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Join CDK Global to learn more about what is possible and how technologies such as augmented reality, voice assistants, heads-up displays, and 5G will usher the service department into the future.

Stephen Gannon, Vice President, Business Strategy, CDK GlobalKim Saylor, Product Marketing, Fixed Operations, CDK GlobalDave Versical, Founding Editor, Fixed Ops Journal

This conversation was originally broadcast on November 5, 2020, as the final conversation in the Fixed Ops Journal Forum series. Watch the recordings here.

China's new-vehicle sales kept ticking up at a double-digit pace for the second straight month in October, according to a preliminary tally released Thursday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The association estimates that automakers delivered more than 2.54 million new vehicles last month, rising 11 percent from a year earlier.

Sales of new light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses rose 7.3 percent. Demand for new commercial vehicles including trucks and buses jumped nearly 28 percent, the group estimates. 

In the first 10 months, new-vehicle sales across China dropped 4.8 percent to some 19.66 million, according to association estimates, with light-vehicle demand falling 10 percent and commercial vehicle deliveries surging 21 percent. 

The industry group didn’t break down sales volumes for commercial vehicles or light vehicles for October or the first 10 months. It is exp…

Honda deliveries hit a record for the fourth consecutive month in October on demand for three core models, as well as hybrids, while Nissan’s sales rose 5 percent.

Honda’s October sales advanced 22 percent to a new monthly high of 180,655, Honda Motor Co.’s China office said this week.

The Accord and Civic sedans, and the CR-V crossover, all available in gasoline and hybrid versions, each booked deliveries of more than 20,000 last month, the company said.  

In addition to the three popular models, Honda markets hybrid variants of six other locally produced vehicles: the Inspire, Crider and Envix sedans, the Breeze crossover, and the Odyssey and Elysion multipurpose vehicles.

In October, Honda’s hybrids racked up sales of 21,868 -- a monthly high, the office said.

Because of a 34 percent slump due to the coronavirus outbreak in the first quarter, Honda’s China sales through October dipped 1.9 percent to just under 1.25 million.

…

Great Wall Motor Co., in an effort to expand its global manufacturing footprint, completed an acquisition of General Motors’ assembly plant in Rayong of eastern Thailand, after agreeing to the deal early this year.

After a renovation, the factory will reopen sometime in the first quarter of 2021 to build right-hand-drive pickups, SUVs and sedans, the leading Chinese light-truck maker said this week.

Initially, the retooled plant will produce up to 80,000 vehicles a year. Some vehicles will be sold in Thailand and the rest will be exported to Southeast Asian countries, Australia and South Africa, Great Wall said.

Great Wall signed an agreement with GM in February to purchase the factory. 

The Rayong factory is the Chinese company’s second assembly plant outside China. In 2019, it opened a plant in the Tula Oblast region of central Russia.

Great Wall, based in the north China city of Baoding, is listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai.  Read more

Volkswagen will introduce eight ID-series electric vehicles in China by the end of 2023, aiming to greatly enhance its green credentials in the key market.

The first ID model, the locally built ID4 compact crossover, will arrive in early 2021, VW Group China CEO Stephan Wollenstein said in the south China city of Shenzhen on Tuesday. 

The ID4 will offer two variants -- the ID4 X, and a smaller and sporty version -- the ID4 Crozz. 

The ID4 X is produced at VW Group’s joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., while the ID4 Crozz is assembled at the German group’s partnership with China FAW Group Corp. 

The two ID4 variants, which were revealed in Shenzhen on Tuesday, each have a range of more than 500 kilometers on one change, Wollenstein said. 

To support its expanding EV lineup, VW will increase the number of battery changing stations in China to more than 250 by the end of 2020, from 40 currently, he added. 

Woll…

AV designers could pick scenic route

One of the first things I noticed on an early ride in a self-driving prototype had nothing to do with the vehicle and everything to do with the view.

Sitting in the rear seat of a May Mobility shuttle as it trundled around a few blocks of downtown Detroit, I gazed out the panoramic moonroof and through the large windows on the lengthened rear door and saw the Motor City in a whole new way. As much as the ride was a technology demonstration, it inadvertently was a reminder of the city's architectural greatness.

I was reminded of this years-old experience this week after reading that Sarah Sandman, an artist with the TED Fellows, hit upon a similar sentiment when Lexus asked her and others in the global program to imagine new autonomous-vehicle designs.

"One of the most magical moments of travel that I've ever experienced was on the Empire Builder train going cross country," she said of the Amtrak route th…

Bentley will drop internal combustion engines from its lineup by 2030 and switch the entire model range to full-electric vehicles as part of longterm plans to dramatically cut emissions.

The Volkswagen Group ultraluxury brand confirmed Thursday it will add two plug-in hybrids next year and its first full-electric vehicle in 2025.

The EV will be the first of a family of EVs, Bentley's engineering chief, Matthias Rabe, said during an online presentation Thursday.

The moves are part of Bentley’s strategy to position itself as a socially responsible company with the aim of being climate and carbon neutral by 2030.

By 2026, the brand will electrify powerful 8- and 12-cylinder engines and only offer plug-in hybrid and full-electric models as part of a strategy called Beyond 100, which references its 100-year history.

 "We want to create a carbon neutral company, end to end, by 2030," CEO Adrian Hallmark said Thursday. "A 100-year-old company…

Longtime Toyota Motor North America executive Ed Laukes will retire Jan. 4 as group vice president of Toyota Division marketing.

A successor in the top marketing role is expected to be named next month, the Japanese automaker said Wednesday.

Laukes, 62, oversees market planning, advertising, sales promotion, incentives, merchandising and motorsports, along with Toyota's social and digital media, in a role he has held since April 2017. He joined the automaker in 1989, and held management positions with the Toyota and Lexus brands, as well as the company's field staff. He was previously vice president of integrated marketing operations, and vice president of engagement marketing and guest experience.

His retirement comes as Toyota's U.S. sales gain momentum and recover from the coronavirus outbreak.

The automaker's U.S. sales rose 8.8 percent to 205,349 in October -- a record for the month -- with volume up 7.8 percent at…

STOCKHOLM -- Automotive technology supplier Veoneer has appointed company veteran Ray Pekar as its new CFO, replacing Mats Backman, who will leave the position in March "to seek new opportunities," the company said in a statement.

Pekar became vice president business development and investor relations for Veoneer, a maker of radars, vision systems and driver-assistance software when it was spun off from Autoliv in 2018. He joined Autoliv in 1996.

"Veoneer is now ready to enter a new phase, and this is the right time for me to take the next step," Backman said in a statement.

Backman will continue in his position as CFO until March and will remain with Veoneer until May as part of the transition, the statement said.

Pekar has more than 30 years in the auto industry with positions of increasing responsibility in the areas of finance and accounting, business development, mergers and acquisitions and investor relations, including six years as vice pre…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week issued a final ruling on what constitutes fair debt collection behavior when communicating with consumers and outlined what is prohibited under that definition.

While lenders aren't third-party debt collectors, American Financial Services Association leaders voiced concerns this year that its membership could end up being similarly restricted.

AFSA said in January its members were wary of the fact the bureau included in its proposed amendments a mention of the CFPB's authority around violations of UDAAP — unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices — in crafting the changes to the rule. While the updated rule no longer calls upon the bureau's UDAAP authority, it may provide a framework for state legislatures and regulators to impose new restrictions on creditors down the line.

Celia Winslow, senior vice president at the American Financial Services Association, said in a statemen…

While the outcome of the presidential election remained unclear as of Wednesday afternoon, the auto industry at least knows the results of a highly contested ballot question in Massachusetts that pitted independent repair shops and aftermarket parts retailers against most major automakers, with both sides spending millions to tilt voters in their favor.

Voters in the state Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure to update the existing "right to repair" law, with 75 percent voting in its favor, according to The Associated Press.

The updated law expands access to mechanical data related to vehicle maintenance and repair by requiring automakers to make available all mechanical information needed to diagnose and repair vehicles as well as perform routine maintenance starting with 2022 models. It also gives vehicle owners and independent repair shops access to real-time mechanical data from telematics — systems that collect and wirelessl…

The absence of cars in lanes was one reason KAR Global was able to report a third-quarter profit, despite lower revenue.

Gaining efficiencies by going digital is part of a strategy that was accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic and is unlikely to change anytime soon, CEO Jim Hallett said.

"We are 100 percent digital, and we have no plans to return to running cars," Hallett told investors in a conference call Wednesday.

Shares of KAR closed Wednesday's trading up 1 percent to $16.41.

Hallett had already been shifting the auction company in a more digital direction before the pandemic hit, citing safety concerns around cars and trucks running through lanes. In March, as COVID-19 cases were rising in the U.S., KAR shuttered auction operations before resuming them as all-digital sales in April.

Many employees who supported sale-day operations have been let go. In March, KAR had 15,000 active employees. By early April, it had furloughed some 1…