Trade News

DETROIT — The latest signs the global semiconductor shortage may be easing? Ten cents and the Chevy Malibu.

General Motors and Ford Motor Co. reported lower third-quarter earnings than a year earlier because of the parts crisis that has kept many dealer lots bare for months, but each automaker appears to be in better position to weather the shortage, which could linger through most of next year and into 2023.

Ford, predicting increased volume in the final months of 2021, raised its full-year guidance and said it would pay shareholders a 10-cent quarterly dividend for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. GM this week plans to resume production of the Malibu for the first time since early February, an indication that its chip supplies are stable enough to build even its lowest-priority vehicles. And Stellantis reported 14 percent lower revenue but reaffirmed its full-year profit margin guidance while predicting a "moderate" improvement on chip su…

WASHINGTON -- A $1.75 trillion Democratic spending proposal could give a big boost to electric vehicles -- especially to the Detroit 3 automakers and the U.S. Postal Service -- but it faces opposition from Republicans, foreign automakers, Canada and Mexico.

The House plan boosts EV credits to up to $12,500 per vehicle, including $4,500 for union-made vehicles and $500 for U.S.-made batteries. Vehicles would have to be made in the U.S. starting in 2027 to qualify for any credit.

The EV tax credits would cost $15.6 billion over 10 years and disproportionately benefit the Detroit 3 automakers -- General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV -- which assemble their U.S.-made vehicles in union-represented plants.

UAW President Ray Curry said the provision will "create and preserve tens of thousands of UAW members' jobs" and "would be a win for auto manufacturing workers."

"The framework announced today supports good paying union jobs an…

AJ Harb is general manager of Audi Milwaukee, but on the video-driven social platform TikTok, he's simply known as "The Boss."

Harb regularly appears on the dealership's rapidly growing TikTok account doing vehicle walk-arounds — sitting in the driver's seat of an S8 to show off its horsepower or the back seat of an A8 to joke that he looks 6-foot-5 when he's actually 5-foot-6.

While many viewers ask about the products, some throw playful barbs at Harb, critiquing the videos and his fashion choices.

"The people in the comments, they kind of roast him, but he gets a kick out of it," said Matt Abramczyk, the store's social media manager who runs the account. "People always are talking about his outfits or the stuff he does. I think that might be another part of the popularity of the videos. He is a character. People might come for the cars, and they might come for him, too."

Audi Milwaukee is definitely having fun with the TikTok community, …

Chevrolet is setting aside product pitches in its largest-ever outreach campaign to the LGBTQ community.

The sales push can come later. For now, Chevy wants to make clear what it stands for.

The General Motors brand has set its sights on amplifying key issues and voices in the community in an ongoing effort called "Authentic Voices of Pride" with Q.Digital, an LGBTQ media agency. The project covers topics including families, drag as activism, sports and inclusion, homelessness and justice reform through a series of documentaries and articles housed on LGBTQ Nation, Q.Digital's news site.

When the social justice movement spread through the nation last summer after George Floyd's death, GM CEO Mary Barra said she wanted the company to be the most inclusive in the world.

This is an external mission as much as it is an internal one, said Steven Majoros, vice president of Chevy marketing.

"If you're going to l…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. traffic deaths soared by 18.4% in the first six months of 2021 to the highest number in the period since 2006, the Transportation Department said Thursday.

Traffic deaths have risen dramatically after coronavirus lockdowns ended in 2020 as more drivers engaged in unsafe behavior like speeding, regulators say. NHTSA on Thursday estimated 20,160 people died in car crashes in the first six months of 2021 in the United States, up 3,140 over the same period in 2020.

Amazon.com Inc. owns a 20 percent stake in electric-vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc., the startup with which it has placed an order for 100,000 battery-powered delivery vans, the e-commerce giant disclosed Friday in a securities filing.

As of Sept. 30, Amazon held equity investments "including preferred stock of Rivian Automotive, Inc. representing an approximately 20 percent ownership interest," with a carrying value of $3.8 billion -- up from $2.7 billion at the end of 2020, Amazon said in the filing.

Irvine, California-based Rivian had disclosed in a seperate filing earlier this year that Amazon had invested more than $1.3 billion in the automaker and held almost 150 million shares of preferred stock. However, Amazon's voting power as a percentage was redacted.

A representative for Rivian declined to comment.

Peter Krawiec, a senior vice president of worldwide corporate and business development at Amazon, is on Rivian's board. The Seattle…

Detroit automakers would be able to offer $4,500 more in tax credits to U.S. electric car buyers than rivals such as Tesla Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. under the $1.75 trillion tax and spending proposal unveiled by the White House on Thursday.

The plan calls for all automakers to be able to offer $7,500 to consumers for EV purchases for the first five years of the law, a win for Tesla and General Motors, which have been bumping up an existing cap that limits the number of tax credits manufacturers can offer to 200,000.

However, cars made by American manufacturers with union-represented workers would be allowed to offer an additional $4,500 in credits, according to a draft text of the bill released by the House that is subject to further negotiation. Tesla and foreign-owned automakers such as Toyota and Honda Motor Co. have argued the bill would give Detroit automakers an unfair advantage as the industry races toward an electric future.

The electric car …

Lear Corp. said Thursday it will acquire a Kongsberg Automotive business unit specializing in producing comfort seating solutions.

Lear, a Southfield, Mich.-based supplier of seating and electrical systems, said the deal will aid its vertical integration and help grow product offerings to include a larger suite of comfort seating solutions to enhance vehicle performance and packaging.

Lear said it will pay $203 million for Kongsberg Automotive's Interior Comfort Systems unit. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.

"This acquisition represents an opportunity for Lear to capture more content-per-vehicle by providing an optimized solution with a better value proposition for our customers, in terms of cost, quality and performance," Lear CEO Ray Scott said in a news release.

Kongsberg Automotive is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Its ICS business unit employs more than 3,800 people in facilities …

Three dealerships groups added stores in October transactions in Pennsylvania, New York and Indiana.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic and import brands.

Spitzer Management Inc., doing business as Spitzer Autoworld, has continued to grow in DuBois, Pa., buying two dealerships this month in the city northeast of Pittsburgh.

Spitzer, of Elyria, Ohio, on Oct. 19 bought Murray's Ford-Lincoln and Murray's Honda from Greg Murray.

The stores will be renamed Spitzer Ford-Lincoln DuBois and Spitzer Honda DuBois.

"Last fall we acquired a Chevy-Buick-GMC-Cadillac and a Subaru store one mile up the street," Spitzer COO Andrew Spitzer said in an email to Automotive News. "Over the last year we've learned about what an amazing area and community DuBois is. So when the opportunity arose to add another two locations [with great brands], it was an easy decision."

Murray's dates to 1968, when Harvey…

STOCKHOLM -- Volvo Cars gained in its trading debut after raising 20 billion kronor ($2.3 billion) in an initial public offering, as investors bought into the company's successful turnaround and promise of an electric future. 

The shares jumped as much as 22 percent in Stockholm and traded at 63 kronor as of 12:45 p.m. local time, above the listing price of 53 kronor. The IPO valued the automaker at 158 billion kronor, according to a Volvo statement.

Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said the listing symbolized a recognition of its transformation plans, in the rapidly changing car sector. "It's a very exciting journey and now we have the money for it," he told journalists and investors in a webcast opening ceremony.

The debut follows Volvo's move to cut the size of its offering by a fifth after investors balked at the prospect of the automaker's owner, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, retaining a hold on to the bulk of the voting rights. The Chinese group e…

Daimler reported a higher third-quarter profit despite a 30 percent drop in Mercedes-Benz vehicle sales due to the microchip shortage, as the company focused on more profitable cars and cut costs.

Quarterly operating profit was 2.6 billion euros ($3 billion), up 18 percent from 2.2 billion euros for the same period in 2020, Daimler said in a statement on Friday.

Revenue was almost flat at 40.1 billion euros versus 40.3 billion in the third quarter of 2020.

Daimler said it expects chip supplies to improve in the fourth quarter. It said the shortage will continue in 2022 but should improve compared to 2021. The company has previously warned the global chip crunch could last into 2023.

"This [chip] issue will continue to be a top priority for us moving forward," CFO Harald Wilhelm told analysts during a conference call on Friday.

Daimler now expects Mercedes to post slightly lower sales in 2021 versus 2020, but said its forecast of an adjust…

TOKYO — Toyota has disclosed fresh details about its first serious foray into the expanding world of electric vehicles — saying its new bZ4X midsize crossover EV will get a 71-kilowatt hour battery, 300-mile driving range and a funky steer-by-wire system.

The futuristically styled battery-powered utility offering is the first EV to ride on the company's e-TNGA dedicated electric vehicle platform. It kicks off a batch of seven bZ-badged pure electrics the world's biggest carmaker plans to launch by 2025 as it dives into the global EV race.

The bZ4X goes on sale in mid-2022, targeting worldwide markets including the U.S., Europe, Japan and China. The bZ in the subbrand's nomenclature derives from Beyond Zero, a reference to zero emissions. The numeral stands for the vehicle class, the X for the body type.

The 4 in bZ4X approximates the size of the Toyota RAV4, but Toyota said that creative packaging allowed by the all-electric layout helps deliver a room…