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<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ A closely watched metric, often ignored

For a metric that's so important, it sure doesn't get much popular attention.

It's called sales per franchise. The ranking is a key part of our annual dealer census, to be published in Monday's issue.

There's nothing fancy about it. It measures how many new vehicles are sold in the U.S. by the average franchise of a particular auto brand. As this year's tally shows, the numbers are all over the map. Toyota is at the top, with 1,483. Exotic brands such as Aston Martin and Lamborghini typically fill out much of the bottom, this year in the 40- to 50-sales-per-franchise range.

And while the rankings don't get much media focus, you can bet they're closely watched inside corporate offices. For example, five of the six most-liked brands in the National Automobile Dealers Association Dealer Attitude Study for winter 2019 were among the top six in the Automotive News sales-per-franchise…

In its goal to eclipse Tesla as the world's dominant electric vehicle manufacturer, Volkswagen appears to embrace "if you can't beat them, join them."

The German behemoth revealed plans last week to dramatically expand its EV operations both upstream and downstream, deciding to itself manufacture at least a sixth of its European battery cells sourced from six cell plants in the region as well as link with partners to operate a massive network of fast chargers across the continent.

Much like Tesla and its 4680 cylindrical cells, Volkswagen chose to concentrate on one "unified" cell to drive down the price of a kilowatt-hour to well below €100 ($119). By switching from the pouch format and focusing on prismatic, the plan does away with the need for modules, reducing costs.

Automakers had underestimated just how critical a role the battery played in differentiating EVs, say experts. BMW, for example, saw its core competence in buildi…

The CEO of Optimus Ride discusses his company's strategy of placing self-driving shuttles in campus environments, its plans to raise additional capital and the transition to full autonomy.

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TOKYO — After four decades of dedicating himself to Nissan Motor Co., Hitoshi Kawaguchi found himself in 2018 suddenly troubled about the company's direction.

Carlos Ghosn, then chairman of Nissan and its French partner, Renault, was maneuvering to orchestrate a merger between the companies.

But Kawaguchi, senior vice president in charge of government relations at the time, and other senior Nissan executives thought that was a bad idea, he testified this month in the criminal trial of their onetime colleague, former human resources officer and Nissan director Greg Kelly.

As a clique of powerful executives grew concerned about Ghosn's integration plans, Kawaguchi said, they also secretly worked to report allegations of wrongdoing by Ghosn to prosecutors, leading to the longtime leader's November 2018 arrest.

The executives met two or three times a week in a private lunchroom to consult about the matter, Kawaguchi testified.

But Kawaguchi ma…

DETROIT — As the global semiconductor chip shortage lingers on, General Motors has found a way to do what some in the industry have said is impossible: Build — and sell — a vehicle with a missing part.

The automaker last week said it would assemble certain 2021 light-duty full-size pickups without an active fuel management or dynamic fuel management module because of the chip shortage.

Affected models are the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra equipped with the 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V-8 engine with both the six-speed and eight-speed automatic transmission. GM did not disclose the volume of vehicles involved.

"I'm one who's always said, 'You can't build the vehicle if you're missing one part,' " Doug Betts, president of the automotive division at J.D. Power, told Automotive News. "In this case, GM has redesigned the vehicle in effect so that it doesn't need this one part."

Since the chip shortage began hampering production this year, GM has consistent…

BEIJING - Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday the company would be shut down if its EVs were used to spy, his first comments on news that China's military has banned Teslas from its facilities.

"There's a very strong incentive for us to be very confidential with any information," Musk told a prominent Chinese forum during a virtual discussion. "If Tesla used cars to spy in China or anywhere, we will get shut down."

Sources told Reuters on Friday that the Chinese military has banned Tesla vehicles from entering its complexes, citing security concerns over cameras installed on the EVs.

Those restrictions surfaced as the top Chinese and U.S. diplomats were holding a contentious meeting in Alaska, the first such in-person interaction since President Joe Biden took office in January.

Musk urged greater mutual trust between the world's two biggest economies, in his remarks to the China Development Forum, a high-level business gathering hosted by a…

DETROIT -- The impact of the global semiconductor shortage on the auto industry spread on Saturday, as Stellantis warned its highly profitable pickup trucks were hit, while Ford Motor Co. said it would cut more U.S. production.

Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automaker, said it will build and hold for final assembly its Ram 1500 Classic trucks at its Warren, Michigan, and Saltillo, Mexico, assembly plants. When chips become available, the vehicles will be completed and shipped to dealers.

The action will last "a number of weeks," a Stellantis spokeswoman said, declining to reveal how many trucks would be affected. The chip shortage, which has hit automakers globally, stems from a confluence of factors. Carmakers shut North American plants for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic last year and canceled chip orders. Meanwhile, demand for chips surged from the consumer electronics industry as people worked from home and played video games. Now carma…

DETROIT -- The impact of the global semiconductor shortage on the auto industry spread on Saturday, as Stellantis warned its highly profitable pickup trucks were hit, while Ford Motor Co. said it would cut more U.S. production.

Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automaker, said it will build and hold for final assembly its Ram 1500 Classic trucks at its Warren, Michigan, and Saltillo, Mexico, assembly plants. When chips become available, the vehicles will be completed and shipped to dealers.

The action will last "a number of weeks," a Stellantis spokeswoman said, declining to reveal how many trucks would be affected. The chip shortage, which has hit automakers globally, stems from a confluence of factors. Carmakers shut North American plants for two months during the COVID-19 pandemic last year and canceled chip orders. Meanwhile, demand for chips surged from the consumer electronics industry as people worked from home and played video games. Now carma…

From big rigs to buses, millions of American workers currently earn a living driving vehicles. Someday, self-driving systems could make their jobs obsolete.

Whether the transition from human drivers to automated ones results in severe layoffs that occur in a short time frame or as smaller disruptions over decades is a simmering question, the answer to which carries substantial implications for affected workers and the U.S. economy writ large.

"We can argue about the scope and timeline, but what we can't argue about is that this is a reality," Meera Joshi, acting administrator at the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said in remarks at the agency's research and technology forum this month. "There will be a major shift in work force."

A pair of studies issued this year by the department found there's "vast uncertainty" about the nature of that shift and impact of its disruption on approximately 4.5 million co…

Three of the largest sellers of new vehicles in the U.S. plan to focus much of their capital spending in the next few years on expanding their used-vehicle store counts.

Leaders from publicly traded dealership groups AutoNation Inc., Penske Automotive Group Inc. and Sonic Automotive Inc. say growing their own used-only platforms is cheaper and easier than adding new-vehicle stores, which require automaker approvals. And those executives expect that used-vehicle expansion will help them boost profits and grab more market share.

"As we looked at the opportunity and the return on capital investment, there's no question this is the leader in the clubhouse," Penske CEO Roger Penske told Automotive News.

Penske Automotive, the latest of the three to accelerate used-only store expansion, last month said it would spend about $200 million to grow its network of used-vehicle supercenters from 17 locations in the U.S. and United Kingdom to 40 by the end of 2023. …

Lexus will produce a limited edition and serialized 500-vehicle run of the 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance to launch the sports sedan in North America.

The Launch Edition will feature two-tone black and gray trimmed front and rear seats, door accents and center console, Lexus says. In addition, the steering wheel is trimmed in a silver ash wood treatment. Special Launch Edition badging will be used throughout, along with an exclusive startup animation on the instrument cluster, the Japanese luxury brand says.

The limited edition will ride on special 19-inch matte black wheels and will be produced in just one color: a grayish tone that Lexus calls Incognito.

The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance, initially revealed in February, is equipped with the same 472-hp 5.0-liter V-8 engine as the RC-F, which adds 161 hp and 115 pound-feet of torque compared with the IS 350 F Sport's engine.

Lexus says the IS 500 F Sport Performance is capable of…