Trade News

Much is made of the vehicle parts that will be lost in the transition to electric vehicles. But even many components that remain could be in for big changes.

Take wheels, for example. Unless the flying cars of science fiction ever become reality, cars and trucks will continue to move on wheels, regardless of power source. But as automakers seek to cut weight and increase EV range, suppliers of wheels and tires are under pressure to find ways to make those parts lighter.

Relative newcomers are looking to shake things up. Carbon Revolution, a 15-year-old Australian wheel-maker, is one of them.

The company produces wheels made of carbon fiber. Thus far, they have been seen mostly on high-end performance vehicles such as the Ford GT, Ferrari F8 Spider and Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

CEO Jake Dingle said the company has brought manufacturing costs down to the point where building carbon-fiber wheels on a mass scale is now possible. Carbon Revolution sees…

A BMW driver noticed a low-coolant warning light and called the automaker's customer service line. After a few moments, a video chat window opened on the customer's smartphone and they were able to speak on camera with someone at a BMW call center. That representative guided the customer down the aisle of an auto parts store to pick out the correct coolant for their vehicle.

Another customer called the service line saying they couldn't connect the charger cord to the port on their hybrid vehicle.

By using the video chat function and showing the representative the vehicle's charging port, a small pebble was spotted blocking the charger from locking in. The customer removed it and was able to charge the vehicle.

BMW has partnered with software company Blitzz to bring this new capability to its customers. Think of Blitzz as a specialized FaceTime on steroids.

It's a live remote video support and inspection system for the customer or a dealership te…

Mitsubishi Motors North America is taking a page from Silicon Valley in the war for talent.

The Japanese automaker said it will allow most of its 300 U.S. employees who are not site-dependent to work from home indefinitely, with no required minimum number of days in the office.

Automakers have become more flexible with their remote work policies in pandemic times but many still require employees to come into the office a few days a week. But Mitsubishi is going all-in on a work-from-home policy that reflects a shift in the traditional work environment for a post-COVID world.

"This is a critical moment to embrace change, motivate and retain our talented employee base," Mitsubishi Motors North America CEO Mark Chaffin told Automotive News last week. "Companies tend to get hyper-focused on customer satisfaction but then lose sight of what it takes to ensure employee satisfaction. We committed to ourselves that we wouldn't do that."<…

BERLIN — German automakers and suppliers said they are preparing for the possibility that Russia will cut off their gas supplies as a result of the Ukraine conflict.

Gazprom, the large Russian state energy company, fired a warning shot last week toward countries that are supporting Ukraine by halting gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria. Those two countries have refused Russia's demand that they pay for natural gas in rubles rather than dollars, a position supported by most European countries.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, is especially dependent on Russian natural gas. Russia accounted for 55 percent of Germany's gas imports in 2021 and 40 percent in the first quarter of 2022, according to Reuters.

The German government has activated an emergency energy plan, calling for industry and households to save energy and reduce usage. Rationing could be imposed in the future, and if so, industry will be first in line for power cuts, t…

Leaders at Colorado's Phil Long Dealerships have seen consumer interest in electric vehicles grow and know the forecast from automakers is for many more EVs well into the future.

So they opted to convert a vacant site in Colorado Springs, Colo., near several of the group's franchised dealerships, into a used-vehicle-only dealership focused exclusively on EVs and hybrids. And the venture has proved profitable.

"All that new product pipeline coming down the road really brought home to us that we're living in a time right now where it's the least amount of electric vehicles on the road right now for the rest of our lifetimes," Kevin Shaughnessy, Phil Long's vice president of dealer operations and partner, told Automotive News. "It's going to continue. It's only going to get bigger and bigger and bigger."

The Phil Long EV Outlet opened in May 2021 and has expanded monthly sales, which now range between 18 and 22 vehicles a month, up from 12 to 15 in the sto…

American Honda Motor Co. is reassessing how much brick-and-mortar space its dealers will really need in the future to sell vehicles in an era of smaller inventories and digital retail.

Automakers have been known to pressure their retailers to invest in bigger, flashier dealerships. But American Honda is wondering if its dealers might need some facility relief, triggered by the challenges riddling the automotive industry.

Honda is "re-looking at our facility requirements," Dave Gardner, American Honda's executive vice president for national operations and sales, told Automotive News.

He did not provide details of what the automaker is considering. But he asked: "To have the size of showrooms that can hold every make and model — is that really necessary going forward?"

Gardner acknowledged that auto retailing is changing in the aftermath of production shutdowns caused by COVID-19 and global supplier bottlenecks, coupled…

BERLIN — German automakers and suppliers said they are preparing for the possibility that Russia will cut off their gas supplies as a result of the Ukraine conflict.

Gazprom, the large Russian state energy company, fired a warning shot last week toward countries that are supporting Ukraine by halting gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria. Those two countries have refused Russia's demand that they pay for natural gas in rubles rather than dollars, a position supported by most European countries.

Germany, Europe's largest economy, is especially dependent on Russian natural gas. Russia accounted for 55 percent of Germany's gas imports in 2021 and 40 percent in the first quarter of 2022, according to Reuters.

The German government has activated an emergency energy plan, calling for industry and households to save energy and reduce usage. Rationing could be imposed in the future, and if so, industry will be first in line for power cuts, t…

Leaders at Colorado's Phil Long Dealerships have seen consumer interest in electric vehicles grow and know the forecast from automakers is for many more EVs well into the future.

So they opted to convert a vacant site in Colorado Springs, Colo., near several of the group's franchised dealerships, into a used-vehicle-only dealership focused exclusively on EVs and hybrids. And the venture has proved profitable.

"All that new product pipeline coming down the road really brought home to us that we're living in a time right now where it's the least amount of electric vehicles on the road right now for the rest of our lifetimes," Kevin Shaughnessy, Phil Long's vice president of dealer operations and partner, told Automotive News. "It's going to continue. It's only going to get bigger and bigger and bigger."

The Phil Long EV Outlet opened in May 2021 and has expanded monthly sales, which now range between 18 and 22 vehicles a month, up from 12 to 15 in the sto…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. believes its newest product, the F-150 Lightning, can be transformational.

But the automaker still has plenty of work ahead to realize the battery-powered pickup's potential and become the industry-leading electric-vehicle purveyor that CEO Jim Farley envisions.

Ford's first-quarter earnings were down year-over-year — even setting aside a $5.4 billion loss on its investment in Rivian — as the automaker struggled with lingering supply chain issues tied to the global semiconductor shortage. The company also cut nearly 600 salaried and agency jobs, a hint of more changes to come as it works to add new talent amid a sweeping reorganization.

Executives believe, however, that the production challenges that have stunted Ford's growth since 2020 could soon ease, and that its revamped product portfolio is exactly what the market wants.

"We haven't really had any open-field running, so to speak, in probably two years," Executive C…

DETROIT — General Motors awarded CEO Mary Barra $29.1 million in total compensation last year, up 23 percent from 2020.

Last year was Barra's eighth year leading GM. Her compensation, disclosed Friday in the automaker's annual proxy statement, includes a base salary of $2.1 million, up 5.3 percent; $14.6 million in stock awards, up 11 percent; $3.9 million in option awards, up 5 percent; and $7.6 million in nonequity incentive plan compensation, more than double the amount she received in 2020.

GM has begun to consider North America electric vehicle volume, rollout timing and quality as it sets long-term compensation for executives, Barra said this week. For 2022, the EV metrics make up 15 percent of GM executives' performance measures. Adjusted pretax profit margin and relative total shareholder return account for 30 percent each, and stock options determine 25 percent.

Barra's compensation was worth about $6 million more than the package given to Ford…

Editor's note: A previous version of this story misstated GM's first-quarter net income figure.

DETROIT — General Motors is relying on pricing power and pent-up demand for some of its most profitable vehicles to carry it through the year, even as its consumers face inflationary pressures.

So far, the strategy has worked. The automaker's first-quarter net income of $2.9 billion was only 2.7 percent lower than a year earlier, despite $2.5 billion in higher costs, as global revenue rose 11 percent.

GM is confident in demand for its products — especially its new and upcoming electric vehicles and its freshened full-size pickups — and believes it can maintain high pricing across its lineup. GM expects sales to grow through the year as it aims to increase global production by 25 to 30 percent over 2021.

Days after officially confirming plans for at least two electrified Chevrolet Corvettes, executives emphasized their focus on electric and autonomous …

Can a bunch of college students solve some of the most vexing automotive engineering challenges facing the industry?

Over the next four years, 15 universities across North America will be competing to engineer the most efficient battery-electric vehicles possible while combining connected and autonomous tech — and keeping them fun to drive for consumers.

The EcoCar EV Challenge is managed by Argonne National Laboratory and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and MathWorks.

Each university will be given a 2023 Cadillac Lyriq and challenged to optimize the vehicle's efficiency and enhance its propulsion system while maintaining performance. The teams must address any issues that arise with the car's hardware and software.

Beyond working on the cars themselves, students serve in a variety of roles, from communications to business, to emulate the real-world experience of working in the EV industry.

"This competition train…