Trade News

Ford Motor Co. is suspending production of the F-150 pickup and Transit van at its Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri for one week starting Saturday to help conserve natural gas amid a cold spell in the Midwest.

Ford confirmed the news late Friday after UAW Local 249, which represents workers at the plant, informed employees earlier Friday.

"Due to unseasonably cold temperatures in the midsection of the United States, Ford was warned that the availability of natural gas could be restricted in the Kansas City area in the coming days," spokeswoman Kelli Felker said in a statement. "To ensure we minimize our use of natural gas that is critical to heat people's homes, we have decided to cancel operations for the next week. We expect to return to normal operations on Monday, Feb. 22."

The shutdown comes at an inopportune time as Ford launches a redesigned F-150, the nation's top-selling vehicle, and continues to feel the negative effects of a global semic…

Once a gas station, the Chevrolet dealership in upstate New York was in terrible shape. Grass stuck out from the gravel parking lot, and body shop employees worked in an aluminum Quonset hut with dirt floors.

Jane Fox, who at 29 had just become one of the youngest female General Motors dealer principals in the Northeast, surveyed the scene with excitement. "It wasn't pretty," she recalled.

In 1976, when Fox purchased it for a pittance, the store sold just 100 Chevys a year. By 1981, when she and brother Bill Fox moved the dealership to Auburn, it was selling 2,000 new and used vehicles a year.

That Chevy store was the first of 13 dealerships owned by Jane and Bill, her longtime business partner who was chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association in 2015. On Feb. 1, the siblings' 45-year business partnership drew closer to an end when they sold three of their four remaining dealerships to dealer and investor Jonathan Sobel.

They plan …

Subaru of America is readying an off-road subbrand to expand the reach of its two most successful nameplates.

The Wilderness subbrand will launch with the 2022 Outback and Forester, dealers were told last week during the Subaru make meeting at the National Automobile Dealers Association's virtual show. The two crossovers accounted for 54 percent of the brand's 2020 U.S. sales.

Patrick Wergin, chairman of the Subaru National Retailer Advisory Board, told Automotive News the Wilderness models will feature a rugged appearance package and better tires for off-road pursuits.

Spy photographers have spotted a similarly equipped Forester and Outback, which also appeared to have increased ground clearance, undergoing road tests in Michigan. Subaru declined to comment.

While the midsize Outback and compact Forester are no off-road slouches already — both vehicles have 8.7 inches of ground clearance, all-wheel drive and available o…

SHANGHAI — At November's Guangzhou auto show, one of the most important shows in China, Ford Motor Co. put its freshened Focus sedan and hatchback at the center of its stage.

Chen Xiaobo, executive vice president of Ford China's National Sales and Service Division, told the media at the show that, with its newly restyled interior and the addition of a wagon version, the Focus would "greatly satisfy" the needs of young Chinese consumers.

But China's dealers and analysts aren't so sure about that.

"Time has changed," said an executive at a Shanghai-based dealer group who asked not to be identified because of his group's close ties with Ford's China unit. "For all these efforts, it would be hard for Ford to restore the past glory for the Focus."

In reality, the Ford Focus has been encountering the same consumer headwinds in China that it did in the U.S. market. In the U.S., Ford has largely abandoned sedans for it produ…

WASHINGTON -- General Motors agreed to a $5.75 million settlement to resolve allegations it made false statements to California's largest pension system and other investors over its deadly ignition switch scandal.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the largest U.S. automaker concealed problems from investors related to faulty ignition switches linked to 124 deaths and 275 injuries.

GM previously paid $900 million to settle a U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation and $1 million to resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accounting case tied to the ignition switch issue.

GM said it was "pleased to have cooperated with the state of California to resolve this matter."

A federal judge in New York late Thursday ordered the appointment of an independent U.S. monitor to oversee GPB Capital Holdings, an alternative-asset management firm, and related businesses including Prime Automotive Group — one of the largest private dealership groups in the country.

The move came after GPB reached an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a motion Monday asking for emergency appointment of a monitor. A hearing on the motion had been scheduled for Friday.

The commission on Feb. 4 filed a complaint against GPB, two related companies, GPB CEO David Gentile and two associates on allegations of securities fraud. Just days later, the commission sought the monitor to help protect the assets of GPB's 17,000 investors nationwide who the SEC and federal prosecutors claim were misled in funding $1.8 billion in a "Ponzi-like scheme."

Gentile resigned as CEO a day after the SEC issued its complaint and Gentile and …

A former dealership owner and past president of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association was sentenced Thursday for his role in a four-year fraud scheme.

Andrew Gabler, 52, of Erie County, Pa., was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for defrauding several institutions. Prosecutors said that beginning in January 2015, Gabler faked vehicle sales and falsified loan applications to pocket millions of dollars.

Gabler is former owner of the now-closed Lakeside Chevrolet-Buick in Erie County and Lakeside Auto Sales, which operated as two used-vehicle stores.

In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter ordered Gabler to pay a $5,000 fine and make restitution of nearly $1.7 million. He also will undergo two years of supervised release once his sentence is up. Gabler is currently free on an unsecured bond, the Erie Times-News reported.

Gabler's attorney, Elliot Segel, said he and his client will decide …

Tata Motors Ltd. has appointed former Daimler manager Marc Llistosella to become its next CEO after Guenter Butschek asked to step down due to personal reasons.

Llistosella, who previously headed Daimler Trucks in Asia, will take charge in July, Tata Motors said Friday. Butschek, a former Airbus SE executive, has been CEO since 2016 and will stay on until June 30, according to the company.

“Marc is an experienced automotive business leader with deep knowledge and expertise in commercial vehicles” and “extensive operational experience in India,” Tata Chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a statement.

While Tata Motors beat expectations for the quarter that ended in December, it has struggled with falling sales and rising debt. The Mumbai-based company is largely dependent on its Jaguar Land Rover luxury-vehicle unit and laid out plans last year to cut costs by 2.5 billion pounds ($3.5 billion).

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.

While new-vehicle inventory remains a pressing worry for the industry, U.S. auto retailers are mostly optimistic about business this year. Automotive News Retail Editor Amy Wilson provides insight into Automotive News' 2021 Dealer Outlook Survey.

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WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley on Thursday publicly encouraged South Korea's chemicals and electric vehicle battery maker LG Chem Ltd. and SK Innovation Co. to reach a settlement on LG's battery allegations that SK stole trade secrets.

The U.S. International Trade Commission on Wednesday sided with LG Chem, but permitted SK to import components for domestic production of lithium ion batteries for Ford's EV F-150 program for four years, and for Volkswagen of America's EV line for two years.

"A voluntary settlement between these two suppliers is ultimately in the best interest of US manufacturers and workers," Farley wrote on Twitter, adding that "ITC ruling makes way for @Ford to bring to market our groundbreaking electric F-150."

LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation did not have comment on the matter when reached by Reuters on Friday. Volkswagen declined to comment.

The ITC said the decision would allow the automakers to transition …

President Emmanuel Macron's vision for France's automakers to join forces in building batteries for cars of the future is not going exactly as planned.

The more than 120-year rivalry between PSA Group and Renault has proved too fierce to overcome, even for a 5 billion-euro ($6 billion) project backed by their powerful shareholder, the French government.

Instead, PSA, now part of Stellantis, and oil giant Total are pushing ahead without Renault, which may pursue its own plans with South Korea's LG Chem.

Macron sought to form a united front because batteries will be one of the most powerful forces to reshape Europe's auto industry in decades. Getting significant regional production up and running to counter Asian dominance and meet the needs of a booming electric-car market will take years, and it's been made more difficult by the pain inflicted by the pandemic.

"Every carmaker with plans to make and sell electric vehicles in Europe will need to ev…