Trade News

Wholesale used-vehicle prices declined to a sharper degree in June, according to one major indicator.

Cox Automotive said Monday its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index — a measurement of wholesale used-vehicle prices calculated by tracking vehicles sold at Manheim's U.S. auctions and applying statistical analysis to those figures — fell 4.2 percent in June from May. Cox adjusts that figure for mix, mileage and seasonality.

The Manheim index was 10.3 percent lower last month compared with the same month in 2022, according to Cox. The company also reported nonadjusted figures for the Manheim index — down 3.8 percent in June from May and down 10.1 percent year over year.

The 4.2 percent decline is "among the largest declines in [Manheim index] history" and the largest since the intensification of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, when the index "plunged 11.4 percent," said Chris Frey, senior manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive. Read more

China's passenger vehicle sales fell in June, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday, as a stumbling economic recovery made consumers more cautious about big-ticket spending.

Car sales in June totalled 1.91 million units, down 2.9 percent from last year, the CPCA data showed. However, sales advanced 2.5 percent to 9.65 million units in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including pure battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids, jumped more than 25 percent in June and accounted for roughly 35 percent of the total car sales. NEV sales surged more than 37 percent to 3.09 million units in the first six months.

Both Tesla and rival BYD made record deliveries of their China-made vehicles in the second quarter, despite a hazy recovery for the sector. Chinese automakers counted more on overseas markets to sustain their sales growth, with car exports soaring 56 percent in June.…

Fred Chapman has a message for Ford Motor Co., which is planning to build a sprawling factory on the outskirts of this town to make batteries for EVs and which promises to employ 2,500 people. “We don’t need jobs,” he says.

That’s a surprising view coming from Chapman, a 62-year-old toolmaker who has spent his whole career in manufacturing and watched, over the decades, as factory after factory in the region shut down, including one in Marshall that made auto parts where Chapman worked for nearly a decade. He now commutes to a factory job in a nearby city.

One of the most enduring ideas in the U.S. industrial heartland is that a manufacturing renaissance is necessary to finally shake the region's “Rust Belt” image. And there are some signs that may be starting to happen.

Construction spending on U.S. factories more than doubled over the past year, hitting an annual rate of nearly $200 billion in May, according to the Census Bureau. 

Preside…

A few weeks ago I interviewed Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier, the creative pair behind the proposed docuseries "More Than Cars." Daly and Mountsier want to create a Netflix-style seriesthat pulls back the curtain at dealerships across the U.S. to give viewers a look at the jobs there and the people who do them.

For instance, in the pilot episode the two interviewed a sales adviser at a Texas Kia dealership who was doing DoorDash deliveries to make money. He did a middle-of-the-night food run to an executive from the dealership who figured someone who was working at 3 a.m. had the drive to succeed selling cars. Numbers were exchanged, an interview took place and the young man was hired.

This reminded me of the special stories behind so many of the people we cover in the pages of Automotive News when I read the entries of our 40 Under 40 candidates. People who were born into it and those who took circuitous routes to the automotive retail industry.

Like Jeff…

Introducing 40 young automotive leaders

A few weeks ago I interviewed Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier, the creative pair behind the proposed docuseries "More Than Cars." Daly and Mountsier want to create a Netflix-style seriesthat pulls back the curtain at dealerships across the U.S. to give viewers a look at the jobs there and the people who do them.

For instance, in the pilot episode the two interviewed a sales adviser at a Texas Kia dealership who was doing DoorDash deliveries to make money. He did a middle-of-the-night food run to an executive from the dealership who figured someone who was working at 3 a.m. had the drive to succeed selling cars. Numbers were exchanged, an interview took place and the young man was hired.

This reminded me of the special stories behind so many of the people we cover in the pages of Automotive News when I read the entries of our 40 Under 40 candidates. People who were born into it and those who took circuitous routes to…

Automotive News reporters Pete Bigelow and Molly Boigon discuss robotaxi problems in San Francisco, Volkswagen’s return to Austin, Texas, Lordstown’s Chapter 11 filing and progress along the Energy Department’s hydrogen roadmap.

How do I subscribe?

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Some Automotive News 40 Under 40 honorees share one thing that people don't know about them.

"I'm an amateur sushi chef. On a trip to Japan with Honda in 2016, I learned how to make sushi watching a master sushi chef prepare dinner. Now I regularly order fresh fish from Hawaii and whip up sushi platters for family and friends; I even make my own crispy rice." — Eric Frehsee

"I get to work real early in the mornings. Sometimes people walk into my office, and I'll be listening to classical music at a very, very loud volume. I'm like, 'This helps me go through statements, go through whatever in the morning.' So a lot of people think I'm kind of a weirdo." — Joe Medina

"In 2010, I was crowned Ms. United States." — Tristan Topps

"It took me three attempts to pass my written learner's permit test, but now I'm a great driver." — Keri Lanzavecchia

"I proposed to my wife at the Eiffel Tower. I hired a photograph…

et's state this upfront: No one at the Detroit 3 or the UAW truly knows right now how this year's contract talks will play out.

But things could get really, really interesting if the UAW reimplements a temporary change in union rules from 2019 that — coupled with the severe worker shortage now roiling the U.S. economy — could shift the traditional power dynamic in negotiations.

Here's what I mean: Back in October 2019, with about 48,000 workers one month into their 40-day strike against General Motors, the UAW temporarily altered its rules governing how outside employment impacted strike pay.

The changes seemed barely noteworthy in the midst of what turned out to be a roughly $4 billion strike against the largest of the Detroit 3. Among the changes: The union would no longer reduce weekly strike pay dollar-for-dollar when members' outside income exceeded the UAW's benefit — then $250 per week.

Before the change, as CN…

There are more signs that the microchip shortage is easing, even as automakers cut 82,573 vehicles from production plans worldwide last week, according to the latest estimate from AutoForecast Solutions.

North American factories lost 38,677 vehicles because of a lack of semiconductors last week, in addition to 21,700 cut from assembly plants in China and 22,196 removed from production schedules elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

For the second consecutive week, AutoForecast Solutions lowered its full-year production-loss estimate for North America. It now expects about 954,206 vehicles to be cut in the region by year’s end, an improvement from the 1.01 million it anticipated last week.

“Strides continued to be made in securing more semiconductors for automotive production,” said Sam Fiorani, AutoForecast Solutions’ vice president of global vehicle forecasting, in an email. “Transportation issues, especially in North America, are growing as the next b…

WASHINGTON - The United Auto Workers union on Friday called on the Biden administration to soften its proposed vehicle emissions cuts that would require 67 percent of new vehicles to be electric by 2032.

The UAW, which represents workers at General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent StellantisI, said the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed standards should be revised to "better reflect the feasibility of compliance so that the projected adoption of (zero emission vehicles) is set to feasible levels, increases stringency more gradually, and occurs over a greater period of time."

The comments come before the UAW is set to open contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers before current four-year contracts expire in September.

The UAW said the "EPA must recognize that the current domestic auto assembly footprint is heavily weighted towards the profitable light-duty truck and SUVs that are tasked with funding the EV transition." Last year, n…