this month, after being told by the state and a company agent that the facility will create 2,600 jobs and involve more than $2 billion in investment.

No final decision has been made but, “I’m told we’re on the short list,” Nugent said. “I’m hopeful.” 

Manteno is located a little over an hour’s dr…

General Motors is eliminating more than 900 salaried jobs by closing an information technology facility in Arizona this fall.

The IT Innovation Center in Chandler, which opened in 2014, will shut down in October, company spokesperson Kevin Kelly said Wednesday. It's one of four such operations the automaker operates around the country.

Most of the roughly 940 workers at the center are on GM's corporate IT support team. Some employees will continue to work in Arizona on software-defined vehicle technology, Kelly told Automotive News. Employees whose positions are terminated can apply for open positions until the end of October, he said.

GM also has innovation centers in Warren, Mich.; Roswell, Ga.; and Austin, Texas. Employees at the Arizona location focus on web technologies, end-user applications, dealership and factory systems and vehicle technology, according to the automaker.

The news comes after GM last week said it planned to eliminate abo…

Privately held steel company Esmark said on Wednesday it would not participate in the purchase process for U.S. Steel Corp and respect the position of the United Steel Workers union, which is supporting Cleveland-Cliffs' offer.

Last week, Esmark made an offer to buy U.S. Steel for $35 per share, or an equity value of $7.8 billion.

Esmark's exit leaves Arcelor-Mittal as the only known potential challenger to Cleveland-Cliffs, which went public with its bid for U.S. Steel earlier in August.

"The U.S. Steel board must go through their process that they previously announced (adding) we will evaluate any opportunities in connection with that process, subject to support from the USW," Esmark CEO Jim Bouchard said in a statement.

The union, which has asserted itself aggressively in the bidding battle, had said it would not endorse any buyers other than Cleveland-Cliffs.

However, U.S. Steel last week said its labor agreement with does not afford …

An Arizona dealership executive died after being injured in a crash involving an electric scooter and a pickup on the store's property.

Andrew Kimmerle, business manager at Sanderson Ford in Glendale, Ariz., was riding an electric scooter on the dealership's lot the morning of Aug. 15 when he collided with a Ford pickup, which was being driven by an unidentified dealership employee, according to the Glendale Police Department.

Glendale Police said Kimmerle, according to witnesses, was riding the scooter at what appeared to be a high rate of speed.

"The driver of the truck made a left turn just as Kimmerle was in the area and Kimmerle's scooter collided with the truck," Gina Winn, public information officer for Glendale Police, wrote in an email to Automotive News. "The driver of the truck was not speeding and remained on the scene. The driver did not see Kimmerle heading in their direction until the impact took place."

Kimmerle was transported t…

A study says leasing an EV is the cheapest way to get a new car. Stellantis weighs an EV tie-up to expand in China. A theft impacts the U.S. launch of Nissan’s next-generation Kicks. Plus, automakers are making the move to USB-C in their vehicles.

 

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Operations have been restored at Ultium Cells LLC's battery plant in Warren, Ohio, after a chemical leak temporarily halted activity in the cathode mixing area, the company confirmed Wednesday.

An Ultium spokesperson did not provide details on when cathode mixing operations resumed or whether an internal investigation of the leak is still underway.

The company said it took "immediate steps" to contain a cathode mixing slurry leak that occurred over the weekend at its Ohio production plant. Area mixing operations had been paused while Ultium assessed the situation and worked with a third-party company on the cleanup. Operations at other parts of the plant were not affected.

No employees were exposed or injured in the spill, the company said.

Ultium — a joint venture between General Motors and South Korea's LG Energy Solution to produce battery cells for the automaker's electric vehicles — reported the incident Monday to the U.S. Labor Department'…

HONG KONG - Zeekr, Chinese automaker Geely's premium EV brand, will meet global investors to test appetite for a $1 billion U.S initial public offering, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.

It is hoping the share sale will yield a valuation of more than $13 billion, as achieved during a private $750 million funding round in February, two people said.

Hangzhou-based Zeekr will meet investors over two weeks in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, New York, Boston, California and the Middle East, the people said. They said the final deal size would depend on financial market conditions later this year.

The people declined to be identified as the information has not yet been made public. Geely, which handles media queries for Zeekr, declined to comment.

Geely in December said Zeekr had confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, without detailing size or listing date.

If successful, a $1 billion IPO would be the largest U.S. listing by a Chines…