Trade News

Auto retail industry stalwart JM Family Enterprises is the lead investor in a new venture capital financing for Skaivision, a developer of computer vision artificial intelligence for automotive dealerships.

JM Family declined to disclose the size of its investment, other than to note that it is in the "single-digit millions" range. The Deerfield Beach, Fla., company chose to invest in Skaivision because it saw great customer service potential in its technology, according to Pearl Percy, JM Family's chief corporate development officer.

"We liked the fact that they're using AI technology in a way to create better customer outcomes in the dealership that ultimately help our dealer partners be better at their job of providing excellent customer service," Percy told Automotive News.

Skaivision, founded in 2021, formally rolled out its Computer Vision AI technology in January — designing it to be an off-the-shelf tool that works with existing automotive deal…

HONG KONG — Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD Co. forecast strong growth in six-month net profit on Friday, buoyed by robust vehicle sales and increased market share.

Net profit for the first six months of the year would rise as much as 225.4 percent to 11.7 billion yuan ($1.64 billion) from 3.6 billion yuan the year before, it said in a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange.

The bottom end of its forecast range was 10.5 billion yuan, up 192.1 percent from the year before.

"The sales volume of the company's new energy vehicles has achieved strong growth from a high base in the same period last year, and continued to consolidate its leadership in new energy vehicle industry," BYD said in the filing.

BYD and U.S. rival Tesla set record deliveries of China-made vehicles in the second-quarter, according to industry data, as a fight for market share heats up.

BYD has proposed a $1 billion investment plan to build electric cars and batterie…

In April 2020, amid a worldwide shutdown that halted auto manufacturing across the globe, Mazda Motor Corp. was evaluating whether it would be able to open its global manufacturing facilities — including its plant in Hiroshima, Japan, where the automaker is headquartered.

Mazda North America Operations, which was then importing all of its vehicles from overseas or Mexico, was working against the tide to launch a full suite of automotive finance and lease options in the U.S., backed by Toyota Motor Credit Corp.

"While it was a very challenging time to get systems aligned and dealers trained on the new processes, delaying the launch was never a consideration," Tom Donnelly, Mazda North America Operations CEO, told Automotive News. Mazda and Toyota were aligned in getting the program started, despite the hurdles, he said.

The program was a replacement for the existing partnership Mazda had with JPMorgan Chase that ran from 2009 to 20…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Self-driving setbacks: AV companies bruised in California showdowns

SAN FRANCISCO — Delays, defeat and dystopia.

Tuesday marked a sobering and perhaps seminal milepost in efforts to deploy and expand the presence of autonomous vehicles in California.

In the morning, the California Public Utilities Commission again delayed a vote on commercial robotaxi applications from Cruise and Waymo. Cruise wants to expand and Waymo wants to begin service in San Francisco.

In the afternoon, a state Senate subcommittee unanimously advanced legislation that would prohibit self-driving trucks from operating on the state's roads.

In between, Jeffrey Tumlin, director of transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency, said current deployments on city streets have sown havoc. He warned that without cooperation from self-driving technology companies, self-driving taxis could cause "dystopic scenarios" related to traffic a…

A global shortage of semiconductor chips was the automotive industry's kryptonite for most of 2021 and 2022. But the crisis is now fading, S&P Global Mobility said Thursday.

The chip shortage cost the industry the production of about 9.5 million light vehicles in 2021, according to S&P Global Mobility estimates, and another 3 million in 2022. In the first half of 2023, production cutbacks tied to chip shortages fell to about 524,000 vehicles. Supply remains constrained, but automakers have been able to adapt production schedules as chip availability becomes more predictable, S&P Global Mobility said.

"We are now in a position where the auto industry has adapted to a constrained supply, and as a result is much less likely to be hit by significant disruption," Mark Fulthorpe, S&P Global Mobility executive director of global light vehicle production, said in a statement.

Sam Fiorani, AutoForecast Solutions vice president for global vehicle …

The Michigan Supreme Court issued a key opinion this week in a case about supply chain contracts that clarifies uncertainty over terms and conditions and likely gives sellers more leverage at the negotiation table.

In MSSC Inc. v. AirBoss Flexible Products Co. — a local case stemming from a typical pricing dispute between a tier 1 and tier 2 supplier — the high court indicated that supply agreements are not requirements contracts by default, according to the opinion led by Justice Elizabeth Welch.

What it means is that buyers must be explicit in their contracts about what they intend to buy from sellers, rather than keeping the terms vague and therefore more flexible, often to the benefit of buyers. It levels the playing field for buyers and sellers, said Michael Brady, executive partner at Warner Norcross + Judd in Detroit and lead counsel to AirBoss in the case against its buyer.

"This case will have wide implications in the supply chain world," Brady…

Online used-vehicle retailer Shift Technologies Inc. said Tuesday that the company is restructuring and reducing its employee headcount by one-third.

Shift Technologies of San Francisco is cutting its headcount — which it reported to be 459 as of March 31 — by about 34 percent as it focuses "all resources" on its omnichannel used-vehicle operations and works to improve cost efficiency, according to a regulatory document it filed Tuesday.

About 60 percent of the roles cut are operational, primarily the result of "eliminating centralized support," according to a news release. The rest are concentrated among technology roles because the company also is eliminating investment into its dealer marketplace business. General corporate roles also are being reduced, the news release said.

In the Tuesday filing, the company said it expected the restructuring to be "substantially completed" that same day.

"We are moving with a great sense of urgency to impro…

Porsche Cars North America's former top executive, Kjell Gruner, is said to be headed to the U.S. electric vehicle upstart Rivian Automotive, sources have told Automotive News.

Gruner did not return a request for comment on email and LinkedIn this week.

When reached for comment, a Rivian spokesperson said: "I don't have any information to provide at this time."

On Thursday, Germany's Manager Magazin also reported that Gruner is expected to take a job at Rivian.

On July 5, Porsche announced Gruner was leaving the sports carmaker "at his own request" and less than three years on the job.

In his relatively short tenure as CEO, Gruner steered Porsche's U.S. business through the pandemic and set the brand on track to hit a three-year sales high this year.

Porsche told dealers it expects U.S. sales to hit 80,000 next year, up nearly 15 percent from 2022.

Gruner's role at Rivian is unknown, but the executive is not likely to replac…

Lithia, aiming for $50 billion in sales by 2025, is looking into new business lines to keep growing. Autonomous vehicles may get a new regulatory path for reaching the road. BMW and other luxury brands push EVs while a major supplier starts making fuel cell modules for hydrogen-powered semi trucks.

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