Trade News

Dealership marketing company AutoWeb posted a smaller loss in the fourth quarter and for all of 2020.

The Tampa, Fla., company on Thursday reported a net loss of $937,000 in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $3.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue fell 35 percent to $17.3 million, attributed to a drop in leads and clicks, as well as continued negative impact from the coronavirus pandemic, the company said. AutoWeb said it scaled back expenses, including lower marketing outlays.

"While we continued to purposefully manage revenue down during the fourth quarter to address market impacts from COVID-19, we generated a 6 percent increase in gross profit, marking our strongest [fourth quarter] since 2017," AutoWeb CEO Jared Rowe said in a statement. "We believe our proven and disciplined operating model, coupled with our unique and exciting strategic plan, has us well-positioned for the year ahead."

Shares of AutoWeb wer…

Baidu, a leading Chinese autonomous driving technology developer, won a bid from the local government to construct an intelligent-driving project in the southwestern city of Chengdu. 

Under the 105 million yuan ($16 million) deal, Baidu will develop 30 kilometers of intelligent connected roads, build a 5G-based intelligent connected vehicle demonstration zone, and provide self-driving bus and taxi services to local residents, the company said.

Baidu didn’t disclose a time frame for implementing the project.

Chengdu, with a population of more than 16 million, is the third most populated city in China, after Shanghai and Beijing. 

Baidu has rolled out demonstration robotaxi programs in Shanghai, Beijing and other major Chinese cities, including Guangzhou and Chongqing.

In January, Baidu said it would join the largest private Chinese automaker, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, to develop self-driving electric vehicles with autonomous dr…

Automotive seating supplier Adient said Friday it would sell its 50 percent interest in Yanfeng Adient Seating to its joint venture partner for $1.5 billion in cash, to pursue its strategy in China independently.

In turn, Adient will acquire YFAS' 50 percent equity interest in Chongqing Yanfeng Adient Automotive Components and 100 percent equity interest in Yanfeng Adient Seating and consolidate those businesses.

Adient CEO Doug Del Grosso said in a statement the deals would offer an opportunity "to drive our China strategy independently and further position the company for future growth in the world's largest automotive market."

Adient designs and manufactures seating systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and light trucks.

The company, which operates in 32 countries, expects its China business to have nearly $4.5 billion in annual consolidated and unconsolidated sales after it has closed all deals.

Yanfeng will operate the remain…

Spanish supplier Grupo Antolin established a joint venture in Shanghai with local automotive electronics company Naen Auto Technology. 

Under an agreement signed this month, the partnership will develop electronic control units for vehicle interiors and exteriors supplied by Antolin. 

The joint venture’s first contract will supply a door control unit for a new all-electric utility vehicle developed by Volvo Car Corp. and its Chinese parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group., Antolin said, without identifying the vehicle. 

The new company will also supply global automakers including BMW Group, General Motors, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., the Spanish supplier added. 

Additional information on the joint venture was not available. 

Antolin, a global supplier of vehicle interiors, created an electronic systems business unit in early 2020 to diversify into automotive electronics. 

Naen, incorporated in …

Polestar, the electric performance brand owned by Volvo Car Corp. and its Chinese parent, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, named Nathan Forshaw head of operations in China and Asia Pacific.

The appointment, effective April 1, will “strengthen the collaboration between Polestar Asia Pacific and its global headquarters, and accelerate Polestar's development in the Asia Pacific market,” the company said.

Polestar also announced this week plans to expand its Asia Pacific market footprint beyond China to include South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, beginning later this year. 

Forshaw joined Polestar in 2016 and was the brand’s head of global strategy and business development. Prior to that post, he was a senior executive of AB Volvo in charge of the Swedish truck maker’s operations in Asia Pacific, according to Polestar.  

The company said its current China president, Gao Hong, is leaving for “personal reasons.”  Read more

<!--*/ <!--*/ */ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ Pandemic cut average time spent in U.S. traffic jams by 73 hours last year, study finds

Crowded cities. Nightmare commutes. Congested roads. Those are some of the challenges spotlighted in the annual Global Traffic Scorecard compiled by traffic analytics company Inrix.

The delays worsen every year. Except 2020.

The coronavirus upended travel across the world, and the company's latest report, issued this week, underscores the dramatic nature of the disruptions.

Traffic delays fell nearly 50 percent in major cities across the U.S. The average American driver spent 26 hours in traffic jams in 2020, a drop of 73 hours from just a year earlier. Collectively, motorists saved approximately 3.4 billion hours that would have been wasted sitting in traffic.

"COVID-19 has completely transformed when, where and how people move," Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at Inrix, said in a written statement. "Go…

Light-vehicle sales rose in February from a year earlier when the coronavirus disrupted output and demand. 

But year-to-date volume remains lower than the same period in 2019, indicating the market has yet to fully recover from pre-pandemic levels, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Thursday. 

New car and light-truck deliveries approached 1.16 million last month, 4.1 times the tally a year earlier when the coronavirus outbreak shuttered businesses and showrooms across the country. 

In the first two months, volume surged 74 percent to top 3.2 million. But that figure is 1.4 percent lower than the same period two years ago, CAAM said. 

Behind massive infrastructure construction projects the Chinese government launched in the post-pandemic period, sales of commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses remain robust. 

February deliveries of new commercial vehicles soared 250 percent to about …

Renault plans to sell its stake in Daimler worth about 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion), securing funds for its turnaround efforts after a record annual loss.

The French automaker will exit its entire holding in Daimler, a roughly 1.5 percent stake, according to a statement on Thursday.

Renault already has enough demand for all the stock, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Proceeds from the sale will allow Renault to "accelerate the financial de-leveraging of its automotive activity," the company said.

It added that its industrial partnership with Daimler, which dates back more than a decade, remains unchanged and is not affected by the transaction.

Renault warned investors last month that another challenging year is ahead after recording a worse-than-expected 8 billion euro annual net loss.

CEO Luca de Meo has been battling daily to secure enough semicondu…

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- LG Energy Solution said Thursday it plans to invest more than $4.5 billion in its U.S. battery production business through 2025 and add 4,000 jobs as it considers building at least two new U.S. plants, a company executive told reporters.

The South Korean supplier, a unit of LG Chem, said the investment will result in an additional 70 gigawatt-hours of U.S. battery production capacity. The company declined to say where in the United States it is considering a new battery manufacturing plant.

Denise Gray, president of LG Energy Solution's Michigan unit, said the investment, which would indirectly create another 6,000 jobs during construction, was being made to respond to the growing electric vehicle market.

"We are eager to expand our production capacity so that it can meet the needs of the numerous global automakers across the U.S. and Europe," Gray said.

LG is also in advanced talks with General Motors to build a more than $2 b…

Lithia Motors Inc. CEO Bryan DeBoer on Wednesday said his company could lead a consolidation of some publicly listed auto dealer groups to compete with online-only upstarts catering to younger, more internet-savvy car buyers.

DeBoer said mergers with three public companies would allow Lithia to expand more rapidly and turn its focus to building out its online sales platform.

"If there's going to be consolidation in the industry, it's most likely going to come from us," DeBoer said. He declined to say whether talks were ongoing or name the companies he was interested in, but said they had good coverage of the central and southeastern parts of the United States.

Lithia has said it plans to further expand this year by acquiring smaller, individual dealerships.

"(Consolidation) does seem to make sense and could help focus all of our attention, as well as ensuring a greater pipeline of vehicles, eliminate other people from being able to enter the spa…

Editor's note: A previous version of this story listed an incorrect prior price for the Model 3 Long Range AWD. 

Tesla Inc. is increasing some vehicle prices in the U.S. by as much as $10,000, according to the automaker's website.

The biggest price hike comes on the high-performance version of the redesigned Model S sedan, which Tesla revealed less than two months ago. The Model S Plaid Plus variant will start at $151,190, including a $1,200 shipping fee. That's up from $141,190, including shipping, when Tesla announced the redesign in late January.

The price of the Model Y Long Range has increased by $1,000 to $51,190, including shipping.

The Model 3 Standard Range Plus price has increased to $38,690, including shipping, from $38,190 earlier. The Model 3 Long Range AWD was lowered to $47,690, including shipping, compared with $48,190 before, according to the website.

The prices of the Model X Long Range and Model X Plaid crossovers, w…

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