Trade News

Stellantis will idle its minivan plant in Ontario for three weeks due to the global shortage of microchips, the automaker said.

Unifor Local 444, which represents hourly workers at the plant, said in a Facebook post that Windsor Assembly Plant will be down for three weeks starting Feb. 8 “due to the semiconductor shortage [the technology used to make microchips].”

FCA Canada, now a division of Stellantis, confirmed the information in the union;'s post early Friday morning.

"We are working closely with our global supply chain network to manage the manufacturing impact caused by the global microchip shortage and will continue to make production adjustments as necessary," FCA Canada said in a statement to Automotive News Canada.

Stellantis builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Grand Caravan and Chrysler Voyager minivans in Windsor.

Stellantis becomes the latest automaker to cut output due to the growing global microchip shortage For…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is doubling planned outlays on electrified vehicles to $22 billion through 2025, as the company reported a $2.8 billion fourth-quarter loss due to costly product launches and significant one-time charges.

For all of 2020, Ford recorded its first net loss since the Great Recession — $1.3 billion — as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted production and sales.

Ford said adjusted earnings before interest and taxes more than tripled from the fourth quarter of 2019 to $1.7 billion. Revenue fell 9 percent to $36 billion.

The automaker generated earnings of nearly $1.1 billion before interest and taxes in North America during the quarter, a 53 percent increase, with a profit margin of 4.9 percent.

Ford lost money in all other overseas business units in the quarter besides Europe, where it earned $414 million. Ford said the Europe result was its highest quarterly profit in the region in four years, helped by the first phase of its re…

OTTAWA — Canada and the U.S. can collaborate more closely on manufacturing EVs and on supplying critical minerals needed to make batteries for cars and other clean technologies, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.

“The integration of our economies, of our supply chains ... I think gives a real opportunity for us to really take some leaps forward,” Trudeau said in a telephone interview.

After noting that Canada has many of the rare earths minerals needed for car batteries and solar panels, Trudeau said it was important to have “a secure supply from a friend and an ally."

China has been one of the main suppliers of critical minerals to the U.S., and Biden is planning to mandate a review of critical U.S. supply chains with an eye to securing U.S. industrial supplies, Reuters reported earlier this week.

Canada’s mineral wealth “is part of why so many automakers are now looking at setting up their supply chains for zero-emission vehicles in Ca…

General Motors plans to invest $75 million to ramp up capacity at its Toledo transmission plant to build 10-speed automatic transmissions, the automaker said Thursday.

The 10-speed transmissions are used in GM's full-size trucks, including the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups.

"Sales of the Silverado and Sierra have been very strong, and we have a need to build inventory," said Dan Flores, a GM spokesman.

Work at the plant will start immediately, GM said. The automaker also invested in the Toledo plant in September, spending $39 million to upgrade production of eight-speed rear-wheel-drive transmissions. The automaker says it has invested more than $3.3 billion in Ohio since 2009.

"Through this investment, we continue to take steps to strengthen our current core business and build on our significant manufacturing presence in Ohio," Phil Kienle, vice president of North America manufacturing and labor relations, …

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 …