Trade News

Ford Motor Co. passed a significant milestone in its conversion to electric vehicles, producing more battery-powered Mustangs so far this year than gasoline-fueled versions of its iconic pony car.

Ford has built 27,816 electric Mustang Mach-E models at a plant in Mexico this year compared to 26,089 copies of the traditional internal combustion engine Mustang at a factory in Michigan, according to production data the automaker released Thursday.

CEO Jim Farley said last week that he expects four-in-10 models Ford sells to be electric by 2030, as he revealed plans to boost spending on battery-powered models by 36 percent to $30 billion. The Mach-E went on sale late last year and was the top-selling vehicle in Norway last month. In the U.S., where EV adoption is slower, the gas Mustang still outsells the electric version by nearly three-to-one.

“Mach-E has been much stronger than we expected, so we’ve totally run out of stock,” Farley told reporters at…

Lithia Motors Inc. has sold a Honda store it purchased less than two years ago from an ailing dealership group.

Lithia on May 17 sold Hazleton Honda in Hazle Township, Pa., to Fred Timbrook, Lee Wilson and David Ainsworth of Timbrook Automotive.

That's according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, which brokered the transaction.

Timbrook Automotive has 11 new-vehicle dealerships in Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia and sells vehicles from Honda, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Ford, Kia and Nissan brands, according to its website. In February 2020, Timbrook bought Altoona Honda in Pennsylvania from Bill Barnes and Paul Ritchie.

Terms of the Lithia-Timbrook deal weren't disclosed.

The public auto retailer bought Hazleton Honda from industry veteran Michael Saporito and former NFL linebackers Jessie Armstead and Antonio Pierce. It was the only dealership in a Hazle Township auto mall to rema…

BAIC Motor Co. has become the first automaker to adopt vehicle cockpits with an operating system developed by technology giant Huawei Technologies. The operating system, dubbed HarmonyOS, will be installed in a new fossil fuel-powered SUV, BAIC announced Thursday, without releasing additional details on the vehicle. BAIC, a state-owned company, made the announcement a day after Huawei presented and demonstrated a wide array of consumer electronic products run on the self-developed operating system. The products include Huawei’s flagship smartphones, smart watches and tablets. Huawei developed the HarmonyOS operating system after it was barred by the Trump administration from accessing U.S. technology including Google’s Android operating system in 2019. At an online event on Wednesday, Huawei also said it has developed smart vehicle cockpit technology based on HarmonyOS. HarmonyOS, when used in a vehicle cockpit, can be connected to smart homes a…

The new-vehicle market grew at a slower pace of 0.5 percent in May after robust gains in the first four months, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturer’s estimates. Last month, only 2.2 million vehicles were sold across the country, according to a preliminary tally the industry trade group released Thursday. Demand for new light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses rose 6 percent. But deliveries of new commercial vehicles including trucks and buses dropped 8.8 percent. Because of robust sales in the first four months, especially a strong rebound in the first quarter, new-vehicle sales through May still surged 38 percent. During the five-month period, deliveries of new light vehicles spiked 40 percent while sales of new commercial vehicles jumped 32 percent. CAAM didn’t disclose further details of its estimates and is expected to release final tallies for vehicle sales and production in May lat…

WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it could face up to $1.3 billion in penalties in a long-running dispute over import duties paid on Ford Transit Connect vehicles.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker said after the Supreme Court declined to hear its appeal in 2020 that it paid increased duties for some prior imports, plus interest.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is now seeking additional duties of $181 million and is considering seeking a monetary penalty of "as much as $652 million to $1.3 billion," Ford said. The automaker added that it would vigorously defend its actions and noted any penalty "would be based on our level of culpability as determined by the courts."

CBP ruled in 2013 that Transit Connects imported as passenger wagons and later converted into cargo vans were subject to the 25 percent duty applicable to cargo vehicles, rather than the 2.5 percent passenger vehicle duty.

The vans were assembled in Turkey.

The Justice…

VW Group’s China unit appointed two veteran managers to run its electric-vehicle joint venture with JAC Motor Co. Erwin Gabardi was named CEO of the partnership while Jorg Graf was tapped to become chief digitization officer, VW China said this week. Gabardi was previously general secretary and vice president for corporate strategy at VW China. In 2015, he was hired by VW Group from consultant McKinsey & Co. to help the German auto giant improve auto manufacturing efficiency in Europe and China. Graf was previously chief information officer and head of organizational development at FAW-VW, VW Group’s joint venture with China FAW Group Corp. Last month, VW’s EV partnership with JAC kicked off construction on a new assembly plant in the east city of Hefei. The factory, slated to launch output in the second half of 2023, will have capacity to produce up to 350,000 EVs annually after reaching full capacity.  It will become VW’s third p…

Upstream Security CEO Yoav Levy explains how data from connected vehicles can provide auto insurance companies key insights on driver usage and behavior.

How do I subscribe?Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify"Daily Drive" is available on Spotify. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Chinese electric-vehicle maker Xpeng Inc. is confident of meeting or exceeding its second-quarter delivery targets after posting strong sales growth in May, President Brian Gu said.

And the chip shortage that has crushed global auto production should start to ease later this year, Gu said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.

Xpeng delivered 5,686 vehicles in May, pushing year-to-date deliveries to 24,173, a 427 percent increase from the first five months of 2020, when the emergence of coronavirus in China squeezed sales.

“We are on track to meet or exceed second-quarter delivery numbers, which I think means Chinese EV demand is still very strong,” Gu said in the interview. “After a short pause during China New Year, the industry has rebounded very strongly and I think the whole year outlook is very, very strong as well.”

U.S.-traded shares of Xpeng and Nio Inc. surged in New York on Tuesday after the two Chinese EV makers reported May s…

CDK Global Inc. is expanding its online sales capabilities with the acquisition of digital retailing provider Roadster, the company said Wednesday.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill., dealership management system giant said in a regulatory filing that it is acquiring Roadster, of Palo Alto, Calif., for $360 million in an all-cash deal, and Roadster will become a wholly owned subsidiary of CDK.

CDK said the deal closed Wednesday.

"Consumers have shown they are increasingly more willing to purchase big-ticket items online, and this trend has quickly accelerated during the pandemic," CDK CEO Brian Krzanich said in a statement.

"To meet their expectations, the automotive industry requires integrations of the right technology, data and infrastructure to better connect its online and in-store experiences. Roadster's consumer-focused approach and innovative technology will significantly contribute to our modern retailing efforts to create a seamless omnichannel v…

A Connecticut dealership group is suing to stop a Tesla service center and showroom from going up in the region.

Hoffman Auto Group — which is listed in two lawsuits as Jetobra Inc. — wants a Hartford Superior Court judge to overrule the town's decision that would let the service center and showroom be built, according to a report from the Hartford Courant.

The matter of Tesla operating in the state is contentious. The electric vehicle maker is pushing for changes to state laws that would allow it to sell vehicles directly to consumers.

Hoffman says in two complaints that allowing a Tesla brick-and-mortar goes against Connecticut state laws that prevent automakers from skipping franchised dealerships to sell directly to buyers.

Hoffman said in a statement to the Hartford Courant that it was committed to defending "Connecticut's pro-consumer franchise system." Tesla's proposed part showroom, part service center would strip consumer protections fro…

Move over, In-N-Out Burger. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., is one step closer to opening a diner.

On May 27, Tesla filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to use its “T” logo design and two other iterations of its “Tesla” stylized logo for use in the food industry.

All three applications are for “restaurant services, pop-up restaurant services, self-service restaurant services, take-out restaurant services.” They are filed under a provision of trademark law indicating that Tesla intends to use the mark but has not yet done so. If the application is approved, the registration will not take effect until it is used.

The prolific Musk has talked about opening a diner in southern California for years. In 2018, he tweeted about planning to put an “old-school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant at one of the new Tesla Supercharger locations in LA” shortly after J.B. Straubel, Tesla’s chief technology officer, told attendees at a …

BorgWarner Inc. has landed a deal to supply Hyundai Motor Group with its integrated drive module as the supplier looks to grow its electric vehicle platforms business.

BorgWarner's new module, iDM146, will power the South Korean automaker's upcoming A-segment electric vehicle with its electric motor, gearbox and integrated power electronics, according to a Wednesday news release.

Vehicle production is expected to start mid-2023. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We have enjoyed nearly two decades of partnership with the Hyundai Motor Group and couldn't be more excited about this next step — working on our first electrification project together," Stefan Demmerle, president and general manager of BorgWarner PowerDrive Systems, said in the release. "I am especially enthusiastic about the fact that this is the first iDM product combining the portfolios of BorgWarner and legacy Delphi Technologies after the acquisition, reaping the benefits of the two or…