Trade News

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…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Mack McLarty, chairman of McLarty Associates and former Clinton White House chief of staff, provides a recap of last night's U.S. election and what we know so far. He also discusses life in the ''War Room,'' the election's impact on the auto industry and what votes meant in the auto stronghold of Ohio.

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Ford Motor Co., which stopped reporting U.S. monthly sales nearly two years ago, has reversed course and will release monthly figures for the “foreseeable future.”

Ford wants to give investors more detail on its U.S. performance during the pandemic, said Said Deep, a company spokesman. Jim Farley took over as CEO Oct. 1 from a retiring Jim Hackett as the automaker is launching four key models -- a redesign of its top-selling F-150 pickup, the electric Mustang Mach-E , the revived Bronco SUV and Bronco Sport.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford and much of the rest of the industry followed General Motors in switching to quarterly reporting.

A GM spokeswoman said in an email to Automotive News that the automaker would continue to report sales quarterly.

"We believe the best way to assess sales trends in our business is by looking at results on a quarterly basis.," she said.

October sales

Ford's U.S. sales fell 6.1 percent in October, dragg…

Consumer demand and short supply pushed up pricing on new- and used-vehicle sales, spurring third-quarter profits for all six publicly traded finance-and-insurance retailers.

In a record-setting quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic, all six retailers raised same-store F&I profits by more than $100. Several public groups reported record-high F&I profit per vehicle, and two retailers earned more than $2,000 on average in F&I profit per vehicle sold. New leadership, ongoing training efforts and technology improvements in the finance office were among reasons given for the growth.

Group 1 Automotive, of Houston, raised average F&I profit per vehicle retailed in the U.S. above $2,000 in the third quarter to $2,041, the second retailer to do so after AutoNation Inc. F&I profit per vehicle retailed rose 17 percent, or $290, the most improved profit growth among the public groups.

Companywide, including Group 1 dealers…

DETROIT — Ford Credit posted a $1.1 billion profit in the third quarter, up 53 percent from the same period a year earlier as strong auction values helped the lender to its best results since 2005.

Ford Motor Co.'s finance arm, which CEO Jim Farley called a "secret weapon," helped the automaker to a better-than-expected $2.4 billion net income in a quarter that shattered analyst expectations.

Ford Credit CEO Marion Harris said on an earnings call that the lender benefited from a "pretty big inventory" of used vehicles heading into the reporting period that it was able to sell in an improving market. Auction values rose roughly 7.5 percent to $21,045 per vehicle, compared with $19,585 in the second quarter.

The lender ended the quarter with $31 billion in liquidity, down slightly from the $35.4 billion it had this time last year. Credit loss reserves in Q3 rose 2.2 percent from the prior quarter to $1.3 billion.

Officia…

Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it was recalling about 375,000 Explorers in North America to fix a defect that has led to six reported injuries.

The recalled vehicles are from the 2013-17 model years.

Ford said "some of the affected vehicles, sold or registered in certain areas of North America states and provinces where corrosion is common, have experienced a fracture of the outboard section of the rear suspension toe link after completion of a prior safety recall repair." A fracture of a rear toe link can reduce steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.

The action affects about 350,000 vehicles in the U.S. and 25,200 in Canada. The affected vehicles were built at Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant from Sept. 4, 2012, through Jan. 25, 2017.

The automaker said it was aware of reports of 13 accidents and six injuries related to the defect.

Dealers will complete a torque inspection of the cross-axis ball joint and replace it as necessary, th…

Unifor today said it would hold a news conference on Thursday to provide an update on the status of negotiations with General Motors in Canada, putting the talks on a timetable similar to previous bargaining sessions with Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

The news conference, set for 11 a.m. ET Thursday at a downtown Toronto hotel, will come after a strike deadline set for 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday. Negotiations were continuing in Toronto on Tuesday as the deadline approached.

Unifor also held news conferences the day after the strike deadline in its negotiations with Ford and FCA. A deal with Ford was reached several hours after the original deadline passed in September, while a tentative contract with FCA was reached shortly before that deadline in October.

The talks cover about 1,600 union members in Canada, most of them working at GM’s St. Catharines, Ontario, powertrain plant, which builds engines and transmissions for vario…

International Automotive Components Group said Tuesday that CFO David Prystash will succeed Manfred Gingl as CEO at the start of next year.

IAC, based in Luxembourg, supplies cockpits, instrument panels, consoles, doors, headliners and overhead systems.

Gingl will remain CEO through the end of the year and will continue as executive chairman of the board of directors after the transition.

Prystash joined IAC in 2018 after holding several leadership positions at General Motors, including vice president and CFO of global product development, purchasing and supply chain and CFO of global manufacturing and labor relations.

Prystash has held leadership roles outside of the auto industry. He also spent 24 years at Ford Motor Co. in various senior financial and operational posts.

"With David at the helm, our deep leadership team bench is well-positioned to continue the positive momentum IAC has seen over the last…