Trade News

STOCKHOLM -- Sweden has indicted a 47-year-old man suspected of handing information to a Russian diplomat, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said.

The prosecutor said in a statement on Monday that the man, who was not identified, had worked as a consultant at several Swedish companies, including Volvo Cars and truckmaker Scania, where he had illegally obtained and sold information, placing the country's security at risk. Public service broadcaster SVT said the man was Swedish.

"While a consultant at his former workplaces, I allege that he obtained material with the purpose of providing information to a foreign power, in this case Russia," prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said. "The man was apprehended while meeting a Russian diplomat where he had just received 27,800 Swedish crowns ($3,360) from the diplomat."

SVT reported that the man being charged had passed on information from Volvo and Scania, which is a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group.

Volvo told Automo…

BERLIN -- Continental has acquired a minority stake in German-U.S. startup Recogni, as it deepens its expertise in autonomous driving technology.

The startup is working on a new chip architecture for object recognition in real time based on artificial intelligence, Continental said on Tuesday in a statement.

The supplier said it expects the rollout of chip architecture production in 2026.

Financial details were not disclosed.

Lexus is launching a new performance variant of its upscale F Sport trims later this year with an IS sports sedan equipped with the same 472-hp 5.0-liter V-8 engine from the RC-F.

The 2022 Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance replaces the current IS 350 F Sport luxury sedan's naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6 and adds another 161 hp and 115 pound-feet of torque, while gaining only 143 pounds of added curb weight.

Lexus says the IS 500 F Sport Performance is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds but can achieve up to 24 mpg highway. The variant will be exclusive to North America, Lexus said.

Equipped with a standard eight-speed transmission, the rear-wheel-drive IS 500 F Sport Performance will also come with quad exhaust ports to provide a "throaty" growl. Lexus said the IS 500 F Sport Performance model — and future F Sport Performance versions of other models in the Lexus lineup — will come with unique black badging…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Michelin North America Chairman Alexis Garcin discusses the French tire maker's sustainability efforts as it aims to reduce its carbon footprint and roll out new technologies in tires, including those for EVs.

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DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Monday that it's recalling nearly 88,000 2021 model year F-Series pickups with improperly bonded windshields that could come off in the event of a crash.

The notice covers F-150 pickups built at the Dearborn Truck Plant from Oct. 27, 2020, to Feb. 3, 2021, as well as Super Duty pickups built at the Kentucky Truck Plant from Oct. 13, 2020, to Jan. 23, 2021.

Together, the models make up the bulk of the best-selling pickup line in the country. The F-150 was redesigned for the 2021 model year.

Ford said there are 79,017 defective vehicles in the U.S., 6,986 in Canada and 1,347 in Mexico. It is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the defect.

The automaker said it would begin contacting owners the week of April 6.

Ford on Monday also issued a recall for nearly 12,000 2020 model year Super Duty pickups with 6.7-liter engines that display incorrect payload information on the tire and loading information…

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. agreed to buy Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. for about $2.8 billion, strengthening its position as No. 1 in the U.S. market and almost doubling its presence in China, where auto sales are surging again.

Cooper shareholders will receive $41.75 a share in cash and 0.907 shares of Goodyear, or about $54.36 a share in total, according to a statement Monday. That’s 24 percent above Cooper’s closing price as of Feb. 19.

With Cooper, founded in 1914, Goodyear gains the fifth-largest tire manufacturer in North America by revenue, with about 10,000 employees worldwide. In China, Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear will gain better access to local manufacturers and create broader distribution for Cooper replacement tires.

The tire industry is recovering from the pandemic slump. Last week French tire maker Michelin predicted business will return to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of 2022, with CEO Florent Menegaux saying the company needs…

Xos, a maker of electric commercial vehicles, has agreed to go public through a merger with a blank-check company, NextGen Acquisition Corp., according to a statement viewed by Bloomberg News.

The deal values the combined equity at $2 billion, the companies added.

To support the transaction, the special purpose acquisition company will raise $220 million from investors including Janus Henderson Group and a group of truck dealers led by Thompson Truck Centers.

Some of Xos' customers include United Parcel Service Inc., armored car service company Loomis AB and transportation company Lonestar.

Dakota Semler, Xos’ co-founder and CEO, said in an interview that the Los Angeles-based company has other distribution partnerships that haven’t been announced yet. Semler said states like California, which are phasing out cars that produce emissions, will help increase demand for commercial electric vehicles like Xos.

“Fleets have to begin planning for …

PARIS -- Faurecia said on Monday it is targeting sales close to 25 billion euros ($30.29 billion) and an operating margin above 8 percent of sales by 2025.

"Overall, the group will strongly outperform the market over the next five years, and is particularly well-positioned in the fast-growing premium, electric and commercial vehicle segments as well as in China," CEO Patrick Koller said in a statement issued on Faurecia's Capital Market Day.

This would compare with sales of 14.65 billion euros and a margin of 2.8 percent of sales in 2020 as Faurecia was hit by the COVID-19 crisis.

Faurecia targets sales of at least 16.5 billion euros for 2021 and of at least 18.5 billion euros for 2022.

The supplier also expects its operating margin to return close to pre-COVID levels of 7 percent of sales in 2021, rising to 8 percent in 2022.

The decision of automaker Stellantis to distribute its participation in Faurecia to its shareholders will increase …

The Virginia Automobile Dealers Association is supporting state legislation that would impose California's vehicle emissions standards and zero-emission vehicle mandates after initially opposing a similar measure last year and asking lawmakers to delay action on emissions rules until 2022.

Virginia's House Bill 1965 — passed by the Senate last week and expected to be signed by Gov. Ralph Northam — adopts the more stringent auto pollution rules set by the California Air Resources Board and requires automakers to provide increasing percentages of ZEVs to their franchised dealers starting with the 2025 model year.

VADA CEO Don Hall said the association opposed the bill when it was introduced "without any complementary efforts to support EV adoption."

The group has since pivoted from that position as the state's lawmakers proposed a package of supplemental bills to support EV sales, including a point-of-sale rebate program, a study of …

When General Motors launched its "employee discount for everyone" sale in the spring of 2005, its U.S. dealerships had nearly 1.2 million vehicles crammed onto their lots.

This winter, the automaker has only about one-third that much inventory. Many pickups and SUVs have buyers within days of arrival, or even before they come off the delivery truck.

It's no coincidence that GM expects to earn about the same amount this year — at least $10 billion, it projected this month — as it lost in 2005. Executives at GM and other automakers, after pandemic-induced factory disruptions showed what tight supplies can do for the bottom line, aim to keep dealer lots sparser long-term.

"I suspect that you're going to see a permanent change in our industry. I do not think that we'll ever get back to the high, high levels of inventory and slower turn," Sonic Automotive President Jeff Dyke told analysts and investors last week. "We're all pushing for that, including the ma…

Alisyn Malek, executive director at the Commission On The Future Of Mobility, a nonprofit thinktank, discusses the infrastructure needs for electric vehicles, the role of public transit in a post-COVID world, and kickstarting a new effort to address global mobility challenges.

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