Trade News

DETROIT/SEOUL -- Ford Motor Co. and South Korean battery maker SK Innovation are set to launch a battery joint venture in the United States to support the ramp-up of the No. 2 U.S. automaker's electric vehicle rollout, two people familiar with the matter said.

The deal may eventually include a jointly owned plant to make battery cells for use in rechargeable EV batteries, the sources said.

A memorandum of understanding about the joint venture will be announced on Thursday, the sources, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Ford has scheduled "an update on Ford batteries" for Thursday at 9 a.m. ET.

Ford declined to comment other than to say SK is a valued supplier. SK Innovation said in a statement it does not comment on specific projects for reasons of client confidentiality.

Talks around the JV picked up speed last month after SK Innovation agreed to pay $1.8 billion to LG Energy Solution to settle LG's accusations of trade theft by its K…

The White House confirmed on Wednesday that President Joe Biden plans to nominate Jennifer Homendy to chair the National Transportation Safety Board.

Reuters reported the planned nomination on April 22. Homendy has served on the board since 2018 and previously was a senior legislative staffer working on transportation issues.

The NTSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating all civil aviation accidents in the United States and significant accidents in other modes of transportation. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Monday he will step down on June 30.

Deliveries of McLaren's newest model, the Artura, will be delayed for a second time.

The Artura's October 2020 market launch was delayed to June because of the pandemic. But software supplier-related issues have now pushed U.S. deliveries to late August or early September, sources said.

The Artura is a hybrid supercar on a diet. The vehicle combines creative engineering and efficient packaging to achieve a curb weight of 3,303 pounds, despite being saddled with a hefty battery pack.

Lightweight design "is a pillar of our DNA," Dan Parry-Williams, director of engineering design, said during a press briefing May 11. "It adds driving engagement, agility and reduces CO2 [emissions]."

The Artura signals the future direction of the British sports car maker as throaty combustion engines are increasingly viewed by environmentally conscious governments as anachronisms.

McLaren seeks to transition to a 100 percent electrified portfolio by 2026, with…

A fully loaded 2022 GMC Hummer Edition 1 pickup will weigh 9,046 pounds, or 4.5 tons — more than twice as much as a base level GMC Sierra full-size pickup.

The electric Hummer will be more than 900 pounds heavier than the original Hummer H1 and more than 2,000 pounds heavier than a 2021 Sierra 2500 or 3500 4x4 with a standard bed. The Hummer's curb weight was reported Monday by GM-Trucks.com and confirmed to Automotive News by GMC.

GMC has dubbed the Hummer a supertruck. The brand says the pickup will offer 1,000 hp, 11,500 pound-feet of torque and a 0-to-60-mph time of three seconds. The Hummer "is bound to shatter expectations of what an electric vehicle can do," a spokesman said Wednesday.

The pickup will launch this fall with the low-volume Edition 1 trim, starting at $112,595, including shipping. That will be followed by the 3X in fall 2022, the 2X in spring 2023, and the 2 in spring 2024.

An SUV version is scheduled to go on sale in early 20…

Diehl Automotive Group, with stores spread across western Pennsylvania and one in eastern Ohio, has acquired its first Ford and Hyundai dealerships.

Diehl Automotive, of Butler, Pa., on May 4 bought Preston Ford of Sharon and Preston Hyundai of Sharon, both in Sharon, Pa., from Preston Auto Group.

Terms were not disclosed, but the dealerships have been renamed Diehl Ford of Sharon and Diehl Hyundai.

"They're two great brands and it helps diversify us as well," Matt Diehl, the group's vice president, told Automotive News. "It's just a great opportunity to partner with more OEMs."

The stores are located across the street from each other in Sharon, near the Ohio border and northeast of Youngstown, Ohio.

Diehl Automotive now has nine rooftops in western Pennsylvania and Ohio. The rest of its brand portfolio includes Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Volkswagen, Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac.

The Ford and Hyundai dealershi…

LOS ANGELES — Kia's first dedicated battery-electric vehicle, the EV6 crossover, will come to the U.S. with two battery options when it launches in early 2022. A loaded First Edition model limited to 1,500 copies will also be available.

The global reveal of the EV6 was in late March, but Kia gave more details on the U.S.-bound models late Tuesday. Pricing and details on trim packages are expected closer to the official launch.

The EV6 will go on sale in all 50 states early next year, Kia said, but the performance GT version won't show up until late 2022.

The base powertrain on the EV6 will feature a 58-kilowatt-hour battery with a rear motor that puts out a modest 167 hp. Kia didn't give an estimated range for the base battery.

The next level up for the powertrain is a 77.4-kWh battery with a rear motor that puts out 218 hp. The all-wheel-drive version will have front and rear motors with 313 hp total and a 0 to 60 mph time of 5.1 seconds.

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Napleton Automotive Group filed a lawsuit last week alleging a former general manager stole trade secrets and purloined employees on behalf of the dealership group for which he now works.

The lawsuit claims Garrett McDonald stole confidential information from Napleton Kia of Carmel in Indianapolis, where he was general manager until Feb. 14, and used it advantageously when he accepted the same position at Bob Rohrman Kia in Lafayette, Ind.

The suit, filed May 10 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, also claims a Rohrman executive accepted information from McDonald. Bob Rohrman Automotive Group, which Napleton lists as one of its direct competitors in Indiana, is also named as a defendant.

"McDonald was encouraged and incentivized by the Rohrman Dealerships to raid the Napleton Carmel Dealerships of their experienced workers who held key dealership positions, such as managers ... and the Rohrman Dealerships f…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. gave a preview of its battery-powered F-150 on Tuesday during a visit by President Joe Biden to promote his administration's $2 trillion infrastructure plan that would encourage development of electric vehicles.

Ford parked the F-150 Lightning, which it plans to fully reveal Wednesday evening, behind Biden during his remarks at the automaker's new $700 million Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich., that will assemble the truck. Following his speech, the president made an unscheduled pit stop to drive a prototype on a Dearborn test track.

“This sucker’s quick,” Biden said as he pulled up to reporters while driving the Lightning with a member of the Secret Service in the passenger seat. He had joked earlier in the day he wanted to sneak off to a track.

Executive Chairman Bill Ford had earlier promised Biden, a noted car fan who has a classic Chevrolet Corvette, that the Lightning would "give your Corvette a run for …

Executives from groups that represent consumers and unionized workers on Tuesday pressed members of Congress to prioritize vehicle safety and workers' needs in any effort to develop a federal framework for autonomous vehicles and other forward-looking technologies.

A U.S. House subcommittee heard testimony from the Center for Auto Safety and the AFL-CIO, which urged taking a cautious approach to issues such as AV testing and deployment and other transportation technologies such as advanced driver-assistance systems.

Jason Levine, the center's executive director, said that "a clear vision for how to safely introduce automated driving in a way that will provide benefits to all involved, not just shareholders" is necessary, according to his prepared testimony to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.

"As Congress undertakes the vital task of writing our nation's first autonomous vehicle la…