Trade News

LOS ANGELES — BMW has a plan to help its dealers cover the big expense of tooling up to sell electric vehicles and equipping showrooms and service departments with vehicle chargers.

While some automakers have required dealers to shoulder those new costs, BMW will allocate $30 million to help finance the investment from an existing retailer-funded program that pays for dealer-based initiatives, technology and training. The brand's 349 U.S. dealers already pay a flat fee into the Cost Per Vehicle fund on every vehicle they order from the factory.

"There isn't really any out-of-pocket [cost]; that's money that's already in the fund," BMW North America sales boss Shaun Bugbee told Automotive News on the sidelines of a media event here on Tuesday. "The fund is to benefit all dealers. All dealers will be participating in electric mobility."

It is no small matter.

The addition of high-speed charging stations and upgrades to electricity infrastructure ca…

WASHINGTON -- Two prominent transportation advocacy groups on Wednesday challenged the Federal Communications Commission’s November decision to shift much of a key spectrum block set aside for auto safety to accommodate the burgeoning number of wireless devices.

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials brought a legal challenge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking to reverse the FCC's reallocation of 60 percent of the 5.9 GHz band spectrum block.

Last year, the U.S. Transportation Department said the FCC plan was "a particularly dangerous regulatory approach when public safety is at stake."

The spectrum block was reserved in 1999 for automakers to develop technology to allow vehicles to talk to each other to avoid crashes but has so far gone largely unused.

The FCC, which did not immediately comment, voted to shift 30 megahertz of …

As the average amount paid for new and used vehicles pushed even higher in the first quarter amid historic inventory shortages, the average loan-to-value ratio rose slightly.

Credit bureau Experian anticipates the second quarter will feature even higher loan-to-value ratios, driven up by surging transaction prices amid the microchip shortage.

"It's today's market that's feeling that more than what we saw in Q1," said Melinda Zabritski, Experian's senior director of automotive financial solutions.

The average amount financed on a new vehicle reached $35,392 in the first quarter, up from $33,833 in the first quarter of 2020. The average loan-to-value inched up to 110.18 percent for vehicles originated in the first quarter from 110.03 percent.

Loan-to-value is the ratio between the amount of credit extended for a vehicle purchase and the value of the vehicle at the time of purchase. The value of the loan often exceeds the pr…

LOS ANGELES — BMW is aiming for the sweet spot of the U.S. electric vehicle market with a pair of next-generation battery-powered models.

The BMW iX crossover and i4 sedan will arrive at U.S. dealerships in the first quarter of next year. The iX will start at $84,195, while the i4 will start at $56,395. Both prices include a $995 shipping fee but don't include EV tax credits.

The new models are part of BMW's ambition to have battery-electric vehicles account for about half of all global sales by decade's end. Full-electric versions of the BMW 5 Series sedan and the X1 baby crossover will follow, as will electric versions of the flagship 7 Series sedan.

BMW's push into the EV market is timed with an industry acceleration. Automakers plan to introduce about 100 battery-powered models in the U.S. in the next five years, according to a forecast by Guidehouse Insights.

Next year will also see a major push by rival Mercedes-…

Toyota Motor North America said it added a data privacy portal to its Toyota and Lexus apps.

The company says implementing the Toyota Data Privacy Portal is the latest step it is taking to make consumer data "more accessible and transparent" and follow privacy protection benchmarks it and 19 other automakers submitted to the Federal Trade Commission in 2014.

The portal can be accessed for vehicles with connected services capabilities that were built in the 2013 model year or later, the company said in a statement Tuesday. The portal can be found in the "account settings" section of the Toyota and Lexus apps.

Consumers who own multiple Toyota or Lexus vehicles can customize privacy and data-sharing settings for each of their vehicles, according to the automaker. In addition, a consumer who shares information with a third party — such as an insurance company — will be able to see what specific data they are sharing within the app.

Adding the portal …

Auto dealers are getting better at protecting their computer networks from cyberattacks, an information technology consultant who works with dealerships told me last week.

They're investing in phishing training, a process that tests whether employees click on suspicious emails and trains those who do on proper security practices. More are carrying cyber insurance. They're talking to colleagues in industry peer groups about best practices.

And yet, said Erik Nachbahr, president of Helion Technologies, just as dealerships have improved their defenses against hackers, the hackers have started using a different playbook.

It used to be that cybercriminals would deploy automated programs that would lock up files once someone clicked a malicious link or attachment in an email, he said. Then antivirus software and firewalls got better at blocking them. So the hackers evolved. Now, Nachbahr says, when they gain access to the networks, they're embedding themselves…

Ford really knows how to put on a show.

The introduction last month of the battery-electric F-150 Lightning pickup was a slick Hollywood-quality production that smashed it out of the ballpark as far as new vehicle debuts go. With Ford's classic "glass house" Dearborn, Mich., headquarters doubling as a giant screen, company officials made it clear to Tesla, Rivian and others that it intends to dominate the electric pickup segment.

And Ford probably will. The F-Series has been America's top-selling pickup for 44 straight years.

And yet, curiously, one word — aluminum — was not mentioned by any of the key presenters: Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Jim Farley and the truck's chief engineer, Linda Zhang. As with the rest of the F-150 and Super Duty lineup, the Lightning will have a body made of weight-saving aluminum.

You may recall it was less than a decade ago that Ford spent more than $1 billion to retool two of its assembly plants when it d…

Convenience retailer 7-Eleven plans to put at least 500 electric vehicle fast chargers at 250 stores across the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2022.

That's up from 22 existing charging stations the chain currently operates at 14 stores in four states.

The plan to install the fast chargers comes as 7-Eleven says it is working on a goal to reduce its carbon emissions 50 percent by 2030. The convenience chain's plans underscore the ongoing market challenge in the transition to EVs in North America: range anxiety among potential buyers.

"Adding 500 charging ports at 250 7‑Eleven stores will make EV charging more convenient and help accelerate broader adoption of EVs and alternative fuels," 7‑Eleven CEO Joe DePinto said in a news release on Tuesday.

The company also says it has previously made investments in other renewable energy: wind energy for more than 800 stores in Texas and more than 300 stores in Illinois, hydropower for 150 stores in Virginia a…

DETROIT — Downtime will continue in June for several Stellantis factories due to the global chip shortage, but the Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Michigan is back online this week after being idled since late March, the automaker said.

The Warren factory returns ahead of the planned June 7 production launch for the upscale Wagoneer SUV, according to AutoForecast Solutions. It's unclear if production for the higher-priced Grand Wagoneer will begin at the same time.

The Warren site also produces the Ram 1500 Classic pickup.

The Wagoneer, with a starting price of $59,995 for the Series I, will compete in what Jeep calls the heart of the large SUV market. The Grand Wagoneer, opening at $88,995, will reach higher into the luxury market and square off with models such as the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade. A fully loaded Grand Wagoneer will cross $111,000.

Detroit's Jefferson North Assembly Plant, which builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodg…

Volkswagen, like other automakers, is doubling down on small crossovers with the 2022 Taos, a complement to the Tiguan. The Taos is powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-four engine — the same as in the Jetta sedan — that produces 158 hp and 184 pound-feet of torque. It is paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission in front-wheel-drive versions or a seven-speed automatic when equipped with available all-wheel drive. Taos pricing starts at $24,190, including shipping — at least $2,500 cheaper than the 2022 Tiguan. We've collected some early reviews of the Taos from the automotive press.

"The Taos' exterior is a tidy balance of the current Tiguan mixed with the more rounded styling of the ID.4 electric crossover. The fascia adopts squarish headlights and Volkswagen's latest grille, which high-end models, like our all-wheel-drive SEL tester, highlight with an LED strip. The back is attractive, but simple, drawing heavier inspiration from the Ti…

When BMW unveiled its next generation of electric vehicles — the i4 and the iX SUV — in March, their faces generated at least as much chatter as their electric guts. There on the front of both was BMW’s design hallmark: two kidney-shaped grilles.

But these were far bigger than the kidneys on the automaker’s gas-burning models and seemingly turned upright, with a glossy black lattice in place of the trademark vertical bars. They seemed like an anachronism. With no engine sitting behind them, and no radiator pulling in air, why bother?

“The kidney is not just an air-cooling system,” explains BMW design lead Domagoj Dukec. “It’s the strongest differentiator between us and our competitors.”

BMW is not alone. As legacy automakers move to electric powertrains, they’re re-inventing the grille in ways both familiar and strange. GMC’s new Hummer EV, set to begin production in the fall, features a reinterpretation of the SUV’s famous seven-slot grille. Two decade…