Trade News

With its newest model, Volvo is doubling down on a sweet spot — luxury compact crossovers.

The battery-powered C40 Recharge, which arrives in the second half of the year, is a sporty-looking version of Volvo's popular XC40, whose U.S. sales soared 35 percent last year.

The C40 is Volvo's second electric vehicle, but the first designed to be an EV from the ground up. It also introduces an online-only sales strategy Volvo plans for its expanding EV portfolio.

The new crossover, along with the XC40 Recharge P8 launched last year, signals Volvo's ambitions to become an EV-only brand by 2030.

The C40's sporty styling delivers the utility of a crossover — easy entry and exit, higher driver position, good visibility — without the "conventional" body style, Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Automotive News Tuesday.

"It could be a very interesting alternative if you want to have the advantage of an SUV, but maybe don't need that really big lugg…

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. received a bid from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management to purchase the rental-car company out of bankruptcy for as much as $4.2 billion, according to court documents.

Under the plan, Knighthead and Certares would take control of Hertz when it emerges from its Chapter 11 reorganization, with the final value of the deal dependent on how much existing lenders participate in the financing. The bid is backed by a travel industry-focused investment fund that Knighthead and Certares created last year to take advantage of an expected rebound in companies that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hertz was unable to weather the blows from the pandemic that peers Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Avis Budget Group Inc. also felt after decades of mismanagement -- a plight that one former top executive summed up as a slow-moving train wreck.

Knighthead and Certares’s position would include a direct investment, a rights of…

NEW DELHI -- India is ready to offer incentives to ensure Tesla Inc.'s cost of production would be less than in China if the carmaker commits to making its electric vehicles in the South Asian country, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told Reuters.

Gadkari's pitch comes weeks after billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla registered a company in India in a step towards entering the country, possibly as soon as mid-2021. Sources familiar with the matter have said Tesla plans to start by importing and selling its Model 3 electric sedan in India.

"Rather than assembling (the cars) in India they should make the entire product in the country by hiring local vendors. Then we can give higher concessions," Gadkari said in an interview, without giving details of what incentives would be on offer.

"The government will make sure the production cost for Tesla will be the lowest when compared with the world, even China, when they start manufacturing their cars in India. We will…

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler U.S. on Monday pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act as part of a criminal probe tied to the ongoing UAW corruption scandal.

As part of its plea agreement, the automaker, now part of Stellantis, will pay a $30 million fine and accept an independent compliance monitor for three years.

Speaking in front of U.S. District Judge Paul Borman, representatives for the automaker admitted that between 2009 and 2016, FCA made more than $3.5 million in illegal payments to UAW officials for lavish parties, home mortgage payments, fancy meals and expensive golf outings. Much of the money was funneled through the National Training Center operated jointly with the union, which both sides have agreed to shut down.

"Through its participation in this conspiracy, FCA violated federal labor law and undermined the collective bargaining process and the faith of the UAW's membership in their leaders…

CDK Global Inc. has completed the sale of its international business to private equity firm Francisco Partners.

The deal, valued at $1.45 billion, closed Monday, the Hoffman Estates, Ill., dealership management system giant said. The transaction was announced in November.

"We are very pleased that the transaction closed on schedule and appreciate all the efforts made by both companies to successfully complete the sale," CDK CEO Brian Krzanich said in a statement.

"I look forward to continuing our growth strategy and focus on our North America business," he added.

Francisco Partners has offices in San Francisco, New York and London and specializes in working with technology companies. CDK has said the private equity firm is acquiring 100 percent of CDK's international business, with operations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South Africa.

CDK has said it will use the proceeds to focus on its North American operations, which include DMS …

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Polestar USA chief Gregor Hembrough talks about the Swedish EV startup's retail expansion strategy, being a ''digital-forward'' brand and bringing Polestar 2 variants to the market.

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. auto safety regulators said Monday they were opening a probe into nearly 1.9 million Toyota RAV4 vehicles for fire risks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the preliminary evaluation into 2013-2018 RAV4 vehicles comes after 11 reports of fires.

The agency said some drivers experienced stalling prior to the fire in half of the instances where the vehicle was in motion. The 12-volt battery was identified as the area of origin in a majority of incidents reviewed, the agency said.

"Toyota is aware that NHTSA has opened this investigation and we are cooperating with the agency," said Toyota spokesman Ed Hellwig.

The RAV4 is by far Toyota's best-selling vehicle in the U.S. with deliveries of 430,287 units in 2020 -- a 3.9 percent decline from 2019.

The NHTSA said that improper battery installation or previous front-end collision repair was a factor in fire reports. But the agency said that, despite these e…

Audi said it has appointed Juergen Rittersberger, a former Porsche executive, its new chief financial officer.

Rittersberger succeeds Arno Antlitz, who is moving to become CFO at parent Volkswagen Group.

Rittersberger will take over the position starting in April, Audi said in a statement.

He moves to Audi from his role as head of strategy at VW Group. Before that he was head of corporate development at Porsche from 2010 to 2018.

Rittersberger has a degree in business information technology.

Hyundai's Ioniq 5 electric crossover stands out as much for its styling as its technology.

As the leadoff model for the South Korean automaker's Ioniq electric vehicle subbrand, it gets design cues, inside and out, that exude a next-generation, car-of-tomorrow vibe.

The body is rounded here and angular there. The proportions are low and wide. The headlights and taillights are pixelated rectangles. It boasts a large sunroof and even a solar panel. Hyundai has also incorporated digital side mirrors and auto-flush door handles that lend some Tesla flair.

The model rides on an extra-long wheelbase with super stubby overhangs and wheels pushed to the edges. The idea was to maximize the shape to yield more room inside.

The 118-inch wheelbase and flat floor deliver what Hyundai says is D-segment interior space in a midsize package. The Ioniq 5's center console can slide back nearly 5.5 inches to create more space for front-se…

Two former Automotive News staffers, Edward Lapham and Marjorie Sorge, have been named to the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.

Lapham, Sorge and five other inductees will be honored at a ceremony in the fall. Other inductees this year will be:

Tom Henderson, longtime reporter for sibling publication Crain's Detroit Business.  Al Allen, a radio and TV reporter on the streets of Detroit for 50 years. Joanne Gerstner, multiplatform sportswriter, educator, scholar, mentor and author. Jean Jennings, 40-year automotive writer and editor. Susan Whitall, former editor of Creem magazine, music historian, columnist and author.

Lapham joined Automotive News in 1977 as the newspaper's first financial editor.

He served in many capacities over 36 years, including marketing editor, managing editor, executive editor and editor.

He won several awards for reporting and opinion writing. He became internationally known for his reporting and expertise about th…