Trade News

LOS ANGELES — In a few short months, a new chapter will start for the Hyundai Ioniq nameplate as the automaker sets out to capture 10 percent of the global electric vehicle market by 2025 and fully electrify its lineup by 2040.

The Ioniq name will go from representing an eco-friendly hatchback in hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric variants to a subbrand that will offer three new EVs in the U.S. by 2024, starting with the Ioniq 5 compact crossover in the fall. A stylish midsize sedan and a three-row crossover will follow.

But a chapter is also ending, and it says something about the near-term direction of the EV industry in the U.S. that is unfortunate.

Many of the coming EVs are overweight resource hogs, often with massive batteries and inefficient SUV designs as part of a raging battle over range, power and consumer taste.

They are also pretty pricey.

In contrast, Hyundai's affordable Ioniq electric variant, which was the most efficient …

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate's passage of a bipartisan infrastructure bill last week that includes billions in funding for electric vehicle charging stations represents a key stepping stone for the industry as automakers strive to reach greater EV sales targets by the end of the decade.

President Joe Biden's industry-supported target of having half of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. be emissions-free in 2030 — bolstered by proposed rules for more stringent fuel-efficiency and emissions standards — could be a catalyst for the industry's EV transformation.

John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said it will require a comprehensive national strategy that includes supportive policies, public and private investment, and broad-based incentives.

"The necessary complementary policy measures are important," said Bozzella, whose group represents most major automakers in the U.S. "When you think about the enormity of th…

Old habits die hard in the auto industry. Yet, the pandemic has revealed that change born of necessity can be a blessing in disguise. Dealers who formerly did not embrace digital retailing tools, for example, accelerated adoption last year, and in a survey from digital financial solutions provider eLend, 87 percent reported that digital retail-initiated transactions resulted in unchanged or higher gross income per vehicle retailed.

I would argue another change will have great value for, and be embraced by, new-vehicle retailers: the service department business development center.

I have spoken with a few dealers who told me their automaker partners are encouraging dealers to look to service to help make up any profits lost by a lack of new inventory, including implementing a BDC.

Record-high transaction prices and a scarcity of new models stemming from the global microchip shortage are leading more customers to hold onto older vehicles or shop the used-…

Volvo Cars isn't waffling in its embrace of a zero- emissions future. By 2030, the Swedish automaker plans to ditch combustion engines globally and go all-electric. Volvo also is debuting a new retail strategy for its battery-electric vehicles — selling them online only for a fixed, no-haggle price that will include service, roadside assistance and insurance costs.

"We are convinced the premium car market will be electric," Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Automotive News in June.

By going all-EV, "we believe that is going to secure a better business, a better profitability for us, because being a sustainable brand is making us more premium," Samuelsson said.

Volvo launched its EV offensive last year with the debut of a battery-powered version of its XC40 compact crossover. As of this July, the brand's electrified Recharge models represented 20 percent of its U.S. sales.

EV sales are likely to go still higher with…

The Swedish electrified performance startup Polestar began U.S. deliveries of its first mainstream model, the China-made Polestar 2, late last year.

This year, the Volvo-affiliated manufacturer will introduce a single-motor version of the Polestar 2 fastback, lowering the price of entry into the brand by $14,000.

Polestar also is bringing manufacturing stateside to avoid import tariffs and to be closer to U.S. customers. Production of the Porsche Cayenne-sized Polestar 3 will begin in South Carolina — and China — late next year.

Polestar intends to be a global brand, CEO Thomas Ingenlath told Automotive News in June. "So the plan has been to expand our footprint in terms of where we produce our cars," Ingenlath said.

The automaker also plans to introduce a large performance sedan and potentially a compact crossover. To sell the expanding portfolio of models, Polestar expects to have 35 retail stores across the continen…

As auto suppliers convalesce from 18 months of COVID-19 shutdowns and microchip shortages, more private equity firms are looking to snatch them up. And private equity firms are increasingly willing to pay higher prices if it means getting a crack at participating in the industry's historic shift to electric vehicles and autonomous driving.

"This is a big year for financial investors in the automotive space," said Dietmar Ostermann, U.S. automotive advisory leader for the international financial advisory firm PwC. "More PE firms are entering the automotive space because they see this interesting technology revolution taking place in electric vehicles and connected cars. And there is a feeling among some of them that they're smarter than the auto industry because automotive isn't used to dealing with big change.

"They want in."

PwC estimates that 2021 will see 174 supplier M&A deals by year-end, up from 101 last year and 159 in pre-pandemic 2019. In …

FRANKFURT -- French supplier Faurecia on Saturday agreed to acquire a majority stake in German automotive lighting group Hella and will make a public tender offer for the remaining shares for 60 euros ($70.75) apiece.

Faurecia struck the deal with a pool of family-related shareholders over their 60 percent stake, Hella said in a statement on Saturday.

Hella ranks No. 41 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $5.5 billion during its 2020 fiscal year.

Tesla Inc. wants Robyn Denholm to remain as chair of the electric-vehicle manufacturer’s board, even as CEO Elon Musk will soon become eligible to retake the top job following a three-year suspension.

Musk, who has led the EV maker since 2008, lost his position as chair as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over his ill-fated attempt to take Tesla private in 2018.

The SEC agreement, announced in September of that year, required Musk to step down from the role and be replaced by an independent chair for three years, a period which ends later this year. Denholm, 57, has served on Tesla’s board since August 2014 and been its chair since November 2018.

“We believe that Ms. Denholm possesses specific attributes that qualify her to serve as a member of the board and as its chair,” Tesla said Friday in its proxy filing. The company cited her “leadership experience and her financial and accounting expertise.”

The EV mar…

Well into her career, Emily Eldridge decided to go back to school and get her MBA. Her son was 5 years old, and her daughter only 2. Although the executive MBA program at the University of Michigan was tough, requiring a family “juggling act” of evening and weekend classes, she says “the outcome was so worth it.”

The best part, Eldridge says — the confidence boost — was having the opportunity to work on a project in an industry she was not familiar with. She was able to offer “strategic direction, because the learnings I had in the auto industry were transferrable,” she says. “It was such a great feeling to know that I wasn’t siloed — that the skills and knowledge I had learned, while they might look disjointed, have all come together in the person I am today.”

Eldridge’s skills and knowledge have been accumulated during a career that started in retail and moved into the auto industry. She is currently senior director, messaging for FordDirect, the joint ventur…

Doctors appointed to evaluate whether Texas software mogul Robert Brockman is competent to stand trial for tax fraud improperly helped U.S. prosecutors gather evidence against him, his lawyers claim in a court filing.

Brockman, 80, has said that his dementia prevents him from helping to defend against charges that he evaded taxes on $2 billion in income. Three doctors appointed by a federal judge to examine Brockman have found he’s competent.

But in a court filing Wednesday, his defense lawyers said the doctors aren’t “genuine neutral experts.” Rather, they asked Brockman about “his view of the potential evidence, facts underlying the charges in the indictment, and the defense strategy,” according to the filing.

Lawyers for Brockman said they consented to the appointment of the three doctors, assuming they would act neutrally as agents of the court. The defense team said it didn’t agree “that these doctors, under the guise of medical examinations, could…