Trade News

TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. and Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. have inked an agreement to set up a “high-value-added” electric vehicle joint venture this year under the name Sony Honda Mobility Inc. that will deliver a “new generation of mobility and services.”

The move, announced in a statement Thursday, teams two iconic Japanese brands from two of the country’s most important business industries: automotive and high technology.

The 50-50 company will be established this year with the goal of starting EV sales and providing mobility services in 2025, the companies said. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Yasuhide Mizuno, currently a senior managing officer at Honda, will be CEO of the new company. Mizuno was formerly Honda’s chief officer for automobile operations before being tasked to head the Honda-Sony JV Prep Office, a change that took effect June 1.

Izumi Kawanishi, a Sony executive vice president, will be COO.

Sony Hon…

A top executive of American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. said Wednesday that "there is no process to sell the company," echoing its formal response to a recent report that it was exploring a sale.

Asked to address the Bloomberg report from last month, CFO and Vice President Christopher May said the Detroit-based automotive supplier is "focused on our standalone plan to create value for shareholders."

May's comments came during the livestreamed Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference. It marked the first time an American Axle executive publicly addressed the rumor of a sale, though the company did issue a written statement shorty after the report was published.

To the other major question looming over American Axle – is it prepared to survive the automotive industry's transition to electric vehicles? – May said, "Absolutely, yes."

Rooted in traditional gasoline engines, the company has made big moves to electrify its portfolio and convince…

DETROIT— General Motors plans to invest more than $81 million to build the Celestiq, Cadillac's flagship electric vehicle, at the automaker's Global Technical Center.

The Celestiq, expected to launch next year, will be the first vehicle built at the Warren, Mich., tech center, which has been GM's engineering and design hub since the 1950s. The Celestiq will be hand built in low volumes. AutoForecast Solutions expects volume of fewer than 200 vehicles per year.

GM will use the investment to purchase and reinstall equipment to hand build the Celestiq. Renovation at the Warren campus has already begun, GM said in a statement Wednesday.

The Celestiq "signifies a new, resurgent era for the brand," GM President Mark Reuss said in the statement. "Each one will be hand-built by an amazing team of craftspeople on our historic Technical Center campus, and today's investment announcement emphasizes our commitment to delivering a world-class Cadillac with nothing bu…

A look at the first U.S. report on crashes involving driver assist and automated driving systems. Toyota pushes back against criticism that it’s going too slow on EVs. The latest Ford recall involves almost three million vehicles. And Automotive News used car reporter C.J. Moore talks about the forces shaping the present and future of the wholesale used car market.

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WASHINGTON — For the first time, the nation's top highway safety agency released data on crashes involving vehicles with advanced driver-assist systems or automated-driving systems activated.

NHTSA, cautioning that the data is preliminary and lacks proper context, said the vast majority of crashes of vehicles equipped with Level 2 ADAS were reported by Tesla Inc. and Honda Motor Co.

As automakers add more ADAS features to vehicles, NHTSA wants to better understand their role in crashes, whether they are caused by flaws in the technology or misuse by drivers. The report is an early step in that process.

"This is an unprecedented effort to gather nearly real-time safety data involving these advanced technologies," Steven Cliff, NHTSA's administrator, told reporters during a press call Tuesday. "Understanding the story that the data tell will take time, as most of NHTSA's work does, but it's a story we need to hear."

The report comes after NHTSA in …

WASHINGTON — Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 2.9 million U.S. vehicles for a gear-shifting defect that has been linked to four reports alleging an injury.

The recall covers certain 2013-19 Escape, 2013-18 C-Max, 2013-16 Fusion, 2013-21 Transit Connect and 2015-18 Edge vehicles.

Those vehicles could have a damaged or missing bushing that prevents them from shifting into the intended gear and might cause the vehicle to move in an unexpected direction, according to a recall report submitted to NHTSA last week.

The affected vehicles could roll away even after the driver puts the vehicle in "park," increasing the risk of a crash or injury, the report states.

"Additionally, if a vehicle is turned off in a transmission gear state other than 'park,' regardless of the gear shift lever position, the engine will not restart," Ford said in the report.

Ford told NHTSA that it is also aware of six reports alleging property damage and 1,630 wa…

Thomas Mueller from Wipro discusses software-defined vehicle technology, the impact of continuous software updates, and how OEMs and customers can get the most out of the cloud.

Today, we catch up with Todd Sanders, Executive Director of Remarketing Services, at Ally Financial, to discuss how dealers can successfully navigate the used-car bubble amid ongoing pandemic conditions and continued supply chain and microchip shortages.

Though the inventory crunch seems to be lessening, dealerships are still working to cope with lower-than-typical sales figures and scarce inventory.

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Transcript:

Advertisement: It is time to take your dealership from 0 to 100 from dedicated underwriter and account executive teams to comprehensive training courses, Ally has the resources needed to help take your business to the next level. Contact your local account executive today.

Jackie Charniga, Automotive News: Hi, everyone. This is Jackie Charniga with Automotive News and welcome to the All Ears podcast. This podcast is sponsored by Ally Financi…

Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar is betting boldly on its first pair of crossovers.

The Volvo affiliate said Tuesday that it expects to receive enough production capacity to produce more than 160,000 of its upcoming Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 vehicles by 2025.

Much of that output will go to the U.S. market, where crossovers and SUVs accounted for more than half of new-vehicle sales last year.

The Polestar 3, a Porsche Cayenne-sized crossover, will go on sale in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2023.

Polestar expects to sell 24,000 of the midsize crossover globally next year, increasing that to 67,000 in 2024 and 77,000 in 2025, according to company figures.

The midsize vehicle features design elements that include a sloping silhouette and headlight and rear light styling that are distinct from other Polestar models.

"With this car, we bring the 'sport' back to the SUV, staying true to our performance roots," Polestar CEO Thoma…

Mercedes-Benz is taking a scalpel to its U.S. car lineup as more Americans embrace SUVs and crossovers over sedans and coupes.

The luxury brand this year confirmed it will stop selling the entry-level A-Class sedan in the U.S after 2022. It is also dropping the S-Class coupe.

At its national dealer meeting late last month, Mercedes said it will replace the C-Class and E-Class coupes with a new two-door CLE nameplate.

"There's just not enough demand for three coupe models," said a dealer at the meeting. "So, it didn't make sense to reinvest the billions of dollars it would take to do a refreshed version of any of those."

A Mercedes spokesman declined to comment on future product.

Cars represented 26 percent of Mercedes-Benz's total U.S. light-vehicle sales (329,574) in 2021, down from 29 percent in 2020. In the first quarter, Mercedes-Benz's U.S. car sales skidded 37 percent to 15,267, or just 20 percent of the brand's light-vehicle volume…

Tesla Cybertruck reservation holders are watching from the sidelines as shiny new Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Hummer pickups are delivered to early adopters in the new and potentially lucrative EV truck segment.

Social media is full of early Lightning buyers towing boats, testing the charging rate and cautiously setting out on longer journeys during summer driving season. Rivian has been ramping pickup output since last year, and GMC is trickling out six-figure versions of the Hummer pickup.

Meanwhile, a new forecast suggests that the wildly styled Cybertruck may not make it into the hands of reservation holders until late 2023 at the earliest, behind the Chevrolet Silverado EV.

AutoForecast Solutions puts the start of Cybertruck production in the fourth quarter of next year — after the Silverado in spring 2023 and the GMC Sierra EV in the fall. Tesla's full-size, stainless-steel-body pickup is, however, still expected to beat Stellantis in…