Trade News

Baidu, the Chinese internet giant and a leading autonomous driving technology developer, is poised to become the first company in China to demonstrate paid robotaxi services. 

The program, approved by local traffic authorities, will dispatch 35 self-driving vehicles to pilot rides in the north China city of Cangzhou, Baidu said. 

The company obtained clearance after completing a key requirement: 50,000 kilometers of robotaxi testing accompanied by safety drivers on open local roads with zero accidents, Baidu added. 

Government approval will allow it to “explore various mechanisms for charging customers, such as discounts, trial tickets, and voluntary payments from riders,” the company noted. 

Baidu has launched demonstration robotaxi programs in several Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. It expects to expand the program to include 30 cities in China over the next three years. 

In January, it …

<!--*/ <!--*/ */ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ Ford opens 'Disneyland for robots'

Digit and Fluffy have a new place to play.

Ford Motor Co., which has previously experimented with robots such as a biped package carrier named Digit and four-legged plant assistant called Fluffy, this week announced the opening of a four-story, $75 million robotics building in partnership with the University of Michigan. The 134,000-square-foot complex on the university's north campus in Ann Arbor features a three-story Fly Zone for drones, high-speed treadmills with obstacles, an outdoor robotics "playground" and an area called the Mars Yard, which mimics the red planet's surface so researchers can test rover and lander concepts.

"It's a Disneyland for robots," Mario Santillo, Ford's robotics research lead, told reporters. "All of this is because we're increasingly seeing robots do useful work for society. Our presence here, along with the University of Michigan, allows u…

Colorado Automobile Dealers Association President Tim Jackson says the Denver Auto Show is slated to return in September as an outdoor event with a number of safety measures in place for attendees.

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Hyundai Motor America is recalling more than 100,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada from its Genesis luxury division because of problems with the antilock brake system, which could result in an electrical short and vehicle fire.

The affected vehicles include certain 2015-16 Hyundai Genesis sedans and 2017-20 Genesis G80 midsize sedans. That covers 94,646 vehicles in the U.S. and 4,756 in Canada. In a separate filing to NHTSA, the South Korean automaker said it is also recalling Genesis G70 compact sedans from the 2019-21 model years. That recall covers 552 vehicles in the U.S. and 123 in Canada.

In a document to U.S. vehicle safety regulators, Hyundai said the affected vehicles in both recalls were equipped with antilock brake system modules that "could malfunction and cause an electrical short over time, potentially resulting in an engine compartment fire" while the vehicle is driven or parked.

Mando, a South Korean auto parts supplier, makes the ABS a…

ACV Auctions Inc., a fast-growing digital wholesaling firm, expects to raise some $314 million in an initial public offering, set for March 24.

The IPO would give it a market value of $3.1 billion, according to a release.

Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the company is offering 16,550,000 shares of Class A common stock. It plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the "ACVA" ticker symbol. In the filing, ACV estimates the IPO price will be between $18 and $20 per share.

The company has been growing fast while reporting losses, the SEC filing shows.

In 2015, the online auction platform sold about 1,000 units. Last year, it sold more than 391,000 units. Even before the coronavirus pandemic caused a mass shift to digital operations in the automotive world, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based company was growing quickly: It sold 241,000 units in 2019, up from 90,000 the year before.

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WASHINGTON/DETROIT -- When President Joe Biden flies to Georgia Friday, he will land in the middle of an increasingly politicized battle between two South Korean electric vehicle battery makers and the state and federal politicians who want to prevent their feud from costing American jobs.

The companies, LG Chem and rival SK Innovation Co, are trying to take advantage of past and promised U.S. investments, and ties to politicians in Georgia, Ohio and Tennessee, to win the end game in a long-running legal dispute over intellectual property and access to the growing U.S. electric vehicle market.

The Biden Administration, through the U.S. Trade Representative's office, may ultimately pick a winner by the early April deadline. Both declined to comment.

The global auto industry is racing to develop EVs. Batteries made by LG, SK and other suppliers are critical to meeting the target of building zero-emission vehicles.

Georgia is the center of action. Un…

How the coronavirus pandemic disrupted fixed ops in 2020 will continue to dominate discussions in 2021. One topic of interest is what service-related things will go back to how they were pre-pandemic and what changes are here to stay.

Todd Marcelle, vice president and founder of kiosk vendor GoMoto, said he thinks the new contactless ways customers have used to check in and out of service appointments -- and paid for repairs using mobile phone apps or kiosks -- will stick around. Or more accurately, Marcelle believes dealership service departments will be making a mistake if they don't keep these conveniences.

Well, of course, you say, the kiosk guy recommends we keep using kiosks. Big surprise. But Marcelle emphasizes that service departments should embrace all new technology, including mobile phone apps. Besides, that's just not him talking — it's service customers in survey after survey last year talking about how much they want the convenience technology gi…

STOCKHOLM -- Volvo Cars, which is owned by China's Geely Holding, will temporarily stop or adjust production in China and the United States for parts of March due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips, it said Wednesday.

"We expect the situation to become critical during the second quarter and have therefore decided to take measures to minimize the impact on production while working daily to improve the situation," Volvo Cars said in an e-mailed statement.

"Volvo Cars will temporarily stop or adjust production in some of its car factories (in the United States and China) during the month of March," it said.

The Swedish automaker said last month it had so far not lost volumes due to the chip shortage, but added there was a "big risk" it could happen during the first quarter.

The shortage has hit automakers globally and stems from a confluence of factors as automakers compete with the consumer electronics industry for chip supplies.

The average amount of negative equity customers bring to vehicle transactions dropped at Lithia Motors Inc. during the pandemic, largely because of stimulus checks and stronger used-vehicle values.

Before the pandemic, the average down payment on a Lithia vehicle was $1,800, CEO Bryan DeBoer said during an investor presentation last week. Today, the average down payment has risen 39 percent to $2,500.

The average negative equity rolled into a new-vehicle purchase at Lithia dropped to just more than $4,000, down from $5,000.

Stronger trades and stimulus checks "have put more money into the pockets of consumers and allowed them to have a little more savings to be able to apply for a little bit lower loan to value, which allows them to get better interest rates," DeBoer said.

After reaching record highs in May 2020, negative equity levels on new-vehicle sales have dropped during the coronavirus outbreak. Higher used-car values are benefiting vehicle …

LONDON -- British electric van and bus startup Arrival said on Wednesday that it will build a new plant in North Carolina and much of its production will go to fulfilling an order from package delivery company UPS for up to 10,000 vehicles.

Arrival's "microfactory" in Charlotte will be the startup's second U.S. plant and is due to launch production in the third quarter of 2022. Last October, Arrival announced plans for a plant in South Carolina.

Arrival plans a series of small plants -- which it dubs "microfactories" -- that will take up far less space and require lower investments than conventional vehicle factories. The plants will not include expensive paint shops or welding equipment, which also require a lot of space. The company also has a plant in England.

Arrival will invest around $41.2 million in the Charlotte plant, which will be able to assemble up to 10,000 electric delivery vans annually and create more than 250 jobs.

The van and bus…

A Tesla on Autopilot crashed into a stationary police car on a Michigan freeway early Wednesday, authorities said.

No one was injured in the crash, which happened on Interstate 96 near Lansing while a Michigan State Police trooper was investigating an earlier accident involving a deer.

The Tesla's Autopilot driver-assist system was engaged when it struck the police car, a blue Dodge Charger with its emergency lights activated, police officials tweeted. The driver of the Tesla, identified as a 22-year-old man from Lansing, was ticketed for failing to move over and driving with a suspended license.

The crash happened a day after police in Detroit said they did not believe Autopilot was involved in a March 11 crash of a Tesla into a tractor-trailer. The Tesla became wedged underneath the semitrailer and critically injured a passenger. NHTSA said it was sending a special crash team to investigate the crash.

NHTSA has previo…