Trade News

DETROIT/WASHINGTON -- Self-driving car maker Cruise said on Wednesday it and majority shareholder General Motors would seek U.S. regulatory approval in coming months to deploy a limited number of Cruise Origin vehicles without steering wheels or pedals.

At the same time, it will withdraw an exemption petition filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in January 2018 seeking approval to deploy a limited number of autonomous vehicles without pedals or a steering wheel, based on the Chevrolet Bolt platform.

NHTSA did not immediately comment.

Cruise unveiled the Origin, which only has two long seats facing each other that can comfortably fit four passengers, in January. GM plans to begin building the Origin in Detroit in late 2021 or early 2022.

Robert Grant, Cruise's vice president of global government affairs, made the announcement after Cruise received a permit from California's Department of Motor Vehicles last week to be the f…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received more complaints about auto loans in the first five months of the pandemic than in any other five-month period since the bureau began tracking the data in its current form starting in April 2017, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Frontier Group.

More than 2,800 auto loan and lease complaints were submitted between March and July 2020 across auto lenders, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a record for the database. The report also examines the relationship between negative complaints and legal action taken against those lenders in recent years.

"While so many Americans have endured life-changing events in the past few months and have a lot less money, auto loan market abuses that have been growing since the 2008 financial collapse have dramatically worsened," Ed Mierzwinski, senior director for federal consumer programs at the U.S. Public…

Two of the three major auto lenders posted significant increases in auto loan originations in the third quarter and cited improved customer demand and credit metrics in their results. But all three lenders signaled concern that without further government stimulus, consumer auto loan performance could suffer.

Auto loan originations surged and set records at Ally Financial and Chase Auto in the third quarter. Wells Fargo Auto's auto loan levels, however, dropped by double digits. Wells attributed the loss to the economic slowdown prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Detroit-based lender Ally Financial generated its highest level of auto loan and lease originations in five years, the company said last week. Demand for personal vehicle ownership has continued to be strong, while ride-sharing and public transportation continue to drop precipitously because of COVID concerns, Ally CFO Jenn LaClair told Automotive News.

"The freedom and flexi…

Chase Auto is extending its relationship with Subaru as its primary auto lending partner, both companies said Monday. Per the agreement, Chase will finance loans and leases for the automaker and is the banking partner through which the manufacturer disseminates customer incentives.

The agreement also provides support to more than 630 Subaru retailers in the U.S. through dealership financing and floorplan lending.

A Chase spokeswoman would not disclose how many times the partnership had been renewed or the duration of this iteration of the partnership.

"At Subaru, our customers recognize the importance of making a sound financial decision by investing in a vehicle with industry-leading sustained value," Subaru of America CEO Thomas Doll said in a statement. "Chase and their dedicated teams have made it easy for our customers to purchase or lease a Subaru that they will love, not only for its quality and safety, but for the long-ter…

Peter Muriungi, the new CEO of Chase Auto, is no stranger to steering a major lender through a crisis.

Muriungi, 48, cut his teeth in asset-backed lending at Bear Stearns, where he worked from 1999 through the financial crisis in 2009. Muriungi moved to Ally Financial, and from 2009 to 2013, primarily focused on finding creative solutions in the face of monumental economic disruption.

Just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic subsumed economic activity in the U.S., Muriungi took the reins of Chase's more than $80 billion auto business from Mark O'Donovan, 49, who was head of Chase Auto from November 2016 through Feb. 24 of this year. O'Donovan left to lead Chase's home lending division, where Muriungi spent the bulk of his tenure at the bank.

Muriungi most recently was head of transformation for home lending at Chase, and he has held various leadership roles within the company since 2013. As head of mortgage servicing, Muriungi managed a portfolio of 7.…

The Italian sports-car brand De Tomaso Automobili, which is planning a revival with the P72 supercar, said it is moving its operations to the U.S. from Europe.

De Tomaso will build the P72 in North America and is "deep" in discussions with multiple states as potential locations for U.S. operations including production, design and corporate facilities, the company said in a statement released Wednesday.

A formal announcement is expected in the next six months, it said.

De Tomaso was founded in 1959 by the Argentinian racing driver and businessman Alejandro De Tomaso in Modena, Italy. It has a strong U.S. connection because of historical tie-ups with American automakers, most notably Ford Motor Co.

De Tomaso said production of the P72 is expected to begin late 2022, almost two years later than promised last year at the car's unveiling at the UK’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2019.

"Our mission is to bring back the romance, passion and …

Arizona reached a $5 million settlement with Honda Motor Co.'s U.S. units Wednesday in a probe into defective Takata airbag systems, state Attorney General Mark Brnovich said.

The settlement follows an $85 million settlement announced in August with nearly all other U.S. states. Arizona said the Honda settlement covers $1.65 million in restitution for state consumers, a $2.13 million repair incentive program, $750,000 for consumer outreach and a $500,000 payment to Arizona.

Faulty air bag inflators have been tied to at least 15 U.S. deaths in Honda vehicles. Honda said it had not acknowledged any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

Honda has to date replaced more than 16 million defective Takata air bag inflators in its vehicles and made more than 294 million individual attempts to contact owners and urge them to have their recalled Takata airbag inflators replaced.

The automaker is providing funding for public service announcements in Arizona t…

DETROIT — Hummer is back, and so is its six-digit price tag.

For $112,595, the 2022 GMC Hummer Edition 1 unveiled Tuesday comes with underbody armor and cameras, a removable Infinity Roof and a battery range of more than 350 miles via three electric motors. Production of the Edition 1 is scheduled to begin in late 2021, followed by production of progressively less expensive configurations from fall 2022 through spring 2024.

The off-road pickup, which General Motors will build at the Detroit plant it has renamed Factory Zero, will be the first electric vehicle in GMC's portfolio. The price of the Edition 1, which includes shipping, is about $5,000 more than the highest trim of the Cadillac Escalade ESV.

All Edition 1 models will come fully loaded and look identical, with the same white exterior and a Lunar Horizon interior that includes Edition 1 badging.

Although GM postponed the unveiling of the Hummer by five months because of the coronavirus pa…

The National Automobile Dealers Association elected Michael Alford as its next vice chairman, indicating he is likely to be the group's chairman in 2022.

Alford, 56, president of Marine Chevrolet-Cadillac in Jacksonville, N.C., was elected to the 2021 post during the association's board meeting Tuesday — held virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Alford, a former banker who entered the family automotive business in 1992 and became owner in 1997, represents new-car dealers in North Carolina on the NADA board of directors and is chairman of NADA's regulatory affairs committee.

"I am honored and excited to serve as NADA's vice chair in the coming year," Alford said in a statement. "I look forward to working with Chairman-elect Paul Walser, my fellow directors and the entire NADA team. I am grateful to be entrusted with this role and assure you that I will work tirelessly to advocate on behalf of the entire dealer body."

Also Tuesd…

If Joe Biden wins the presidency, his EPA chief could be a clean air champion from California who has fought President Donald Trump on automobile pollution or an environmental justice activist from Mississippi.

Biden’s campaign has heard recommendations for both California air regulator Mary Nichols and Mississippi’s Heather McTeer Toney to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, among others, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named revealing personnel discussions.

Environmental advocates call the post central to advancing Biden’s aggressive plans for fighting climate change, while simultaneously bolstering scientific integrity at the agency and reversing President Donald Trump’s moves to undercut limits on pollution.

“The next administrator is going to have a very hard job,” said Stan Meiburg, a 40-year EPA veteran who previously served as acting deputy administrator and has advocated an agency-wide “reset.”

It wi…

Volkswagen of America will increase the base price of its freshened Arteon midsize sedan by $1,175 for the 2021 model year after redesigning the sedan's cockpit, upgrading its infotainment system and improving its driver-assistance offerings.

The German brand said the price will jump to $38,190 for the base-level 2021 Arteon SE, including shipping. The price of the mid-level SEL R-Line trim will increase by $25 to $42,790, including shipping, while the price of the top-trim SEL R-Line Premium will decrease by $525 to $48,190, including shipping.As part of the refresh, the brand eliminated the SEL trim that existed in previous model years.

The freshened 2021 Arteon features an 8-inch touch screen that will come standard on all models with integrated navigation and wireless App-Connect.

VW also is offering its most advanced driver-assistance package in Travel Assist. It uses adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, forward collision monitoring, pedestrian mo…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Tuesday for the first time acknowledged what type of vehicle it will use to launch its self-driving commercial services in 2022: an Escape hybrid.

The automaker in a blog post said it will start rolling out Escape hybrids as its fourth-generation autonomous test vehicle in the coming months. The previous three generations of test vehicles utilized the Fusion sedan, which has been discontinued.

The Gen 4 test vehicles include new near-field cameras that face the front and side, both long- and short-range lidar sensors and new features to keep the sensors clean.

"The systems we're incorporating into our newest test vehicles are 'launch-intent' in terms of the components we believe will be needed to support commercialization," John Davis, chief engineer of Ford AV, said in a statement. "What this means is that with a well-defined architecture and platform in the Escape hybrid, our team can continuously test and refine performance…