Trade News

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."

LOS ANGELES — Honda is giving one of its core cars -- the Civic -- a reboot that reaches back in time for design cues while accentuating the crouching posture typical of sports sedans.

The interior also has been overhauled to echo the clean, uncluttered lines of earlier generation Civics.

Honda, which revealed a prototype of the 11th-generation compact Civic on streaming platform Twitch late Tuesday, said the car, its top seller, will go on sale in late spring 2021 as a sedan. It will be followed months later by a Civic hatchback, as well as Si and Type R variants.

Honda has discontinued the Civic coupe.

The Civic, a key entry point for the brand for decades, has remained the top-selling compact car this year, with U.S. sales of 200,941 through the third quarter, a decline of 21 percent. Still, U.S. consumers continue to abandon compact cars, mostly in favor of light trucks, with segment volume down 35 percent to 720,71…

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…