Trade News

South Motors CEO Jonathan Chariff opens up about the company's virtual wellness programs and how the tools are helping employees stay physically and mentally fit amid the pandemic.

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A Detroit judge ruled Volkswagen Group does not have to face a $750 million lawsuit by a unit of supplier Prevent Group, who alleged the automaker sought to strangle the company's business over a pricing dispute.

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman on Monday threw out a 2019 antitrust suit filed by Prevent USA, accusing VW of launching a corporate dirty-tricks campaign to interfere with its acquisitions, cut it off as a supplier and make an example out of the Bosnia-based company.

The case was among more than a half-dozen suits the two companies have filed against each other in three countries regarding a 2016 pricing squabble over Prevent's decision to cut off parts supplies to VW. Judges in Germany have split their rulings in the cases.

Friedman said Prevent's suit was a "continuation of an ongoing dispute" currently before the German courts over the Bosnian company's allegations VW is trying to drive it out of business. The judge threw it out on…

QuantumScape Corp., an EV battery startup that went public via a reverse merger, said it’s seeking to raise as much as $859 million to fund expansion of a battery pilot line.

Shares of the San Jose, Calif.-based company have rallied 18 percent since Feb. 15, the day before it announced it had cleared a key hurdle in the development of its solid-state battery tech. At the time, it also said it would build a 200,000-square-foot pilot line in California to make prototype cells for its partner, Volkswagen Group, and other potential automotive customers.

The company is now seeking to more than double the capacity of that pilot line, dubbed QS-0, it said in a regulatory filing Monday. QuantumScape seeks “to provide more prototype cells to Volkswagen” as well as other automakers and “prospective customers in other industries,” according to the filing.

The company will use proceeds from the share sale to build the pilot line and secure a lease for the pilot prod…

Kia Motors America has tapped automotive industry veteran Michael McHale to lead its U.S. brand experience endeavors, the automaker said Monday.

The role is new, according to the company. McHale will take the title of director of brand experience and lead "all aspects" of Kia Motors America public relations and external communications, which includes events, auto shows and strategic partnerships. He started in the job effective Monday, Kia said.

McHale's 25 years in the industry made him ideal for the position, Kia said in a statement. From 2007 to 2018, he was director of corporate communications for Subaru of America. He also has held roles in the communications divisions of the BMW, Land Rover and Mini brands.

McHale presided over corporate communications for Rivian Automotive, an EV startup based in Irvine, Calif., from 2018 to 2019.

"As the industry shifts to electrification, Michael's experience will be instrumental to our communications eff…

BEIJING -- China's Great Wall Motor will launch a new standalone brand for its off-road vehicles, chairman Wei Jianjun said, as automakers pursue new segments when sales in the world's biggest car market pick up.

Wei said Great Wall, the country's top pickup maker, plans to launch the "Tank" brand during the Shanghai auto show this year in April.

Baoding-based Great Wall earlier this year also launched a new standalone brand for electric and smart vehicles. It's also building an EV factory with BMW in China.

TOKYO -- Toyota, Nissan, Honda and other Japanese carmakers scrambled on Monday to assess the impact on their production of a fire at a Renesas Electronics chip plant that could aggravate a global semiconductor shortage.

Renesas has said it will take at least a month to resume production at a 300mm wafer line at its Naka plant in northeast Japan after an electrical fault caused machinery to catch fire on Friday and poured smoke into the sensitive clean room.

The fallout on carmakers could spread beyond Japan to auto companies in Europe and the U.S. because Renesas has about a 30 percent share of the global market for microcontroller unit chips used in cars.

"We are gathering information and trying to see if this will affect us or not," a Honda spokesman said. Other automakers including Toyota and Nissan said they too were assessing the situation.

Two-thirds of production at the affected line is automotive chips. Renesas also has a 200mm wafer line…

In the nascent truck wars, Detroit won’t need tents.

In the summer of 2018, when Tesla needed to quickly ramp up production at its Fremont, Calif., factory, the company erected a big top the size of two football fields in the parking lot. The strategy brought into stark relief the difficulty of taking a vehicle from the drawing board to the end of an assembly line.

The future of the auto industry in America will be largely determined by a parade of new electric trucks — at least four from Detroit incumbents facing off against at least six from Tesla Inc. and other upstarts. The newcomers will be building pickups for the first time, but they also will be building truck factories for the first time, which is arguably a more difficult task. Not only have Ford Motor Co., General Motors, and Stellantis NV refined the blocking and tackling of building and tooling a factory, they have scads of them sitting empty or ticking away at reduced capacity.

“A distinct …

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas CEO Martin Fritsches says the company's expanding product portfolio, close relationship with dealers and one-one-one approach with customers are driving the brand forward. 

How do I subscribe?Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify"Daily Drive" is available on Spotify. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

British exotic automaker McLaren Americas has signed on with Chase Auto as its exclusive banking partner, both companies said Monday.

Chase will finance loans and leases for the automaker and is the banking partner through which the manufacturer disseminates customer incentives, according to the agreement.

The relationship will focus on McLaren's leasing business, which is a key component of the automaker's long-term strategy to open the brand to consumers at different price points.

McLaren had a corporate financial arrangement with J.P. Morgan Chase before inking this private-label agreement. Creating a customer-centric experience that would appeal to high-end clients was an important factor in selecting the lender for its financial services business, said Nic Brown, McLaren's vice president of sales.

"We are always looking at unique experiences that we can offer [our customers] above and beyond the vehicle experience," he said. "With Chase, it w…

WASHINGTON -- California's two U.S. senators are urging President Joe Biden to set a firm date to phase out gas-powered passenger vehicles as the White House grapples with how to rewrite vehicle emissions rules slashed under President Donald Trump.

In an unreported letter going to Biden on Monday, U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein -- both of them California Democrats -- called on Biden "to follow California’s lead and set a date by which all new cars and passenger trucks sold be zero-emission vehicles." They also urged Biden to restore California's authority to set clean car standards.

In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, signed an executive order directing the state's air resources agency to require all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California to be zero-emission by 2035.

Biden's campaign in 2020 declined to endorse a specific date to end gas-powered vehicle sales, but he has vowed to dramatically boost EVs and…