Trade News

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated sales of second-hand multi-purpose vehicles in June. 

Deliveries of used vehicles in China advanced for the second straight month in June, rising 25 percent, as chip shortages spurred consumers to choose used vehicles instead of waiting for new vehicles. 

Nearly 1.53 million second-hand vehicles were sold across the country last month, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association. 

Crossovers, SUVs and sedans drove the latest gains. 

Demand for used crossovers and SUVs surged 46 percent to some 165,800 in June.

Sales of second-hand sedans jumped 26 percent to roughly 923,400. 

And deliveries of used minibuses rose 22 percent to around 34,100, while demand for second-hand multi-purpose vehicles gained 21 percent to about 89,100. 

Demand for used commercial vehicles also remained strong in June, with truck sales increasing 13 percent…

Stellantis is scheduling more downtime at a number of its North American plants, including Detroit's Jefferson North Assembly, a company spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

The Detroit plant, which makes the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango, will be down for several weeks. Layoffs are scheduled from July 11 to Aug. 1. A shutdown was previously scheduled from Aug. 2 to 6, something Stellantis said is necessary to perform maintenance and begin work for future models. Production is set to resume Aug. 9.

The new downtime is a continued result of the global semiconductor chip shortage, according to a statement from Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.

Meanwhile, supply chain issues continue to impact manufacturing at other plants. Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico and Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario are set to be down through the end of the month.

And Stellantis said last week its other plant in Ontario — Brampton…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. auto safety regulators on Wednesday urged about 50,000 owners of General Motors electric Chevrolet Bolt vehicles that were recalled last year to park outside and away from homes and other structures after charging because of fire risks.

Earlier on Wednesday, GM made the same recommendation and added owners should not leave vehicles charging overnight. The recommendation was prompted after the largest U.S. automaker said it was investigating reports of two recent fires in vehicles that were recalled in November for fire risks.

The 50,000 U.S. Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles are from the 2017-2019 model years and were recalled for the potential of an unattended fire in the high-voltage battery pack underneath the backseat’s bottom cushion.

NHTSA opened an investigation in October into the Bolt fires, the agency noted Wednesday and "continues to evaluate the information received, and is looking into these latest fires." Read more

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp.'s automated-driving subsidiary Woven Planet is making its second major acquisition, buying an American artificial intelligence company that will help the world's largest automaker generate next-generation mapping for self-driving cars.

Woven Planet declined to disclose how much it will spend to buy Carmera Inc., a company with offices in New York and Seattle that develops high-definition digital maps using vehicular crowdsourcing and remote sensing to capture street-level change. But the deal follows Woven Planet's $550 million purchase in April of Level 5, the self-driving car unit of ride-hailing giant Lyft.

The Carmera acquisition gives Woven Planet a quick boost in automatically updated high-definition mapping, a key technology for all manner of self-driving new mobility. The technology is critical to creating precise maps that quickly and affordably stay updated with changes in the road scape.

In a n…

Kimbal Musk, a Tesla Inc. board member, told a Delaware judge he didn’t know his billionaire brother Elon Musk was pushing the company to quickly acquire SolarCity in 2016 and said he didn’t give much weight to concerns about the solar-power provider’s financial problems.

“I was unaware of my brother’s activities” surrounding the SolarCity deal, Kimbal Musk told Delaware Chancery Court Judge Joseph Slights III on Wednesday, a day after Tesla founder Elon Musk testified at a trial of a lawsuit filed by shareholders over the matter.

Elon Musk told the judge Tuesday that he recused himself from voting on the acquisition because he served as chairman and largest shareholder of both companies at the time of the buyout. Still, he had urged a speedup of due-diligence reviews of the deal in mid-2016 even as advisers at Evercore Partners wanted to dig deeper into a cash crunch at the maker of solar roof panels.

The trial is laser focused on what role Musk playe…

Volkswagen has detailed pricing and model features for the U.S. versions of its eighth-generation Golf GTI and Golf R hot hatches, which go on sale in the fourth quarter.

The German brand showed the U.S. versions of the 2022 models Wednesday at the Chicago Auto Show. They are already on sale in Europe.

The GTI, which comes in three trim levels, will start at $30,540. The Golf R will come in a single trim level starting at $44,640. Both prices include shipping.

Equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and either a six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic, depending on the model, the latest GTI and Golf R feature improved power, handling and interior technologies over the previous-generation models, VW says.

The GTI makes 241 hp and 273 pound-feet of torque, while the Golf R makes 315 hp and up to 295 pound-feet of torque. VW says the speed of both models is electronically limited to 155 mph.

The U.S. spe…

Former Prime Automotive Group CEO David Rosenberg has purchased two more stores as he continues to build a new dealership group.

Rosenberg, with partners and brothers Rick and Mike Bickford, on June 30 bought Tri-City Subaru and Tri-City Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Somersworth, N.H.

The sellers were brothers Kenneth Plante, Roger Plante and Steve Plante. Rosenberg says he is keeping the stores' names, while Jordan Plante, a family member of the sellers, will remain general manager of the Subaru store. Somersworth is about 20 miles from the Atlantic coast.

"The stores have a great reputation," Rosenberg told Automotive News. "They've been in business a long time. We're keeping all the staff that works at both dealerships."

Rosenberg, a longtime Northeast dealer, said he previously worked with the Bickford brothers at Prime and described them as "great operators." They own a combined 40 percent in the dealerships, he said.

"It's been the…

The inventory shortage on new and used vehicles prompted by the microchip shortage is changing finance-and-insurance conversations in dealerships, experts say, as consumers consider their purchase more valuable.

Auto dealerships report increased ease in generating profits in the finance-and-insurance office, from dealer reserves rising alongside vehicle transaction prices to an increased appreciation for protection products.

Jason Garner, senior vice president of strategic product development at AUL Corp., said the dearth of new-vehicle inventory is driving up used-car pricing to astonishing heights — so much so that some used cars may be sell for more than their new counterparts. Lenders are cautious when underwriting loans at inflated levels, he said, which can benefit dealers.

"Lenders are giving a lot of leeway and giving more room for aftermarket products to allow the dealers to make money," Garner said.

Customers …

Longtime Tulsa, Okla., auto dealer Don Thornton died Friday at age 87.

Thornton spent more than 50 years in the business. He got his start working in automotive sales at Greensboro Ford in his native North Carolina after serving several years in the U.S. Air Force. In 1966, he moved to Dallas and became general sales manager for Maher Brothers Ford.

Thornton later moved to Tulsa. In the 1970s, he purchased Southland Volkswagen and later acquired Crawford Ford, which became Don Thornton Ford. Despite suffering from floods in 1974, 1976 and 1984, the store managed to win numerous awards. Don Thornton Ford was the top-volume store in Tulsa for many years, according to his obituary. He sold the store in 1998.

Thornton purchased Lexus and Land Rover dealerships in 2000 and added Cadillac, Volkswagen, Audi and Jaguar franchises over the next 15 years.

He was a member of the dealer councils for Ford and Lexus. He also had serve…

WILMINGTON -- Elon Musk is expected to take the stand on Monday to defend Tesla Inc.'s 2016 acquisition of SolarCity against a lawsuit by shareholders seeking to recoup the $2.6 billion the company paid for the ailing solar panel maker.

His testimony will kick off a two-week trial in Wilmington, Del., before Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights, who will decide whether the SolarCity deal was fair to Tesla stockholders.

The lawsuit by union pension funds and asset managers alleges the celebrity CEO strong-armed Tesla's board to buy SolarCity, just as it was about to run out of cash. Musk owned a 22 percent stake in SolarCity, which was founded by his cousins.

Shareholders asked the court to order Musk, one of world's richest people, to repay to Tesla what it spent on the deal, which would represent one of the largest judgments ever against an individual. However, even if the judge finds the deal was unfair, he could award a much lower amount of damages.

…

STOCKHOLM -- Volvo Cars has bought additional shares in Polestar, the electric-vehicle maker controlled by China's Geely, Volvo's parent company.

The investment lifts Volvo's stake to 49.5 percent. It comes after Polestar raised $550 million in its first external funding round in April.

"The move reflects Volvo Cars' strong conviction in Polestar's positioning and exciting potential in the high growth segment for premium electric vehicles," Volvo said in a statement.

The purchase sees Volvo's stake returning to the level it previously had, before the April funding round, when Polestar received a cash injection from Chinese investors Chongqing Chengxing Equity Investment Fund Partnership and Zibo.

Polestar produces two electric performance cars in China -- the low volume Polestar 1 hybrid GT and the full-electric Polestar 2. A Polestar 3 is planned as well as a model based on the 2020 Precept concept.

Volvo said it had no further plans to in…