Trade News

North American and Chinese assembly plants accounted for the bulk of the industry’s latest production cuts caused by the ongoing shortage of microchips, according to a new estimate by AutoForecast Solutions.

Each represented about a third of the latest production schedule trims, according to AFS, which has been tracking the chip shortage’s impact since early last year.

Globally, 60,200 more vehicles were removed from automakers’ production schedules, even as beleaguered European plants largely received a reprieve.

Plants in the rest of Asia lost an additional 7,900 vehicles, while more cuts were reported in South America, the Middle East and Africa.

Nearly 1.5 million vehicles have been cut from schedules worldwide so far this year. That’s on top of 10.5 million units lost in 2021.

European manufacturers have accounted for much of the industry’s production setbacks in recent weeks, and about half of all vehicles lost worldwide this year. Read more

Do you know an up-and-coming young executive in the U.S. auto industry whose achievements deserve recognition?

Automotive News has launched its ninth annual search for Rising Stars at automakers, suppliers, mobility companies and service providers. The program honors dynamic executives in the U.S. who are poised to grow in prominence and step into senior leadership roles.

Anyone may submit nominations, which will be accepted through May 20. To qualify, candidates should have a minimum of 10 years of work experience, be based in the U.S. and be 45 or younger as of Aug. 22, 2022.

The Rising Stars will be announced in the Aug. 22 issue.

Learn more and submit a nomination at autonews.com/risingstars.

Advances in electric vehicles, EV batteries and recharging, automated driving and more have made it to the finalist phase of the 2022 Automotive News PACE Awards.

PACE judges will review the innovations of 31 finalists for the awards, to be presented at a ceremony on Sept. 19 at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.

In addition, 23 entries have been chosen as finalists for the 2022 Automotive News PACEpilot award.

The PACE Awards, now in their 28th year, are given to suppliers in recognition of a technological innovation in product or process that has reached the commercial market.

The PACEpilot award recognizes pre- commercial, post-pilot innovations in the automotive or future mobility space, including products, processes, software and IT systems.

The 2022 Automotive News PACE Award finalists and their innovations are:

■ American Axle & ManufacturingDetroitP3 two-speed electric drive technology

■ Ap…

After deciding in 2021 to drop both its largest sedan and top-end SUV from U.S. showrooms, Toyota will replace them starting this year with vehicles carrying a venerated Japanese nameplate — though one largely unfamiliar to American consumers.

Toyota Motor Corp. will launch an SUV version of the Crown sedan and sell it in North America beginning in 2023 as a replacement for the Land Cruiser, Reuters reported last week, citing sources at the company. The SUV would come initially as a hybrid, the sources said, and would be exported from Japan to North America and China. A battery-electric version would follow in 2024, while a plug-in hybrid version would be built for Japan's domestic market.

At least one variant of the redesigned Crown sedan — expected to be a performance hybrid — will go on sale this year in the U.S., where it will compete with the Audi A6 and similar sedans, replacing the Avalon, a source told Automotive News.

The Crown SUV would slot …

Automakers are driving toward eliminating emissions in their vehicle fleets, production plants and supplier networks.

Mercedes-Benz said last week that it will more than halve its carbon footprint per passenger vehicle by the next decade compared with 2020 levels.

The luxury marque will source 70 percent of its energy needs for production through renewable energy by 2030 by rolling out solar and wind power projects at its plants and through power purchase agreements.

In an online presentation, Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius described climate change as "our generation's most important task."

Mercedes' environmental focus will significantly affect the automaker's suppliers globally.

Sustainability will be an "awarding criteria," Källenius said. "If you want to do business with us in the future, you need to have a sustainable business strategy," he said.

Mercedes-Benz Chief Technology Officer Markus…

Electric vehicles make up only about one-tenth of the global market. But automakers and suppliers are preparing for the next generation of components, with solid-state batteries, axial flux motors — and now, 800-volt electrical systems that promise to cut charging time in half, sharply reduce battery size and cost and increase drivetrain efficiency.

So far, just a handful of new vehicles use 800-volt systems, as opposed to the standard 400-volt technology. Among the examples reaching the market: the Porsche Taycan, Audi E-tron GT, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. The Lucid Air luxury sedan uses a 900-volt architecture, but experts say it is technically an 800-volt system.

EV component suppliers say that by the end of the decade, 800-volt vehicle architectures will be the dominant technology, especially as more and more dedicated full-electric platforms such as Hyundai's E-GMP and Volkswagen Group's PPE appear.

"In 2025, the majority of applications coming …

In her 30 years in the auto industry, Julie Herrera has learned several tricks of the trade. One piece of advice she has for other dealers: When hiring, hire service technicians first.

"If you're getting an opportunity on a new point or a buy-sell, start immediately with securing technicians," said Herrera, dealer principal of Toyota of Cedar Park outside Austin, Texas.

That's because it takes longer to find and develop them, she said.

For Herrera, 54, training and retaining technicians has always been a point of focus — especially since opening Toyota of Cedar Park in May 2017, after the automaker approved her application for an open point.

"I know what each of their stalls, each of their bays, make per month for the store, and how they help us retain our customers by knowing their jobs," Herrera said.

One of the first things she did was visit area high schools, joined by her parts and service director and shop foreman. Two miles from the…

Honda Motor Co. is dropping the Insight gasoline-electric hybrid in the U.S. to focus on hybrid versions of three core models — the CR-V crossover and the Accord and Civic.

Honda said Thursday it will discontinue production of the Insight at its Greensburg, Ind., plant in June.

The Insight was the first gasoline-electric hybrid sold in the U.S., though it was quickly eclipsed by the Toyota Prius.

A redesigned CR-V and Accord, as well as hybrid versions of each, will be introduced this year, Honda said, adding it expects hybrids "will eventually make up 50 percent of the sales mix of each model."

Honda said the Indiana factory will focus on building the CR-V, CR-V hybrid and Civic hatchback.

Details about the Civic hybrid will be released later, Honda said.

"Hybrid-electric vehicles ... are a critical pathway toward Honda's vision for 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales in North America by 2040," Mamadou Diallo, vice president of …

Twitter Inc. adopted a measure that would shield it from hostile acquisition bids, taking steps to thwart billionaire Elon Musk’s unwelcome $43 billion offer to take the company private and make it a bastion of free speech.

The board set up a shareholder rights plan, exercisable if a party acquires 15 percent of the stock without prior approval, lasting for one year only. The plan seeks to ensure that anyone taking control of Twitter through open market accumulation pays all shareholders an appropriate control premium, according to a statement Friday.

The Tesla Inc. CEO on Thursday offered $54.20 a share in cash for Twitter, valuing the social media company at $43 billion. Musk, who said it was his “best and final” offer, had already accrued a stake of more than 9 percent in Twitter since earlier this year. Twitter’s board met Thursday to review Musk’s proposal to determine if it was in the best interest of the company and all of its shareholders.

A poi…

NEW YORK — General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have laid down the gauntlet in the electric pickup space on range and performance.

Stellantis' Ram brand, still two years away from releasing its own battery-powered pickup, can't beat them on timing, so it's working on setting a new benchmark instead.

Ram will be watching closely as Ford starts selling the F-150 Lightning this month, and its designers and engineers are using the lag to learn what consumers really want from an electric pickup.

The brand, using insights gleaned from its Ram Revolution insider program and a series of town hall conversations called the Ram Real Talk Tour, hopes to swoop in with a superior offering after its rivals cultivate a market that barely exists today. It plans to show an electric pickup concept for the first time this year.

Ram CEO Mike Koval said the brand will pair what it learns from pickup owners with the knowledge it already has about the capabilities of comp…