Trade News

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Envision AESC of Japan is staking a claim on the expanding American electric vehicle market with a $2 billion investment in a massive new battery cell and module plant in Bowling Green, Ky.

The plant will supply Mercedes-Benz's newly launched EV production line in Vance, Ala., 300 miles away. But it will also pitch future business to other U.S. automakers, Envision AESC Group U.S. CEO Shoichi Matsumoto told Automotive News on Wednesday.

"We will produce batteries for numerous electric vehicle manufacturers," Matsumoto said. "We have growth plans for both the U.S. and other regions around the world."

The plant will open in 2025 and employ 2,000 workers at full capacity in 2027.

He declined to say what other automakers the new Kentucky plant will supply. Its initial capacity will be able to supply 300,000 vehicles a year by 2027.

The company, which is part-owned by Nissan Motor Co., proclaimed its intention to build a new U…

The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer SUVs became the biggest models in the Jeep family when they arrived last fall. But that status will be short lived.

Extended versions of the burly utility vehicles, the Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L, debut at the New York auto show Wednesday as the brand looks to contend directly with rivals such as the Cadillac Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon XL and Lincoln Navigator L.

The large SUVs are among the auto industry's most profitable vehicles, and in the case of the Suburban, have fostered a loyal customer base for decades.

The 2023 Wagoneer L and Grand Wagoneer L, measuring 12 inches longer than the standard-wheelbase models, go on sale in the second half of the year.

All of the technology from the current models is there, but drivers will be able to store even more in the back. The long-wheelbase models offer up to 44.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row, 15.8 cu…

BMW's top-of-the-line crossover gets a beefy freshening that includes more power, sportier design and upgraded tech.

The 2023 BMW X7 arrives at U.S. dealerships in the third quarter, starting at $78,845, including shipping. An Alpina version will launch in early 2023.

The X7 receives an updated front end — plus a new-look M Sport package, 23-inch light-alloy wheels and curved display screen.

The three-row utility vehicle with room for seven occupants competes with the Mercedes-Benz GLS, Audi Q7 and Land Rover Range Rover.

The X7 should add incremental sales for BMW as consumers continue to migrate from cars to crossovers and SUVs.

The large premium crossover segment has grown in each of the last three years, including a 3 percent increase in 2021, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center. In the first quarter, however, the segment was down 18 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Competitors in the high-end…

In a quiet San Francisco neighborhood earlier this month, three police officers stopped an autonomous vehicle driving with its headlights off and were captured on video trying to communicate with the car which had no human driver.

The car’s owner, General Motors-backed Cruise Automation, has been rolling out its robotaxi service in the city since February.  The company said in a tweet that it’s been cooperating with law enforcement:

“We work closely with the SFPD on how to interact with our vehicles, including a dedicated phone number for them to call in situations like this,” the company said. Cruise later tweeted that the car did as intended by pulling over to the nearest safe location where  officers could contact the company and the vehicle wasn’t issued a citation.

Cruise fixed the issue that led to the traffic stop, a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Cruise was founded in 2013 and has since raised $10 billion in funding from GM, Hond…

NEW YORK — Hyundai plans to build the hybrid version of its Santa Fe midsize crossover and the Genesis Electrified GV70 compact crossover at its plant in Montgomery, Ala., Hyundai Motor North America CEO Jose Muñoz said.

The manufacturing moves confirmed a report by a Korean car blog. Muñoz spoke Tuesday at the New York Auto Forum, a day before the start of New York auto show press days.

Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, said it will invest $7.4 billion in the U.S. by 2025 to produce a "suite" of electric vehicles, upgrade factories and develop smart mobility technologies.

Hyundai brand sales slipped 4.5 percent in the U.S. during the first quarter, a narrower slide than the overall market decline. Consumer demand for Hyundai's electrified models, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, full cells and EVs, has remained strong and represents about 16 percent of the brand's overall mix, according to Hyundai sales chief Randy Parke…

RDS Automotive Group expanded its portfolio of brands — on both ends of the spectrum — with acquisitions in late 2021 and early 2022.

The luxury-focused group not only purchased one of the market's rarest dealership offerings in Ferrari, it also bought a main-line volume dealership in Nissan.

RDS Automotive, of Newtown Square, Pa., acquired its first Ferrari dealership when it bought Algar Ferrari of Philadelphia in Bryn Mawr, Pa., from Aleks Vekselberg on Dec. 23. Bryn Mawr is northwest of Philadelphia.

Vekselberg had owned the dealership since 2012, according to its website. The store dates to 1964.

RDS Automotive renamed the dealership Ferrari Philadelphia.

As of Jan. 1, there were just 14 exclusive Ferrari dealerships in the country and 46 overall franchises, according to estimates in Automotive News' annual dealership census.

"We wanted that brand to round out our stable of manufacturers," RDS President Robert DiStanislao told A…

CarMax Inc. said it sold fewer used vehicles in its fiscal fourth quarter as a result of faltering consumer confidence and affordability issues, though revenues from those sales grew nearly 33 percent because of a surge in average retail selling prices.

The company said net earnings for the quarter that ended Feb. 28 slipped 24 percent to $159.8 million. Revenue during the quarter surged 49 percent to $7.7 billion.

The number of used vehicles sold by CarMax fell 5.2 percent to 194,318 in the fiscal fourth quarter. Same-store used-vehicle unit sales also fell 6.5 percent from the year-earlier period.

CarMax shares fell as results missed analyst estimates. As of 1:11 p.m. EDT, CarMax shares slipped 6.9 percent to $96.03.

Sustained high vehicle prices and economic uncertainty pushed some customers away. In fact, the average price of a used car rose nearly 40 percent — or by $8,300 — to about $29,312 in the quarter, the Richmond, Va.-based company sai…

One thing I heard while meeting with providers of digital phone assistants at the NADA Show in Las Vegas last month was how the tools can alleviate dealerships' challenges with hiring and staffing.

And that doesn't necessarily mean having fewer employees.

My story on the subject this week explores the role of technology in picking up calls after hours or during peak times: improving consumers' experience on the phone and helping dealerships avoid losing business from missed calls.

But the creators of the tools — some of which take human names, such as Stella and Brooke — say that having a machine answer phone calls also can have a positive effect on employee retention by taking over some job responsibilities, such as setting service appointments and answering questions about store hours.

"It really helps lessen the churn that you see in BDCs," or business development centers, said Tiffany Peeler, vice president of sales and operations for Proactiv…

European electric vehicle charger maker Wallbox on Monday began construction of its U.S. plant, in Arlington, Texas.

The 130,000-square-foot factory will begin production in early fall and manufacture more than 250,000 units in 2022, the company said.

"This production facility allows us to serve our customers well into the next decade in terms of what we expect to see for growth in the U.S. market," Wallbox North America General Manager Douglas Alfaro told Automotive News.

Wallbox has invested $11 million in initial construction and hopes to create 250 jobs at the plant by 2030. It will first produce Wallbox's Pulsar Plus AC home chargers before expanding to different types of units in 2023.

The company said it chose Arlington because of the city's position as a transit hub between the U.S. coasts and its proximity to major cities such as Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.

The plant is just the beginning of Wallbox's expansion into North America…