Trade News

Tara Rush might be considered a committed optimist. Though she’s relatively new in her current role as chief marketing officer for Audi of America — she became its first female marketing chief in December — she’s been with the German premium brand since April 2019, when she became head of communications after leaving Heineken.

Whether her job is inside or outside the auto industry, her eye is always trained on the same goal. 

“I’m just always looking at every situation and asking, ‘Where is the biggest opportunity and where can I create a lot of positive energy for change?’ So I’m definitely one of those people who, even in those challenging moments, I’m always kind of looking for the solution, for the positive side of things,” Rush said. 

It’s a driving motivation, one that has been present throughout her career. It was amplified in 2015 during a multiday workshop she attended about defining your personal purpose. The workshop fundamentally ch…

Dealership buy-sell activity, building off a brisk pace that began in late 2020, ramped up in the second quarter and appears primed to reach new heights for the remainder of 2021 thanks to rising dealership profitability, improved access to capital and increased activity from the publicly traded auto retailers.

Haig Partners, a buy-sell firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., estimated in its second-quarter Haig Report that 120 dealerships sold during the quarter, nearly triple the 42 stores that changed hands during the comparable period in 2020 when deals slowed during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Other dealership advisers also report robust deal-making with many expecting the strength of the market to persist for the balance of 2021 — though headwinds exist further out.

"The number of dealerships being acquired right now has exploded since this time last year, kind of going back to 2019," said Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners. "The stores are m…

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., is taking more office space in San Francisco. The company is subleasing more than 48,000 square feet at 555 Market Street in the city's financial district from Uber Technologies Inc. Waymo already has space in the Bayview neighborhood, while Google has several offices in the city. The new lease for Waymo is a vote of confidence for an office market that has been slower to rebound from the pandemic than other major U.S. cities, with technology employers embracing remote and hybrid work. While Google has maintained its space in San Francisco, many other tech companies have sought to offload millions of square feet they previously leased.

— Bloomberg

Ohio officials last week marked the official opening of what has been dubbed the nation's longest connected highway. The 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33, is outfitte…

General Motors last week committed $50 million toward expanding access to education and employment opportunities for Detroiters and strengthening the city's neighborhoods.

"As the home of our headquarters for more than a century, Detroit has always been a priority for General Motors," CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "We're invested in supporting a strong future for this community. Our new commitment will help break down barriers and promote growth through education and economic success."

In its first round of funding as part of the larger commitment, GM has made $4 million in grants:

$1.25 million to a comprehensive digital support system that includes Internet connectivity, devices, tech support and digital literacy skills to create greater access to education and employment$1 million to support employment, health and well-being resources coordinated across the city with key agencies$1 million to a mobility initiative that aims to addres…

TOKYO — Japan's auto industry is warning that the government's push for carbon neutrality could cost the country millions of jobs and millions of units of lost vehicle output.

The doomsday scenario was floated this month by Akio Toyoda, in his role as chairman of Japan's automaker association. He attacked what he sees as potentially overzealous green manufacturing goals as unsustainable.

The Japanese government's road map, which aims to slash the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 on the way to net carbon neutrality by 2050, should be better tailored to the reality that Japan's economic lifeblood is rooted in manufacturing, he said.

Toyoda, who is also president of Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker and a corporate flagship of Japan Inc., said a knee-jerk shift to electric vehicles could undercut Japan's industrial base and that the country needs a wider, more creative approach to carbon reduction.

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WASHINGTON — A proposal by House Democrats that would give consumers an extra incentive to buy union-made electric vehicles has stoked tension and debate among lawmakers, automakers and other stakeholders.

Despite outspoken criticism from Toyota Motor North America, American Honda Motor Co., Tesla and advocates of nonunionized businesses, the House Ways and Means Committee last week advanced the tax credits for inclusion in the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.

The proposal — led by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — would boost consumer tax credits to as much as $12,500 for EVs assembled in a factory represented by a labor union with U.S.-produced batteries. After five years, only EVs assembled in the U.S. would be eligible for the $7,500 base credit.

As drafted, the House proposal could face a roadblock in the Senate: Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from coal-producing West Virginia, where Toyota is the only automaker with a factory.

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DETROIT — General Motors this week will give motorsports and off-road enthusiasts a glimpse of its electric vehicle future while showcasing the internal-combustion performance prowess it's demonstrated for decades.

The automaker plans to show the GMC Hummer EV SUV and its proprietary Ultium battery platform chassis at Motor Bella, along with a slew of race cars and its Infantry Squad Vehicle. The ISV is based on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 and is made of 90 percent commercial, off-the-shelf parts, including Chevy Performance race components.

"You always want to lure [consumers] with something exciting … so they're going to bring out the Hummer, which they've introduced, and race cars, which always draw a crowd," said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.

"Race car fans are among the most rabid automotive people on the planet. It's always a good lure to highlight your brand by showing off the race cars."

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Honda Motor Co. said its production lines in Japan are operating at about 40 percent of its initial plan for the August-September period because of chip shortages and delays in parts shipments due to coronavirus outbreaks overseas.

The Japanese automaker expects the impact to extend beyond this month and said the level of operations in early October will be about 70 percent of its initial plan, according to a statement on its website that notes the estimates are as of Sept. 14. 

The announcement comes as its bigger rival Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday outlined plans to shutter factories in October. It said 27 out of 28 lines in all of its 14 plants in Japan would face suspensions of as many as 11 days. 

Honda said it’s working to minimize the reduction, but the outlook remains uncertain and it will continue to examine the impact. Models affected include the N-Box, Fit and Odyssey, according to the statement.

WASHINGTON -- The National Transportation Safety Board said Friday it will send a team to investigate a Tesla vehicle crash this week that killed two people in Coral Gables, Fla.

Coral Gables police have said it is unclear whether the Tesla Model 3 involved in the crash in a residential area on Monday evening was using the electric vehicle company's driver-assistance system, called Autopilot. The two people killed were badly burned and have not yet been positively identified.

The NTSB, which makes safety recommendations but does not regulate automakers, said its investigation will focus on the operation of the vehicle and the post-crash fire that consumed it after it struck a tree. The agency said three NTSB investigators will arrive in the area on Monday.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The NTSB has previously investigated three fatal Tesla crashes in which Autopilot was involved. Autopilot handles some driving tasks…

DETROIT — The 87-acre M1 Concourse, built on General Motors' former Pontiac West factory site, just may be the perfect venue for tinkering with the future of the Detroit auto show.

Next week, about 15 miles north of the Detroit city limits, Motor Bella will be the first major auto show in the region since 2019. It is taking the place of the North American International Auto Show this year and is being produced by the Detroit Auto Dealers Association.

The world, of course, has changed dramatically since the curtain closed on the final winter Detroit show. But even before the pandemic, organizers were moving away from the traditional static displays and toward a more hands-on, experiential event. Test drives were available in the basement of the former Cobo Center; on Belle Isle, an island park east of downtown Detroit; and elsewhere near the show. But those were mostly slow-moving affairs that didn't allow participants to get a great feel for the vehicles.

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Tim Bartz, Internet manager at Long McArthur Ford in Salina, Kan., is something of a Ford whisperer.

When it comes to the nuances of ordering hot new vehicles such as the Maverick, Bronco and F-150 Lightning in the middle of the crushing semiconductor shortage, Bartz is in high demand by customers vying to get their vehicle orders built first.

Bartz, who also goes by the social media moniker #FordVideoGuy, has become a notable influencer on YouTube, Facebook and Reddit forums, providing critical information to buyers of the Maverick in particular as Ford ramps up production that began in early September.

"I noticed on the Maverick that I'm one of the few dealers putting out videos," Bartz said of his YouTube fame. His top Maverick video — a deep dive on the features of the Lariat trim back in June — had generated more than 125,000 views for the Long McArthur YouTube channel as of mid-September. "On the Bronco, there were so many d…