Trade News

When the history of the COVID-19 pandemic is written, there should be a prominent place for the auto industry heroes who — even as their own companies weathered shutdowns and slowdowns — stepped up, pitched in, mobilized, fed, educated and comforted.

Beginning in the earliest days of the crisis, the industry united to battle this virus and its economic fallout. From the world's largest automakers to the smallest suppliers. From giant retail groups to the neighborhood car dealer. And from the big-name donors to the unnamed individuals, many have given their time, talent and resources.

In late July and early August, Automotive News recognized some of them in "A Call to Action," a four-part print, video and podcast series. They were chosen from nominations sent in by our readers. The full series is available at autonews.com/calltoaction.

It was built on Best Practices, an Automotive News weekly feature that focuses on dealers' winning strategies.

T…

Hindsight is 20/20, the old saying goes. At this point, I'm just glad to put 2020 in the past.

It was an unusually grim trip around the sun. In recent years, it's been frustrating to see persistently high numbers of traffic deaths in the U.S. — then a new virus comes along and kills about a decade's worth of American auto travelers in 2020. And it isn't over.

It might seem an odd time to launch this Automotive News yearbook, but believe me it was planned well before we knew 2020 was going to be, well, so 2020. Our aim is to provide an almanac of sorts, something you might want to keep handy into 2021 or beyond. (That is, for the few of you who don't hoard a complete collection of past Automotive News issues. Or is that only me?)

Inside, you'll find our lists of All-Stars, Rising Stars, the biggest dealers and the best ones to work for, as well as our traditional roundups of the year's top stories and the people we lost. We look back at the vehicles we l…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Our first yearbook: A look back at COVID's impact and so much more

In August 1953, a fire destroyed General Motors' Hydra-Matic plant in Livonia, Mich. Chronicles written more than a half-century later still called it "America's Most Destructive Industrial Fire" and the worst "dollar loss in the history of the auto industry."

Not surprisingly, the Automotive News staff voted it as the story of the year in its first such poll.

Another cause of monumental loss topped this year's top-story ranking: the coronavirus crisis.

It seems disrespectful in a way to frame a health pandemic — death toll 1.76 million and counting — in terms of its effect on one industry. But no other phenomenon in our 68 years of tallying top stories has had such an impact on the global assembly, distribution and selling of cars — and on the lives of the people who make the industry run.

In Monday's issue, we'll have the results of our top 1…

For consumers and their shifting tastes and preferences, there will be a little bit of everything to choose from in the new year.

The big appetite for crossovers, SUVs and pickups will be fed with new and redesigned models, while another batch of electrified vehicles, including additional EVs, will enter the marketplace.

Here's a look at what automakers will be sending to U.S. showrooms throughout 2021.

The luxury brand's flagship — the MDX — is set to launch in February with an all-new ultrarigid platform, new styling and a redesigned interior.

Production of the Tonale plug-in hybrid compact crossover is slated to begin.

Two limited-run models, the Valkryie and V12 Speedster, will launch in the first half.

A sportback version of the Q5 crossover arrives in the first half. In the second half, the brand will launch two EVs: the Q4 E-tron and E-tron GT.

Bentayga Speed and Ben…

Finch Fulton, U.S. deputy assistant secretary for transportation policy, and NHTSA general counsel Jonathan Morrison discuss the federal government’s recent Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on automated driving systems, other AV initiatives, and new complications facing connected cars.

How do I subscribe?

Apple Podcasts: “Shift: A podcast about mobility” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe.

Spotify: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" can be streamed through Spotify on your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Click here to subscribe.

Google Play: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" is available on Android devices through the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe.

French investigators will arrive in Beirut on Jan. 18 to speak with Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motor Co. and Renault, as part of a probe into expenses, according to an official in the Lebanese judiciary and a person close to the former auto executive.

The French team will be joined by Lebanon’s state prosecutor, according to the Lebanese official, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The French Justice Ministry and a spokesman for the Paris prosecutor didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ghosn was arrested in Tokyo almost two years ago and accused of financial misconduct. He has denied wrongdoing and escaped to Lebanon last December hidden inside a large box.

Last month, Ghosn said French criminal investigators would question him in 2021 as part of a separate investigation of expenses covered by a Dutch subsidiary of Renault and Nissan. Authorities in France are looking into interactions with a c…

Elon Musk said it’s “impossible” to take Tesla Inc. private now even though he would have liked to spend more time on innovation.

“Tesla public company duties are a much bigger factor, but going private is impossible now (sigh),” Musk said in response to a tweet saying he should optimize his time in areas such as innovation. “Engineering, design & general company operations absorb vast majority of my mind & are the fundamental limitation on doing more.”

Tesla shares, which were included in the S&P 500 index this week, have surged eightfold this year ahead of the addition to the benchmark measure. The gain is twice the advance of the next best performer on the gauge. The share price jump also created millionaires among its investors, and propelled Musk’s net worth by $132.2 billion to $159.7 billion, making him the world’s second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Musk also said Starlink, SpaceX’s budding space-in…

TOKYO -- Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday in a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050.

The "green growth strategy," targeting the hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's October pledge to eliminate carbon emissions on a net basis by mid-century.

Japan is one of the biggest economies in the world and a major producer of light vehicles for domestic consumption and export.

Suga has made green investment a top priority to help revive the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and to bring Japan into line with the European Union, China and other economies setting ambitious emissions targets.

"The government has set up ambitious targets to achieve a carbon neutral society in 2050," said Yukari Takamura, professor at the University of Tokyo.

"Making clear goal…

Automakers welcomed a post-Brexit trade deal agreed between the U.K. and the European Union that was finalized on Christmas Eve, days before Britain is due to leave the bloc's single market.

The accord will complete UK's separation from the EU and averts the threat of an acrimonious breakup on Jan. 31, when a 12-month transition period ends.

ACEA, the European auto industry's lobbying group, said the agreement will allow the sector to avoid the "catastrophic" effect of a chaotic Brexit.

"The impact of a no-deal Brexit on the EU auto industry would have been simply devastating," ACEA Director General Eric-Mark Huitem said in statement.

The agreement will allow for tariff- and quota-free trade of goods after Dec. 31, but will not apply to the services industry -- about 80 percent of the U.K. economy -- or the financial services sector.

It ends uncertainty that started for automakers with U.K. operations when Britain voted to leave the EU in 2…

Jaguar Land Rover has not seen any impact so far from congestion at UK ports, its parent Tata Motors said on Thursday, even as many countries cut transport ties with Britain due to a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus.

Toyota brought forward its Christmas production breaks at plants in England and France after transport disruption hit parts supplies.

Honda had to stop output at its Civic factory in Swindon, England, earlier this month because of a shortage of parts. It resumed production about a week later.

The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded issues that were already affecting automakers ahead of Brexit, with the looming end to the transition period widely expected to cause delays at ports regardless of the outcome of talks on a trade deal.

Jaguar Land Rover halted production at its British factories for a week in November last year to mitigate any potential impact from a no-deal Brexit ahead of the then Oct. 31 deadline.

Bloomb…

Renault CEO Luca de Meo plans to present his turnaround plan for the automaker on Jan. 14. The Italian executive wants a "revolution" at the French company, so he is calling his plan "Renaulution."

De Meo describes the key points of the restructuring to the automaker's executives and employee representatives in an internal paper of several pages. The paper was obtained by Automobilwoche, a German language affiliate of Automotive News.

De Meo had already outlined the first key points of the restructuring in an interview with Automotive News Europe in November. Now the internal paper makes the overall concept more tangible.

Here are some key points:

Cost reduction

De Meo’s top priority is cost savings. He does not give any concrete figures, but he wants to avoid parallel developments and technology fields that are not immediately usable. Before de Meo's arrival as CEO in July, Renault had already announced its goal of saving ar…