Trade News

Scammers who previously defrauded COVID-19 stimulus programs switched to target the auto finance industry in 2022, Point Predictive concluded in a fraud report released in June.

These schemes contributed to a 35 percent increase in auto loan identity and synthetic identity fraud last year, according to Point Predictive's 2023 Auto Lending Fraud Trends Report. Meanwhile, the more traditional scams of income and employment fraud and using straw borrowers all saw declines, Point Predictive said.

"2022 marked a dramatic shift in auto lending fraud patterns," Point Predictive wrote in the report.

Overall, auto lenders and dealers faced more than $8.1 billion in fraud exposure in 2022, up more than 5 percent from a year earlier, Point Predictive said. Its fraud team flagged more than 18,000 suspicious auto loan applications last year, up more than 8 percent from 2021.

"Some dealerships that had never experienced a single case of identity theft in thei…

Auto plants in the Asia-Pacific region will cut nearly 36,000 vehicles this week because of microchip shortages, according to estimates from AutoForecast Solutions. The majority of the losses are in China, with 33,631 vehicles being taken out of production. Another 2,362 are expected to be cut in the rest of Asia.

Meanwhile, North American factories are ramping up short-term production in case  of a UAW strike this fall, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. “This additional production has worked to obscure some of the potential losses from slow supplies of chips. If the strikes do occur, more chip-related losses and general supply chain shortages can be hidden by the reduced output,” he said in an emailed statement.

AFS’ production-loss estimates for full-year 2023 were lowered for North America, South America and Europe. 

Source: AutoForecast Solutions Inc. autoforecastsolutions.com

Automakers plan to launch dozens of electric vehicle models in the second half of this decade and beyond. But the problem is you can't make an EV until somebody manufactures a battery for it.

That's why the industry has come alive with new EV battery projects. To be sure, several EV battery plants already exist in the U.S. — assembly lines have been humming along fine for years with battery packs produced by the likes of Panasonic in Reno, Nev., and AESC in Smyrna, Tenn. But now the scramble for more capacity is bringing billions of dollars in new investments to locations around the U.S. and Canada, with more expected to follow soon.

The following are projects that are underway — or are about to be.

AESC, formerly known as Envision AESC, broke ground last August on a $2 billion battery plant in Bowling Green, Ky., with a capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours to supply 300,000 EVs a year by 2027. The project's first customer will be Merc…

Toyota Motor Corp. will split its manufacturing and components operations in North America by powertrain, and it will install one of its leading female executives to oversee production operations of battery-electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, Mike Sweers, who led Toyota's sweeping global redesign of its body-on-frame vehicles, has been promoted to head of the automaker's North American R&D efforts as well as its chief technology officer. The appointments were among executive changes announced Friday by Toyota Motor North America.

Susan Elkington, who has been president of the automaker's massive Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky plant in Georgetown since 2018, will start Monday in the newly created position of senior vice president for electric vehicle supply. Elkington will have responsibility over Toyota's component manufacturing for EVs, including the battery plant it is building in North Carolina. Remaining component operations will continue to be the resp…

Paul Daly and Kyle Mountsier of Automotive State of the Union talk about their docuseries “More Than Cars.” Momentum keeps growing for Tesla's charging technology. And Audi gets a new CEO.

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On Oct. 9, a special section of Automotive News will honor individuals from all sectors of the auto industry who are champions of diversity.

The third annual installment of the Notable Champions of Diversity will recognize those who have made significant efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and their community during the last several years.

Do you know someone who drives substantial change and embodies what inclusivity stands for? Tell us about them. To nominate yourself or someone else, go to autonews.com/notablechampions. Nominations close July 14.

I first met Edward Hightower at an industry luncheon several years ago, after he had worked at Ford, BMW, General Motors — twice — and AlixPartners.

I'll admit that I struck up the conversation with him, not because I knew of his extensive track record, but because of his name, which is the same as a longtime Big Ten men's basketball referee. (They are not related.)

But I was glad I did. He was into a lot of interesting things in the auto industry. He worked with startups, such as HEVO Power, which went on to win an Automotive News PACE Award last year, and he was exploring the potential for automaking and auto parts manufacturing in Africa.

When he joined Lordstown Motors as president in 2021, he wasn't blind to the challenges of salvaging a startup with a troubled origin story that included a takedown by Hindenburg Research and the founder's resignation.

What intrigued him was the emerging partnership with Foxconn that he saw as potentially pai…

Volvo Cars has hired a "digital-first business leader" to help it transition into generating half of its global sales online by 2025.

Gretchen Saegh-Fleming will join the automaker on Monday, July 3, from Hydrow, which sells home rowing machines, where she served as chief commercial officer for two and a half years.

Prior to that she spent eight years at cosmetic giant L'Oreal, where she rose to the role of chief marketing officer.

"Gretchen is a results-driven and digital-first business leader with an impressive track record, and I feel confident that this will be a great match,” Volvo Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer Björn Annwall said in a release.

At L'Oreal, Saegh-Fleming helped the company grow through new marketing models, accelerating digital innovation and building strategic partnerships across a portfolio of more than 30 brands, Volvo said in the release.

In 2022, online and direct sales represented 11 percent of Volvo's sa…

General Motors said on Friday it had acquired Algolion Ltd., an Israel-based software startup that helps detect problems in batteries.

GM said Algolion's software will help the automaker bring to the market a "cost-effective" early hazard detection system at a quicker pace.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, comes at a time when automakers are investing billions in manufacturing electric vehicles and rushing to develop batteries — which represent up to 50 percent of an EV's price tag — that can power an automobile for a longer duration.

It also comes as safety authorities urge U.S. automakers to improve battery standards after a series of events where vehicles have caught fire due to defective modules.

Algolion has developed a software that uses data from EV battery management systems to help identify anomalies in cell performance and provide early detection of battery hazards including "thermal runaway propagation events," GM said.

A…

Lordstown Motors, an electric pickup startup that has faced down fraud allegations, leadership shake-ups, cash shortages and recalls in a yearslong game of whack-a-mole, is trying to extinguish its most formidable opponent yet — bankruptcy.

The company is seeking a buyer for its Endurance pickup and related assets. So far, automakers have expressed little interest in the technology, but Edward Hightower, Lordstown CEO and unfettered optimist, told Automotive News that the renewed spotlight on the company and the tidying of past legal liabilities might entice them.

"We're going to do a better job of promoting that story now going forward," he said. "I think the Chapter 11 process and the fact that it expedites everything will get interested parties" to take a look.

Lordstown's survival thus far conjures the improbable and repeated resurrection of Wile E. Coyote. When one anvil is removed — such as the resignation of a former CEO after the company acknow…

MG Motor, a unit of Chinese automaker SAIC Motor, on Friday announced a new leasing offer whereby drivers in France can get for 99 euros ($107.6) a month the MG4 electric car, matching a program the French government would like to use to benefit cars made in Europe.

The promotion runs from July 1 through August 31 and is offered in conjunction with MG Motor's French banking partner, Credit Agricole Consumer Finance. It is based on consumers qualifying for a "super bonus" incentive of 7,000 euros for low income buyers and also includes a 2,500 euros public aid paid in exchange for scrapping an older internal combustion engine vehicle.

MG Motor's offer comes as major automakers around the word compete in the growing EV market, which is forecast to grow rapidly as customers ditch older models to protect the environment.

MG calls the promotion a "social leasing" offer, in reference to the plan the French government is working on to make EVs more affordable…

Electric-car maker Xpeng Inc. priced its latest G6 crossover about 20 percent lower than Tesla's Model Y in China.

The move helped boost shares in Xpeng and its Chinese peers.

Warren Buffett-backed BYD dominates the Chinese market and U.S. automaker Tesla is set to hit another record quarter in China, with sales in the country expected to increase 13 percent from the previous three months, analysts said.

China was the biggest market for Tesla's Model Y crossover in the first quarter of the year, helping it become the world's top selling vehicle during the period.

Xpeng is pinning hopes on the new crossover to help turnaround sales, after the company reported lackluster May deliveries.

The price of the Xpeng G6 starts at 209,900 yuan ($28,882.01), compared with Tesla Model Y's starting price of 263,900 yuan in China.

"We do admit the G6 pricing strategy created a unique product segment of BEV SUV at the 200,000-230,000 yua…