Trade News

Former Reynolds & Reynolds CEO Bob Brockman must stand trial for the largest tax evasion case against an individual in U.S. history despite asserting dementia leaves him incompetent, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. discounted claims that dementia leaves Brockman, 80, unable to help his lawyers defend against a 39-count indictment accusing him of evading taxes on $2 billion of income and other crimes.

Brockman’s lawyers argued that his progressive dementia, caused by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, has worsened recently. They’ve said they’ll file a new incompetency claim.

Brockman was indicted on tax evasion and money laundering charges that accused him of using a complex trust structure in the Caribbean to hide $2 billion in income over two decades.

“The court finds that despite Brockman’s recent health problems, the government has met its burden of establishing that Brockman is competent to stand trial,” Hanks rul…

Growing Cavender Auto Family has expanded out of Texas with the purchase of two Oklahoma dealerships.

Cavender Auto of San Antonio on Monday bought Reynolds Ford of Norman and Reynolds Ford of Oklahoma City from Dale Daniels. The stores date to 1952 and had been owned by Daniels for the last 48 years, Cavender Auto said.

The group renamed the dealerships Confidence Ford of Norman and Cavender Ford of Oklahoma City.

"Our plan is to take what (the two dealerships) are already doing well and then add a few additional elements for which the Cavender Auto Family is known," Cavender Auto Family CEO Stephen Cavender said in a statement.

Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma, is south of Oklahoma City, the state's capital.

Chris Teape of buy-sell firm National Business Brokers in Irvine, Calif., represented Daniels in the transaction, Stephen Cavender confirmed.

Cavender Auto Family now has three Ford stores, part of its 14 dealership…

Stellantis and Samsung SDI plan to announce on Tuesday they will build a new battery plant in Indiana as the Chrysler-parent ramps up EV production plans, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The companies in October announced they were signing a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture for lithium ion battery production in North America and said the plant was targeted to start in 2025 and aimed to have an initial annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours, with the ability to increase to up to 40 gigawatt hours in the future.

The Associated Press and The Detroit News also reported the plans.

The companies did not immediately comment on the reports, but Stellantis said it would provide an update on the future of its Kokomo operations on Tuesday that would include its North American COO Mark Stewart and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb.

The announcement could prove a disappointment to Michigan economic development officials. Earlie…

Jimmy Powell knows he has big shoes to fill. At the end of the year, he'll drop the "assistant" part of his title and replace his mentor, Bob Cawley, as Horne Auto Group's corporate fixed operations director.

If everything goes as expected, this seamless transition will greatly benefit Horne, an Arizona-based group with 10 dealerships covering 13 brands. It also will be big win for succession planning.

The move has been in the making for a long time. The pair met in 2008 and immediately hit it off while working for another dealership. Powell was a young service adviser who recognized Cawley's expertise; the experienced veteran saw Powell's raw potential.

After going their separate ways, they stayed in contact at new jobs and began to develop a friendship.

"He would always take my calls and help me, even though we weren't working together," Powell remembers.

It wasn't a surprise then when Cawley recruited Powell in 2011 to join him at Horn…

Sustained, long-term success takes careful planning, strong leadership and a committed, well-trained team with key members ready to take on more responsibilities as needed.

The problem?

"Very few dealerships have a formal strategy in place," says Kendall Rawls, director of development with the Rawls Group, an Orlando-based consulting firm that works in the automotive sector among other industries.

Too often, she says, owners and managers think they're too busy growing their business to plan for the future and put the right people in place to make it happen.

True succession planning, Rawls says, should encompass the entire dealership, defining its culture, long-term growth goals and personnel strategy. This will help create value and provide options for the leadership team to achieve desired results, she adds.

Rick Wegley, now a fixed ops instructor with NCM Associates, came to a similar conclusion early in…

Toyota Motor Corp. is suspending more production due to parts shortages caused by the COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai, a sign that supply-chain bottlenecks could persist even as the city starts to gradually reopen.

Toyota’s global production plan for June stands at about 850,000 vehicles, 250,000 of which will be made in Japan and the rest overseas. This represents a cut of about 100,000 vehicles for June worldwide.

The company aims to produce an average of 850,000 units a month through August and is keeping its fiscal year output target of 9.7 million vehicles.

“We will continue to make every effort possible to deliver as many vehicles to our customers at the earliest date,” Toyota said.

The automaker issued a statement Tuesday listing production lines that will be suspended in Japan, including at five plants early next month on top of stoppages already announced for May.

“The shortage of semiconductors, spread of COVID-19 and other factor…

When everyone, it seems, is going electric in some form, Nissan has decided to zag with one of the most revered sports cars.

The redesigned, seventh-generation Nissan Z still features a classic long, sloped hood, wide rear flanks and a squared-off Kamm tail that recall early, 1970s versions of the storied nameplate, known then as the Datsun 240Z.

But the rear-drive Z now packs a record 400 hp with a 3.0-liter turbocharged twin-turbo V-6 engine, an increase of 50 hp over the previous 370Z's output. The power plant can be bolted to a six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.

The latest Z is 4.9 inches longer than the outgoing model, with the extra sheet metal packed in the nose. The twin-turbo engine mandates heat exchangers, with an air-to-liquid intercooler and transmission and oil coolers packaged alongside the radiator and AC condenser.

Nissan is keeping it simple by making active safety features standard on th…

BMW North America named Raymond Wittmann to be its next CFO and Marcus Casey to become head of marketing communications, replacing a pair of executives who are taking posts with BMW in Europe.

Both appointments, announced Friday, will take effect Sept. 1.

Wittmann, 50, replaces Stefan Kramer, who was executive vice president and CFO since September. Kramer will now be head of finance and global financial services at the BMW Group headquarters in Munich.

Wittmann is an aerospace engineer by trade and previously was a vice president at BMW plants in Munich and San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

Casey, 44, who was named vice president of marketing, will "oversee all marketing communication for the BMW brand within the U.S. market," the automaker said. He previously was vice president of digital e-commerce and vice president of business management at BMW's Munich plant.

Casey replaces Uwe Dreher, who was vice president of marketing since 2019. Dreher wil…

Auto supplier Piston Group said it will manufacture batteries for electric vehicles for energy storage technology startup Our Next Energy Inc., or ONE.

Piston Group said it plans to produce ONE's Aries battery packs, which utilize lithium iron phosphate chemistry to "increase range and reduce cost while eliminating nickel and cobalt supply chain and safety concerns."

Piston Automotive, a subsidiary of Piston Group, will build the batteries at a factory in Van Buren Township, Mich., about 25 miles west of downtown Detroit. Production is expected to begin late this year.

"Our commitment to growth and product expansion over the past decade with other EV industry leading partners has been a key foundation to our success," Piston Automotive President Bob Holloway said in a statement. "Piston Automotive's expertise in battery assembly process design, testing and service, combined with ONE's innovative battery pack design, is an exciting opportunity and a grea…

Audi of America has hired Ogilvy as its creative agency of record, ending an eight-month review. 

Venables, Bell & Partners had held the account since 2007. The review began 10 months after Audi of America hired Tara Rush as its chief marketing officer. Rush was promoted from her previous role as chief communications officer.

Rush in a statement to Ad Age said: “With the launch of our global brand campaign, ‘Future is an Attitude,’ we are transforming and reshaping the perception of Audi in the U.S. We are thrilled to welcome Ogilvy as our new creative and strategic agency of record. Together, we will bring to life an innovative, purposeful and electric future—a story we look forward to sharing with our Audi fans and customers.”

The global campaign, which was announced in late 2020, plays into the brand’s aggressive electric vehicle goals. It also marks a shift to more centralization in Audi’s marketing, or as the automaker said in a 2020 state…

Executive Editor Jamie Butters gives you the top headlines and Publisher KC Crain talks about upcoming EVs coming from General Motors' brands, what's required to promote market adoption and meeting customer demands with GM President Mark Reuss.

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When Jeff Wells placed a reservation for a Rivian R1T pickup in early 2019, he was one of the first in line for a truck from the Amazon-backed EV startup that at the time promised to tap in to a niche not served by other automakers.

But Wells, an accountant from Southern California, has become increasingly frustrated as he sees others, who placed their order years after him, receive trucks while he keeps waiting.

"It's just annoying and it feels like there's no order to how they're doing things," he said of Rivian.

Wells is one of dozens of reservation holders who in recent weeks have complained about unreliable delivery timelines and delays in online groups and forums.

The complaints mounted after Rivian Automotive Inc. in late April said it was changing the production sequence of vehicles, prioritizing those with specific interior and exterior color and wheel options.

"Building in few build combinations reduces complexity with our suppli…