Trade News

WASHINGON/SEOUL -- South Korean battery makers LG Chem and SK Innovation are sparring over whether the U.S. International Trade Commission should consider recent EV recalls in a trade secrets case.

LG Chem, an EV battery supplier for Tesla and General Motors, filed its trade complaints against SK Innovation last year in the U.S. Alleging trade secret theft, LG seeks to block SK from producing battery cells in the U.S. and from importing the components necessary to make them.

SK has denied wrongdoing. 

Last month, SK asked the ITC to consider that "LG Chem batteries have been involved in a series of fires and explosions, raising substantial public interest concerns."

In the request, SK said General Motors and Hyundai Motor Co. had each issued recent recalls for EVs with LG Chem batteries. The recalls "raise questions of public safety and underscore the critical need for SK batteries in the United States," the company said.

It added…

Best Dealerships to Work For | Automotive News Skip to main content

2020 may be the ultimate test of what it means to be a great employer. And a large number of dealerships, navigating a pandemic that kept customers from showrooms and disrupted their employees' work and family life, have passed that test. We congratulate the 100 stores that made Automotive News' ninth annual list of the Best Dealerships To Work For.

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DCH Millburn Audi in New Jersey was named the No. 1 dealership on the ninth annual Automotive News list of the 100 Best Dealerships To Work For.

The top dealership was announced Thursday during a virtual Automotive News event.

The 100 dealerships were chosen by Best Companies Group, based on surveys submitted by about 25,000 employees of U.S. stores.

DCH Millburn Audi has long been a standout, earning a spot on the list every year since it debuted in 2012. It climbed to the No. 1 spot after recording a voluntary turnover rate of 19 percent last year, far lower than the industry average.

Dealership leaders say they value having long-term employees who can build long-lasting relationships with customers. New hires hone their skills by working with veteran colleagues. Some of those veterans have left and then returned.

"Since 2012, I think we've had eight rehires," said Al Khouri, general manager of DCH Millb…

DETROIT -- General Motors has corrected an online advertising campaign that overstated the capabilities of its Super Cruise driver-assist system.

This week, ads for the system, available on a growing number of Cadillac vehicles, appeared with a headline that said "Cadillac Super Cruise – Experience Autonomous Driving."

But the system is not autonomous. It always requires a human driver who maintains responsibility for all vehicle operations.

The advertisement can be found with a number of search terms and now reads: "Cadillac Super Cruise — The Future Of Driving." A Cadillac spokesperson said the mix-up was inadvertent.

"The ad in question was launched in error and has been removed," he said. "Super Cruise is a driver assistance feature and should always be referred to as such."

It's not the first time in the industry such an oversight was made. In a 2016 television ad, Mercedes-Benz placed its then-new E Class alongside a futuristic self…

Driverless robotaxis hit the streets of Chinese city

One of the emerging themes in the mobility world this year has been the deployment of a small number of completely driverless cars on public roads. Add 25 more to the list.

AutoX, a Chinese autonomous vehicle company backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, says it has put driverless robotaxis on the streets of downtown Shenzhen. According to the company, this is the first time in that nation's history an AV fleet has been deployed without safety drivers or remote operators providing backup.

The company revealed Wednesday evening that it had been conducting driverless "stress tests" in the city for half a year. It released photos of a fleet of modified Chrysler Pacificas and a video of a van making its way through the streets, changing lanes to avoid an illegally parked car, and yielding to pedestrians and bicyclists. At first the van is seen with zero occupants. Later it picks up passengers…

Nikola Corp.’s strategic partner Robert Bosch Gmbh cut its stake in the electric-truck startup to below 5 percent after a lockup for early investors expired and General Motors downgraded its partnership with the company.

Bosch, the world's largest auto supplier and a top Nikola shareholder, reduced its stake to 4.9 percent, according to a securities filing made public on Wednesday. The German company previously reported a 6.4 percent stake in Nikola as of June 15.

Shares of Nikola closed Thursday's trading up 3.6 percent to $18.98.

The Phoenix-based startup’s agreement with Bosch to “develop, build, test and support” various components for prototypes, including a fuel-cell system, dates to 2017. Nikola told Bloomberg in September Bosch will supply fuel cells for its planned European-built fuel cell-powered trucks.

Representatives for Nikola had no immediate comment.

A Bosch spokesman in the U.S. said his company trimmed its holdin…

Aston Martin is reviewing how a report was commissioned that has been criticized for making inaccurate comparisons of the climate harm caused by cars powered by batteries and combustion engines.

One claim it made was that it takes 78,000 km (48,000 miles) for EVs to be cleaner than conventional cars. The claim was widely reported by U.K. media outlets in the wake of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s proposed 2030 ban on gasoline and diesel cars

The figure is more like 16,000 miles, according to Auke Hoekstra, a researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology.

Hoekstra said the report underestimated emissions from combustion-engine cars by roughly half and did not take into account fuel production. It also bases its approximation of the carbon footprint of EVs on one model built by Polestar, the carmaker jointly owned by Volvo Cars and Geely Holding Group.

Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers said the report the company compiled along with some of its…

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has elevated its CFO Daniel Li to CEO, a new role created by the largest private Chinese automaker in its management structure.

The appointment became effective in November, according to information Geely posted on its website. 

Li, 50, joined Geely in 2011 as vice president and CFO. 

Prior to the new appointment, he was also executive director and vice chairman of Geely Automobile Holdings, Geely’s Hong Kong-listed subsidiary that builds and markets passenger vehicles under the Geely and Lynk & CO brands.

Li made significant contributions to Geely’s integration of Volvo Car Corp. after Geely acquired the Swedish automaker in 2010, according to Geely’s website.

He has also played a key role in Geely’s acquisitions of LEVC -- a U.K. company that builds the iconic London Taxi, U.K. sports car brand Lotus, Malaysian car brand Proton and Danish bank Saxo in recent years, the we…

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation has hired Garrick Francis, a public policy veteran, as vice president of federal affairs.

Francis will lead the alliance's federal affairs team, which includes Senior Director John Ohly and Director Jared Eichhorn — both of whom have been with the group since it was formed in January. He will begin the new position at the start of 2021, the auto lobbying group said Wednesday.

"Given the rapid pace of innovation, it is more important than ever for federal policies, rules and guidelines to align and offer clear safety, fuel and technology standards," Francis said in a statement. "These are key for the success of the industry's long-term growth, research, and development for years to come."

Francis joins the alliance from railroad giant CSX Transportation, where he was head of federal affairs. He also served as director and assistant vice president of federal affairs for the company.

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Public dealership group Asbury Automotive Group Inc. on Wednesday rolled out a new digital retailing platform called Clicklane that it says will help it more than double its revenue to $20 billion in 2025.

Asbury, the seventh-largest new-vehicle retailer as ranked by Automotive News, announced the growth goals Wednesday. It says it plans to expand from an estimated $8 billion in revenue in 2020 by adding $5 billion in incremental business through Clicklane over the next five years, plus another $5 billion through acquisitions and $2 billion in same-store revenue growth. Asbury posted revenue of $7.21 billion in 2019.

Clicklane replaces Asbury's previous digital retailing tool called Push Start. The change is the latest step in the dealership group's 4-year-old-plus omnichannel strategy, Asbury CEO David Hult said in a statement. Omnichannel retailing refers to offering a seamless buying experience to consumers whether they shop online, in-store or both.

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