Trade News

BRUSSELS -- The European Commission plans to step into the patent dispute between tech companies and automakers and may set up a system to check whether some patents are essential to a technology standard as claimed, according to a Commission document.

The move by the EU executive comes as Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia and German automaker Daimler battle in German courts over the level of royalties for key navigation and communications technologies and who should pay them.

The proposals are outlined in the Commission's Intellectual Property Action Plan, seen by Reuters, which European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and EU digital chief Thierry Breton will present on Nov. 24.

As a first step, the Commission will engage with the automotive sector to explore the possibility of effective licensing solutions, the document said, adding that the industry's needs are the most acute.

While the car industry currently faces the most prob…

Toyota is shuffling some of its manufacturing executives in part to backfill after it named Sean Suggs, president of its assembly plant in Mississippi, to a new role at headquarters this year.

David Fernandes, 51, will become president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi, succeeding Suggs, who is now a group vice president for social innovation, based in Plano, Texas. The Mississippi plant builds the Corolla.

Fernandes had been on a temporary assignment as senior vice president for manufacturing with sister company Toyota South Africa Motors and previously was president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama.

Jason Puckett, 47, has been named the new president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, which builds the automaker's four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines. Previously, Puckett was vice president for administration at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana.

David Finch, 54, who had been in a temporary role as president of the Alabama e…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. auto safety regulators on Thursday said they were opening a formal regulatory proceeding that could eventually result in the adoption of new safety standards for autonomous vehicles.

NHTSA said it was issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to get public input on how to ensure the safety of future self-driving vehicles. Companies like General Motors' Cruise unit, Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo and Tesla Inc. are working on vehicles that can drive themselves.

"This rulemaking will help address legitimate public concerns about safety, security and privacy without hampering innovation in the development of automated driving systems,” said Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao in a statement.

NHTSA said the proceeding could result in the agency issuing new guidance documents addressing best industry practices, providing information to consumers or formal regulations including rules requiring reporting and disclosures to new legally bindi…

Hyundai Motor America is suing Napleton Automotive Group and current and former employees of the dealership group in federal court over an alleged scheme by the retailer to fraudulently collect warranty payments for unnecessary engine repairs.

The automaker filed the lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Fla. Hyundai said in a statement provided to Automotive News that it first learned of the alleged fraudulent engine warranty claims in April when it was provided with a complaint in another lawsuit filed by a former Napleton Automotive Group general manager against the dealership group and its owners.Hyundai seeks more than $75,000 in damages. The lawsuit names as defendants the dealership group itself, plus Napleton's West Palm Beach Hyundai store; Gene Khaytin, former general manager of that store; Ernie Revuelta, the store's service director; and Ed Napleton Jr., director of operations for Napleton Automotive. A lawyer representing Napleton Au…

Uber Technologies Inc.'s self-driving unit is looking to partner with other companies working on autonomous driving, the company's CEO said on Wednesday.

"Our view is that we will partner with other autonomous providers over a period of time," Dara Khosrowshahi said at the RBC Capital Markets conference when asked about reports Uber is looking to sell its autonomous driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group (ATG).

He said Uber could offer competitors, who have poured billions of dollars into the development of autonomous taxis, a large customer base and valuable data on profitable routes generated through its ride-hailing business.

Reuters last week reported that Uber is in ongoing talks to sell its ATG unit to self-driving car startup Aurora, as Uber was seeking options for the costly unit, with fully automated vehicles still several years away.

Khosrowshahi declined to directly comment on the reports, but said Uber was looking to create an open …

Longtime automotive supplier executive Lon Offenbacher will retire in the first half of 2021 from Inteva Products LLC, the company said.

Offenbacher, 67, has served as the company's president and CEO since Renco Group Inc. acquired the interiors and closures businesses out of bankruptcy from then-Delphi Corp. to form Inteva in 2008. Prior to the role, he served as the business line executive for the acquired Delphi divisions.

Gerard Roose, 57, the current vice president of sales, marketing and product development at Inteva, will replace Offenbacher this month, the suburban Detroit company said in a statement Wednesday. Offenbacher will serve in an advisory role until his retirement next year.

Also part of the original executive team, Roose has worked alongside Offenbacher for many years. Prior to the founding of Inteva, he served as sales director at Delphi.

"Inteva has proven over and over again that we can meet the most significant challenges pr…

MILAN -- Fiat Chrysler and PSA shareholders are scheduled to meet on Jan. 4 to approve their planned merger and create Stellantis, the world's fourth biggest car maker, the two companies said on Wednesday.

In December, Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French Peugeot maker PSA agreed to combine in a $38 billion all-share deal, uniting brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Maserati with the likes of Peugeot, Opel, Citroen and DS.

The two companies have pledged to finalize the merger by the end of the first quarter of next year.

A New York City dealership accused of a slew of deceptive and illegal practices targeting non-English-speaking customers agreed to pay more than $286,855 in restitution and penalties Tuesday as part of a consent order with the state's attorney general.

The office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James accused Star Toyota of Bayside of preying upon Chinese customers using "fraudulent, deceptive, and unlawful practices."

Through Chinese-speaking sales staff, the dealership allegedly deceived customers by haggling in Chinese but changing the prices in contracts written in English. The dealership also is accused of jamming, which is slipping finance and insurance products into a car deal without the customer's consent or knowledge.

"Stealing from our immigrant communities by taking advantage of language barriers is not only illegal, but downright shameful," James said in a statement. "New York values its immigrant communities…

The U.S. Supreme Court is in session, and the lawyers at Hudson Cook are keeping an eye on a few upcoming legal cases that could cause ripples in the auto finance and retail sectors. Here are three cases before the court they feel could have far-reaching implications:

Facebook Inc. v. Duguid: Noah Duguid alleges that he never used Facebook, but the social media company sent him numerous text messages about issues with his account. Even though Facebook did not generate random sequential numbers in order to contact Duguid, the Ninth Circuit determined the texts fall under the automatic telephone dialing system category under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, passed by Congress in 1991, prohibits robocalls without the receiving party's consent, unless "such calls are necessary in an emergency situation affecting the health and safety of the consumer." Auto lenders have struggled with TCPA violations in r…

Self-driving shuttle company May Mobility is partnering with app-based passenger shuttle provider Via Transportation Inc. to expand May's on-demand operations to new cities next year, starting with Arlington, Texas.

The autonomous vehicle platform that May Mobility and Via will launch "integrates on-demand shared rides, public transportation, and transit options for passengers with accessibility needs all as part of one complete service offering," the companies said Wednesday in a statement.

May Mobility and Via will first incorporate AVs into Via's existing on-demand public transit service in Arlington in partnership with the city of Arlington and the University of Texas at Arlington.

To do so, May Mobility, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., will adopt Via's platform that encompasses booking, routing, assignment, customer experience and fleet management.

Bolstered by a $1.7 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration's Integrated Mobility Inno…

Lincoln Automotive Financial Services led luxury dealers for the eighth year in a row in J.D. Power's annual U.S. Consumer Financing Satisfaction study, while Truist — formerly known as BB&T — took the lead for mass-market brands.

J.D. Power said last week the results weighed responses of 10,103 customers who financed a new or used vehicle within the past three years. Five factors determined satisfaction: billing and payment process, mobile app experience, onboarding process, origination process and website experience.

Jim Drotman, Ford Credit executive vice president of U.S., Canada and International, said in a statement the lender's goal is to be among the reasons Ford customers remain with the brand.

"Despite the pandemic and unprecedented numbers of customer calls, our team never lost sight of this," Drotman said. "Tough times only strengthen our resolve to do the right thing for our customers, so they become customers for …

The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday approved a plan to allow a growing number of wireless devices to use part of a spectrum previously set aside for automakers to develop methods for vehicles to communicate with each other, a decision that the Transportation Department warned could result in "thousands of accidents."

The FCC voted 5-0 to split the spectrum block set aside for auto safety. Over the objections of automakers and some U.S. agencies, the FCC decision finalized a plan announced last year to divide a block of the 5.9 GHz spectrum band that was reserved in 1999 for automakers to develop technology called DSRC, but has so far gone largely unused.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said there is "a pressing need for us to allocate additional spectrum" for Wi-Fi, noting the coronavirus pandemic underscored "consumers need access and more bandwidth to be able to engage in telework, remote learning, telehealth, and other broadband-related services."