Trade News

A federal prosecutor on Tuesday said the government's case against former Reynolds and Reynolds Co. CEO Bob Brockman on tax evasion and wire fraud charges could be ready for trial next year.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Pitman said during a status conference Tuesday that prosecutors will propose a trial date of September 2021 as part of a tentative schedule of proceedings it soon will file with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where the charges against Brockman were issued last month.

Brockman, who stepped down this month as chairman and CEO of the privately held dealership management system giant, is free on a $1 million bond after being indicted in October in what prosecutors contend was an elaborate offshore scheme over two decades to evade taxes on $2 billion in income.

Reynolds and Reynolds, of Dayton, Ohio, is not accused of wrongdoing in the government's case against Brockman.

Tuesday's 30-minute hearing, …

Infiniti is taking aim at German rivals in the sporty crossover segment with its newest model, the QX55.

The coupe-style crossover, scheduled for a U.S. sales launch next spring, will arrive as the financially struggling brand updates one of the oldest product portfolios in the industry.

Infiniti will launch five vehicles globally in the next three years.

The QX55 "sets the stage for us to start to move forward," said Jeff Pope, Infiniti Americas group vice president.

The crossover is based on the redesigned Infiniti QX50 compact crossover which launched in the spring of 2018 and introduced a variable-compression engine that delivered V-6-like performance with four-cylinder diesel-like fuel economy.

Coupe-like crossovers, such as the BMW X4 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, are finding a market among young families, seeking the utility of a crossover and the sporty styling of a sedan. U.S. sales of luxury crossover coupes rose 34 percent last y…

SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor Co. is being sued over a string of battery fires in its electric vehicles just as General Motors recalls nearly 70,000 EVs with batteries from the same maker, LG Chem Ltd.

The owner of a Hyundai Kona EV, a South Korean civil servant who asked to be identified only by his surname Kim, is among some 200 people who lodged a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Hyundai last week, seeking compensation for what they say is the reduced value of their EVs and other losses, Kim and two lawyers representing them told Reuters.

The court filing is not a public record.

Kim had initiated a petition drive to sue the Seoul-based automaker after the same brand of EV caught fire in his neighborhood, forcing about 20 residents to evacuate their homes.

One of the lawyers said they were initially seeking 8 million won ($7,200) per plaintiff but they could increase demand as the trial proceeds.

The plaintiffs want Hyundai to replace…

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has implemented new restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 cases in his state.

With coronavirus cases hitting new highs around the country, dealerships in other states could face similar restrictions. During the first wave of COVID-19 that beset the U.S. this spring, dealerships in many states had to reduce operations or close for at least a few weeks.

But in some cases, auto retailers were protected as an essential service -- particularly for parts and service functions.

In California, Newsom on Monday moved 28 counties back into the most restrictive tier, with 41 counties now in the purple tier.

The California New Car Dealers Association said in a statement to its members that a majority of California dealerships operate in purple tier counties.

Newsom said in the announcement: "The spread of COVID-19, if left unchecked, could quickly overwhelm our health care system and lead to catastrophic outcomes. Th…

Joe Ashton, who negotiated the UAW's 2011 contract with General Motors and later became a GM board member, was sentenced Tuesday to 30 months in prison for money laundering and wire fraud.

"Leaders of the union have to be honorable at all times," U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said.

Ashton had three witnesses speak on his behalf, and Friedman received numerous letters of support for Ashton.

But "people have to know that they have to respect the law no matter who they are," Friedman said. "Sometimes good people do bad things."

Ashton pleaded guilty to money laundering and wire fraud last year.

"I cannot tell you how ashamed and remorseful I am for what I've done," Ashton said at his sentencing hearing. "No apology will change the damage that I have done."

Including Ashton, prosecutors have charged 15 former UAW officials and auto executives in connection with the corruption scandal that centers on the misuse of union funds…

NEW YORK --  Tesla Inc. is set to join the S&P 500 in December, a major win for CEO Elon Musk and his shareholders, triggering a massive $51 billion trade as index funds are forced to buy the EV producer's shares.

Shares of Tesla surged 12 percent on Monday in extended trade after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that the company would join the S&P 500 index prior to the opening of trading on Dec. 21.

"(Tesla) will be one of the largest weight additions to the S&P 500 in the last decade, and consequently will generate one of the largest funding trades in S&P 500 history," S&P Dow Jones Indices said.

With a market capitalization over $380 billion, Tesla is one of the most valuable companies on Wall Street.

Tesla's inclusion in the widely followed stock market index means investment funds indexed to the S&P 500 will have to sell about $51 billion worth of shares of companies already in the S&P 500 and use that mon…

WASHINGTON -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it was upgrading a probe into nearly 159,000 Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles over touchscreen failures to an engineering analysis.

The auto safety regulator had opened a preliminary evaluation in June. The NHTSA said the failure can result in the loss of rear-camera image display when in reverse and reduced rear visibility when backing up, and can impact defogging ability, and audible chimes relating to Autopilot and turn signals.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

NHTSA can order a recall of a vehicle following an engineering analysis.

The probe now covers 2012-2018 model year Tesla Model S and 2016-2018 Model X vehicles. The preliminary investigation covered 63,000 Tesla Model S cars.

NHTSA said the failure does not affect vehicle-control systems.

The memory control unit uses an Nvidia Corp. Tegra 3 processor, NHTSA said.

The flas…

STOCKHOLM -- The CEO of Swedish bearings manufacturer SKF will step down in 2021 after six years in the role, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Alrik Danielson, 58, has since 2015 been at the helm of the world's biggest maker of industrial bearings, where he started a revamp of its vast factory network, raised spending on automation, pushed performance-based revenue models and cut costs.

"The board, together with Alrik Danielson, has made the assessment that now is the right time to identify a new president and CEO who can continue to execute SKF's strategy," Chairman Hans Straberg said in a statement.

"He has implemented major and important changes that have positioned SKF very well for the future," Straberg added.

SKF, which competes with Germany's Schaeffler, has beaten earnings forecasts throughout this year, and it raised its long-term margin target earlier this month.

The company said it had started a recruitment process, add…

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Joe Biden is meeting Monday with the CEOs of General Motors and Microsoft, as well as key labor leaders, as he begins to outline the economic agenda for his administration.

Mary Barra of GM and Satya Nadella of Microsoft are among the business leaders joining him for a video meeting on how business and labor can work together, Biden’s transition office said. Labor officials participating in the conversation include Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO and Rory Gamble of the UAW, as well as a number of other labor leaders.

"We have a lot of problems facing us," Biden told participants at the beginning of a video conference from his home state of Delaware seen by reporters. "It's going to take all of us working together."

Biden started the meeting speaking about his love of Corvettes with Barra and Gamble, whose union represents some of the automaker's employees. Biden then switched to a more somber tone as he addressed the "pretty d…

Editor's note: All dollar figures have been converted to U.S. dollars at current exchange rates.

MONTREAL -- The Canadian province of Quebec said Monday it will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars as of 2035, joining California and others in announcing moves to shift to electric vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Canada's second-most populous province announced the ban as part of a $5.1 billion plan over five years to help Quebec meet a target of reducing its greenhouses gases by 37.5 percent by 2030, in comparison with 1990 levels, Premier Francois Legault told reporters in Montreal.

“We are aiming for a target of 1.5 million electric vehicles on Quebec roads in 2030,” the provincial government said in a statement on its website.

Quebec will also renew the rebates on the purchase or rental of an electric vehicle and charging stations for citizens. Currently, the government offers individuals, businesses, organizations a…