Trade News

Dealership lawyer Stephen Dietrich sees deals continuing to gain momentum as more buyers and sellers feel confident about the industry's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

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CHELSEA, Mich. — When the new 2022 Volkswagen Taos begins arriving at U.S. dealerships next month, most consumers may have a hard time differentiating it from the brand's top-selling Tiguan — and that's by design.

But while the styling may be similar between these two segment-sharing compact crossovers, the brand's strategy to separate them by features and price will give VW is first real entry-level vehicle in the growing and crowded segment.

Smaller, less expensive and with better fuel economy, the Taos gives VW a vehicle with which to take on the Jeep Compass and similar vehicles to which the larger, more expensive Tiguan nearly always came up short.

"Taos fills a very specific gap in our portfolio. VW dealers have been clear and consistent: We were missing this opportunity," said Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen of America. Taos, he said, "is little, but no doubt, fierce."

With the introductions of the Taos next month and the ID4 EV last March…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it is upping its spending on electrification by $8 billion to $30 billion through 2025 and expects 40 percent of its global sales will be fully electric by 2030.

The additional spending will be focused on battery development, according to CFO John Lawler. The company said it plans to reduce battery costs by 40 percent, to under $100 per kilowatt hour, by mid-decade and will soon offer its own line of batteries branded as IonBoost.

Ford is also doubling down on its commercial business, expecting to nearly double the $27 billion it earned in 2019 from revenue tied to commercial hardware and adjacent services, estimating it will be $45 billion by 2025. It's creating Ford Pro, a services and distribution business that will be geared toward commercial and government customers. Ted Cannis, Ford's head of North America commercial vehicles, will become CEO of the new Ford Pro business unit.

The moves are part of a wide-ran…

WASHINGTON -- General Motors said on Tuesday the UAW is "well positioned" to represent more than 2,300 workers at new U.S. joint venture battery plants with Korea's LG Chem.

The UAW said it looks forward to starting discussions with GM on the "joint venture to produce batteries in Ohio and Tennessee so workers will have a voice at the table in order to create good paying union jobs and benefits.”

The UAW wants U.S. automakers to recognize the union at JV battery facilities. The union has said it represents about 48,500 U.S. workers at GM, though the automaker says about 49 percent of its U.S. workforce, or 46,000 workers, were represented by the UAW, as of the end of 2020.

Ford Motor Co. last week announced a similar planned battery venture with SK Innovation.

President Joe Biden went to a Ford plant in Michigan last Tuesday and told automakers "we need you to deepen your partnership with the UAW."

GM said both the company and the JV, known…

DETROIT — Gerald Kariem, vice president of the UAW's Ford department, said Tuesday that he will retire effective June 30, a year before his term is set to end.

Kariem, 65, took over the UAW-Ford department in early 2020 after then-Vice President Rory Gamble was promoted to UAW President.

The union said Tuesday Kariem's successor would be named at a later date.

"I had intended to retire at 65 as Regional Director in Region 1D," Kariem said in a statement. "But it was important to get our Ford members through this pandemic and make sure we had solid footing for our membership before I retired.

"I'm proud of the work we have done implementing the 2019 labor agreement, steering through this pandemic and the day-to-day challenges it presented, and now this worldwide launch of the F-150 Lightning. The time is right to pass the torch."

Before his latest position, Kariem had served as Region 1D director since 2010.

"We want to wish Gerald …

Early findings of newly launched digital retailing tools reflect a predictable twist with online sales — that digital sales require more math than emotion when appealing to customers.

And it's a trend that's designed to grow: As digital shopping and sales increase, algorithms better identify predictive signs and become more efficient — leading to more and faster online transactions.

Lithia Motors Inc. CEO Bryan DeBoer told investors April 21 that digital sales are far more formulaic than in-store operations.

"It's quite different than what we've experienced in traditional auto retail. On the vehicle side, there is some art in it," he said. "And this is not as much art. It's a lot of science."

Recommendation engines, which use machine learning and algorithms to suggest products to shoppers, run on transaction data and customer data. The more successful transactions the system processes, the better equipped it will be to replicate the circumstances …

Audi has no plans to sell Lamborghini, a spokesman for the carmaker said after European media reports about a 7.5 billion euros ($9.19 billion) offer for the sports-car brand.

"This is not the subject of any discussion within the group," he said. "Lamborghini is not for sale."

The Swiss Quantum Group, together with the British investment company Centricus, are planning to submit a “Letter of Intent” on Wednesday, according to Automobilwoche, the German affiliate of Automotive News. Quantum boss Rea Stark Rajcic founded the new sports car brand Piech Automotive two years ago with Anton Piech, the son of the former VW patriarch Ferdinand Piech.

But the offer has little interest at parent Volkswagen Group and its Audi luxury unit.

Quantum is offering Lamborghini employees a five-year employment guarantee and is planning to take over the Italian carmaker's VW management team. After buying the brand, they want to enter into a strategic partnership wi…

Lithia Motors Inc. said Tuesday that it has entered the Las Vegas market as it acquired four Hyundai and Genesis dealerships that are expected to add $225 million in annual revenue.

The transaction included Hyundai of Las Vegas, Genesis of Las Vegas, Centennial Hyundai and ABC Hyundai that were owned by John Staluppi Jr., said Dave Cantin, CEO of the Dave Cantin Group. The western region office of DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, represented Staluppi Jr. in the transaction.

Terms of the May 17 transaction weren't released, but Lithia said it paid for the four dealerships using funding available on its balance sheet.

"We are thrilled to make a strategic entrance into the Las Vegas market with three of the four Hyundai points in the area, giving us a dominant presence with a dynamic growing brand," Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said in a statement. "These franchises are matched perfectly with the local market demographics and further expand the r…

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. plans to announce on Wednesday that it is developing two dedicated all-electric vehicle platforms, one for full-size trucks and SUVs, the other for cars and crossovers, as part of a strategy to catch General Motors, Volkswagen Group and Tesla Inc. in the global electrification race, sources familiar with Ford's plans told Reuters.

The all-EV platforms are part of an ambitious multi-year, multibillion-dollar plan the No. 2 U.S. automaker will outline to investors at its Capital Markets Day in an online event.

The dedicated platforms will give Ford common architectures — including shared chassis components, electric motors and battery packs — on which to base many of its future EVs. That will enable it to simplify and reduce the expense of everything from logistics to manufacturing as it transitions from a global lineup of mostly fossil-fueled products.

Ford said it does not comment on future product speculation.

At Wedne…

DETROIT --  Lordstown Motors Corp. said Monday that 2021 production of its Endurance truck, slated to begin in September, will be half of prior expectations and that the electric vehicle startup needs additional capital to execute its plans, sending shares down 8.3 percent in after-hours trading.

"We are still in a position to ramp the Endurance, but we do need additional capital to execute on our plans," CEO Steve Burns said in a statement. "We believe we have several opportunities to raise capital in various forms and have begun those discussions."

Lordstown said Endurance production this year will be limited and would be "at best 50 percent" of the company's prior expectations. It said it was still on track for the September launch of the truck, with pre-production vehicle builds slated for July.

The Ohio-based company blamed COVID-19 and industry-wide related issues that resulted in "significantly higher than expected" spending on parts, expedit…