Trade News

Lithia Motors Inc. has entered Georgia with the acquisition of a Honda store and separately bought a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat dealership in Southern California.

Both transactions closed on Monday.

Combined, the two acquisitions will add an expected $320 million to Lithia's annual revenue.

Lithia bought Curry Honda in Chamblee, Ga., northeast of Atlanta, from Bernie Curry. Lithia is keeping the dealership’s name.

DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, represented Curry in the transaction.

Georgia is the latest Southeast state that Lithia has entered. In July, Lithia bought its first dealership in Alabama and bought its first Mississippi store in June.

Lithia also acquired Orange Coast Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram-Fiat in Costa Mesa, Calif., in Orange County, from Jon Gray.

Gray, a past chairman of the Stellantis, then known as FCA, National Dealer Council, is staying on as general manager and the dealership's name is sta…

CHENNAI, India -- Factory workers at Ford Motor Co.'s southern Indian plant near Chennai city have sought the state government's help to safeguard jobs that will be lost once the carmaker stops production, workers and union leaders said.

Last week, Ford said it would stop making cars in India, taking a hit of about $2 billion to end years of unprofitable operations in a market that once promised exponential growth but that has disappointed.

The U.S. automaker will wind down operations at its factory in Sanand in the western state of Gujarat by the fourth quarter of 2021, and vehicle and engine manufacturing in its southern Indian plant in Chennai by 2022, potentially laying off up to 4,000 employees.

The sudden announcement by Ford will put at risk the livelihoods of more than 2,600 permanent workers and over 1,000 contract staff, union members said.

"Thousands of workers are at risk of losing their jobs as a result of Ford's decision t…

DETROIT — Right after its official debut during Sunday night's nationally televised NFL game, the redesigned 2022 Toyota Tundra will make its first auto show appearance next week here.

The full-size pickup will be shown at Motor Bella, an outdoor event set for Sept. 21-26 at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, a suburb about a half hour north of Detroit. It will be the first auto show in the region since COVID-19 upended plans for the 2020 North American International Auto Show.

The unveiling is set for 9 p.m. Eastern time. The first ad for the 2022 Tundra will air Sunday night during the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Baltimore Ravens game on NBC.

Two days later, Toyota Marketing executive Joe Moses will conduct a press briefing on the Tundra at Motor Bella at 10:10 a.m.

The new Tundra enters the hypercompetitive, highly profitable full-size pickup space with the line's first redesign in nearly a decade and a half. The Detroit 3 dominate the segment. In the fi…

SEMA's show director discusses what attendees can expect from this year's in-person trade event, which will continue to showcase the auto sector's electrification and customization efforts.

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Two all-wheel-drive versions of the Volkswagen ID4 compact crossover earned EPA range ratings of 240 and 249 miles per charge, Volkswagen said Tuesday.

The AWD Pro model can travel an estimated 249 miles on a single charge, while the Pro S model can go 240 miles per charge. For the AWD Pro, that range computes to 102 MPGe city, 90 highway and 97 MPGe combined; for the AWD Pro S, the MPGe ratings come in at 98 city, 88 highway and 93 combined.

VW also offers the ID4 in rear-wheel-drive models. The longest-range version can travel an estimated 260 miles on a charge and has MPGe ratings of 104 city, 89 highway and 97 MPGe combined.

Using a 125-kilowatt charger, the ID4 can be 80 percent charged in 38 minutes, according to Volkswagen.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Tesla Inc. clashed with Ford Motor Co. and the UAW over a proposal by Democrats in the U.S. House to give union-made, U.S.-built electric vehicles an additional $4,500 tax incentive.

Toyota on Monday said the plan includes “exorbitant” tax breaks for the wealthy.

Toyota is one of several non-unionized automakers complaining about a 10-year plan emerging in Congress to offer incentives of as much as $12,500 for people to buy EVs -- as long as they are built by union-represented workers. Buyers of vehicles from non-union shops such as Toyota, Tesla and Honda Motor Co. would be limited to credits of about $7,500, a structure that would favor traditional manufacturers from Detroit.

The proposal in the House Ways and Means Committee would give large tax credits on vehicles that cost as much as some people’s homes and “electric cars shouldn’t just be for rich people,” the automaker said Monday in a letter to the panel’s leaders. As prop…

A federal judge has delayed a competency hearing, possibly until November, to determine whether former Reynolds and Reynolds Co. CEO Bob Brockman is able to assist with his defense against charges of tax evasion and wire fraud.

U.S. District Judge George Hanks Jr. said Monday during a status conference in the case that he soon would confirm a date but that a competency hearing tentatively could begin Nov. 15. The hearing had been scheduled to begin Monday but was postponed. Hanks instead held the status conference to discuss details of the hearing and address several remaining motions.

The competency hearing could take about a week in total, lawyers for Brockman and the government told the judge Monday.

The question of whether Brockman, 80, is competent to stand trial only involves his ability to understand the case and assist with his defense. It is not used to determine whether he was competent at the time of the alleged offenses.

Brockman was…

DETROIT — Jason Stein, the outgoing publisher of Automotive News, has been named president and corporate development officer of Motormindz automotive consulting firm.

Stein, 49, will be in charge of expanding the company's global presence and launching its venture fund, Motormindz said in statement Monday. He leaves Automotive News on Wednesday after 18 years at the publication, the past eight as publisher.

"Jason Stein brings a wealth of experience to the team and he will play an integral role in driving our own transformation, creating a 2.0 version of ourselves," Jeff Van Dongen, Motormindz founder and CEO, said in the statement.

On Aug. 24, Stein said he was leaving Automotive News to host SiriusXM's "Cars & Culture with Jason Stein," a weekly radio show, and to launch his own global media services and broadcasting platform. The Motormindz positions will come in addition to those roles.

Motormindz, of Troy, Mich., comprises 120 executive-l…

Qualcomm Inc. has made a formal bid to buy automotive technology company Veoneer Inc. for more than $4 billion, beating a previous offer from Magna International Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. semiconductor company has formalized its offer of $37 a share, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Qualcomm is interested in Veoneer’s Arriver software unit, which helps cars perceive and make driving decisions, and would likely later divest the non-Arriver assets to private equity firms or other automotive companies, the people said.

Representatives for Magna, Veoneer and Qualcomm declined to comment.

Crash-avoidance and hands-free driving technologies have become a hotly contested battleground as automakers seek to boost prices and get the edge on rivals. Both global suppliers and chipmakers are positioning for growth in the market for advanced safety features. 

Magna offere…