Trade News

Greg Wohlford, a shop chairman who helped General Motors workers build ventilators during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, was recently placed on one himself after becoming infected with the virus, according to union officials.

Wohlford, shop chair of UAW Local 292, which represents workers at a GM parts plant in Kokomo, Ind., was admitted to the hospital Wednesday in serious condition after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a union Facebook post confirmed in an interview by Local 292 President Matt Collins.

An update Friday said Wohlford had been placed on a ventilator, while a subsequent post Sunday, written by his daughter and shared to the local's Facebook page, noted he was "resting comfortably" and that his "lungs were sounding better." It was unclear whether he remained on a ventilator.

Collins declined to provide additional information out of respect for Wohlford's family. It was unclear whether Wohlford had been vacc…

Auto dealerships in southeastern Louisiana are in recovery mode after Hurricane Ida lashed the region Sunday and early Monday with heavy rain and winds up to 150 mph.

Dealerships are trying to assess the extent of the storm's damage, said Will Green, president of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association. He said the process has been difficult because power remains out across the region, cellular service is spotty and many roads are blocked either by debris or floodwaters.

But Green says he thinks most dealerships in the region ultimately escaped a worst-case scenario akin to the one that occurred exactly 16 years ago when Katrina battered the Gulf Coast.

"Based on some initial reports, most avoided large-scale flooding and dealership damage suffered during Katrina, but Ida may have affected a few worse," Green told Automotive News via email. "Most of the affected dealers I have been in touch with thus far are at a minimum without power. … Some have …

LONDON -- Lotus will launch a full-electric SUV next year as it seeks to match the way that Porsche significantly boosted profits by adding SUVs to its sports-car lineup.

The Lotus SUV will be a rival in size to the Tesla Model X. It will be the first of four new electric models from the automaker in the next five years, Lotus said in a statement on Tuesday.

The SUV, codenamed Type 132, will be followed by a large electric sedan in 2023 and a midsize electric SUV in 2025. A previously announced sports car developed with Renault's Alpine brand will arrive in 2026.

The new models, except the sports car, will be built in a new factory in Wuhan, China, which will eventually have a capacity to build 150,000 vehicles a year.

Lotus will continue to build sports cars at its Hethel plant in Norfolk, England.

Lotus is expanding its lineup beyond niche sports cars under its new Chinese owners, Geely Holding Group, which bought a majority stake in the …

Ram topped the industry in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study for the first time, while Stellantis stablemate Dodge landed in the No. 2 spot after last year becoming the first domestic brand to lead the ranking.

Another Stellantis brand, Jeep, jumped into the eighth spot to give the automaker three brands in the top 10 in the 2021 ranking.

Ram ranked 21st just two years ago. It then vaulted to No. 3 in 2020 and continued that momentum in the 2021 study. Dodge in 2019 rose to the top 10 for the first time before its first-place finish last year.

"What it boils down to is just a lot of hard work on the part of the Stellantis team throughout the organization to improve their quality," Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power, told Automotive News. "Maybe 10 years ago, it wasn't the best. Five years ago, it was getting competitive, and now they're one of the best in the industry, particularly on the Ram side."

Sargent added:…

Chinese carmaker Li Auto Inc.’s second-quarter loss widened as the cost of making and selling electric vehicles took a toll on the company’s bottom line.

Li Auto posted a net loss of 235.5 million yuan ($36.4 million), compared to a 75.2 million yuan shortfall a year earlier, the Beijing company said in a statement Monday. Analysts had been looking for a 38 million yuan profit. Revenue for the period was 5.04 billion yuan, in line with analyst estimates of 5.01 billion yuan.

The carmaker, which has just one model for sale -- the Li One crossover powered by an electric motor and gasoline engine -- delivered a record 17,575 units in the quarter, a 166 percent increase from a year earlier. It shipped 8,589 vehicles to local customers in July, putting it on par for the first time with California-based EV pioneer Tesla Inc., whose local shipments plunged last month.

“The 2021 Li One received rave reviews and strong endorsement from users, resulting in cumulat…

BEIJING -- Geely Automobile said on Monday that it had proposed a share award program for employees as part of a "common prosperity" plan.

The Chinese government is encouraging companies to implement initiatives to share wealth as part of a "common prosperity" drive laid out by President Xi Jinping to ease inequality in the world's second-largest economy by increasing the earnings of low-income groups and curbing excessive wealth among individuals.

Under Geely's planned scheme, the carmaker will issue up to 350 million new shares for employees, representing around 3.56 percent of the company's current total number of issued shares, Geely said in a filing at Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Geely, China's biggest non-state owned carmaker, currently has a market capitalisation of over HK$264 billion ($33.90 billion).

The company said following adoption of the plan, its board would in a first phase grant 167 million shares to 10,884 selected participants. Read more

The ongoing chip shortage has forced Stellantis to halt Ram 1500 production this week at its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan.

The Sterling Heights facility, which employs 7,068 and operates on three shifts, will be down for one week. The plant also had downtime in July.

Sterling Heights is just one of several Stellantis sites cutting production.

The Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which builds the Jeep Cherokee, and the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, which handles the Pacifica and Voyager minivans, are down the weeks of Aug. 30 and Sept. 6.

The Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario, which assembles the Dodge Challenger, Charger and Chrysler 300, is down this week.

"Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry," the company said in a statement Monday.

The Windsor site was also down the weeks of Aug. …

Legal expert Justin Savage chats about the legalities of going public via a special-purpose acquisition company and lessons learned from recent probes into some EV startups.

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China Evergrande Group’s electric-vehicle unit said it might have to delay car production unless it can secure more capital in the short-term.

“The mass production of Hengchi vehicles has entered the final stretch, nonetheless the group is still facing challenges on its cash flows,” the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange Monday. “If the group lacks further capital contribution in the short term, the mass-production timetable of new energy vehicles may have to be delayed.”

The Hong Kong-listed unit, China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, reported a 4.8 billion yuan ($742 million) loss in the six months to June 30, it said earlier Monday, confirming a profit warning from the parent company last week. Revenue came in at 6.9 billion yuan, with the vast majority of that from the group’s health and aged-care business.

More than two years have now passed since Evergrande’s billionaire Chairman Hui Ka Yan pledged to overtake Elon Mus…

Hurricane Ida battered southeastern Louisiana with torrential rainfall and high winds Sunday and Monday, causing flooding and extensive power outages throughout the region and forcing auto dealerships to close.

More than 1 million homes and businesses in the state were without electricity Monday morning. All of New Orleans lost power Sunday evening because Ida caused extensive damage to the transmission system of Entergy, the city's main utility.

Ray Brandt Auto Group has nine stores in the state. Several are clustered around New Orleans. The group said in a Facebook post that all of its dealerships would be closed on Monday.

Southland Dodge, a Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Fiat dealership in Houma, La., closed Saturday in anticipation of the storm.

Premier Automotive Group’s five Louisiana stores experienced no major damage but lost power, dealer principal Troy Duhon told Automotive News.

The group’s corporate office was vandalized and a vehic…

A 2019 Tesla Model 3 reportedly driving on Autopilot mode crashed into a parked Florida Highway Patrol car Saturday morning, according to a police report.

The state trooper had stopped to help the driver of a disabled 2012 Mercedes-Benz GLK350 on an interstate highway near downtown Orlando around 5 a.m. when the incident occurred, the report states.

The emergency lights were activated on the state patrol car -- a 2018 Dodge Charger -- when the 26-year-old female driver in the Tesla slammed into it and then crashed into the disabled vehicle, narrowly missing the trooper, the report says. There were no major injuries.

The Tesla's Autopilot advanced driver-assistance system was engaged when it struck the patrol car, police officials tweeted.

A NHTSA spokesperson had no immediate comment on the matter.

U.S. auto safety regulators this month opened an investigation into the EV maker's Autopilot mode after a series of collisions with first respo…

DETROIT — The new products are just the beginning.

Ford Motor Co. has shaken up its vehicle lineup in recent years, cutting slow-selling models and investing heavily in its well-known Mustang and Bronco subbrands, in a bid to increase profits while boasting the industry's freshest showroom.

Executives plan to continue adding exciting products and constantly update what's already in showrooms. But now the company is going further.

CEO Jim Farley laid out his strategy, dubbed Ford+, at an investor presentation this year. It involves connected technology and experiences that will lead to what he calls an "always-on" relationship with buyers aimed at keeping them in the Ford fold.

"Great products alone are not sufficient, though, to deliver Ford+," Farley said on the company's second-quarter earnings call. " 'Always-on' means we are regularly interacting with our customers on things large and small, and we're building new capabilities like connected…