Trade News

Jaguar Land Rover filed a complaint on Thursday to block U.S. imports of Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi and VW crossovers it says are using its patented Terrain Response technology without permission.

JLR, owned by India's Tata Motors, said in its filing with the U.S. International Trade Commission that the technology helps negotiate a "broad range of surfaces" and is a key feature in Jaguar's F-Pace and Land Rover Discovery vehicles.

"JLR seeks to protect itself and its United States operations from companies that have injected infringing products into the U.S. market that incorporate, without any license from JLR, technology developed by JLR and protected by its patent," JLR's lawyer, Matthew Moore, said in the filing.

Representatives of Volkswagen Group, which owns the brands, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment on the complaint.

Jaguar wants to block imports of Porsche's Cayenne; Lamborghini's Urus; Audi's Q8, Q7, Q5, A6 Allroad…

Editor's note: Ford plans to launch its new online used-vehicle platform in early 2021. A previous version of this story included an incorrect time frame.

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. will launch a new online used-vehicle platform and brand early next year called Ford Blue Advantage in a bid to give its dealers a larger slice of the used-vehicle sales pie.

Executives detailed the plans to some 8,000 dealership employees during a three-day virtual meeting. The video format, which included presentations by Executive Chairman Bill Ford, CEO Jim Farley and other top officials, replaced the typical annual meeting that would have taken place in Las Vegas in September.

The used-car platform was among the newest initiatives dealers learned about through prerecorded messages and live sessions.

"We believe from day one it will be the largest source of used Fords by far," Mark LaNeve, Ford's director of U.S. marketing, sales and service, said on a call with repo…

Organizers of the Montreal and Toronto auto shows have scrapped their plans to transition to a virtual platform from in-person, physical exhibits for 2021 due to a lack of automaker participation.

The Montreal auto show’s virtual program was scheduled for Jan. 20-24 and was to replace the live show originally scheduled for Jan.15-24, which was canceled due to COVID-19. The live version of the Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS) in Toronto was to be held from Feb.12-22 and the digital platform was intended to run over that same time period.

Both shows were working together and collaborating with show directors in markets across Canada to create a platform that could be implemented nationwide, CIAS General Manager Jason Campbell told Automotive News Canada. However, Montreal International Auto Show Executive Director Luis Pereira said “quite a few” automakers chose not to participate in the new format.

Campbell said those manufacturers who sat out …

Changan Automobile Co. is working with China’s largest electric vehicle battery supplier, CATL, and leading communication equipment maker Huawei Technologies to develop high-end EVs, a top executive said. 

The project was disclosed by Changan Chairman Zhu Huarong during a program aired last week by state-operated China Central Television. 

The move is intended to help state-owned Changan “keep up with the times and user needs,” Zhu said during the program. 

The brand’s high-tech products “will be shown to the public soon,” he added, without revealing additional details.

The move makes Changan the second state-owned automaker aiming to move upscale with new EV products. 

At the Beijing auto show in September, BAIC Motor Co. launched sales of the first product, the Alpha-T, an SUV engineered by Canadian supplier Magna International for the state-owned automaker’s newly created EV brand Arcfox.

Dongfeng Motor Group a…

DETROIT — General Motors on Thursday said it is upping its spending on autonomous and electric vehicles by 35 percent to $27 billion and that 40 percent of its U.S. lineup will be electric by the end of 2025.

GM said it will move up the scheduled launches of some EVs and introduce at least 30 EVs globally through 2025, including 20 in North America.

"Climate change is real, and we want to be part of the solution by putting everyone in an electric vehicle," CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "We are transitioning to an all-electric portfolio from a position of strength and we're focused on growth. We can accelerate our EV plans because we are rapidly building a competitive advantage in batteries, software, vehicle integration, manufacturing and customer experience."

GM previously said it would spend $20 billion on EVs and autonomous technology by 2025 and have 20 EVs globally by 2023. More than half of the company's capital and nearly 60 percent of its …

China’s central government, seeking to boost consumption in the post-pandemic period, is pushing provincial governments to subsidize sales of light trucks and small cars in rural areas. 

Where conditions permit, local governments are being encouraged to subsidize rural residents’ purchases of trucks that weigh up to 3.5 tons and passenger vehicles with engine displacements up to 1.6 liters, according to a notice the State Council, China’s cabinet, posted on its website Thursday. 

Local governments are also advised to roll out scrappage programs to encourage rural residents to ditch older vehicles with emissions standards that fall short of State 3 rules for new vehicles, according to the notice. 

China’s State 3 environmental standards are equivalent to the Euro 3 emissions rules. 

In the notice, the central government is also pressing cities that limit new-car sales to “optimize” restrictive policies and expand license plate q…

Volkswagen Group has started producing electric motors in China for a new generation of electric vehicles set to launch next year. 

The automaker’s transmission plant in the north port city of Tianjin began output of an electric motor, codenamed APP310, last week.

The electric motor will be first installed in the ID4, a compact crossover in the VW brand’s ID series of EVs, Stephan Wollenstein, CEO of Volkswagen Group China, said at an event in the Tianjin plant last week, marking the start of production. 

The motor also will be used in other MEB-based models the VW Group will roll out in China, he added. 

MEB is a modular platform VW Group has developed for a range of new EVs. 

The ID4 is assembled at the German group’s joint ventures with SAIC Motor Corp. and China FAW Group Corp. The vehicle is expected to go on sale in China in early 2021. 

VW Group plans to introduce eight ID models in China by the end of…

The backlog of unsold models at dealerships of mass-market brands hovered around a 50-day supply, on average, in October, even as industry sales rebounded for a sixth straight month in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Carmakers continue to stockpile new cars and light trucks at dealerships to achieve annual sales targets in 2020, the China Automobile Dealers Association said in releasing new monthly inventory data. 

Dealerships marketing Chinese brands carried an average new-vehicle supply of 51.3 days, unchanged from September, according to the dealer group. 

Average inventories at stores stocking locally produced, foreign mass-market brands reached 47.1 days, compared with 46.6 days the previous month.

Stockpiles at stores distributing luxury brands and imported foreign brands averaged 39 days, the same as in September. 

Infiniti stores had the highest average backlog -- 75 days -- last month, according…

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…