Trade News

An unprecedented surge in prices for used cars was the biggest contributor to the surprise jump in U.S. inflation last month.

The cost of previously owned sedans, pickups and SUVs soared 10 percent in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the fastest climb ever in data that go back to 1953. It accounted for more than a third of the 0.8 percent increase in the consumer price index, which was four times the level economists estimated.

With fewer new cars being made amid a shortage in critical semiconductors, both retail consumers and rental car companies have gone to the used-vehicle market to get the wheels they need. Wholesale prices have soared as a result, up 54 percent in April from a year earlier at Manheim, the nation’s largest vehicle auction house.

Most analysts say the increase in car prices, like the spike in inflation as a whole, will likely be transitory as production ramps up and demand subsides. Auto sales had soared amid a pan…

The new-vehicle inventory shortage resulting from the microchip crisis is challenging the finance and insurance process at U.S. dealerships, changing which products are selling and how best to navigate customers' financial situations.

F&I product companies say dealership sales of service contracts and guaranteed asset protection products are rising, though products such as key fob protection and tire-and-wheel are falling by the wayside. Here's what experts are seeing.

David Adcock, executive vice president of Binary Automotive Solutions:

"Now is a good time to make sure we're paying attention to processes in the store. Things as simple as reordering the menu. There are some products doing better than others. With pre-owned-heavy inventory, maintenance becomes more important, even a paint protectant. We're hearing that people are buying these cars with the intention of being a stopgap between now and the time the inventory comes back. Customers are…

GM Financial reported first-quarter net income of $878 million, a surge from the pandemic-impacted first quarter of 2020, driven in part by used-vehicle prices that continue to climb during the global semiconductor shortage.

"GM Financial has provided a significant offset to some of the semiconductor headwinds. Strong used-vehicle prices combined with consumer credit strength helped to drive" first-quarter profit, General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson told analysts last week. "The used-vehicle prices that GM Financial is clearly benefiting from [are] likely to stay in place as long as new-car inventories remain low. That's an example of ... a variable that's sort of hedged directly against the challenges of the semiconductor."

Since Jan. 1, GM Financial's used-vehicle prices have climbed about 30 percent, Dan Berce, CEO at GM Financial, told Automotive News. Used-vehicle values rose 11 percent from the first quarter of 2020.

The share of…

DETROIT — U.S. District Judge David Lawson appointed lawyer Neil Barofsky on Wednesday as an independent monitor to oversee the UAW as part of its six-year corruption case settlement with the federal government.

In a motion approving the government's request to appoint Barofsky, which was supported by the UAW, Lawson wrote that the court "finds that Neil Barofsky is qualified to serve in the role of Monitor, has sufficient knowledge and experience to do so effectively, and is free from any apparent conflict of interest."

Barofsky, a partner at law firm Jenner & Block, previously was appointed to oversee Credit Suisse Securities and Credit Suisse AG following billion-dollar settlements, prosecutors said. He also was an attorney in the Southern District of New York and was appointed inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program instituted by the U.S. Treasury after the Great Recession.

“I am honored by this historic assignment and look forw…

China’s new-vehicle sales continued to grow in April on demand for sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses, but a top trade group warned a growing chip shortage will undermine second quarter output and possibly sales.

Overall, deliveries have now climbed 13 straight months year over year as the industry moves beyond the pandemic.

Deliveries of new light vehicles -- sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses – advanced 11 percent to top 1.7 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday.

Behind a 77 percent rebound in the first quarter compared with the same coronavirus-battered early months of 2020, new light-vehicle deliveries through April have jumped 53 percent to 6.79 million. 

April sales of new commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks gained 2.3 percent to about 548,000. 

Through April, deliveries of new commercial vehicles rose 47 percent to 1.96 millio…

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's labor ministry on Tuesday said it found "serious irregularities" in a union-led vote at the General Motors' plant in the city of Silao, and ordered the automaker's union to re-hold a vote within 30 days.

The Mexican ministry's move followed pressure earlier in the day by U.S. lawmakers on GM to ensure worker rights at the Silao plant, adding to concerns from global labor advocacy groups.

Mexican officials had previously said that some ballots were destroyed during the vote in April, which was intended for workers to ratify their collective contract.

The ratification is required under a Mexican labor reform to ensure workers are not bound to so-called protection contracts, which are signed behind workers' backs and prioritize company interests.

Such votes are part of the broader effort underpinning promises in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement free trade pact to uphold worker rights.

The ministry said in Tuesd…

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo and rival Cruise have applied for permits needed to start charging for rides and delivery using autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, state documents reviewed by Reuters showed, setting the stage for the biggest tests yet of their technology in a dense urban environment.

Neither company revealed when they intend to launch services. But they detailed contrasting deployment plans, with Waymo starting with "drivered operations" and Cruise expecting to deploy vehicles without humans behind the wheel.

California's Department of Motor Vehicles has yet to decide on the previously unreported applications made by Waymo on Jan. 19 and by Cruise on March 29, according to the documents. The agency had no immediate comment on Tuesday.

The efforts come at a turning point for Waymo, which Google launched over a decade ago. Waymo has given paid, driverless rides hailed through its app in suburban Chandler, Ariz., since 2019. B…

Volkswagen's 2022 Tiguan will upgrade the compact crossover in both styling and technology to give it some separation from the brand's new, lower-priced Taos in the same segment.

The midcycle freshening for the Tiguan — the German brand's top-selling vehicle in the U.S. since 2017 — arrives this fall as VW seeks to double up its offerings in the industry's biggest segment, which includes the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, the fourth- and fifth- bestselling vehicles in the country.

Expected to be priced at least $2,500 higher than the smaller Taos that arrives in U.S. dealerships beginning next month, the 2022 Tiguan will feature a standard 8-inch instrument cluster screen, with a 10-inch screen available on top trims, VW's improved MIB3 infotainment system on mid- and upper-level trims and heated front seats. The automaker also installed haptic response controls on the Tiguan's steering wheel and new upscale digital HVAC slider controls in the cab…

DETROIT — Dennis Williams, the 11th president of the UAW, who stressed financial discipline and railed against corruption while simultaneously bilking union members out of more than $132,000, was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in federal prison.

The UAW's president from 2014 to 2018, Williams is the highest-ranking UAW member to be sentenced in a yearslong corruption probe that has netted 15 convictions and put the UAW under a six-year period of government oversight. Williams pleaded guilty in September to embezzlement and spending hundreds of thousands of member dollars on trips to Palm Springs, Calif., golf outings, fancy dinners and other luxuries.

Prosecutors had called for a two-year sentence, while defense attorneys had argued for a reduced sentence of one year and one day. In addition to the prison time, Williams was ordered to one year of supervised release as well as a $10,000 fine.

Williams, 68, appeared before U.S. District Judge Paul Borman …

Auto retail technology company SpinCar has acquired Pulsar AI, a conversational platform provider that helps dealerships respond to customer leads.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though SpinCar said the acquisition closed Tuesday. The New York-based company said in a news release that Pulsar's technology and 30 employees will become part of SpinCar.

SpinCar is a digital merchandising software company whose technology includes virtual, 360-degree vehicle walk-arounds that appear on dealerships' vehicle detail pages. Pulsar's virtual-assistant tool uses machine learning and natural language processing to communicate with online vehicle shoppers, including outside of traditional business hours.

"This acquisition will enable us to accelerate our platform expansion efforts to meet growing demand for digital capabilities that deliver more engaging and personalized experiences to vehicle shoppers at every touch point," SpinCar CEO Devin Daly said in a st…

Toyota Manufacturing Canada Inc. has resumed production at all its factories in Ontario now that employees at a major supplier have returned to work after a COVID-19 outbreak subsided.

Toyotetsu, in Simcoe, Ont., about 76 miles northwest of Toronto, ceased production the week of April 26 after eight employees tested positive for the virus.

That led Toyota to cease production of the RAV4, RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus RX 350 and the RX 450h Hybrid, due to a parts shortage.

Toyotetsu employees started trickling back to work May 5 and Toyota resumed production Tuesday.

Toyotetsu said in a statement that it had reduced the number of positive cases to three from eight among its 1,200 employees. 

“We’ve been working closely with the Haldimand-Norfolk Public Health Unit on a return-to-work plan focused on the health and safety of our employees and communities,” the company said in the statement. “Following the guidance of public health of…

New York dealer Steven Gomes has acquired a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership on Long Island.

Gomes on April 30 bought Riverhead Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram from the Strollo family, according to the RiverheadLOCAL website.

Tony Strollo Jr. along with his two children, T.J. Strollo and Jane Millman, operated the dealership, according to the store's website. The family had owned the dealership since 1976. It added the Chrysler and Jeep brands in 2017, according to the dealership's website.

Millman is chairman of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.

RiverheadLOCAL reported that the dealership within a year will move to a nearby location that features a new showroom and service department.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Gomes owns three other dealerships on Long Island: Stevens 112 Ford in Patchogue, N.Y., and Ford of Smithtown and Lincoln of Smithtown, both in Saint James, N.Y. He also owns Stevens Jersey City Ford in New Jers…