Trade News

CarLotz began trading shares Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under the "LOTZ" ticker symbol, becoming the latest online used-vehicle company to go public.

CarLotz, which focuses on used-vehicle consignment, announced last year it would become a publicly traded company by completing a reverse merger with Acamar Partners Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company. It's the same method Shift Technologies used to go public last October.

Shares in the company closed Friday's trading down 3.1 percent to $11.92..

CarLotz CEO Michael Bor told Automotive News last week that going public should help raise the company's profile and visibility.

"I think it's going to do great things for our ability to source vehicles," he said. "I'm also really excited about dramatically enhancing the brand awareness that we have."

Bor added that the company had historically been "overly efficient" with its marketing spend. "Still today, even in markets whe…

EVgo Services LLC, a charging network for electric vehicles that’s entirely powered by renewable energy, is nearing a deal to go public through a merger with Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A transaction is set to value the combined entity at more than $2 billion, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. An announcement could come as soon as Friday, the people said.

Shares of Climate Change Crisis, which is a special-purpose acquisition company, jumped as much as 117 percent in pre-market trading Friday.

As with any deal that isn’t yet finalized, it could still be delayed or talks could collapse. A representative for EVgo didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, and a spokesman for the Climate Change Crisis SPAC declined to comment.

EVgo, founded in 2010, has more than 800 fast-charging locations in more than 600 cities…

Volkswagen Group's 2020 adjusted operating profit nearly halved but the automaker said its vehicle deliveries continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter.

Operating profit before special items related to the diesel-emissions scandal was about 10 billion euros ($12.2 billion), VW said in a statement on Friday.

The automaker, whose brands include Porsche, Audi and Bentley, had reported an operating profit of 19.3 billion euros in 2019.

Automotive net cash flow was about 6 billion euros ($7.3 billion) in 2020, VW said.

A robust sales recovery in the second half helped earnings despite fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.

"The deliveries to customers of the Volkswagen Group continued to recover strongly in the fourth quarter and even exceeded the deliveries of the third quarter 2020," VW said in the statement.

VW will report detailed full-year earnings and provide guidance for 2021 at the end of next month.

TURIN – Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares will have 38 top executives reporting directly to him at the new automotive group – more than twice as many than at PSA Group, and considerably more than the last two CEOs at Fiat Chrysler.

The organization structure released this week gives Tavares direct control over all functions, regions and brands at Stellantis, and he will also sit on or chair nine operating committees.

That number of direct reports is one of the highest in the automotive industry. When Sergio Marchionne merged Chrysler into Fiat to create FCA, he had a total of 28 direct reports. Marchionne’s successor at the helm of FCA, Mike Manley, had 22 functions reporting directly to him. At PSA, Tavares had 18 direct reports.

A Stellantis spokesman said that the nine governance committees were selected in lieu of a traditional executive committee in an effort to be more focused and time effective.

The spokesman said that the committees would be …

Vehicle listings company CarGurus promoted CFO Jason Trevisan to CEO as founder and former CEO Langley Steinert steps back from the top role to focus on product and strategy.

Steinert, 57, will become CarGurus' executive chairman, the Cambridge, Mass., company said Thursday, but will no longer lead its day-to-day operations.

Scot Fredo, 52, will take over as CFO, CarGurus said. Fredo joined the company in 2016 and most recently was the company's senior vice president of financial planning and analysis.

All three changes were effective Jan. 18, CarGurus said Thursday in a federal regulatory filing.

Steinert wrote in a letter to shareholders released Thursday that he had been transitioning oversight of CarGurus' operations during the past year to Trevisan and Sam Zales, president and COO, so he could spend more time on innovation and strategy.

"As Executive Chairman and the company's controlling shareholder, I will remain involved in the…

WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it will recall 3 million vehicles for Takata airbag inflators that could rupture at a cost of $610 million.

NHTSA on Tuesday ordered Ford to issue the recall for driver-side airbag inflators, rejecting the automaker's 2017 petition to avoid it.

The defect, which in rare instances leads to airbag inflators rupturing and sending potentially deadly metal fragments flying, prompted the largest automotive recall in U.S. history of more than 67 million inflators. Worldwide, about 100 million inflators installed by 19 major automakers have been recalled.

The recall includes 2.7 million U.S. vehicles and about 300,000 in Canada and other locations. Ford will include the cost in fourth-quarter results, it said in a regulatory filing.

The vehicles were previously recalled for passenger-side inflators. "We believe our extensive data demonstrated that a safety recall was not warranted for the driver-side airbag. Howe…

WASHINGTON -- Pete Buttigieg, President Joe Biden's nominee to head the U.S. Transportation Department, won bipartisan support from senators at a Thursday confirmation hearing, where he said it was possible new gas tax revenue could fund infrastructure.

"We need to look at any responsible, viable revenue mechanism we can all agree on," said Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., at the hearing in which lawmakers said he would quickly win Senate confirmation.

Asked by Republican Senator Mike Lee if new revenue could include gasoline tax hikes, Buttigieg said: "It's possible -- certainly many states have taken that step including my own -- but it's not the only approach."

After the hearing, a spokesman for Buttigieg sought to clarify his remarks. "A variety of options need to be on the table to ensure we can invest in our highways and create jobs, but increasing the gas tax is not among them."

Congress has not boosted the 18.4-cents-per-ga…

The Washington Auto Show is postponing the spring event because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, show organizers said Thursday.

The event was set to run March 26 through April 4 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation's capital. Show organizers in August moved the 2021 show from its original dates — Jan. 29 through Feb. 7 — because of the COVID-19 crisis.

"Nothing is more important to us than the safety and health of our loyal attendees, our participating exhibitors and all those who work so hard to make the show a success every year," show CEO John O'Donnell said in a statement.

"With that in mind, we are doing everything we can to host a show in 2021 that meets the high standards our visitors are used to, while ensuring that our region stays safe and finally defeats this terrible pandemic," he said.

Organizers said they're working with D.C. officials and the convention center to explore dates l…

Electric vehicle owners will consider purchasing another EV in the future based on their ownership satisfaction, according to J.D. Power's first Electric Vehicle Experience Ownership Study, released Thursday.

The study found that the likelihood of EV owners purchasing the same brand lessens as satisfaction declines.

Owners with satisfaction scores from 600 to 750 points are likely to purchase another EV, but only 25 percent of those owners will purchase from the same brand.

"While early adopters of EVs say they'll remain loyal to EVs in general, staying with the same brand is not a sure thing," Brent Gruber, senior director of global automotive at J.D. Power, said in the study. "Auto manufacturers will have to keep EV owners and shoppers interested in their products beyond just the cost equation. With automakers expected to flood the market with EV launches during the next three years, to capture a share of the market they need to offer vehicles that evo…

Audi, seeking to quickly expand its presence in China's full-electric vehicle market, plans to launch output of a new generation of EVs in 2024 under a three-way partnership to be formed with Volkswagen Group and China FAW Group Corp.

Under the deal the three sides signed Monday, the company will be 60 percent owned by Audi and VW Group, with the remaining 40 percent stake to be held by FAW, Audi said this week.

The company, to be established in the northeast China city of Changchun in the first quarter of this year, will produce models developed on Audi’s new platform for premium EVs, called PPT. 

Audi assembles and markets gasoline and plug-in hybrids at FAW-VW, a 10-30-60 joint venture between itself, VW Group China and FAW. In addition to Audi, FAW-VW assembles vehicles for VW brand.

Like the gasoline and plug-in hybrid products, the PPT-based EV models will be distributed via FAW-VW’s existing Audi dealership network, Audi…

TOKYO – Honda is leveraging a tie-up with General Motors and Cruise to ramp up its new mobility business by importing some of Cruise’s newest wheels for use in Japan this year.

Under the plan announced Wednesday, Honda Motor Co. will receive the first self-driving test vehicle from Cruise for assessment in Japan this year. After that, Honda plans to also start a mobility-as-a-service, or MaaS, enterprise in Japan using the Cruise Origin autonomous shuttle.

The autonomous driving test vehicle, called Cruise AV, will be based on the Chevrolet Bolt. The Cruise Origin is a box-like people mover being jointly developed by all three companies. Cruise is majority owned by GM.

Honda spokeswoman Yu Kitagawa said the Japanese carmaker is still discussing details and that it is too early to say how many vehicles will be used or when the programs begin.

Honda’s announcement came as GM and Microsoft led a fresh investment round of $2 billion into Cruise, help…

MILAN -- The merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group into Stellantis has brought struggling Alfa Romeo a new CEO and a promise that the new group will “find a way to help the brand grow.” 

Alfa Romeo has failed to reach growth targets in a series of turnaround plans under Fiat and FCA.

PSA veteran Jean-Philippe Imparato now takes over at Alfa Romeo after a successful run as head of the Peugeot brand.

Imparato, 54, was named to lead Peugeot in 2016. He has overseen the launch of a number of key models, including the 3008 and 5008 crossovers and the new-generation 208 and 2008, both of which have full-electric versions.

At Peugeot, he has focused on increasing prices and residual values. Imparato, whose family has some Italian origins, worked in Italy from 2008 to 2010 as CEO of the local Citroen sales company.

Alfa Romeo has been led since 2018 by Timothy Kuniskis, who moves to become head of the Dodge brand and, on an inter…