Trade News

Porsche Cars North America's former top executive, Kjell Gruner, is said to be headed to the U.S. electric vehicle upstart Rivian Automotive, sources have told Automotive News.

Gruner did not return a request for comment on email and LinkedIn this week.

When reached for comment, a Rivian spokesperson said: "I don't have any information to provide at this time."

On Thursday, Germany's Manager Magazin also reported that Gruner is expected to take a job at Rivian.

On July 5, Porsche announced Gruner was leaving the sports carmaker "at his own request" and less than three years on the job.

In his relatively short tenure as CEO, Gruner steered Porsche's U.S. business through the pandemic and set the brand on track to hit a three-year sales high this year.

Porsche told dealers it expects U.S. sales to hit 80,000 next year, up nearly 15 percent from 2022.

Gruner's role at Rivian is unknown, but the executive is not likely to replac…

Lithia, aiming for $50 billion in sales by 2025, is looking into new business lines to keep growing. Autonomous vehicles may get a new regulatory path for reaching the road. BMW and other luxury brands push EVs while a major supplier starts making fuel cell modules for hydrogen-powered semi trucks.

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Phone calls are valuable leads for the automotive industry, with higher conversion rates than web form submissions.

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The global supply chain has experienced a whirlwind of volatility in recent years, which have plunged the industry into a perpetual state of adaptation, transformation, and strain. The companies and leaders who can navigate this tumultuous landscape will forge strategies today that pave the way for a remarkably resilient supply chain in the future.

In this analysis brought to you by Tosca, a global leader in reusable packaging, we investigate major shifts in supply chain operation today in order to get a good look at what supply chains will look like in 5 years.

Generation Z and millennial borrowers are falling significantly behind on their car payments at rates last seen during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data by car insurance comparison site Jerry.

And that's during a time when they didn't have to make their federal student loan payments — a budget burden that could ding millions of borrowers' credit, the alternative credit score provider VantageScore notes.

The Federal Reserve's quarterly household debt report, which draws on Equifax data to produce its auto loan delinquency results, breaks out borrowers into age ranges including those 18 to 29 and 30 to 39 years. These brackets capture what the Pew Research Center had previously defined as older Gen Zers (the generation starting with 1997 births) and nearly all millennials (those born in 1981 to 1996), though the organization in May said it would reduce its use of generational labels.

Those age demogra…

Toyota Motor Corp. said it is recalling certain 2023 model year Toyota Corolla, Corolla Cross, Corolla Cross hybrid, Highlander, Highlander hybrid, Tacoma, Lexus RX and RX hybrid and 2024 model year NX and NX hybrid vehicles.

Toyota spokesperson Josh Burns on Wednesday said about 118,000 vehicles are included, “with approximately 110,000 of those in the U.S.”

In affected vehicles, the spiral cable assembly in the steering column may lose electrical connection on the circuit controlling the driver’s airbag.

If loss of electrical connection occurs, the airbag warning light will illuminate, and the driver’s airbag may not deploy in a crash. Vehicles will not comply with certain federal motor vehicle safety requirements as a result, which may increase risk of injury to the driver in a crash.

Toyota declined to comment on injuries, accidents or deaths that could have resulted from the safety issue.

For all recalled vehicles, Toyota and Lexus dealers …

STUTTGART, Germany — Auto parts supplier Robert Bosch said it has started volume production of a fuel cell power module for U.S. electric truck startup Nikola Corp.'s upcoming, hydrogen-powered Class 8 semi.

The production launch is the latest step for Bosch, the world's largest auto supplier, in its big bet on hydrogen as an alternative power source for vehicles.

The company said it expects hydrogen technology to generate about $5.5 billion by 2030, anticipating that 1 in 5 new trucks that weigh more than 6 tons will be hydrogen-powered by that time.

The module will debut on the Nikola Tre FCEV, which is expected to hit the U.S. market in the third quarter. Bosch is producing the systems at its Stuttgart-Feuerbach manufacturing complex in Germany, and it will supply the plant with components such as fuel-cell stacks and electric air compressors from other factories in Germany.

Fuel-cell power module production has also begun at Bosch's plant in…

U.S. consumers increasingly prefer larger vehicles. They want lots of space and an abundance of features, and larger vehicles are typically considered safer. But while larger vehicles tend to provide a high level of protection for their drivers, they are among the most dangerous vehicles on the road for drivers of other vehicles, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found in a study released Thursday.

In 30 years studying this topic, the IIHS has found that smaller vehicles always have higher death rates. "The reasoning was just the physics of a crash," Chuck Farmer, IIHS vice president for research and statistical services, told Automotive News. "When a larger vehicle hits a smaller vehicle, the larger vehicle wins."

Though larger vehicles are safer for their own drivers, they might be more dangerous for drivers of the vehicles they crash into. "If you're in the larger vehicle, you're more protected, but the physics would say the other guy is going to b…

Automotive retail isn't just about cars. Without the people who work tirelessly to ensure that each customer gets a safe, reliable car, a dealership is simply a building. It doesn't exist without the technicians whose specific and invaluable skill set allows the industry to flourish. However, according to ESi-Q data, 1 of every 5 technicians in automotive is considering a different career path.

There is a strong and direct correlation between customer retention and service technician teams in a dealership. The NADA Workforce Study collected data from the last 15 years and found only 56 percent of service technicians stay at a dealership longer than three years. The good news is that in recent years, technician turnover has slowly declined. Last year, 19 percent of technicians that ESi-Q surveyed were looking to leave their dealership for a different job, a 3 percent decrease from the previous year. While that is encouraging, the numbers still are not wher…

Tully Williams is the parts and service director at Niello Co., based in Sacramento, Calif.

First car: 1965 Chevy Impala.

First concert you attended: Willie Nelson.

Name a pet peeve: Negativity.

Most thrilling/adventurous thing you've done: Rock climbing.

Your personal hero (and why): My grandfathers.

First job: Apprentice tech.

Something on your bucket list: A vacation with NO access to the world.

One thing you learned on the job you never forgot: IT'S ALL ABOUT HOURS!

If you could pick up a new skill, what would it be? Better time management.

3 people you'd invite to dinner, living or dead: Bill Gates, John Rockefeller, Henry Ford.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? Builder.

You're king for a day. What's your first order? YOU MUST BE POSITIVE!!!!

First album/CD you bought: Journey.

Favorite c…

Leading F&I provider Safe-Guard Products International has jumped into the service side of automotive retail with its recent acquisition of fixed operations facility development firm Dealer Solutions and Design.

This is Safe-Guard's first acquisition. The company said integrating DSD's services will greatly grow its ability to work beyond the and allow Safe-Guard to help dealership groups with process and infrastructure improvements.

"DSD has nearly two decades of success transforming dealerships into modern models of function and design," said Safe-Guard CEO Randy Barkowitz. "With this acquisition, we will be able to offer our customers a positive customer experience from the initial point of sale all the way through the service experience. The combination creates unique capabilities for our retailer partners to maximize their customer and service opportunities."

DSD has worked with dealerships on more than 1,000 facility projec…