Trade News

DETROIT — General Motors this spring will launch CarBravo, a shopping platform designed to boost used-vehicle sales through GM dealerships, the automaker said Tuesday.

"CarBravo will give customers more choice and access to shop significantly expanded inventories of both the dealer and a national central stock of GM used vehicles. Importantly, the program features will also be offered on non-GM used vehicles," Steve Carlisle, president of GM North America, said in a statement. "CarBravo is designed to provide customers the convenience to shop how they want, where they want — online, at the dealership or both."

The used-vehicle market has been growing over the past five years and is less susceptible to market fluctuations than the new-vehicle market, Carlisle said. With CarBravo, GM aims to increase used-vehicle volume as companies such as Carvana and CarMax Inc. absorb used-vehicle share. The announcement comes about a year after Ford Motor Co. started a used-v…

ATLANTA — Porsche Cars North America has elevated two women to key leadership roles.

Ayesha Coker has been named vice president of marketing, the sports car maker said.

Coker, 45, succeeds Pedro Mota, who, according to a dealer source, has left to join a Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Previously, Coker led experiential brand marketing, strategic partnerships, sports marketing, motorsports and the Porsche Club of America in the U.S. She also oversaw the Porsche Experience Centers in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Before joining Porsche, Coker held various marketing roles for automotive companies including Merkley and Partners and GMR Marketing.

Margareta Mahlstedt, who previously led marketing for Porsche Cars Great Britain, joined the German marque's North America business in October to lead customer experience.

Mahlstedt, 43, is responsible for customer relationship management practices, customer satisfaction, market research and …

Lights trucks — crossovers, SUVs and pickups — were really the thing to have in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Honda Motor Co., which gained traction in the 1970s with small cars, had steadily expanded its lineup with crossovers and minivans.

A traditional pickup was the only major hole in the brand's lineup.

Yet for years, pickups had been low on Honda's priority list; they weren't considered extensions of the family car.

Before seriously thinking about pickups, the company needed a credible minivan, the Odyssey, and then jumped into the fast-growing SUV segment, with the compact Honda CR-V and the larger Honda Pilot and Acura MDX. Then it had to build enough factory space to satisfy demand.

But in 2001, eager to keep Honda buyers from drifting to another brand, development got underway when an engineering team began experimenting with Honda's first development mule, an extended version of a first-generation Acura MDX crossover. A compet…

DETROIT — General Motors said it has launched a three-tier credit rewards program and a new My GM Rewards Credit Card for Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC customers.

GM on Monday said the new card and updated program will enhance the ownership experience and can eventually be used on in-vehicle software purchases, as the automaker aims to double revenue to $280 billion by 2030, with software and other new businesses growing nearly 50 percent annually through then.

"The new My GM Rewards is a big win for our customers with more ways to earn and redeem points, including premium tiers of membership with exclusive offers and opportunities," Julie Heisel, director of GM Rewards and GM Card, said in a statement.

GM will introduce more rewards options for in-vehicle software by the end of this year, Heisel told reporters Monday.

Customers can sign up for My GM Rewards, which launches Monday, at no cost and have a choice of three membership tiers: Silve…

Kia America has named Steven Center, a longtime American Honda sales executive, as COO and executive vice president.

Center, Kia said in a news release, will oversee "strategy and execution for Kia's sales, service and marketing operations" in the U.S. He will join the company Monday and report to Sean Yoon, CEO of Kia North America.

Center was chosen, in part, to advance the Korean automaker's focus on sustainable mobility and alternative fuel vehicles, Yoon said in the release.

Kia also cited Center's deep knowledge of the U.S. market.

"Having served in various roles at Honda since 1993, Center brings a wealth of experience to his new role at Kia," the automaker said.

Center's responsibilities at American Honda over the years have included production planning, certified pre-owned sales, dealer communication, and export sales and distribution. He most recently was vice president of automotive sales.

"This is a time of tremendous cha…

Laurel Cutler, a trailblazing advertising executive who later became a vice president at Chrysler, died on Nov. 28. She was 94.

Cutler was named Chrysler's first vice president of consumer affairs in 1988. She was tasked with being a futurist who could monitor customer trends, an ability she was known for in the advertising industry, according to a New York Times piece announcing her hiring at the time.

She held the Chrysler role while retaining her duties as vice chair of the automaker's agency, FCB/Leber Katz Partners.

The Times reported that Chrysler credited Cutler with developing the company's brand-management system. The system was created, Cutler explained, because "it became clear that Detroit had lost the power of 'branded-ness,' " shortly after the automaker brought in Leber Katz as its marketing-planning consultant in 1985.

"Car brands used to be the strongest brands there were," Cutler said then. "A 2-year-old boy could recognize any c…

Frank Hasenfratz, the founder and executive chairman of Canadian auto supplier Linamar Corp., has died at age 86.

The longtime powertrain parts supplier said late Saturday that Hasenfratz died peacefully at his home surrounded by his family. Linamar said Hasenfratz lost “a courageous battle with cancer.”

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of my father, Frank Hasenfratz,” his daughter and Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz said in a statement. “It was his vision and unrelenting drive that enabled us to build the company that Linamar is today. 

“He leaves a tremendous legacy on the Canadian business landscape, changed the lives of so many, and provided careers, livelihoods and opportunities for thousands of people. 

“He inspired and taught so many, myself most profoundly, and his spirit will live on in each of us as we continue to build the legacy of Linamar.”

Frank Hasenfratz was born in Hungary in 1935 and moved…

Executive editor Jamie Butters gives you the top headlines you need to know today. Plus, reporter Larry P. Vellequette talks through last year's sales numbers.

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Jeep parent company Stellantis told Michigan regulators it has a plan to solve odor issues at its plant on Detroit's east side, but it is unsure how long it will take.

The automaker released Friday the results of an odor investigation at its year-old Detroit Assembly Complex along Mack Avenue.

The 67-page report was submitted to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, which has hit the plant with several air quality violations since the fall.

"The modeling results identified a number of corrective actions that, once implemented, will ensure that odors do not reach the neighboring community," the company said in a Friday news release.

Key to solving the odor problems, which neighbors near the plant have said are hurting their quality of life, is the installation of new equipment and ducting.

The company declined to discuss the cost of the repairs or how long they will take.

"We're not commenting on the cost," s…

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that the electric carmaker will raise the U.S. price of its advanced driver assistant software dubbed "Full Self-Driving" to $12,000 on Jan. 17.

The 20 percent price rise comes less than two years since Tesla raised Full Self-Driving (FSD) prices to $10,000 from $8,000 in 2020.

"Tesla FSD price rising to $12k on Jan 17. Just in the US." Musk tweeted.

Musk also added that the monthly subscription price will rise when FSD goes to wide release.

"FSD price will rise as we get closer to FSD production code release," he tweeted.

Tesla has been expanding the release of a test version of its upgraded FSD software, a system of driving-assistance features -- like automatically changing lanes and making turns, but the features do not make the vehicles autonomous.