Trade News

LOS ANGELES — The Honda Civic has been a staple of American motoring for nearly 50 years — but more than that, it has been a cornerstone of Honda Motor Co.'s popularity with U.S. consumers.

Now, despite an onslaught of small crossovers intent on digging into the compact car's coveted sales base of mostly young, first-time buyers, Honda is moving to keep its Civic franchise fresh.

To continue capturing the shrinking but passionate pool of U.S. car buyers, Honda is rolling out the 11th-generation Civic sedan next year. A nearly finished prototype, presented last week, offers an evolutionary upgrade from the current generation, which has been a sales success despite some questionable styling cues.

"We know that passenger cars have been shrinking — and maybe even more during the coronavirus with a huge rise in the popularity of SUVs," Gary Robinson, American Honda Motor Co.'s vice president of automobile product planning, said during a product presentation …

Automakers are sending a slew of critical new and redesigned models into dealer showrooms right now, despite worries around the country about a worsening outlook for the coronavirus pandemic and the possibility of new business restrictions.

The timing couldn't be worse for these fourth-quarter product launches.

But on the other hand ... the timing couldn't be better.

For the past eight months, auto dealers have been doing what auto dealers do best — shaking off market jitters, mobilizing to sell more cars and trucks, maneuvering to keep their stores operating and marketing to keep shoppers excited about what's for sale.

Retailers need this infusion of fresh product. And judging from the industry's sales comeback in the back half of this year, consumers still want to buy.

Ford F-150

The king of the American auto business is redesigned for a new generation. How it performs will indicate not only the health of the industry, but also t…

The COVID-19 crisis has caused shortages of a variety of goods: From cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer to toilet paper and meat, consumers have been stocking up.

People also have been buying and renting more bikes and scooters.

As the pandemic drones on and consumers shy away from public transportation and shared rides, many are instead using more micromobility. For some, micromobility offers a respite when other forms of transportation — especially in cities — require the use of shared spaces, some with poor ventilation.

The shift in rider behavior has resulted not only in an increase in rentals of shared bikes and scooters but also — at least with bicycles — in more purchases.

Sales for bikes, parts and related accessories shot up a combined 75 percent to $1 billion in April, according to market research company NPD Group. Retailers found themselves dealing with a national bike shortage this summer. Bike sales g…

Karmala Sutton has had a crash course in how to wade through unpredictable situations in her first year as a dealer manager.

There's the coronavirus pandemic, of course. The political climate is so heated that Sutton blocked Fox News and CNN from the waiting area TV to cut down on complaints, leaving customers to watch home remodelings on HGTV instead.

And Sutton's store, Honda of Kenosha in Bristol, Wis., is one of 265 Black-owned dealerships in the U.S. at a time when she believes the nation is in the middle of a new civil rights movement.

The killing of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis in May after a police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes, kick-started an uprising that spread across the world and pushed issues of police brutality and systemic racism to the forefront. A police shooting in Kenosha that paralyzed another Black man, Jacob Blake, in August brought those issues even closer to the doors of Sutton's dealership. I…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Friday said Vijay Sankaran, who was supposed to be its next chief software and information officer, has elected not to take the job.

Sankaran, 47, said he wanted to take time off to spend with his family. He previously was CIO at trading company TD Ameritrade and before that was with Ford for 12 years, most recently as Ford IT's chief technology officer.

"This was a difficult decision, as I was very interested in returning to Ford to help advance the company's transformation, but I determined after much thought that I needed to take a break to devote more time to my family and recharge before taking on a new leadership role," Sankaran said in a statement. "Despite this decision, I'm confident Ford has a bright future and extend my best wishes to my former colleagues."

Sankaran was supposed to start in his new role Nov. 16. Ford said Friday that Jeff Lemmer will continue as CIO for the rest of the year, and that it plans to fil…

The U.S. rollout of the Volkswagen ID4 has been delayed from late December until late in the first quarter of 2021, in part to shift output of the electric compact crossover to markets in Europe, where the company is facing large fines for not hitting emissions targets, Automotive News has learned.

Originally, VW planned to begin delivering at least a few ID4 models in California and other zero-emission vehicle states before the end of the year, with a 50-state launch across its network of 650 U.S. dealerships planned for the first half of 2021. It will now launch the ID4 across the U.S., instead of just ZEV states, with initial deliveries slated for March, according to sources familiar with the plan.

A VW spokesman on Friday confirmed the amended timeline, saying in a statement to Automotive News: "We are executing our plan. We will still have a few hundred vehicles for customer events and drive programs early next year, with the 50-state retail launch startin…

DETROIT — General Motors said it has signed on with telecommunications giant Verizon to install 5G technology at its assembly plant in Detroit.

Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband service is operating now at GM's electric vehicle plant, Factory Zero, according to a GM statement Friday.

"Factory Zero will be GM's flagship assembly plant in our journey to an all-electric future," Phil Kienle, GM vice president of North America Manufacturing and Labor Relations, said in the statement.

GM Chief Information Officer Randy Mott told Automotive News in an email that GM plants are advancing and a fast, reliable network is a significant part of the plan.

The technology will support the use of thousands of devices while increasing speed as the plant prepares for production of the GMC Hummer EV and Cruise Origin.

A GM spokesman said Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have implemented 5G technology in European plants, but GM is the first to have the technology in a U…

Consumers are continuing to opt out of public transportation and are instead opting for personal transit and micromobility as COVID-19 drones on.

They are also much more willing to pay for in-vehicle technology, especially health-related tech, as a result of the pandemic.

Mobility habits in a three-month period this year differed dramatically from all of 2019 and may continue to shift, according to a study released by the Consumer Technology Association this week.

"The car is king, but [consumers] are looking for other tools for their cars such as digital keys," Gary Shapiro, the association's CEO, said in Friday's episode of Automotive News's "Daily Drive" podcast. "They're willing to pay for health and wellness technology to travel safely.

"We're seeing changes in buying behavior and what consumers are asking for," said Shapiro, who heads the annual CES technology show. "Now, whether this will be a permanent shift remains to be seen."

Sha…

FRANKFURT -- Daimler and Geely on Friday said China could emerge as a manufacturing and export hub for hybrid powertrains jointly developed for Volvo and Mercedes-Benz cars.

Earlier this week, the German automaker said it will cooperate with China's Geely to build next-generation combustion engines for use in hybrid vehicles.

Geely owns a 9.69 percent stake in Daimler.

The engines will be produced in China as well as in Europe, and Geely and Daimler will cooperate in engineering, sourcing and production, Daimler said in a statement.

"The export of the engine from China is considered to be an option," the statement said.

Mercedes-Benz aims for more than half of its passenger car sales to be comprised of plug-in hybrids or full-electric vehicles by 2030.

An Conghui, president of Geely Holding Group and president and CEO of Geely Auto Group said: "This project reflects the need for economies of scale and targeted research and development…

Luminar Technologies, the self-driving sensor startup that is about to go public, said on Friday that it will supply laser-based lidar sensors to Intel Corp.'s Mobileye subsidiary for its test fleet of self-driving vehicles.

Mobileye is one of the world's largest suppliers of camera-based sensors used by most top automakers in their advanced driver assistance systems, and also is developing high-definition maps for automated vehicles.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Mobileye is also the hub of Intel's initiative to build a multimodal mobility as a service, or MaaS, business that incorporates different modes of transportation from e-scooters to robotaxis.

Luminar said its lidar will be incorporated into Mobileye's self-driving hardware and software system, which also uses radar and surround-view cameras.

In May, Mobileye acquired Israel startup Moovit, one of the world's leading MaaS providers, and said the service eventually would inc…