Trade News

Self-driving startup Argo AI, backed by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, expects to pursue a public listing within the next year, founder and CEO Bryan Salesky said on Wednesday.

"So we're actively fundraising and are going out this summer to raise a private round initially," Salesky said at The Information's Autonomous Vehicles Summit. "And then we're looking forward to an IPO within the next year."

"The raise this year will definitely provide capital that gives us plenty of runway and will help us continue to scale out," he said, adding that autonomous driving is a capital-intensive business.

Ford and Volkswagen each hold a 42 percent ownership interest in Argo AI.

Last year, VW closed its $2.6 billion investment in Pittsburgh-based Argo AI, which valued the company at just over $7 billion.

Vehicle shortages continued to impact finance trends in used cars in May, as the average amount financed for used vehicles increased $1,654 compared with April. For new vehicles, the amount financed only went up about $400, on average.

"I think the one for used is really the kicker there because clearly from one month to the next, a huge increase in amount financed," Edmunds Senior Analyst Ivan Drury told Automotive News. I"don't think that ... number is ... going down anytime soon,because there just are so few used vehicles for sale — and new vehicles, the same problem."

There continues to be a shortage of certain new vehicles because of the chip shortage, causing customers to consider used vehicles. However, demand for new vehicles remains strong, and once supply returns, customers will be willing to pay the higher prices, Drury said.

Edmunds said the average down payment for new vehicles rose $128 in the last month, while used v…

Stellantis says it will now idle minivan production at its factory in Windsor, Ontario, for the entire month of June due to the ongoing global microchip shortage.

The shortage already led to the automaker halting production during the weeks of June 7 and 14.

“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “Due to the unprecedented global microchip shortage, production at the Windsor Assembly Plant will be down through the remainder of June with the week of June 21 as a previously scheduled down week.”

The week of June 28 includes the statutory Canada Day holiday on July 1.

The plant resumed operation the week of May 31, but not at full capacity. The automaker didn’t elaborate on the number of shifts or vehicles it produced that week. Other than those handful of shifts, the plant has been down s…

Steve Berrard, who led auto retail giant AutoNation Inc. during its inception, died Monday, according to a news release. He was 66.

Berrard was co-CEO of the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company from 1996 to 1999.

Before that, he was CEO and president of the then-popular video rental chain Blockbuster. He had close ties to the late Florida business mogul Wayne Huizenga, who had poured investments into Blockbuster and with whom Berrard started AutoNation.

Before the pair started rolling up dealerships into the company that became the largest dealership group in the country, Berrard worked as president of Huizenga Holdings Inc. — Huizenga's investment vehicle — and took positions with its subsidiaries from 1981 to 1987.

Berrard and Huizenga stepped down from their co-CEO roles in 1999, and AutoNation's search for a replacement focused on finding an established auto industry executive who could impress Wall Street. Huizenga, who remained the company's chai…

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…