Trade News

A U.S. district judge in Virginia sided with a subprime lender regarding a punitive class-action lawsuit that alleged it failed to comply with the Military Lending Act.

The case could have broader implications for the automotive finance space by deterring similar litigation, according to an attorney who specializes in automotive and personal property finance. Marci Kawski, partner at Husch Blackwell, said the decision is a victory for dealerships and auto finance companies.

"It's a well-reasoned decision by a well-respected judge," Kawski said. "This kind of transaction is not subject to the MLA, and this decision confirms that."

Jerry Davidson, an active military member, brought a class action against United Auto Credit on the grounds it ran afoul of the act when Davidson financed a used GMC Acadia in 2018.

In the initial complaint, filed in April 2020, Davidson said the lender failed to provide proper MLA disclosures an…

Lordstown Motors Inc., an electric-vehicle startup that recently went public, said it may not have the cash to get its debut pickup truck to market -- and might not last as a company in the next 12 months if it can’t raise more capital.

The disclosure in a regulatory filing Tuesday comes after CEO Steve Burns said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call last month that his company needed to raise more money to fund the Endurance truck model’s development.

“The company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on its ability to complete the development of its electric vehicles, obtain regulatory approval, begin commercial scale production and launch the sale of such vehicles,” the filing said. “The company believes that its current level of cash and cash equivalents are not sufficient to fund commercial scale production and the launch of sale of such vehicles.”

Lordstown shares plunged 16 percent to close at $11.22. In postmarket…

Solid Power, a maker of solid-state batteries that counts Ford Motor Co. and BMW AG among its investors, is in talks to go public through a merger with Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. III, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The blank-check firm is seeking to raise more than $100 million in new equity to support a transaction that’s set to value the combined entity at about $1.2 billion, including debt, one of the people said. Terms could change and as with all deals that aren’t finalized, it’s possible talks could collapse.

A Solid Power representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A Decarbonization Plus spokesman declined to comment.

Colorado-based Solid Power raised $130 million last month in a round led by Ford, BMW and Volta Energy Technologies LLC, funding that the company said would help it start producing automotive-scale batteries on its production line early next year. “Solid-state battery technology …

Lithia Motors Inc. has added two more dealerships in the Los Angeles area, after buying eight dealerships in the market last fall.

The public auto retailer said Tuesday it purchased Center BMW and Center Acura in Sherman Oaks, Calif., from Dave Farguson. The BMW store transaction closed on May 23 and the Acura store deal closed on June 1, Farguson said.

Lithia said the dealerships combined are expected to generate $185 million in annual revenue.

"We are excited to add our first BMW store in Southern California and capture the significant potential that exists," Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a statement.

Terms of the transactions weren't disclosed, but Lithia said it paid for the stores using funding from its existing balance sheet.

No broker was used in either transaction, Farguson said. The stores have been renamed BMW of Sherman Oaks and Acura of Sherman Oaks.

Last fall, Lithia purchased nine dealerships from Keyes Automotive G…

Car designer Moray Callum remembers unveiling his latest project at the 1993 Geneva Auto Show: the Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale concept, a radical, swooping four-door sedan far afield from the Le Mans-winning race cars and James Bond coupes that made the British marque famous.

A proud Callum years later would call the car a crowning achievement of his career.

But that evening, at an industry party aboard a yacht on Lake Geneva, Callum says a former boss introduced him to Robert Cumberford, a protege of the legendary Harley Earl at General Motors Corp., the man who literally invented modern-day automotive design. In the time since his work alongside Earl in the 1950s, Cumberford had built his influence through independent commissions and magazine reviews of the latest models. Callum, thrilled to meet Cumberford and familiar with his work, was keen for his verdict on the Aston.  

“Robert told me it was the ugliest car he had ever seen, and had no mor…

DETROIT -- General Motors will build some 2021 full-size pickups and SUVs without the automatic stop-start fuel-saving feature because of the global microchip shortage, the automaker said Tuesday.

The feature, which turns off the engine when the vehicle isn't moving, will no longer be available on select models of the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV SUVs. It will also be unavailable on certain light-duty Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

Only pickups and SUVs equipped with 5.3L and 6.2L V-8 engines and 10-speed transmissions built on or after June 7 will be impacted, GM said in a statement. GM did not disclose the affected volume.

"By taking this measure, it will enable us to continue production of our high-demand full-size SUV and pickups as the industry continues to rebound and strengthen," GM said in a statement.

The change will lead to a minor fuel economy reduction in mo…

Tesla Inc. has parted ways with Jerome Guillen, a 10-year veteran who most recently served as president of heavy trucking and was one of four top executives running the company including CEO Elon Musk.

Guillen left the company June 3, according to a regulatory filing Monday. He was a top lieutenant to Musk and the brains behind the ramp up of Model 3 production in 2018. The executive previously served as president of Tesla’s automotive business, and was named head of heavy trucking in March of this year.

“We thank him for his many contributions and wish him well in his future career,” the electric carmaker said in the filing.

Guillen joined Tesla in the fall of 2010 as the program director for the Model S, the breakthrough electric vehicle which laid the groundwork for the crossover Model X and more mass market Model 3 that followed.

Tesla has struggled with executive turnover for years. Guillen took a several-months-long leave of absence from the…

Self-driving vehicle company Cruise has received a key permit needed to deploy driverless, passenger-carrying test vehicles in California.

The state's Public Utilities Commission authorized the company's request to operate prototype autonomous vehicles that could transport the public. Cruise is the first autonomous vehicle developer included in the commission's Driverless Pilot program to get a permit to do so, according to a Friday release from the commission.

Cruise, which is majority-owned by General Motors, won't be allowed to charge passengers for rides. The company is required to submit a passenger safety plan and quarterly reports about its AVs, according to the release.

Cruise also won another requisite testing permit from the state's Department of Motor Vehicles. It is separate from the commission's permit.

In October, the company said it was seeking NHTSA's approval to put a limited number of its AVs on roads. Last week, it was reported …

Solera Holdings Inc., which specializes in data and software for the insurance and automotive industries, said Monday it closed on its acquisition of dealership technology company DealerSocket.

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The tie-up was announced last month.

It was not immediately clear Monday what the acquisition will mean for DealerSocket, of Irving, Texas, which provides auto retailers with dealership management systems, customer relationship management platforms and other software. Solera declined to comment.

Solera, of Westlake, Texas, also completed its purchase of Omnitracs, which provides fleet management software. Solera, DealerSocket and Omnitracs all are portfolio companies of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. Vista bought a stake in DealerSocket in 2014. According to Vista's website, a Vista fund completed a buyout of Omnitracs from Qualcomm Inc. in 2013, while a separate Vista fund took Solera private in 2016.

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