Trade News

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect figure for the company's estimated sales growth. The figure represents estimated global economic growth.

Auto supplier Robert Bosch said Thursday the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and a semiconductor chip shortage will weigh on global automotive production growth in 2021.

Around 85 million vehicles will roll off assembly lines around the world this year, more than the 78 million units produced in 2020 but still below the 92 million cars produced in 2019, the Stuttgart-based supplier said.

Global automotive production hit a high of 98 million units in 2017.

"We are quite positive," CEO Volkmar Denner said, although he added that "we still have a long way to go to catch up".

The supplier said it estimated that the global economy would grow 4 percent in 2021 after contracting around 4.5 percent in 2020.

Bosch said the "bottleneck" in the global semiconductor chip market ha…

STOCKHOLM -- Volvo Cars has not suffered from the global semiconductor shortage, but the automaker's CEO said risks linger from a problem that has already forced several automakers to temporarily cut production.

CEO Hakan Samuelsson said Volvo's semiconductor supply has been secured for the next four weeks.

"So, short-term no disturbance ... But there is of course a big risk that it could come here during the first quarter. But it is very hard to forecast," Samuelsson told Reuters.

Talks on a potential merger with sister company Geely Automobile are still on hold as Geely works to list its shares on Shanghai's New Star Market, Samuelsson said, adding he expected to come back with further details in the first quarter.

SHANGHAI -- Ford Motor Co. has decided to terminate plans to launch electric vehicle joint ventures with China's Zotye Automobile, the U.S. automaker said on Thursday.

It said China's electric-vehicle industry and government policies had undergone major changes since the agreements were signed in 2017 and 2018, prompting the decision. Ford didn't specify which changes triggered its move.

Last week, Ford said its China joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. would start making all-electric Mustang Mach-E vehicles.

In a statement on Thursday, Ford said it would pursue a more "flexible business model in China" that would see it utilize its existing operations in the country and elsewhere, and build related business centers.

Zotye did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2017, during a visit by former President Donald Trump to China, Ford and Zotye said that they would invest a combined $756 million to set up a 50-…

PARIS -- Valeo has committed to carbon-neutral operations by 2050, joining companies such as Daimler, General Motors and Robert Bosch that have made similar pledges, as the auto industry increasingly focuses on reducing emissions and environmental impact becomes a key metric for investors and analysts. 

The supplier will invest 400 million euros ($480 million) to achieve its carbon targets, executives said at an online event Thursday, with cuts across the value chain, including Valeo's own operations, those of its suppliers and in the disposal of its products.

"The entire automotive industry is investing heavily to combat global warming," CEO Jacques Aschenbroich said in a statement. "The reduction of CO2 emissions has been central to our strategy since 2010."

He said Valeo sales from emissions-reducing solutions would grow to more than 10 billion euros in 2021 from 500 million euros in 2009.

Valeo's products in that area include 48-volt mild…

Volvo Cars increased its operating profit by 8.2 percent to 9.5 billion Swedish crowns ($1.1 billion) in the second half of 2020 as growing demand for electrified cars and rising interest in online vehicle sales helped it rebound from the pandemic.

Hard hit by the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, Volvo has seen a sharp improvement in recent months, helped by strong demand in the United States and China.

The automaker, which is owned by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding, said it would increase vehicle sales this year and improve profitability to pre-pandemic levels, assuming market conditions continue to normalize.

"Our operations are back on a very high level, but we are not back to normal," CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Automotive News Europe.

He said Volvo's strong second-half performance was boosted by its aggressive push into electrification -- 36 percent of its 2020 European sales were plug-in hybrids or full-electric vehicles, according to t…

Daimler's Ola Kallenius is making a dramatic move to win over investors who have knocked the automaker for keeping its luxury-car and commercial-vehicle operations under one roof.

The Mercedes-Benz maker plans to distribute a majority of its Daimler Truck unit to shareholders by year-end, expecting it will quickly qualify for Germany's benchmark stock index. Its most iconic brand also will become the name of the auto company, a move that underscores the CEO's desire for a clear separation of the two businesses.

For Kallenius, it's a split in more ways than one.

The decision to fundamentally change the company's structure marks a major break from his predecessor, Dieter Zetsche, who was pressured in the wake of Daimler's divorce from Chrysler to make deeper changes.

Zetsche rejected the car-truck separation idea, arguing that a broader industrial presence would offer more protection against swings in individual market segments.

Kallenius ma…

CDK Global Inc. has acquired Square Root, an Austin, Texas, company that specializes in data insights for automotive field management.

Dealership management system giant CDK, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., said it completed the deal this week. Financial terms were not disclosed.

CDK Global last week introduced Neuron, an intelligent data platform that will link with its Fortellis open network development platform. The company says Neuron will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to generate predictive data insights that can help dealers and original equipment manufacturers customize consumer experiences.

Square Root started in 2006 and uses data to help automakers' field managers identify opportunities for retailers, according to CDK, adding that Square Root technology will help CDK produce insights based on data coming from CDK's DMS, customer relationship management system and other software.

"The acquisition of …

Lithia Motors Inc. reported record revenue and profits for the fourth quarter of 2020 as it also announced plans to more than double last year's pace of dealership acquisitions.

Lithia, the third-largest new-vehicle retailer in the U.S., said Wednesday that it posted net income of $187.6 million for the fourth quarter, more than 2.5 times the $68 million it earned in the fourth quarter of 2019. Revenue rose 21 percent to $3.94 billion.

The earnings news comes mere days after reports of Lithia's plans to acquire southeast Michigan's Suburban Collection, one of the nation's largest privately owned dealership groups. Executives for the Medford, Ore., company declined to comment on the reported Suburban deal but said Wednesday that Lithia in 2021 is likely to acquire dealerships representing more than $7 billion in additional annual revenue.

New- and used-vehicle sales and finance and insurance profit per vehicle increased by double-digit percentages in the …

Groups representing automakers, suppliers, tech companies and other stakeholders are calling on Congress to support bipartisan legislation that will foster the development and safe deployment of automated vehicles in the U.S.

In a letter sent Wednesday to congressional leaders, the Coalition for Future Mobility stressed the critical need for a federal framework for AVs that provides "clarity that affirms existing roles and maintains the balance of responsibilities between federal-state-local levels of government, modernizes federal regulatory processes and ensures rigorous safety standards for the continued development and safe deployment of AV technologies."

"Put simply, the investments and policies being made today by our organizations toward a safer, more environmentally friendly, accessible and equitable U.S. transportation future depends on a thoughtful federal legislative approach and regulatory framework for AVs," the groups said in the letter.

Th…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers will question President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the nation’s top environmental regulator on Wednesday with a focus on how he will execute the administration's goal of decarbonizing the country's vehicles and power plants.

Michael Regan, 44, would be the first Black man to lead the Environmental Protection Agency if confirmed by the Senate, and would take the reins at a time the agency has been weakened by Trump-era budget and staff cuts and bitter partisan dispute over Biden's climate agenda.

"Taking the helm of EPA would be a monumental task under the best of circumstances, but it’s hard to imagine a more difficult moment than right now," said Sen. Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the Senate environment committee.

Regan was formerly head of North Carolina’s environmental regulator, where he earned a reputation as a bipartisan consensus builder, and last year oversaw a settlement with Duke Energy Corp. for the nation’s larges…

Toyota Motor Corp. profiles Paraolympian Jessica Long in an emotional 60-second Super Bowl ad.

Long was adopted by an American couple from a Russian orphanage. The spot, called “Upstream,” depicts how the couple received the news that Long’s legs would need to be amputated due to a rare condition. “It might not be easy, but it will be amazing,” her future mother says.

The story is told by showing scenes of Long swimming through each scene, including as a child. The ad ends by plugging Toyota’s Olympic sponsorship. The ad comes from Saatchi & Saatchi and was directed by Tarsem Singh.

“’Upstream’ highlights Toyota’s mission to shine a light on athletes like Jessica who work tirelessly every day to pursue their passion and inspire people around the world to reach their full potential,” Lisa Materazzo, group vice president of marketing at Toyota Motor North America, said in a statement. “We are grateful to Jessica and her family for their willingness t…

DETROIT — Look out, Norway.

General Motors — with a little help from actor Will Ferrell — wants to bring the electric vehicle crown to the U.S.

But, first, Ferrell wants to give the Nordic country a piece of his mind in GM's Super Bowl spot, which touts the sleek, electric Cadillac Lyriq crossover, the hulking GMC Hummer EV and the automaker's Ultium battery platform that will power its electrified future.

Ferrell begins the ad in shock that Norway "sells way more electric cars per capita than the U.S."

That part isn't a joke.

All-electric models made up 54 percent of all new cars sold in Norway in 2020, and the country plans to become the first nation to end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by 2025. Some forecast that EVs could account for 65 percent of Norway's new-vehicle market in 2021.

Armed with this knowledge, Ferrell begins his trek to Norway, saying GM is going to crush them with its Ultium batteries. Along the way…