Trade News

et's state this upfront: No one at the Detroit 3 or the UAW truly knows right now how this year's contract talks will play out.

But things could get really, really interesting if the UAW reimplements a temporary change in union rules from 2019 that — coupled with the severe worker shortage now roiling the U.S. economy — could shift the traditional power dynamic in negotiations.

Here's what I mean: Back in October 2019, with about 48,000 workers one month into their 40-day strike against General Motors, the UAW temporarily altered its rules governing how outside employment impacted strike pay.

The changes seemed barely noteworthy in the midst of what turned out to be a roughly $4 billion strike against the largest of the Detroit 3. Among the changes: The union would no longer reduce weekly strike pay dollar-for-dollar when members' outside income exceeded the UAW's benefit — then $250 per week.

Before the change, as CN…

There are more signs that the microchip shortage is easing, even as automakers cut 82,573 vehicles from production plans worldwide last week, according to the latest estimate from AutoForecast Solutions.

North American factories lost 38,677 vehicles because of a lack of semiconductors last week, in addition to 21,700 cut from assembly plants in China and 22,196 removed from production schedules elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

For the second consecutive week, AutoForecast Solutions lowered its full-year production-loss estimate for North America. It now expects about 954,206 vehicles to be cut in the region by year’s end, an improvement from the 1.01 million it anticipated last week.

“Strides continued to be made in securing more semiconductors for automotive production,” said Sam Fiorani, AutoForecast Solutions’ vice president of global vehicle forecasting, in an email. “Transportation issues, especially in North America, are growing as the next b…

WASHINGTON - The United Auto Workers union on Friday called on the Biden administration to soften its proposed vehicle emissions cuts that would require 67 percent of new vehicles to be electric by 2032.

The UAW, which represents workers at General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent StellantisI, said the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed standards should be revised to "better reflect the feasibility of compliance so that the projected adoption of (zero emission vehicles) is set to feasible levels, increases stringency more gradually, and occurs over a greater period of time."

The comments come before the UAW is set to open contract talks with the Detroit Three automakers before current four-year contracts expire in September.

The UAW said the "EPA must recognize that the current domestic auto assembly footprint is heavily weighted towards the profitable light-duty truck and SUVs that are tasked with funding the EV transition." Last year, n…

Like the root system anchoring a growing tree, Toyota Motor North America's SmartPath and the Monogram digital retailing tool by Lexus are spreading out across the automaker's 1,500 retailers.

After starting with new-vehicle sales and later moving to used vehicles and then service, Toyota's homegrown digital ecosystem for its dealerships will grow this year into another major revenue area for most stores: finance and insurance.

And it's doing so with more than one-third of Toyota and Lexus dealerships already running SmartPath or Monogram, with about two dozen more being switched on each month, said John Myers, who succeeded Tim Bliss as general manager of retail transformation for Toyota Motor North America.

"If you look at all of those products together — sales, digital F&I and service — you've got an infinity loop for not only the customer, but also the vehicle," Myers said. "And it's not just the first customer; it could be…

Stellantis' U.S. sales rose 6.4 percent in the second quarter, the first gain it has reported in two years, and the automaker aims to build on that positive momentum in the remainder of 2023.

Dodge, Chrysler and Ram each achieved sales gains in the quarter, with Dodge attaining a 37 percent increase as Durango sales more than tripled. Dodge sales were up for a fourth consecutive quarter.

Ram, with flat pickup sales and higher van sales, ended a streak of seven quarterly declines. On the luxury side, Maserati sales rose 7 percent.

Chris Glenn, Stellantis' vice president of U.S. dealer relations and retail strategies, said the plan is to maintain an "aggressive nature at retail, stay close with our business center, stay close with our dealers, communicating out our plans.

"We just launched this month a 60-day retail campaign, which will be carried and supported at Tier 1 and Tier 2," Glenn told Automotive News. "We're …

The number of new electric nameplates that will launch by decade's end continues to grow. Each encouraging monthly sales and registration report emboldens an automaker somewhere to revise its EV strategy upward or push ahead with schedules.

The industry knows EVs are coming. And manufacturers everywhere have big long-term production plans for them. About 40 EV models of all types are on the market in the United States, but that number could triple over the next two to three years, according to automaker announcements and production forecasters. General Motors alone has said it expects to have more than 20 available in North America by the end of 2025.

But getting factories in place to produce them is a slow process, involving potentially billions in capital spending, hiring and training workers, and simultaneous product development programs. Multiple factory preparations are underway around North America to put EVs into production. These auto…

California dealership executive David Long didn't want to have to hop on a plane to brainstorm with other retailers, so he created an interactive virtual network instead. Now, hundreds of dealers connect each week.

Long, executive general manager of Hansel Auto Group in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, launched a Clubhouse audio chatroom called "All Things Used Cars" in November 2021. The room is like an interactive podcast or call-in radio show, with Long as host and a rotating cast of industry leaders as co-hosts. Long has led more than 100 episodes, which take place every Friday at 6 a.m. Pacific time, and keeps a running list of the most helpful tips.

"I'm trying to take at least one thing away from each episode so that I can come in and turn that insight into action," Long told Automotive News last month while thumbing through a stack of more than 100 auto retail how-tos and best practices he has gleaned.

Long's listeners are doing …

With all the attention ChatGPT has generated since its explosive debut last fall, Jason Bickford felt intrigued enough to experiment with it at work.

Bickford, vice president of sales and operations at Bickford Ford, in Snohomish, Wash., was curious about what he could accomplish with the artificial intelligence-driven conversational chatbot. It turned out to be plenty, even at the start. The dealership began to use ChatGPT in January to automate sales correspondence, compose memos and write job postings complete with better wording and grammar. It even helped measure customer sentiment.

"We're definitely happy with it," Bickford said. "The content is getting better, and the support is getting better. It helps people realize ... there is a better way to work."

Since ChatGPT's by San Francisco private research laboratory OpenAI, the technology has wowed the world with its ability to converse on human terms and learn from its mistak…

In a memo to U.S. retailers obtained by Automotive News, McLaren said deliveries of its plug-in hybrid, the Artura, are delayed on average about four months as the British automaker institutes "enhanced testing procedures" to improve quality.

McLaren said the measures provide "additional checks and testing in our quality control procedure."

Spokesman Roger Ormisher confirmed the delay.

"To implement these quality control procedures, we have temporarily slowed production," he said.

A McLaren retailer said customers planning to take delivery in May can now expect to do so in September.

It's the latest setback for the Artura, originally scheduled to arrive in fall 2020.

Buggy software and supply chain delays pushed the sales start to late last year. Shortly after, faulty nuts on high-pressure fuel pipes triggered a recall.

The latest hiccup is frustrating some retailers. One said multiple customers had canceled orders, put off …

Tesla is rolling out offers of cash and other perks for buyers who get referred by existing customers. Mercedes joins Tesla's charging network. Plus, Pied Piper CEO Fran O’Hagan talks about enhancing retail customer loyalty with frictionless service call processes.

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When a customer calls to make a service appointment at a Group 1 Automotive dealership, there's a roughly 95 percent chance their call will be answered within 20 seconds and only a 2 percent chance the call will go unanswered.

Stats like that explain why the nearly 150 participating Group 1 stores ranked first in handling service appointment calls in a study by Pied Piper Management Co. from January to May. The study relied on "mystery shoppers" who posed as customers while calling 1,739 stores owned by 17 of the largest dealership groups in the U.S. to schedule service appointments.

The secret sauce for Group 1's success? A dedicated call center in Houston that employs 160 phone agents. They typically handle 130,000 to 150,000 calls a month, said Mike Jones, senior vice president of aftersales.

Group 1 created the phone center in 2011. At that time, service advisers answered the phones. But because advisers are so busy, about 30 …