Trade News

The Munich auto show, finally taking place Sept. 7-12, hasn't had an easy go of it. The expo, also known as IAA Mobility 2021, was intended to succeed Frankfurt as a still-Germanic go-to European show after the Frankfurt effort succumbed to automaker marketing pull-backs and consumer indifference in 2019.

Then a new complication hit, COVID-19.

Primarily, the fledgling Munich show is organized in three pieces:

The Summit, a traditional trade show Open Space, mostly outdoor interactive exhibits around the city Blue Lane, which "will connect the city center and the trade show with a test track where forward-looking mobility becomes a real experience."

Still, it's largely going to be a German-centric show for a German-centric audience, with some outside automakers dropping in new products or concepts because it has become harder to find an auto show that's still running right now. And while there may be some surprises, here's what's known or likely to be …

Honda has traditionally sponsored a week of community service among its employees, dealers and suppliers that marks the June founding of American Honda Motor Co. in 1959. But after canceling last year's effort because of the coronavirus pandemic, the automaker decided to think bigger for 2021 and made its Team Honda Week of Service last the entire summer.

Activities have included restocking food banks that were depleted during the ups and downs of the coronavirus crisis and helping with school supplies.

Expanding the effort to the entire summer "allows us flexibility to work with nonprofit organizations who faced increased demand but that were also still operating in that COVID environment," Yvette Hunsicker, vice president of corporate social responsibility, inclusion and diversity at American Honda, told Automotive News.

The service projects attempt to meet needs in individual communities across North America, where conditions diff…

Batteries have risen to the forefront of policy discussions as governments around the world commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the global market for electric vehicle batteries expected to hit almost $1 trillion by 2030, the U.S., China and Europe are jockeying for position in the race to produce cheaper, more efficient and safer batteries at scale.

As China dominates lithium ion battery production and builds factories at breakneck speed, Europe is on its tail, aiming to become the second-biggest battery cell-producing region by 2025. Although the U.S. has more technological innovation at its disposal, it needs to make significant strides to catch up.

The manufacturing of lithium ion batteries depends on key materials such as graphite, lithium and cobalt. These materials are used in today's active cathode materials and chemistries found in high-performing batteries: lithium ion, solid-state and silicon.

Chinese che…

Display screens got bigger. And then bigger. And then they swiveled. And now, with Mitsubishi Electric Corp.'s soon-to-debut Firebird platform, a driver can rotate the screen from vertical to horizontal. More significantly, Firebird serves as an integrated digital cockpit controller, using Amazon Alexa to execute vehicle functions through an Android 10 operating system.

Nissan jumped into the brave new world of digital retailing this spring, rolling out a nationwide online shopping platform.

And while hundreds of dealers have already adopted the retail tool, Nissan faces a sales job to get hundreds more on board.

While digital retailing is rapidly sweeping over the retail industry, some dealers are cautious about becoming early adopters of new platforms.

At the same time, public dealership groups with several franchises are unlikely to adopt a factory platform because they have standardized digital retailing systems across multiple brands.

But Nissan is hoping to overcome the hesitancy with a glitzy marketing campaign to win over dealers and drive consumer awareness of [email protected]

The campaign will kick into high gear in November and run through the end of the year.

"We're treating this with the magnitude of a vehicle launch," Nissan U.S. Vice Pres…

TOKYO — Even as it pushes ahead with big plans for electric vehicles, Hyundai Motor Group is readying a hydrogen blitz.

Hyundai, one of only a handful of auto industry true believers in the potential of hydrogen-powered vehicles, plans to present a vision for the future next week, showing how compressed gas can power everything from cars to freight haulers and all manner of new mobility.

Promo videos for the planned Sept. 7 event tease a high-powered racer tearing up a track, a buslike cross-country cargo mover, and the promise of the ability to "charge hydrogen, wherever you are."

"Join the hydrogen future full of surprises," the clips beseech.

The South Korean carmaker is billing the public proclamation as "Hydrogen Wave."

But the forum is expected to go beyond vehicles of the future by outlining plans for a hydrogen infrastructure that covers next-generation fuel cell systems, fueling networks and other…

Fairfax Assembly, a 34-year-old plant perched on the Kansas side of the Missouri River, has played a major role in keeping General Motors' profits flowing in as the microchip shortage hobbles global auto production.

It's just not the role that the more than 1,800 people who work there want.

The plant, which makes the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac XT4 crossover, has built nothing since the first week of February as GM diverts chips to plants that make more profitable vehicles. In the nearly seven months that Fairfax has been dark, GM's full-size SUV plant in Texas hasn't canceled a single scheduled day of production, and four other North American plants have missed less than two weeks.

No automaker has kept an assembly plant offline this year more than Fairfax has been.

"A lot of depression and anxiety has set in. It's a nonstop culture of 'what's next?' " said Anthony Walker, an employee assistance program work-f…

TOKYO — After fitful attempts to expand its Nismo performance line, Nissan is taking another step forward with the debut of a tuner-trim version of the Note Aura e-Power compact hatchback for Japan.

But more offerings could be on the way for the U.S. in the pickup or crossover segments.

Takao Katagiri, global CEO of Nismo, conceded that the subbrand's expansion plans have so far been largely focused on Nissan Motor Co.'s home market of Japan. But he said the carmaker is "having lots of discussions" about how to introduce more Nismo offerings geared toward U.S. tastes.

"When we look at the U.S. market and what our competitors are doing there, I think there is a possibility [for Nismo] in the crossover and truck segments going forward," Katagiri said at the unveiling this month of the Note Aura Nismo, a "Formula-E-inspired" revamp of the pedestrian Note Aura.

The Note Aura Nismo, which goes on sale this fall, adds to a d…

Canada will be an interested third party in discussions between the U.S. and Mexico over rules governing cars traded in North America, avoiding direct confrontation with the Biden administration ahead of elections next month while still showing concern about the U.S. position.

Mexico last week requested formal consultations with the U.S. to settle a disagreement over how to measure regional content for cars to trade duty-free. The U.S. insists on a stricter method than Mexico and Canada believe they agreed to for counting the origin of certain core parts including engines, transmissions and steering systems in the overall calculation, people familiar with the matter said last month.

The U.S. position on the rules in the trade deal known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement could push automakers to abandon the region due to cumbersome and costly content requirements, Luz Maria de la Mora, Mexico’s undersecretary of economy for foreign trade, said in an interview…

A pushup challenge on the showroom floor. Yoga classes. Monthly lunch-and-learns on various health topics. Step challenges. Quarterly wellness newsletters that feature recipes and highlight employee health successes.

These initiatives are part of the culture at Fred Beans Automotive Group of Doylestown, Pa., which has its own part-time wellness coordinator, Andrea Volm. The group's focus on healthy living has many benefits, company leaders say — from boosting employee performance and morale to serving as a tool for recruitment and retention — and the effort has led to healthier employees, driving down annual increases to health insurance.

"We know that taking care of yourself mentally, spiritually and physically actually brings along a better employee," said Beth Beans Gilbert, the group's vice president. "We know it's not just about being a great employee, that you have to have all these other things in place to really be successful."

Gilbert said she…