Trade News

BEIJING/TAIPEI -- Taiwan's Foxconn and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group said Wednesday they will cooperate to provide contract manufacturing for automakers.

It marks the latest move by Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, into auto production after a tie-up with Chinese electric car startup Byton to help build its M-Byte utility vehicle, and comes amid reports that Apple is likely to launch a self-driving electric car by 2024.

For Geely, the partnership will allow it to share its first EV-focused platform, launched in September, with other automakers, according to people familiar with Geely's plan.

The companies will each hold 50 percent of a venture that will also provide consulting services on electric vehicle technologies to automakers, the companies said in a statement.

Geely, which owns Volvo Cars and holds 9.7 percent of Daimler, is keen to improve the capacity utilization rate of its plants around China, said people familiar wit…

PARIS -- When CEO Luca de Meo introduces the new-look Renault on Thursday, he will be pivoting from a strategy focusing on volume and global scale to profitable sales in growing segments, with an emphasis on individual brands over regions. 

De Meo’s plan, which he calls Renaulution, will replace Drive the Future, the last midterm plan from longtime CEO Carlos Ghosn, who stepped down following his arrest in Japan in November 2018 on charges of financial wrongdoing at alliance partner Nissan.  

De Meo is expected to share the podium with deputy CEO Clotilde Delbos, who is also Renault CFO. Delbos was instrumental in devising a plan with group Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard that will cut 2 billion euros ($2.4 billion) in costs in the next two years. That plan was revealed before de Meo took over as CEO on July 1.

In a repudiation of Ghosn’s volume strategy, a key lever of that plan is a reduction in global production by 20 percent…

LOS ANGELES — Hyundai is previewing with several teaser images the new Ioniq 5 crossover that will debut early this year and establish the Ioniq EV subbrand, with three vehicles planned by 2024.

The Ioniq 5, which Hyundai is calling a midsize CUV, is the first vehicle on the automaker's electric global modular platform. Similar crossovers from corporate siblings Kia and Genesis are expected to be shown late this year or early next year. Sales launches for the U.S. have not been announced.

The design for the Ioniq 5 comes from the "45" concept car shown in fall 2019. The angular shape is inspired by looking back at the brand's designs from the 1970s, the company said.

The teaser images suggest Hyundai has stuck with the basics of the concept's shape and features, such as a unique exterior light display.

"Ioniq 5's front end is adorned with arrays of pixel-inspired lights suggestive of the digital technology within," Hyu…

Vroom, an online auto retailer, will make its Super Bowl debut.

The big game ad, which the company revealed Tuesday, dramatizes the painful process of car shopping. In the 30-second commercial, created by agency of record Anomaly, a man is being shown in a torture chamber of sorts and is being interrogated by a car salesman. The scene then switches to the man sitting on his lawn with a car being delivered straight to his door. Vroom promises you’ll never have to go to a dealership again and that, amid COVID-19 safety concerns, a car will be delivered contact-free.

The commercial is a floater, which means the time it airs will be depend on pauses in game play. Ocean Media handled the media buying.

Vroom is the first Super Bowl advertiser to reveal its in-game spot, and it marks the first national Super Bowl ad for a used car company since 2014, when CarMax ran a spot.

When President-elect Joe Biden takes office next week, he'll work to get the U.S. economic compass pointing to a healthy economy in which growth is being "broadly shared," according to Brian Deese, incoming director of the White House's National Economic Council.

"That's going to be our North Star," he said during a Tuesday morning session at CES, held virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Deese — a "crisis-tested" adviser who helped lead President Barack Obama's auto rescue and assisted with the former president's climate and energy policy — said a big part of achieving the Biden administration's economic objectives is investing in the U.S. to build its competitiveness.

"We have — in a lot of different areas — underinvested and underresourced our own domestic capabilities," he said. "And that's a place where we're going to focus on targeting investments — whether that's in R&D, manufacturing or otherwise — to try to build up that …

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration agreed on Tuesday to an auto industry request to delay the start of dramatically higher penalties for companies that fail to meet fuel efficiency requirements, a move that could save the industry hundreds of millions of dollars or more. 

The decision -- announced eight days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office -- follows a U.S. appeals court in August that overturned the Trump administration’s 2019 decision to suspend a regulation that more than doubled penalties for automakers failing to meet fuel efficiency requirements. 

Congress in 2015 ordered federal agencies to adjust civil penalties to account for inflation. In response, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued rules to raise fines to $14 from $5.50 for every 0.1 mile per gallon new cars and trucks consume in excess of required standards.

Automakers protested that 2016 hike, saying it could increase industry compliance cos…

Cadillac's future electric flagship sedan, the Celestiq, will feature customizable experiences for each occupant, including a full glass roof that can be adjusted to different levels of transparency in each of its four quadrants.

The Celestiq, expected to go on sale in 2023, will have all-wheel drive and four-wheel steering, Cadillac said Tuesday during CES. The "smart glass" roof also can be illuminated with lighting to match the mood of the cabin, Cadillac said.

The driver and front passenger will have access to a free-form display spanning the width of the vehicle, and rear-seat passengers will have personalized entertainment screens, Cadillac said.

Details on the six-figure, low-profile sedan, which General Motors teased in March, were included in a wide-ranging keynote address by CEO Mary Barra. Barra and other executives outlined GM's Ultium battery development plan, explained changes to customer experience and announced a new commercial EV brand…

Chinese electric-vehicle maker Xpeng Inc. has signed an agreement with banks for a 12.8 billion yuan ($2 billion) line of credit.

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp., China Citic Bank Corp. and Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank Co. will provide the facilities to support Xpeng’s business and help expand its manufacturing, sales and service capabilities, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Like other Chinese EV makers Nio Inc. and Li Auto Inc., Xpeng has captured investors’ imagination. Its shares, sold for $15 in the U.S. in August last year, are currently trading at $44.36. It raised $900 million before its initial public offering and $1.7 billion during its share sale.

Last month, Xpeng further replenished its coffers, raising $2.5 billion in its first follow-on public offering by selling American depositary shares at $45 apiece. Its backers include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Hillhouse Capital Manage…

More than a year after its outbreak, the coronavirus keeps finding new ways to hit automakers.

After first wiping out auto demand, the virus is now hindering parts supply: chips used in vehicles are harder to come by because semiconductor manufacturers allocated more capacity to meet soaring demand from consumer-electronics makers such as Apple Inc.

The shortage risks dragging on, with lockdowns and travel restrictions prompting housebound consumers to snap up more phones, game consoles, smart TVs and laptops to get online. Lower down in importance to chipmakers, auto manufacturers risk not getting enough goods to fuel a fledgling recovery in their own industry.

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it’s partially halting production in China while Honda Motor Co. is reducing output at five factories across North America as it becomes harder to procure chips.

Honda, which had to scale back output at its U.K. plant last week, said it will reduce manufactu…

Industry groups including the National Automobile Dealers Association and American Bankers Association say they are evaluating their political contributions after last week's invasion of the U.S. Capitol, described by NADA as "shocking, tragic and condemnable."

The assessments come after a growing list of major corporations such as Ford Motor Co. said they would temporarily suspend donations to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

"As we have said, events over the past year have underscored the need for a broader, ongoing discussion about other relevant considerations when it comes to our employee PAC," Ford said in a statement. "In order to give these important discussions the time and reflection they deserve, the Ford PAC will be suspending new contributions for now."

The violent assault by a mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, temporarily delayed the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory and left at least five people dea…

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors Inc. is in talks to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition companies run by former Citigroup rainmaker Michael Klein, according to people familiar with the matter.

A transaction could be valued at up to $15 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Lucid, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, is working with financial advisers, the people added. The talks are ongoing but could still fall apart.

Representatives for Lucid Motors and Klein declined to comment.

Klein has two SPACs that are on the hunt for deals. Churchill Capital Corp IV -- the largest one, having raised more than $2 billion billion last year -- is the vehicle considering a deal with Lucid, some of the people said.

Churchill Capital Corp IV shares closed Monday's trading up 32 percent to $13.20.

That SPAC expressed interest in buying a stake in AT&T Inc.’…