Trade News

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…

Since leading the U.S. materials supplier GST AutoLeather out of its bankruptcy three years ago, CEO Randy Johnson has kept his attention focused on three campaigns: improving global operations by instilling the lean-thinking Toyota Production System; being unwavering in the company's commitment to leather as its only material; and exploring new ideas for how cowhides make their way into cars and trucks.

On those first two counts, Johnson reports that GST is back, earning new business at the rate of twice its current market share. And to reflect its changing fortunes, the privately held company this year changed its name to Pangea.

But it is on that third count — innovation — that he says the supplier is really experiencing a heyday.

Pangea has developed a tanning method that improves the appearance of its leather while taking cost out of it. The company has also introduced a patented surface treatment, called 3D Embossing, that wi…

From the peak of the hype cycle through the depths of disillusionment, the question at the core of the self-driving technology industry remains unchanged: How safe is safe enough?

Most companies have attempted to answer that question with tangible statistics. Number of miles driven. Number of crashes. Rate of disengagements or interventions over number of miles tested. But these metrics have provided, at best, a snapshot glance at safety. At worst, they're a proxy for actual progress.

What constitutes an appropriate level of safety for deployments of self-driving vehicles on public roads is still ambiguous.

"It's almost like going back to English class and thinking about how you actually make a sentence," said Nat Beuse, Aurora's head of safety. "There's an eerie similarity there. In order to construct a proper sentence, there's a way you have to do it. And for a safety case, I think there's a way you have to do it, too."

At the top level of tho…

Nissan's U.S. production continues to feel the effect of a COVID-19 outbreak at a microchip supplier plant in Malaysia this month.

The Malaysian situation had already closed the Nissan's Smyrna, Tenn., plant through Aug. 30. But that interruption will be extended through Sept. 12, affecting production of key models including the Nissan Rogue and Pathfinder and Infiniti QX60 crossovers.

In addition, Nissan's Aguascalientes, Mexico, factory will be idled through Sept. 5, which will impact the Versa, Kicks and Sentra models.

In a memo sent to dealers late Friday and obtained by Automotive News, Nissan said it expects U.S. production to be cut by about 36 percent in September.

Including the newly announced downtime, Nissan is forecast to lose 157,000 units of North American production this year, according to AutoForecast Solutions (AFS).

On Aug. 10, Nissan announced that Smyrna operations would be idled for two we…

Cox Automotive's parent company will require employees in some of its locations to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-October or face termination, Automotive News has learned.

Cox Enterprises, which includes dealership technology unit Cox Automotive, set an Oct. 18 deadline for employees in certain locations to receive full vaccination against COVID-19, with an exception for approved religious and medical reasons, the company said Thursday in a statement provided to Automotive News.

Atlanta-based Cox declined to disclose the company locations covered by the vaccine requirement or specify how it will determine what qualifies as an approved exemption.

"With the rapid spike in COVID-19 cases across the country, vaccines are an important step to protect the health and safety of our employees, families, customers and communities," Cox said in the statement. "We will continue to follow the guidance of federal, state and local health officials to assess ou…

Dodge is using a logo from its past on the electrified vehicles that will take it into the future.

The muscle car brand is bringing back the triangular "fratzog" for its eco-friendly speedsters, said brand CEO Tim Kuniskis. The logo appeared on a mysterious, blacked-out model during Dodge's Stellantis EV day presentation in July where Kuniskis announced the brand would debut a battery-electric muscle car in 2024.

The logo, used from 1962 to 1976 according to CNBC, pays homage to the brand's history.

"I think it fits perfectly with electrified technology, especially when you make it 3D and light it up," Kuniskis told Automotive News during a media preview for the Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event this month that featured drag racing and Hellcat thrill rides. "I think it looks really cool, really modern, really fresh, but at the same time, a nod to our heritage, which is what we do. We're never going to walk away from that."

DETROIT -- Phil Brook, the Buick and GMC marketing chief who led a splashy, wide-ranging GMC Hummer reveal, has retired from General Motors, effective Aug. 1.

Molly Peck, Buick sales and marketing executive director of SAIC-GM in China, will become vice president of Buick-GMC marketing Sept. 1, GM told Automotive News.

Peck, a three-decade veteran of GM, has held lead sales and marketing roles across each of GM's four brands in the U.S., Shanghai and Dubai.

During her most recent post in China, Peck's team established product strategy, marketing best practices and sales innovations to expand Buick in China, GM said. Last year, Buick volume grew 4.1 percent to 885,207 vehicles in China. Sales of Buick SUVs climbed 50 percent.

In her new role, one of Peck's first tasks will be to launch the electric Hummer pickup, slated to go on sale this year, after a nearly 10-year hiatus for the nameplate. GM aims to launch an all-electric lineup by 2035.…

Documents filed by General Motors and Hyundai Motor Co. with the U.S. auto safety regulator show how the two automakers separately identified the same cause of battery fires in their newest electric vehicles, tracing them to similar manufacturing defects in battery cells made at at least two plants operated by a unit of LG Chem.

"Together with our client and partners, LG is actively working to ensure that the recall measures are carried out smoothly," an LG spokesperson said on Friday. "The reserves and ratio of cost to the recall will be decided depending on the result of the joint investigation looking into the root cause, currently being held by GM, LG Electronics and LG Energy Solution."

GM and Hyundai linked the fires to lithium-ion battery cells supplied by LG Energy Solution, an LG Chem subsidiary and one of the world’s largest battery manufacturers. The cells were produced at LG plants in South Korea and China.

Meanwhile, in Korea, a recent decli…