Trade News

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. slashed an eye-opening 20 months off the product development time of the 2022 Maverick compact pickup not because it could — but because it had to.

An aging lineup and a bureaucratic corporate hierarchy had weakened what former CEO Jim Hackett called Ford's "competitive fitness." Almost immediately after becoming CEO in May 2017, Hackett promised faster decision-making, new ways of working focused on what he coined "human-centered design" and a reduction in the number of vehicle architectures to a flexible few, which would cut engineering costs and improve speed to market.

Designers and engineers got their first chance to turn Hackett's press release promises into reality when Ford in 2018 announced a plan to drop all sedans in North America. Suddenly, there was room in its lineup for an affordable vehicle — but to fill the space and avoid losing entry-level customers, the project would need to move quickly.

But more importantly…

Rivian Automotive Inc., the EV startup backed by Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Co., is in talks with the U.K. government on building its first manufacturing plant outside the U.S. near the English city of Bristol, Sky News reported.

The investment would probably include a large state-support package, but the U.K. faces competition from Germany and the Netherlands for the site, Sky cited industry sources as saying. Talks with the U.K. government are at an early stage, and an investment could be worth more than 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion), it said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has taken a keen interest in the progress of the talks, although they are not yet at an advanced stage, Sky reported. Attracting environmentally friendly investment in the U.K. is a key part of Johnson’s plan for post-Brexit Britain and his climate agenda.

Gravity, a 616-acre campus near Bristol, southwest England, has been identified by Rivian as a possible location for the new…

Sonic Automotive Inc.'s strategic review of its EchoPark used-vehicle operation reveals just how much potential the retailer's leaders think the business has.

Growth projections provided by Sonic executives for EchoPark last week would put the size of that unit at 2 million vehicles sold annually a decade from now. That's more than twice the volume that used-car megaretailer CarMax sells now. One analyst covering Sonic speculated that the EchoPark review could be the precursor to a spinoff of the rapidly growing business.

Sonic launched EchoPark in 2014 as a used-vehicle store in the Denver market, and the business has since expanded to 29 locations nationwide. EchoPark sold 40,931 vehicles in the first half of 2021. The unit lost money in the second quarter but has broken even or turned a profit in some previous quarters starting with the first quarter of 2019.

Sonic, the nation's seventh-largest new-vehicle retailer, announced la…

LOS ANGELES — When Hyundai Motor Group was developing the E-GMP architecture for its new generation of electric vehicles, the automaker was thinking well beyond EV competitors such as Volkswagen and Ford, or even Tesla.

The new Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover needed to offer clear superiority over electric rivals in fast-charge capabilities, while closing ground on the refueling king of them all: internal combustion engines.

That is an extremely heavy lift. EVs may be quieter, quicker and more environmentally friendly than comparable ICE vehicles, but nothing beats liquid fuels such as gasoline for adding range very, very fast.

"If you compare us to a Tesla Model Y or an electric SUV in our segment, we're going to dominate them on miles of range added," said Ryan Miller, manager of electrified powertrain development at the Hyundai Kia America Technical Center in Chino, Calif. But he added: "Our ultimate goal is not competitor EVs — it's i…

TOKYO — The redesigned Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander, hot-selling crossover stablemates recently rolled out by the Japanese partners, are helping the two troubled automakers bounce back to profitability with improved brand positioning and brighter financial outlooks.

Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. each jumped back into the black in the latest quarter, erasing year-earlier operating losses as the hero nameplates buoyed U.S. sales.

The new offerings, which share substantial platform and drivetrain elements, saw booming demand in the companies' fiscal first quarter ended June 30. Surging sales helped the brands, both known for their down-market positioning in recent years, rein in incentives and boost value.

U.S. sales of the Rogue, introduced late last year, more than doubled in the April-June quarter, while deliveries of the Outlander, released in April, also more than doubled in the period.

The upsw…

Dana Inc. and American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., two of the world's largest axle suppliers, reported on Friday multiple gains in the second quarter as the industry continues the long haul of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dana said its performance in the second quarter benefited from ongoing strong demand across its three business segments.

The company posted revenue of $2.21 billion, up nearly 105 percent from $1.08 billion in the same period last year.

The Maumee, Ohio-based axle and transmission producer swung to net income of $53 million in the quarter from a net loss of $173 million in the year-earlier period.

"We continue to actively manage through a challenging supply-chain environment, and our team has done an excellent job proactively responding to the regional impacts of COVID-19," Dana CEO James Kamsickas said in a statement.

Dana's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization st…

A tornado ripped through a suburban Philadelphia Buick GMC dealership on Thursday night, injuring four people and causing major property damage.

Faulkner Buick GMC Trevose said it will be closed indefinitely while it repairs the storm damage. Trevose is a city within Bensalem Township, Pa.

A video shared to TikTok by someone inside the store shows how the tornado severely damaged the showroom and vehicles.

Crews from the Trevose Fire and Eddington Fire companies late Thursday entered the partially collapsed building, clearing the dealership, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. Everyone inside all Faulkner dealerships was accounted for, the dealership group confirmed in a Facebook post.

Family-owned Faulkner Automotive Group has 28 rooftops in the Philadelphia area.

The tornado hit the region about 7 p.m. Thursday. Images shared on social media last night showed the damage to Faulkner Trevose dealership and urged people to avoid th…

Jeep Gladiator production at Stellantis' Toledo, Ohio, assembly complex will be idled next week, making the midsize pickup the latest casualty in the global microchip shortage.

The third-bestselling midsize pickup in the U.S. this year is built at the automaker's Toledo South Assembly Plant. Production is expected to be halted for a week, the company said.

The Gladiator sits only behind the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger in the midsize pickup segment. U.S. sales of the Gladiator rose 40 percent to 48,784 in the first half.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said last week that he expects the chip shortage to drag into 2022.

He said the automaker is now making "a certain number of decisions in terms of changing the diversity of conductors."

The company's Jefferson North factory in Detroit, which builds the Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, has been down since July 11 and will resume production Aug. 9.

The automaker said Jeep Cherokee p…

One of Automotive News' top 150 dealership groups continued its Texas expansion, while the owner of a rental car company made its first dealership acquisition.

Here's a look at the two deals that closed this month and involved domestic-brand stores.

Ed Morse Automotive Group expanded its growing Texas footprint with the purchase of two dealerships Monday.

The Delray Beach, Fla., group acquired Donaghe Buick-GMC and Donaghe Ford, both in Greenville, from Chance Donaghe. Greenville is about an hour's drive northeast of Dallas.

The group now has seven dealerships in North Texas and one in Durant, Okla., near the Texas border.

With the Greenville transaction, Ed Morse now has each of the Detroit 3 automakers represented in Texas, which CEO Teddy Morse described as "one of the greatest truck markets in the country."

"We have a presence currently in the area, and we are looking to increase that," Mo…

How the auto industry can avoid supply disruptions of maintenance, repair and operations materials such as janitorial products and PPE

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Editor's note: This story is part of a special section on the accelerating pace of automotive development, engineering, innovation and manufacturing to be published on Monday, Aug. 2.

When it comes to electrifying trucks, automakers want to make sure their vehicles will have the same brawny towing and hauling capabilities that drivers are used to, even with an electrified axle.

That can take a lot of development time, and these days, automakers are in no mood to let anything take a lot of time.

That's why North America's largest supplier is looking to speed up truck electrification — without sacrificing a truck's best utility traits.

Magna International says its eBeam approach will bring new electrified pickups and light-commercial vehicles to market faster by using new drop-in replacements for traditional beam axles, said Ryan Shaw, Magna's manager of advanced engineering driveline systems in North America.

"It's one of the purest North A…

Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will reinstate a mask mandate for workers at facilities in Kentucky, two days after making a similar announcement for workers in Missouri and Florida.

The automaker informed workers the mandate will go into effect Saturday. Ford has two assembly plants in the state: Kentucky Truck Plant, where workers build the Super Duty, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator; and the Louisville Assembly Plant, where workers build the Escape and Corsair.

A Ford spokeswoman reiterated a statement issued Tuesday that Ford could make additional changes as necessary based on data. The delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 continues to spread in various areas throughout the U.S.

Also this week Ford said it will require U.S. employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before any international business travel, based on recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.