Trade News

CDK Global Inc.'s net income plunged in its fiscal third quarter, though its earnings results compare against a year-ago quarter that was lifted by the sale of its international business to a private equity firm.

CDK on Thursday reported increased net earnings from continuing operations in its fiscal third quarter, which ended March 31. CDK said continuing operations exclude the international business and the company's former digital marketing business, which it also sold.

The suburban Chicago dealership management system giant on Thursday reported net earnings attributable to CDK of $66.1 million, down 92 percent from the same quarter a year ago. But net earnings attributable to CDK of $860.9 million in the year-earlier quarter included net earnings of $815.8 million from discontinued operations, which CDK defined as the international business it sold.

Net earnings from continuing operations rose 49 percent to $70.1 million. Revenue in the quarter rose…

PARIS -- A few automakers are exploring whether to shear off electric vehicles as a separate business unit, or even a listed company. 

Their reasons include a need for more agility, a desire to attract capital from Tesla-besotted investors, and a fresh start unburdened by potentially worthless “legacy” assets such as engine factories.

They include Ford, with its Blue (internal combustion) and Model e (EV) units; Geely, with its coming Polestar SPAC reverse-merger listing; and Renault (weighing a separate listing for EV assets).

But others are planning to stay the course, at least for now. 

Stellantis, itself in existence for little more than a year, does not anticipate any fundamental changes to its business structure, Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer said Thursday.

Palmer was responding to a question from analyst George Galliers of Goldman Sachs, who noted that splitting off EV activities is a “hot topic” among Stellantis’…

Three Ford dealerships and a Nissan dealership traded hands in single-store, first- and second-quarter transactions.

Here's a look at the deals involving dealerships in Michigan, Illinois, South Carolina and Alabama. Two of the transactions involved groups ranked on Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups list.

Growing megadealer Serra Automotive Inc. of Fenton, Mich., has purchased another domestic-brand dealership in the Detroit area.Serra on Monday bought Tom Holzer Ford in Farmington Hills, Mich., from Connie Holzer.

The dealership was renamed Serra Ford Farmington Hills. In a note to employees about the acquisition, Serra Automotive Chairman Joe Serra said Tom Holzer died in 2006 and his wife took over the business and helped grow it into one of the nation's highest-volume Ford stores. The automaker confirmed that Tom Holzer Ford ranked No. 20 in new-vehicle Ford sales nationally in 2021.

Serra also said Ben Heer was named general manag…

DETROIT — General Motors' upcoming used- vehicle sales platform aims to give the automaker the inventory scale to compete against disrupters and long-standing players in the used-vehicle space while also creating an avenue for boosting its software and subscription revenue long term.

More than 800 dealerships have signed up for CarBravo since GM announced the platform in January, and Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, hopes that count grows to at least 1,200 before the automaker begins opening regional distribution centers this summer.

The automaker plans to fill the regional centers with eligible GM-brand and non-GM used vehicles to expand inventory available to participating dealers.

"That's very good coverage if you compare us to Carvana, CarMax or the like," Carlisle told Automotive News.

Cox Automotive estimates that half of all used retail sales — or about 10.6 million vehicles — were sold by franch…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Bosch is latest to join hydrogen investment wave

Hydrogen continues to gain momentum as a viable alternative to fossil fuels amid worldwide efforts to curb emissions from transportation.

The latest in a string of developments large and small came Wednesday, when global supplier Bosch said it will invest as much as $591 million in technology for hydrogen generation by the end of the decade.

The company wants to branch into development of components for hydrogen electrolyzers, which use electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Demand across the European Union is forecast to rise to approximately 11 million tons a year, according to Bosch.

Stefan Hartung, chairman of Bosch's board of management, said the company intends to support the "rapid expansion of hydrogen production" across Europe. This jibes with a European Union plan to wean Europe off Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

It was only tw…

Lucid Group Inc. delivered just 360 Air sedans in the first quarter and said it will increase vehicle pricing next month.

The California EV startup continues to struggle with supply-chain shortages and rising costs despite a healthy order backlog of 30,000 vehicles, Lucid said during its first-quarter earnings call Thursday. Prices would not rise for current reservation holders.

CEO Peter Rawlinson said that despite the modest delivery numbers, Lucid showed improvement in deliveries to start the second quarter.

"In April alone, we delivered well over 300 vehicles, demonstrating our accelerated production ramp," Rawlinson said. Total production in the first-quarter was 700 vehicles, Lucid said.

Moreover, Rawlinson reiterated production guidance for this year of 12,000 to 14,000 Air sedans based on its current information about parts supplies.

Earlier this year, Lucid slashed its previous production guidance of 20,000 units for 2022, citing …

Startup electric automaker Lucid Group Inc. on Thursday raised prices for most models from June after it posted a $598 million operating loss for the first quarter.

The automaker said it is grappling with rising raw materials costs, but said it would honor current reservations in a move to avoid the blowback a rival faced.

From June 1, new reservations in the U.S.  will be priced at $154,000 for Air Grand Touring, $107,400 for Air Touring and $87,400 for Air Pure models, the company said.

"Similar to many companies in our industry, we continue to face global supply chain and logistics challenges, including Covid-related factory shutdowns in China," CFO Sherry House said.

Amazon-backed Rivian Automotive Inc. had to earlier this year roll back price hikes on electric vehicles booked before March 1 after facing backlash from customers following a 20 percent increase in prices.

Despite the challenges, Lucid reiterated its annual producti…

Automotive seating supplier Adient said earnings swung to a loss and revenue fell 11 percent for its fiscal second quarter as a variety of industry headwinds hurt results.

The company posted an $81 million net loss, compared with a $69 million gain during the same period last year.

Adient said adjusted earnings declined 48 percent to $159 million from the year-earlier period. Consolidated sales fell more than 8 percent from a year earlier to $3.5 billion.

In a Thursday presentation to investors, Adient attributed the decline to "numerous external factors including supply chain disruptions (and resulting operating inefficiencies) and increased freight costs."

CEO Doug Del Grosso said Adient was implementing strategies to help remedy the losses.

"All together, these headwinds are forecasted to place approximately $475 million of downward pressure on Adient's results in fiscal 2022," Del Grosso said. "Through self-help initiatives and improvem…

Michigan remains in contention for a new Stellantis electric vehicle battery plant as the automaker completes the final analysis before an anticipated announcement of a site.

Stellantis COO Mark Stewart said Thursday that the state "absolutely" could be home to a new plant and that it has a "great working relationship" with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and utility DTE Energy Co., which can leverage incentives and electricity rates — two key considerations for automakers searching for EV plant sites.

"We're still in discussions with Michigan as well as other states," Stewart told reporters after a media event in Detroit celebrating the opening of a plant by Stellantis supplier Dakkota Integrated Systems. "Still going through all of the site selection.

"We are in the final stages of going through the analysis, and so I would hope within the next month, two months maximum, we should be able to be at a position to (announce)," Stewart added.

<…

Aptiv posted lower first-quarter profit on Thursday, as surging raw material prices and a shortage of electrical components hindered the auto part supplier's deliveries in the quarter.

Net income during the first quarter fell 74 percent to $73 million while revenue rose 4 percent to $4.2 billion, Aptiv said in a statement Thursday.

Aptiv, whose primary customers include Stellantis, Volkswagen and General Motors, supplies several key electrical components and software for modern vehicles that are used for everything from infotainment systems to integrated driver safety systems.

However, rising prices of raw materials and a global semiconductor shortage forced several automakers to slash their production cycles and in some cases even produce cars without certain features, thereby impacting Aptiv's orders.

The company in its last quarter also warned that inflationary pressures would continue to have an impact on its operations.

Shares in Apt…

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk has secured $7.14 billion in funding from a group of investors such as Oracle Corp.co-founder Larry Ellison to fund his $44 billion takeover of social-media platform Twitter Inc., according to a filing on Thursday.

Musk revealed in a filing he also received equity commitment letters from investors including Sequoia Capital, Brookfield, Qatar Holding and others.

The move comes as Musk's margin loan was reduced to $6.25 billion from $12.5 billion announced earlier, the filing revealed.

Musk will continue to hold talks with existing holders of Twitter, including the company's former chief Jack Dorsey, to contribute shares to the proposed acquisition, the filing showed.

Reuters last week reported Musk was in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his Twitter acquisition and tying up less of his wealth in the deal.