Trade News

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Bollinger Motors is about to shift into drive.

With the majority of the engineering complete on Bollinger's first commercial product, a battery-powered Class 4 chassis cab, final testing is underway. Bollinger's marketing team is about to hit the road to book orders ahead of the planned start of production in the second quarter of 2024.

"Our next event after we leave here is to take these trucks straight to fleets. We'll bring them to parking lots and test tracks near customers in whatever state they are in," CEO Robert Bollinger said.

The company is also building a nationwide dealer network, which will include traditional franchised new-car dealers who also run fleet businesses, said Jim Connelly, Bollinger's chief revenue officer.

"The order books are open. We have not announced final pricing and we cannot sell directly to customers, but we have customers who have reserved the first ones off the li…

Unifor said it struck a last-minute tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co. of Canada, averting what would have been the company's second union walkout in North America since Friday. It also would have been the first strike by Canadian auto workers against Ford in 33 years. 

The UAW struck Ford at its assembly plant last week in Wayne, Mich., along with two other plants owned by General Motors and Chrysler. But the Detroit 3 negotiations in Canada have been far less confrontational so far.

Top union and Ford negotiators hammered out the deal late Tuesday, six weeks after the bargaining process began in August, and nearly 24 hours after the original strike deadline passed.

“We believe that this tentative agreement, endorsed by the entire master bargaining committee, addresses all of the items raised by members in preparation for this round of collective bargaining,” Unifor National President Lana Payne saind in a statement. “We believe that thi…

WASHINGTON - A senior Republican in Congress asked Tesla Tuesday to detail its relationship with Chinese battery manufacturer CATL amid concerns electric vehicle subsidies are flowing to foreign entities raising security concerns.

The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Jason Smith, asked Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a letter if the EV maker has contracts with CATL or is considering contracts. Smith said the committee is concerned CATL "may be trying to negotiate other agreements like the agreement with Ford."

Republicans in Congress have been probing Ford's planned $3.5 billion investment to build a battery plant in Michigan using technology from CATL, the world's largest battery maker.

The auto industry is watching how new rules around future electric-vehicle tax credits will be implemented as they make investment decisions on producing batteries for their transition to electric vehicles.

In 2022, Congress passed the $430 bi…

OYAMA, Japan — Japanese premium leader Lexus is rolling out some of its most fetching automotive designs, luxurious amenities and impressive technologies these days.

Just consider the rugged good looks of the GX utility vehicle, the regal splendor of the LM people mover and the futuristic steer-by-wire system for updates of the sleek RZ electric crossover.

But Lexus' newly appointed global boss says an even bigger transformation is on the way from 2026 as the brand leaps into next-generation electric vehicles. The road forward will be previewed next month when Lexus unwraps the first concept for those EVs at the Japan Mobility Show.

Takashi Watanabe, who took the helm as president of Lexus International in April, said full electric drive will open a new world of opportunities for Lexus to burnish its brand persona. Lexus will spearhead Toyota Motor Corp.'s next-generation EVs on its way to offering an electrified option for every vehicle in 2030, before…

BANGKOK — China's electric vehicle giant BYD has been on a tear in Southeast Asia, shooting past rivals including Tesla to take more than a quarter of the share of EVs sold in the region.

Along with attractive prices, BYD's early success is based on a pattern of distribution partnerships with large, local conglomerates that have allowed the carmaker to expand reach, test consumer preferences and navigate complex government regulations in the region, officials from three partners and analysts said.

The partnership model, similar to that pursued by Japanese automakers in some Southeast Asian countries decades ago, is helping BYD to build market share rapidly and contrasts with Tesla's go-it-alone distribution — though it comes at a cost.

"At present, BYD's primary focus is on brand proliferation rather than optimizing profit margins," said Soumen Mandal, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.

"By providing local dealers with more lucrative…

About 600 workers at two suppliers located on site at the Stellantis Jeep plant in Ohio where assembly workers went on strike last week will get $500 in weekly pay even though their employers aren't on strike.

The suppliers are KUKA Toledo Production Operations, which produces the bodies-in-white for Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators, and chassis maker Mobis.

The Toledo Assembly Complex is one of three plants the UAW chose last week for the first round of its "stand-up strike" against the Detroit 3 after the union was unable to agree on new contracts with the companies. General Motors' Wentzville Assembly plant in Missouri and Ford Motor Co.'s Michigan Assembly Plant near Detroit also are on strike.

Like Stellantis' striking workers in Toledo, employees of KUKA and Mobis are represented by UAW Local 12. The two companies aren't the only suppliers that have been affected by the Toledo strike, but they're unique because of their location within the plant co…

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety slapped each of the four minivans in the U.S. market with less than acceptable ratings in its new moderate front overlap crash test, which places a higher emphasis on back seat safety.

The Chrysler Pacifica, Kia Carnival and Toyota Sienna received IIHS' "marginal" rating; the Honda Odyssey was rated "poor."

The unfavorable ratings stem from adopting improved airbags and advanced seat belts in front seats while overlooking the second row, creating a "safety gap," Joe Young, a spokesperson for IIHS, told Automotive News.

IIHS found that newer, advanced airbags and restraints are "rarely available" in the back.

"Back seat safety is important for all vehicles, but it's especially vital for those, like minivans, that customers are choosing specifically to transport their families," IIHS President David Harkey said in a statement.

While safety has improved in the front seats, there has been a comparativ…

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The UAW will expand its strike against the Detroit 3 on Friday if negotiations this week stall, President Shawn Fain said.

"If we don't make serious progress by noon on Friday, Sept. 22, more locals will be called on to stand up and join the strike," Fain said in a video posted by the union Monday evening. "Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the Big 3. We're not waiting around and we're not messing around."

Fain didn't say how many additional plants would join the work stoppage, which began Friday. His comments suggested that the UAW could decide not to add plants even without deals in place by Friday, so long as the union is satisfied that the talks are productive.

About 13,000 workers at three plants — one each from General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis — are currently on strike and would become eligible for strike pay from the union on the day of Fain's next announcement.

After the strike began, Ford laid off…

The launch of self-driving truck startup Stack AV represents more than the return of Argo AI's co-founders to the autonomous driving realm.

It might be a bellwether for the broader industry's burgeoning health, said Reilly Brennan, general partner at Trucks Venture Capital.

"That investment announcement was probably one of the most significant things to happen to the automotive technology space in the past 12 months," he said last week at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit.

Stack was founded with a $1 billion investment from SoftBank Group Corp., according to Crunchbase records. The startup's executives revealed their intentions to enter the choppy self-driving truck industry this month.

The company is helmed by Bryan Salesky, Pete Rander and Brett Browning. If the names sound familiar, it's because all three were senior executives at Argo AI, the self-driving startup funded by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen that closed last October.

Read more

Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra talks about the company’s hopes for hybrids. UAW President Shawn Fain says ‘progress is slow’ in talks as the union’s strike enters its fourth day. And Lithia agrees to buy Pendragon's UK dealerships.

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