Trade News

For the ultra wealthy and A-listers pining for an ultra green saloon from the finest purveyor of automobiles, Rolls-Royce, the wait has been about a decade since the famed brand started mulling modern electrification.

The brand is long synonymous with W12 motors that hum along like a mobile bank vault.

But Henry Royce, one of the first electrical engineers, and Charles Rolls, also had profound obsessions with all things electric years before they hatched a famed car company in 1906.

Royce's first company, F.H. Royce & Co, founded in 1884, initially made small electrical appliances such as doorbells, lamps, fuses and switches. Business boomed, and Royce was soon producing larger, more complex things that included dynamos, electric motors and winches. In 1902, Royce supplied electric motors for Pritchett & Gold, a London battery maker that had diversified into producing electric cars.

Rolls, while an engineering st…

Dealer Abraham Razick died July 8 when a plane he was in crashed in dense fog short of the runway at French Valley Airport in Riverside County, Calif. He and his wife, Alma Razick, 51, were among the six passengers on board the Cessna C550 business jet. There were no survivors.

Razick, 46, was a partner in Hyundai of Yuma and Kia of Yuma, both in southwest Arizona, and sole owner of Fullerton Ford Orange County, in southern California, which he bought in August 2021. The staffs at Razick's three dealerships put out a statement on Instagram shortly after the crash.

"Our owner Abraham Razick tragically passed away yesterday," the post read. "He was a loving husband, father, brother, and proud United States Marine. His spirit and passion for life will not be forgotten along with his commitment to making his community a better place. Honor, courage, and commitment are values he learned serving in the Marine Corps and values he lived by everyday. Rest easy, Abe. You…

General Motors said on Wednesday it could face compliance challenges under the EPA's proposed vehicle emissions rules and other state and federal regulations, as it cited requirements on EVs.

The largest U.S. automaker said in comments submitted to the EPA that there are six state and federal regulations that "could require each automaker to exceed 50 percent EVs in at least a dozen vehicle averaging sets in the approximate 2030 timeframe."

GM said it is "concerned that either a potential lack of clarity or a lack of coordination across the agencies may hinder an automaker’s ability to remain in compliance, year-after-year, across each of these regulatory programs even while meeting EPA’s overall EV targets."

GM, which in 2021 vowed to halt the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, said on Wednesday that it was confident "in its approach to transition to 50 percent EVs by 2030, and towards 100 percent in 2035, but our ability to meet …

Stellantis and Toyota Motor Corp. blasted a Biden administration plan to squelch auto pollution, saying it would compel aggressive and unrealistic sales of EVs that strain critical mineral supplies.  

In comments filed with the federal government, the automakers warned that proposed emission curbs for cars and light trucks are overly optimistic and discriminate against plug-in hybrid vehicles. 

The administration’s proposal “underestimates key challenges, including the scarcity of minerals to make batteries, the fact that these minerals are not mined or refined in the U.S., the inadequate infrastructure and the high cost of battery-electric vehicles,” Toyota said. 

The comments come as automakers grapple with what would be the most ambitious U.S. tailpipe emission limits ever, applying in model years 2027 and beyond. To meet the limits on carbon dioxide, soot and smog-forming pollution, the EPA envisions automakers will have to massi…

The UAW is abandoning its longtime tradition of starting contract negotiations by coming together with top executives from the Detroit 3 for ceremonial handshakes.

Instead, union leaders are planning this week to visit assembly plants around Detroit to meet with members and hear their concerns ahead of bargaining. The union said negotiations with Stellantis will begin Thursday, followed by Ford on Friday and General Motors on July 18.

"The members come first," UAW President Shawn Fain said Monday in a statement. "I'll shake hands with the CEOs when they come to the table with a deal that reflects the needs of the workers who make this industry run. When the 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis receive the respect they are due for their sacrifice in generating the historic profits of the past decade, then we can proceed with a handshake."

GM, in a statement, said it is "committed to providing jobs that support American workers, their families…

The UAW calls on the Biden administration to dial back the EPA’s proposed emissions standards. Renault’s chairman warns of a “Chinese storm” brewing. Plus, Staff Reporter Mark Hollmer talks about dealership’s efforts to improve communication with ChatGPT.

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Wholesale used-vehicle prices declined to a sharper degree in June, according to one major indicator.

Cox Automotive said Monday its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index — a measurement of wholesale used-vehicle prices calculated by tracking vehicles sold at Manheim's U.S. auctions and applying statistical analysis to those figures — fell 4.2 percent in June from May. Cox adjusts that figure for mix, mileage and seasonality.

The Manheim index was 10.3 percent lower last month compared with the same month in 2022, according to Cox. The company also reported nonadjusted figures for the Manheim index — down 3.8 percent in June from May and down 10.1 percent year over year.

The 4.2 percent decline is "among the largest declines in [Manheim index] history" and the largest since the intensification of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, when the index "plunged 11.4 percent," said Chris Frey, senior manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive. Read more

China's passenger vehicle sales fell in June, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Monday, as a stumbling economic recovery made consumers more cautious about big-ticket spending.

Car sales in June totalled 1.91 million units, down 2.9 percent from last year, the CPCA data showed. However, sales advanced 2.5 percent to 9.65 million units in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including pure battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids, jumped more than 25 percent in June and accounted for roughly 35 percent of the total car sales. NEV sales surged more than 37 percent to 3.09 million units in the first six months.

Both Tesla and rival BYD made record deliveries of their China-made vehicles in the second quarter, despite a hazy recovery for the sector. Chinese automakers counted more on overseas markets to sustain their sales growth, with car exports soaring 56 percent in June.…

Fred Chapman has a message for Ford Motor Co., which is planning to build a sprawling factory on the outskirts of this town to make batteries for EVs and which promises to employ 2,500 people. “We don’t need jobs,” he says.

That’s a surprising view coming from Chapman, a 62-year-old toolmaker who has spent his whole career in manufacturing and watched, over the decades, as factory after factory in the region shut down, including one in Marshall that made auto parts where Chapman worked for nearly a decade. He now commutes to a factory job in a nearby city.

One of the most enduring ideas in the U.S. industrial heartland is that a manufacturing renaissance is necessary to finally shake the region's “Rust Belt” image. And there are some signs that may be starting to happen.

Construction spending on U.S. factories more than doubled over the past year, hitting an annual rate of nearly $200 billion in May, according to the Census Bureau. 

Preside…

A few weeks ago I interviewed Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier, the creative pair behind the proposed docuseries "More Than Cars." Daly and Mountsier want to create a Netflix-style seriesthat pulls back the curtain at dealerships across the U.S. to give viewers a look at the jobs there and the people who do them.

For instance, in the pilot episode the two interviewed a sales adviser at a Texas Kia dealership who was doing DoorDash deliveries to make money. He did a middle-of-the-night food run to an executive from the dealership who figured someone who was working at 3 a.m. had the drive to succeed selling cars. Numbers were exchanged, an interview took place and the young man was hired.

This reminded me of the special stories behind so many of the people we cover in the pages of Automotive News when I read the entries of our 40 Under 40 candidates. People who were born into it and those who took circuitous routes to the automotive retail industry.

Like Jeff…

Introducing 40 young automotive leaders

A few weeks ago I interviewed Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier, the creative pair behind the proposed docuseries "More Than Cars." Daly and Mountsier want to create a Netflix-style seriesthat pulls back the curtain at dealerships across the U.S. to give viewers a look at the jobs there and the people who do them.

For instance, in the pilot episode the two interviewed a sales adviser at a Texas Kia dealership who was doing DoorDash deliveries to make money. He did a middle-of-the-night food run to an executive from the dealership who figured someone who was working at 3 a.m. had the drive to succeed selling cars. Numbers were exchanged, an interview took place and the young man was hired.

This reminded me of the special stories behind so many of the people we cover in the pages of Automotive News when I read the entries of our 40 Under 40 candidates. People who were born into it and those who took circuitous routes to…

Automotive News reporters Pete Bigelow and Molly Boigon discuss robotaxi problems in San Francisco, Volkswagen’s return to Austin, Texas, Lordstown’s Chapter 11 filing and progress along the Energy Department’s hydrogen roadmap.

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