Trade News

Twitter Inc.’s board said it plans to enforce its $44 billion agreement to be bought by Elon Musk, saying the transaction is in the best interest of all shareholders.

“We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement,” the board said Tuesday in a statement to Bloomberg News. Directors voted earlier to unanimously recommended that shareholders approve Musk’s $54.20-a-share offer.

The proposed takeover includes a $1 billion breakup fee for each party, which the Tesla CEO will have to pay if the deal falls apart due to financing issues. But Musk can’t just walk away by paying the charge.

The merger agreement includes a specific performance provision that allows Twitter to force Musk to consummate the deal, according to the filing. That could mean that, should the deal end up in court, Twitter might secure an order obligating Musk to complete the merger rather than winning monetary compensation for any violations of it.

The board’…

An accident involving two vehicles at Manheim Auctions' location in West Palm Beach, Fla., last week left three people injured.

According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, a man driving a Tesla lost control of the vehicle in the Manheim parking lot and struck the passenger side of a 2010 Hyundai and a concrete wall, pinning one pedestrian between the two cars and another pedestrian between a car and a wall. The accident took place Thursday, May 12.

The sheriff's department said one of the pedestrians had critical injuries and was airlifted to Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach, Fla. The press release said the other pedestrian had minor injuries and was transported to HCA Florida JFK Hospital in Atlantis.

In a statement to Automotive News, Manheim spokeswoman Lois Rossi confirmed three people were sent to the hospital and wrote that Manheim was cooperating with law enforcement and had no further comment on the cause of the accident.

"Ou…

Hyundai Motor Co. and its Kia affiliate plan to invest $16.5 billion to boost electric vehicle production in South Korea, including building a new factory that would ultimately have the capacity to produce around 150,000 cars a year.

Under the plan, the two automakers aim to increase annual EV production in the nation to 1.44 million units by 2030, up from an expected 350,000 units this year, Hyundai said in a statement Wednesday. That forecast would account for about 45 percent of Hyundai and Kia's planned global EV production volume by then.

The new factory will be located within Kia's existing Hwaseong manufacturing site, Kia said in a separate statement. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2023, with commercial production starting in the second half of 2025.

Hyundai Motor Group, including Kia, Hyundai Motor and Genesis, aims to sell 3.23 million EVs a year globally by 2030, shooting for a 12 percent share of the global EV market.

Ten out of 18 midsize light vehicles earned "good" ratings in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's new side-impact evaluation.

IIHS updated the side test to "address higher-speed crashes that continue to cause fatalities." The new test also uses a 4,200-pound barrier striking the vehicle at 37 mph, instead of the previous 3,300-pound barrier that struck the vehicle at 31 mph. According to a news release, these changes mean the simulated crash "produces 82 percent more energy."

IIHS gave ratings of "good," "acceptable," "marginal" and "poor" to vehicles it classified as midsize.

To earn a "good" rating in both versions of the side test, the occupant compartment of the vehicle must hold its shape, the crash-test dummies must not show signs of severe injuries, and the side airbags and seat belts must "prevent the dummies' heads from making hard contact with the interior of the vehicle."

The 10 vehicles to receive a "good" rating were the For…

NEW DELHI -- Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares expects India to be a profitable market and a bigger growth opportunity than the automaker previously expected as it faces challenges in countries such as China and Russia.

India, where Stellantis sells its Jeep and Citroen brands, makes up a fraction of the automaker's global sales, but Tavares said he expects revenues in the South Asian nation to more than double by 2030 and operating profit margins to be in double-digits within the next couple of years.

Western automakers for years have struggled to make money in India, a market dominated by Asia's Suzuki and Hyundai with their small, low-cost cars.

"Being profitable in India is possible if you do things the India way," Tavares said on Tuesday.

He said this includes sourcing parts locally and vertically integrating the supply chain to keep costs low, and engineering cars locally with features Indian consumers want and are willing to pay for.

S…

BMW's best-selling sedan is taking another step toward an all-electric future with midcycle updates for the 2023 model that include new cockpit technology.

The 2023 powerplants are carried over from the 2022 model. They feature BMW's TwinPower Turbo technology and electrification in the form of plug-in hybrid and 48-volt mild-hybrid technologies.

The 2023 BMW 330i features a 2-liter TwinPower turbo four-cylinder engine, while the BMW M340i and M340i xDrive sport a 3-liter TwinPower Turbo inline-6 with mild-hybrid technology.

The 48-volt starter-generator serves as an electric drive unit delivering a power boost when accelerating off the line, or putting in a quick burst of speed for passing.

Exterior changes include redesigned front and rear aprons and large air intakes.

The sedan receives a wider, more muscular stance with horizontal lines, slimmer light units and flared rear wheel arches.

L…

Online used-vehicle retailer Carvana Co., once seen as a rising star in the COVID-19 era, is facing a reckoning in the wake of numerous setbacks in recent weeks. Those setbacks include wider financial losses in the first quarter, state regulatory challenges over titling and registration fumbles and sweeping job cuts.

To help readers follow the developments at Carvana, we're compiling our ongoing coverage of the company in one organized timeline.

We will continue to closely watch Carvana, its stock price and financial status and will plan to update this timeline with future news stories about the retailer. One event to watch for: Carvana's second-quarter earnings report coming in late July or August.

Feb. 24: Carvana announces a plan to buy the ADESA U.S. physical auction business from wholesale auction company KAR Global. The transaction price is about $2.2 billion.

April 20: Carvana says it sold fewer vehicles than it had planned at lower profits…

Executive Editor Jamie Butters gives you the top headlines and talks about the surge in dealership transactions in 2021, why it occurred and what takeaways Automotive News unearthed in its detailed review of buy-sell data with retail reporters Melissa Burden and Jack Walsworth.

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WASHINGTON — The National Automobile Dealers Association and 12 other trade groups are urging Congress to advance a bipartisan bill that would combat an alarming rise in catalytic converter thefts in the U.S.

In a letter sent Monday to Democratic and Republican leadership on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the groups asked the committee to hold a hearing on legislation known as the Preventing Auto Recycling Theft (PART) Act and to support the measure.

"These thefts are costing millions of dollars to businesses and vehicle owners alike," the groups wrote in a letter to Reps. Frank Pallone, the committee's chairman, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the GOP ranking member. "In addition, replacing a catalytic converter is costly and often difficult due to the part's skyrocketing demand and supply chain shortages."

Other groups that signed the letter include the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, American Car Rental…

A spokesperson for Rivian Automotive Inc. said Monday that supplier Commercial Vehicle Group Inc. has “continued to supply seats to Rivian” and that the two companies are “discussing a resolution" to a dispute that prompted litigation in a Michigan court.

Rivian alleged in a lawsuit filed in March that Commercial Vehicle Group, a New Albany, Ohio-based auto parts manufacturer, threatened to stop supplying seats unless the carmaker agreed to pay “approximately twice the agreed-upon price.”

Suppliers and automakers often disagree over parts pricing -- particularly when raw material prices are rising as they are currently -- but the disputes rarely go public in the courts.

Shares of Rivian fell 6.9 percent Monday to close at $24.86 and are down 76 percent so far this year. Commercial Vehicle dropped 2.4 percent to $6.45.

The suit involves supplies of vehicle components such as the driver seat, jump seat and trim used for battery-powered vans Rivian i…