Trade News

Tesla had nearly twice as many electric vehicles registered in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2021 as the rest of the industry combined — accounting for two out of every three EV registrations.

Tesla's U.S. registrations soared 75 percent through July to reach 168,021. Because Tesla doesn't report monthly sales results or sales by country, the registration data provides the most accurate view into its U.S. performance.

According to data gathered by Experian, EV registrations in the country more than doubled in the first seven months, outpacing the 30 percent rise in overall vehicle registrations.

Registrations of zero-emission vehicles climbed to 255,393 through July, up from 119,628 a year earlier, Experian reports. EVs accounted for 2.6 percent of total industry registrations, up from 1.6 percent last year.

The EV market is on the cusp of a growth spurt as the auto industry pivots en masse from combustion…

The murder of George Floyd in police custody in May 2020 sparked discussion across the auto retail world about how to best address employment gaps of underrepresented groups in the industry.

There was confusion on how — and where — to start.

Many diversity, equity and inclusion programs that flourish in corporate environments tend to fall short of dealership expectations, said Fleming Ford, president of ESI Trends, an employment research and consulting firm in Clearwater, Fla., that works with more than 500 dealerships. Dealerships differ greatly from more "corporate" environments with fixed roles, schedules and benefits, Ford said.

"It's a struggle to bring people from outside to talk to our dealers because everyone's automatic response is, 'You don't get it,' " Ford said. "And there really wasn't anybody that we could find in automotive who specialized in this already."

This spring, ESI Trends joined forces with p…

Lawyers for Bob Brockman say the ailing former CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds Co. is unable to assist in his defense against federal tax evasion charges.

But prosecutors are skeptical about those claims, writing in court filings that despite a diagnosis indicative of Parkinson's disease or Lewy body dementia, Brockman continued at the helm of the privately held dealership management system giant until after he was criminally charged nearly a year ago.

The case against Brockman, 80, is on the cusp of determining whether he is competent to stand trial. A federal judge on Friday, Sept. 10, delayed a competency hearing that had been scheduled to begin Monday, Sept. 13, instead scheduling a status conference for Monday to discuss details of the hearing.

"The judge's overriding burden is to make sure that the system gets a fair trial, which means we don't prosecute the sick. But if he can assist in his own defense and he can participate in the trial and he know…

Tesla Inc. is raising the price of its Model Y Performance car in China by 10,000 yuan ($1,552), effective immediately, the company announced on social media service Weibo Saturday.

The vehicle’s new price will be 387,900 yuan ($60,200), according to the statement.  

Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker reported a rebound in domestic China shipments in August, a bright spot after a torrid few months for the company in one of its key markets that came as the country’s overall auto sales slumped. The company shipped 12,885 units, an increase of almost 50 percent from July, when deliveries plunged 69 percent. 

Exports from the company’s Shanghai factory also jumped to 31,379 vehicles, with most destined for Europe, data from China’s Passenger Car Association showed Wednesday.

WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. on Saturday sharply criticized a proposal by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to give union-made electric vehicles in the United States an additional $4,500 tax incentive.

Toyota said in a statement that the plan unveiled late Friday discriminates "against American autoworkers based on their choice not to unionize."

The bill, set to be voted on Tuesday by the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee, would benefit Detroit's three automakers, which have union-represented auto plants.

In a statement, Honda called the bill "unfair" and said it "discriminates among EVs made by hard-working American auto workers based simply on whether they belong to a union. ... The Honda production associates in Alabama, Indiana and Ohio who will build our EVs deserve fair and equal treatment by Congress."

The proposal, estimated to cost $33 billion to $34 billion over 10 years, would…

Short of Apple's secretive foray into automated and electric vehicles, perhaps the most interesting ongoing mystery in the automotive industry revolves around Sony Group Corp. and its Vision-S prototype.

The Japanese entertainment and consumer electronics behemoth dropped the surprise of CES in January 2020, unveiling an all- electric sedan that made public its ambitions in the automotive space. But more than a year and a half later, exactly what Sony intends to do with the Vision-S remains unclear.

Izumi Kawanishi, an executive vice president at Sony, remains tight-lipped on specific plans for the vehicle. He chuckles at attempts to unearth fresh insights.

"We don't have a concrete plan at this time because our current phase is a research and development phase," he told Automotive News. "We have to investigate what is our purpose in contributing to mobility service. That is our basic idea, and we have to continue the R&D phase."

Of course ,…

When Melvin Cooper heard that a distressed service center for medium- and heavy-duty trucks was up for sale in 2014 just minutes from his growing Chevrolet dealership, he jumped on the opportunity.

Buying the business, now known as National Truck Sales & Service, has allowed Cooper to free up service department capacity at the Chevrolet store. The operation, which is now profitable, also has helped diversify his growing automotive business.

Cooper, dealer operator of Watsonville Auto Group in California, was familiar with servicing medium- and heavy-duty trucks at Chevrolet of Watsonville, which he acquired in 2008. Cooper had an established relationship with large fleet customers, including the local beer distributor, a school district and several agricultural customers.

The only problem? The Chevrolet dealership, which had two service shops, including one devoted to commercial trucks, was running out of room. So Cooper bought the 15,000-square-foo…

In a bid to get important products to the market faster, General Motors accelerated the timetables for billion-dollar investments at two Canadian assembly plants, CAMI Assembly and Oshawa Assembly.

But to do so, GM has taken unusual steps to get the plants up and running sooner.

In July, GM confirmed that German supplier Kuka will handle initial production of GM's new EV600 electric commercial van at a plant in Michigan in an effort to fulfill an order from FedEx. GM will then end production of the Chevrolet Equinox at CAMI, in Ingersoll, Ontario, in April and begin full EV600 production there in November 2022 — about a year earlier than originally planned.

Kuka is expected to build fewer than 500 EV600 models by hand starting in October. After that, Kuka, a tooling producer that supplies assembly equipment to GM, will ship the equipment needed to make the EV600 to CAMI.

Doing that will "dramatically reduce the time needed to convert" the plant, …

WASHINGTON —The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released its proposal for consumer tax credits in the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill that would support affordable electric vehicles, domestic battery production and union jobs.

The committee's legislative proposal — led by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — would boost EV tax credits for consumers to as much as $12,500 for EVs assembled by union workers with domestically manufactured batteries.

The fully refundable credit would be transferable at the point of sale and would phase out over 10 years.

In the first five years, the base credit would be $7,500 — the maximum tax credit currently available — with an additional bonus credit of $4,500 for vehicles made in a factory represented by a labor union and another $500 bonus if the automaker has a domestic supply for batteries.

In the second five-year period, only EVs assembled in the U.S. are eligible for the $7,500 base credit.

Automotive technology supplier Aptiv Plc is facing significant semiconductor supply constraints in the third quarter due to the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus in Southeast Asia, CFO Joseph Massaro said on Friday.

Given the COVID-19 outbreaks in Malaysia and Thailand, governments are taking a meaningful stance on production closures, Massaro said, speaking at the RBC Capital Markets industrials conference.

"We have had semiconductor suppliers industry wide who have been closed for a couple of weeks at a time. We had one that was closed for a couple of weeks, open for a period of time and then reclosed."

Automakers from General Motors to Japan's Toyota have slashed output and sales forecasts due to scarce chip supplies, made worse by a COVID-19 resurgence in key Asian semiconductor production hubs.

Massaro said the company had initially estimated the pandemic impact from Southeast Asia could cost the industry about 1.5 million uni…

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 158,489 Tundra pickup trucks because of faulty headlight electrical circuits that may power high and low beams at the same time, which could lead to overheating.

The recall involves vehicles from the 2018-21 model years.

In a safety recall report, Toyota said the flaw of both beams being on simultaneously could overheat a vehicle's electrical conductor and lead to a fire.

Toyota said it knew of 18 field reports alleging various problems. Twelve of the reports alleged an inoperative headlamp or damage to the headlamp connector, such as melting, but displayed no actual fire. Another six reports said actual fires occurred in the headlamp assembly.

There are 47 warranty claims related to the condition. Of those, 44 reported damage but no fire and three reported damage with fire.

The automaker declined to disclose whether any accidents or injuries are connected to the recall.

Toyota says its dealers will …

Two dealership groups expanded their domestic-store platforms in the third quarter, while a used-vehicle dealership owner acquired a franchised store — also consisting of domestic brands.

Here's a quick look at the deals.

Jenkins Auto Group of Ocala, Fla., has purchased three Florida dealerships in two recent transactions with Steve Lamb and Jewel Lamb of Crystal Automotive and Motorcycle Group.

Jenkins on Aug. 31 bought Crystal Chevrolet and Crystal Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Homosassa. Those dealerships have been renamed Jenkins Chevrolet of Homosassa and Jenkins Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Homosassa.

The group also on Thursday bought Crystal Ford-Lincoln in Crystal River from the Lambs. That store was renamed Jenkins Ford-Lincoln of Crystal River.

"These additions grow our domestic portfolio allowing us to offer even more brands and inventory to our customers," Jenkins Auto Group CEO Tom Formanek said in a statement.

T…