Trade News

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. has sold one of two Lexus dealerships it told Automotive News it would need to divest after 2021 acquisitions pushed its store count for the luxury brand beyond framework limits.

Gurley Leep Automotive Family, of Mishawaka, Ind., on Feb. 14 bought Plaza Lexus in Creve Coeur, Mo., west of St. Louis, the group said in a statement.

The group renamed the dealership Spirit Lexus.

"We are excited to add our second Lexus franchise to the Gurley Leep Family," Mike Leep Jr., president of Gurley Leep Automotive, said in a statement. "We plan on bringing our family values of world class service and community philanthropy to greater St. Louis."

Asbury had owned the Lexus dealership since the late 1990s. It continues to own and operate several stores in Creve Coeur including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Jaguar-Land Rover, BMW and Infiniti dealerships.

"St. Louis is an important market for Asbury and we have a strong connection to t…

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. will halt production at its Russian factory from Friday while vehicle imports into the country have also stopped indefinitely due to supply chain disruptions, the automaker said.

Toyota joins other Japanese automakers that have taken or flagged similar moves, also citing difficulty in procuring parts and other logistical hurdles.

Western companies have spurned Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, with some saying they would exit investments there, but the response of many Japanese firms has been more muted so far.

"Like everyone around the world, Toyota is watching the ongoing developments in Ukraine with great concern for the safety of people of Ukraine and hopes for a safe return to peace as soon as possible," Toyota said in a statement.

Toyota is Russia's top Japanese brand, producing about 80,000 vehicles at its St. Petersburg plant which employs 2,000 staff.

Among other Japanese brands, Mazda Motor Corp…

DETROIT — Splitting Ford Motor Co. into separate business units dedicated to internal combustion and electric vehicles will help stave off competition on multiple fronts, CEO Jim Farley says. That includes the intensifying battle for talent with rival automakers as well as Silicon Valley tech companies.

"We want to beat the old players; we want to beat the new players," he said on a conference call.

The new EV unit, called Ford Model e, is meant to act like a startup unburdened by many of the constraints of the company's traditional 118-year-old business. And it's meant to attract the types of engineers and designers that Tesla, Rivian and Lucid have been able to bring to the industry from other fields.

"We're really trying to form a distinct culture in Model e, a culture that cultivates a different kind of work that's required for some of these technologies," Doug Field, who will lead product creation for Model e as chief EV and digital systems officer,…

AMSTERDAM — Jeep's electric future finally has a face.

Stellantis revealed an image of the adventure brand's first battery electric vehicle Tuesday during the rollout of the automaker's long-term strategic plan that covers the rest of the decade.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the electric crossover will support Jeep's "worldwide quest towards zero emission freedom." It's slated to arrive in the first half of 2023.

"Electrification will amplify Jeep's core brand attributes: capability, open-air freedom, fun and style," Tavares said as he detailed the automaker's "Dare Forward 2030" plan, which includes the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2038.

The upcoming electric Jeep was just one piece of the automaker's aggressive vision that will center on environmental stewardship as Stellantis seeks to be a champion in the climate change fight. The strategy also calls for a continued diversity push with a commitment for women to hold 35 …

Rivian Automotive Inc. is raising prices on its debut vehicles for retail buyers, citing a shortage of semiconductors and higher costs for other components.

The sticker price of Rivian's battery-electric pickup, called the R1T, is rising 17 percent and the price of its R1S SUV is rising 20 percent, the company said Tuesday.

"Like most manufacturers, Rivian is being confronted with inflationary pressure, increasing component costs, and unprecedented supply-chain shortages and delays for parts" including semiconductors, Rivian's Chief Growth Officer Jiten Behl said in a statement.

The automotive industry globally is facing higher input costs while also experiencing greater leeway to increase prices. Average transaction prices hit a record $47,243 in December and Truecar.com, an auto pricing and marketing website, projects they rose 15 percent in February from a year ago.

Upstart Rivian is seen as a potential competitor to Tesla. While the company ha…

Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday will announce a reorganization under which its electric and internal-combustion engine businesses will be run separately in a move meant to allow the EV business to maximize profits and move with greater speed, three people familiar with the plan told Reuters.

The EV and ICE businesses will remain under the Ford corporate umbrella, similar to the way the company operates its Ford Pro commercial business, said the people, who asked not to be identified.

The automaker will name executives to lead each business, which will have separate names, and Ford also will outline updated profit margin targets for the company overall, the people said. The idea is for Ford to eventually report separate financial results for the EV and ICE businesses, one of the people said.

Ford spokesman T.R. Reid declined to comment on the report.

"We're focused on carrying out our Ford+ plan to transform the company and thrive in this new era of …

Ford Motor Co., in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, said on Tuesday it informed joint venture partner Sollers it is immediately suspending operations in Russia until further notice

Ford said it does not have significant operations in Ukraine.

Ford also said the Ford Fund is making a $100,000 donation to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund for humanitarian aid to assist displaced Ukrainian citizens and families.

“We at Ford are deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the safety of the Ukrainian people,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said on Twitter.

With the decision, Ford joins a growing group of companies that are leaving Russia or pausing operations, including General Motors and Harley-Davidson Inc. Huge oil producers BP Plc and Shell Plc, along with prominent players in other sectors, such as Apple Inc., made similar moves.

Ford’s business in Russia is small and has been downsized over the past three years. There we…

Online used-vehicle retailer Vroom's net loss widened to almost $130 million in the fourth quarter, but the company posted major revenue gains and said it sold a record number of vehicles via e-commerce.

Vroom reported total revenue of $934.5 million in the quarter, more than double the figure in the year-earlier period. A large chunk of that was e-commerce revenue, which more than doubled to nearly $739 million.

Wholesale revenue rose 62 percent to $121.5 million. The company attributed that to growth in average vehicle selling price, which increased from $10,733 to $13,903 — primarily because of market appreciation.

Vroom said it sold 21,243 e-commerce vehicles in the fourth quarter, up 93 percent from the year-earlier period. It sold 74,698 e-commerce vehicles in all of 2021, up from 34,488 the previous year.

That improvement was fueled in part by growing brand awareness in an "exceptional" demand environment, Vroom CEO Paul Henessy told invest…

Energy storage developer Our Next Energy said it plans to build a battery plant in the U.S. after raising $65 million in a new round of funding.

The factory will be used to produce the company's Aries battery pack for four customers.

Our Next Energy, based in Novi, Mich., is shopping for plant locations and has narrowed down the location to four unnamed states, CEO Mujeeb Ijaz told Automotive News.

The new investment will also go toward expediting R&D of the company's Gemini battery, a company statement said. Our Next Energy said it demonstrated in December that the Gemini will have a range of more than 750 miles.

Our Next Energy is eyeing a 2026 automotive launch for the Gemini, although the company is not yet under contract with an automaker to produce it, Ijaz said.

The funding round was led by BMW i Ventures, with New York-based private equity firm Coatue Management joining in as a new investor.

In October, Our Next Energy ra…

WASHINGTON — In testimony to a Senate panel Tuesday, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation emphasized automakers' commitment to working with law enforcement and policymakers on the growing prevalence of carjackings, while stressing the importance of protecting their customers' privacy.

"Clearly, the sharing of location information — with anyone, including law enforcement — needs to be appropriately balanced with consumer privacy," Alliance CEO John Bozzella told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on federal support for preventing and responding to carjackings.

The hearing follows efforts in January by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to urge the U.S. Department of Transportation to work with automakers and law enforcement agencies in addressing what he called an "alarming increase" in carjackings across the U.S.

In separate letters sent Jan. 26 to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Bozzella, Durbin urged the dep…

Self-driving truck company Embark is scouting for U.S. real estate.

The company said Monday it has partnered with real estate investment firm Alterra Property Group to identify locations across the Sun Belt that could be utilized as transfer points, at which human drivers could take over for automated systems that handle highway driving. Embark intends to use those areas to accelerate commercial operations, which it intends to begin in 2024.

Alterra specializes in industrial outdoor space, owning more than 100 properties in 27 states.

The partnership "can provide the real estate portfolio, market expertise, and capital required to activate a nationwide real estate network of transfer points, enabling Embark to remain asset-light," Sam Abidi, Embark's chief commercial officer, said in a statement.

It's the second such partnership between a self-driving trucking company and real estate developer unveiled in just over a month.

In late January,…