Trade News

Toyota Motor Corp., whose production system is widely emulated around the auto industry, will soon begin installing technology in its plants that holds the promise of the holy grail of efficiency: automated kaizen.

Or at least almost automated.

The automaker has partnered with an Austin, Texas, startup to install thousands of units across its network of North American factories that will inconspicuously track workers' joint and eye motions as they move through their daily assembly processes.

The tablet-sized units made up of a camera, processor and data storage in a single box will analyze those movements — without the need for supervisors watching or team members wearing tracking sensors — and then use artificial intelligence to suss out improvements in efficiency and safety. They will also notify the worker in real time when they've completed the task correctly.

The system, developed by Invisible AI — a startup with 17 full-time employees — wil…

Porsche AG, planning for rapid electric-vehicle sales growth in this decade, said it has taken the lead on a $400 million funding round for Group14 Technologies, a provider of silicon-carbon materials for EV batteries.

Porsche led the Series C round and was joined by other financial and strategic investors including Canada's OMERS Capital Markets and BlackRock-backed Decarbonization Partners, according to a Wednesday statement.

Group14 said it has plans to open a second commercial-scale factory in the U.S. to keep up with demand from customers such as Cellforce Group, a Porsche-backed joint venture.

Group14 provides advanced materials for lithium-silicon batteries, which the startup claims can provide 50 percent higher performance and longer range than typical lithium-ion batteries.

"The battery cells are the combustion chamber of the future," Porsche Deputy Chairman Lutz Meschke said in a statement. "We are investing in the development of new hig…

Aston Martin has hired former Ferrari boss Amedeo Felisa as CEO and ex-Ferrari engineer Roberto Fedeli as chief technical officer.

Felisa replaces Tobias Moers as CEO. Moers will leave the automaker's board with immediate effect but will support the new leadership team until the end of July, Aston Martin said in a statement on Wednesday.

Felisa, 76, was Ferrari CEO from 2008 to 2016. He ran product development at Fiat Chrysler's Alfa Romeo division before joining Ferrari. Felisa is currently a non-executive director of Aston Martin. 

Aston Martin said Fedeli will start as CTO on July 1. The Italian national was Ferrari's technical director from 2006 to 2014. Fedeli is considered the creator of the La Ferrari, the Italian company's first hybrid supercar, as well as some of its most iconic models, Aston Martin said.

Fedeli also worked for BMW, where he launched the i8 plug-in hybrid roadster into production. He returned to Italy in 2016 as CT…

Publicly traded retailers Penske Automotive Group Inc. and Lithia Motors Inc. each announced single-store acquisition deals on Tuesday.

Penske said it has acquired a Hyundai-Genesis dealership in Noblesville, Ind., near Indianapolis, its first of those brands in that region, from dealer Terry Lee. Financial terms of the deal, which closed Monday, were not disclosed.

The dealership, which was built in 2015 and houses a Hyundai showroom on one side and a Genesis showroom on the other, had been called Terry Lee Hyundai-Genesis of Noblesville. Penske did not disclose a name change.

"It is bittersweet to leave an industry I have worked in my entire life, but I know Penske Automotive will continue to serve the community and customers with the same high standards I and my team strove for," Lee said in a statement.

The acquisition brings Penske to a total of four Hyundai outlets and two Genesis outlets, Anthony Pordon, Penske Automotive's executive vice p…

U.S. sales at Hyundai and Kia dropped by double digits a second-straight month in April compared with a year earlier, when industry volume soared, as key parts shortages and jammed supply lines continue to undermine light-vehicle output and shipments.

Deliveries fell 20 percent at Hyundai and 16 percent at Kia last month, mostly on weaker car sales.

With an expanded crossover linuep, its first pickup and the new Ioniq 5 electric vehicle, Hyundai has focused on retail sales, which tallied 61,668 last month. The company reported zero fleet deliveries in April for the fourth  month.

At Genesis, April volume rose 53 percent to 5,039, a monthly record, and the brand's 17th straight increase. The brand's two crossovers, the GV70 and GV80, each outsold combined deliveries of the brand's three sedans.

U.S. new-vehicle sales are expected to fall around 20 percent in April, analysts predict, as automakers struggle to rebuild depleted dealer inventorie…

FRANKFURT/MILAN -- Stellantis has agreed to buy the Share Now car-sharing business from BMW and Mercedes-Benz as the two German automakers focus on the software part of their mobility alliance.

Stellantis wants to position itself as a global leader in car-sharing, using this step announced on Tuesday to expand its existing business in the area.

Share Now, the European market leader, allows customers to use smartphones for short-term rentals of cars including BMW, Mini, Mercedes, Smart and Fiat vehicles in cities.

Brigitte Courtehoux, who heads Stellantis' mobility division Free2move, said the deal was part of the group's plans to grow net revenue from that business to 700 million euros ($735 million) in 2025 and to 2.8 billion euros in 2030, up from 40 million euros last year.

"We will really accelerate in terms of revenue," she said.

Stellantis w…

José Muñoz, Hyundai Motor Co.'s global COO, is being tasked with expanded oversight for the Korean automaker.

Among the additional duties: product and sales management in Africa, Europe, India and the Middle East, the automaker said Monday

Muñoz will retain his role as CEO of Hyundai Motor North America and Hyundai Motor America responsible for operations strategies, growth and performance in North, Central and South America.

But he now will additionally oversee Hyundai's global talent recruitment and retention in its new technology-based businesses, and will work more closely with Hyundai's venture capital firm in Silicon Valley to identify tech-focused talent in design and programming.

Muñoz, 56, who joined Hyundai in 2019, additionally will join the company's board of management, pending the approval of Hyundai's general shareholder meeting in March 2023.

"Jose is a definitely proven leader and we expect his expanded role will greatly e…

Elon Musk is in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter Inc TWTR.N and tying up less of his wealth in the deal, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The banks that agreed last month to provide $13 billion in loans secured against Twitter balked at providing more debt for Musk's acquisition given the San Francisco-based company's limited cash flow, Reuters reported last month. Musk committed to providing $21 billion in cash for the deal.

The CEO of Tesla Inc. could use the new financing to reduce his contribution to the equity check for the deal, the sources said.

Musk has also pledged some of his Tesla shares to banks to arrange a $12.5 billion margin loan to help fund the deal. He may seek to trim the size of the margin loan based on the new investor interest in the deal financing, one of the sources said.

Major investors such as private e…

The Biden administration said it will spend more than $3.1 billion to support the domestic manufacturing of advanced batteries used in EVs and energy storage.

About $3.16 billion in grants will be made available to produce key metals for the batteries, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, Dave Howell, principal deputy director in the Energy Department’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, told reporters in a briefing on Monday.

The grants are intended to reduce U.S. reliance on competitors led by China, the leading producer of lithium-ion battery cells, and further President Joe Biden’s plan to see electric vehicles comprise half of all new U.S. car sales by 2030.

“This announcement will help boost domestic battery manufacturing, make our country more secure and spread the creation of good-paying jobs,” said Mitch Landrieu, the White House’s senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator.

The program will also help fight climate change…