Trade News

TOKYO — When New York investment firm KKR & Co. waded into the auto sector and engineered the creation of megasupplier Marelli Corp., it seemed to lift a burden off two troubled automakers.

First, KKR bought Japan's Calsonic Kansei from Nissan Motor Corp., injecting Nissan with cash and completing Nissan's divestiture of its tangled keiretsu system of parts makers. Then, KKR had Calsonic Kansei buy Magneti Marelli from Fiat Chrysler, helping FCA get that supplier off its books.

But now after three years, the combined supplier needs a lifeline of its own.

It emerged this week that troubled Marelli is asking its main financial institution, Japan's Mizuho Bank, and other lenders for extra time to pay off debt as it scrambles to restructure.

Japanese media, which reported the development, said the company is buried in some ¥1.1 trillion ($9.52 billion) in debt. Finances at Marelli are murky because it is privately held by KKR, but the Nikkei news…

If you watched Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, you probably noticed a slew of automobile ads. You may have noticed that several featured icons of from various generations of popular entertainment, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dr. Evil and Tony Soprano’s now grown-up children.

There was no missing the fact that a number of the ads were for electric vehicles. In fact, Super Bowl car commercials were almost entirely for EVs, with only a Porsche ad and Toyota's spot for the Tundra pickup truck featuring The Joneses the exceptions. In 2018 there were 12 Super Bowl car ads, none of which featured an EV; this year, seven of nine ads featured a vehicle with a plug.

EV advertisements have been increasing for the past two years. Data from marketing analytics startup EDO shows that EV ads were 7.5 percent of auto advertising spend in the U.S. in 2021, more than triple the level of 2019. At the same time, total EV ad airings increased four-fold, as did total EV ad impressions. Read more

Unifor National President Jerry Dias said Wednesday he is taking time off to deal with health issues.

The head of the union that represents hourly workers at Detroit 3 plants in Canada and thousands of workers at Canadian auto parts facilities, is currently serving a third and final term as head of Unifor.

“To my Unifor family: My Twitter account will be a little quiet for a while. I am taking some time off to deal with some health issues,” Dias said in a tweet Wednesday afternoon. He added he had “every confidence” in the union’s leadership team and staff during his absence.

Dias, 63, announced the leave of absence on Wednesday but a memo to union locals and staff indicates he has been on leave since Feb. 6. The memo, from Unifor National Secretary-Treasurer Lana Payne, adds Dias “did not make the decision to take this leave easily.”

Dias has said he will retire later this year as opposed to standing for re-election. He will have spent nine years…

WASHINGTON — The nation's largest auto market and the world's fifth-largest economy could soon regain the authority to set its own auto tailpipe rules and zero-emission vehicle mandates that are more stringent than federal standards.

The EPA is expected as soon as this week to reissue a waiver under the Clean Air Act allowing California to pursue its own tailpipe greenhouse gas emission standards and ZEV mandates, and reversing a Trump-era rule that sought to block states from doing so, several sources told Automotive News.

"EPA is working to finalize a decision on the California waiver ... consistent with its obligations under the Clean Air Act and expects to issue a decision in the near future," EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said in a statement.

NHTSA in December withdrew its portions of the former Trump administration's rule — known the Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rule Part One.

The agencies' actions are driven by President …

Police in Canada said they stopped a convoy of transport trucks they suspect planned to cause havoc in Windsor, Ontario, once again.

Protesters, who have issues with vaccine and mask mandates, and others who want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down, blocked access to the Ambassador Bridge for six days last week. The span is a key trade link between Canada and the U.S.

The demonstrations cost the North American auto industry hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production and wages.

Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno said at a news conference Wednesday that six or seven westbound trucks on Highway 401 originated in Ottawa and were stopped by police Tuesday, about 155 miles from Windsor.

“It is suspected this convoy was headed to Windsor,” Mizuno said.

She didn’t say whether the Ambassador Bridge was the convoy’s ultimate destination. 

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said at the news conference that $400 million worth of trade c…

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess, answering questions from the general public in an online Reddit forum, revealed that the ID4 compact electric crossover will get added capabilities in a planned over-the-air update this summer.

He also called a long-desired electric pickup for the brand in the U.S. a "good idea."

The Ask Me Anything forum took place at noon EST Wednesday; it had been delayed by two days for unknown reasons.

The questions posited to the CEO of the world's second-largest automaker ranged from the importance of lidar in development of automated-driving capabilities to what he considered the best type of cheese. (His response: "Manchego. I am Spanish by heart.")

Diess wrote that the ID4 is scheduled to receive "Plug & Charge" and "Auto Hold," as well as higher-capacity on-board charging capabilities as part of a software update this summer. He also said he looked forward to the start of U.S. production early this year at VW's pl…

DETROIT — Philanthropist and former NBA star Jalen Rose is teaming with Jeep on a social media campaign called "Where I'm From."

The campaign combines product, personality and community. It begins with a 60-second spot in which Rose — the Detroit native and ESPN analyst who played basketball for the University of Michigan and several NBA teams — drives a Grand Wagoneer while paying tribute to the Detroit streets and neighborhoods that he says helped him become a success.

Jeep says the campaign celebrates people from "great cities across the nation, including Detroit, who are making an impact."

It runs through mid-March, with a finish encouraging audiences to share stories about their own city pride.

Rose said he was interested in working with Jeep because of what he called his "family affair" relationship with the brand.

"My mom worked at Chrysler for many years," Rose told Automotive News. "It fed our family. Each car we had was always a…

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it has resumed normal production at six plants in Ontario and the U.S. after protests by Canadian truck drivers prompted supply problems.

The Japanese automaker's three plants in Ontario, where it builds its best-selling RAV4 crossover and other vehicles, had halted production last Thursday after protesters had blocked traffic to a key Detroit-Windsor bridge. Toyota said Monday its plants in West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama were still facing production impacts even after the bridge reopened.

LMP Automotive Holdings Inc. is planning to terminate its seven pending purchases of numerous auto dealerships and is considering a sale of the company.

"The company intends to terminate all of its pending acquisitions in accordance with the terms of their respective acquisition agreements, primarily due to the inability to secure financial commitments and close within the time frames set forth in such agreements," LMP CEO Samer Tawfik said in a statement.

The small, publicly traded auto retailer, in a news release on Wednesday, said its board of directors feels its stock price is undervalued. Shares of LMP closed at $6.65 on Tuesday. The shares plunged 21 percent to $5.25 when the market closed Wednesday.

A year ago, the shares were trading for more than $20.

Stock had been part of LMP's strategy to help pay for at least some of its pending acquisitions.

"Given the record M&A activity in our sector and multiples being paid for these tr…

Sonic Automotive Inc. said fourth-quarter net income surged 68 percent to $96.3 million as the auto retailer benefited from soaring gross profits on both new- and used-vehicle sales and saw boosts in finance and insurance and parts and service revenues.

Total revenue during the quarter rose 14 percent to $3.18 billion, Sonic said in a statement Wednesday.

The public retailer's franchised dealership gross profit per vehicle on both new and used vehicles more than doubled, despite fewer sales amid continuing new-vehicle supply constraints. The group's standalone EchoPark used-vehicle stores generated record fourth-quarter revenue of $579.2 million, but higher expenses led to a $26.7 million loss for the unit.

"Sonic delivered all-time record revenues and earnings for the full year, completed the largest acquisition in company history, and executed on our EchoPark expansion plan, exceeding our previously stated target of reaching 25 percent of the U.S. popu…

New York State's retirement plan is ratcheting up pressure on Tesla Inc., calling on the EV maker to disclose how much it spends on settling sexual harassment and racial discrimination complaints.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund, among the country's biggest public pension plans, filed its shareholder proposal last week following a high-profile racial discrimination case resulting in a $137 million jury award, and days before California took the extraordinary step of suing Tesla.

New York's resolution asks the automaker to publish how effective its measures are in ending bad conduct in the workplace.

"Recent developments further highlight the need for Tesla to address how the company is preventing harassment and discrimination against employees," New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in an emailed statement Monday. "This kind of alleged behavior should never be tolerated."

California's civil rights regulator sued Tesla last week…