Trade News

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. informed U.S. salaried employees Thursday that most of them will continue working remotely through June amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The move comes roughly a month after General Motors announced a similar decision.

"The health and safety of our workforce continues to be our top priority," the automaker said in a statement. "With careful consideration of the current environment including local and state requirements, as well as ongoing planning for our work spaces, we have extended the current work arrangement for our North America team working remotely to continue through June."

Most Ford salaried employees have been working from home since mid-March. Ford in recent months has called them in to gather office belongings so it can begin to reconfigure workspaces.

Ford had previously said its work-from-home plans would extend through the end of the year, but executives hinted they would be expanded.

Human Horizons, the electric vehicle startup created by two former executives at General Motors’ joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., used the Beijing auto show to formally introduce its first model. 

The HiPhil X is being positioned as a sporty electric SUV under the premium brand for connected EVs. 

The EV offers two variants – a four-seat version priced at 800,000 yuan ($117,820) and a six-seater that retails for 680,000 yuan -- according to Human Horizons. 

It is 5,200 mm long, 2,062 mm wide and 1,618 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 3,150 mm. 

Powered by 220-kilowatt front and rear dual electric motors and a 97-kilowatt-hour battery pack, the HiPhil X has a range of 630 kilometers on one charge under NEDC standards. 

The vehicle also features Level 4 autonomous valet parking, a 5G-V2X communication network, artificial intelligence-enabled voice control functions and facial-recognition entry.

Human Horizons …

Sales at three Chinese electric vehicle startups – Nio, XPeng and Li Auto – continue to rise as the country moves beyond the crippling effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

Nio’s September deliveries advanced for the seventh straight month, soaring 133 percent to 4,708, the company said this week. 

The number includes 1,482 ES8 SUVs, 3,210 ES6 crossovers and 16 EC6 coupe-like crossovers, according to the company. Deliveries of the EC6 began on Sept. 25.

In the first three quarters, Nio’s cumulative sales reached 26,375, a surge of 114 percent from the same period last year.

Last month, deliveries at XPeng soared 145 percent to 3,478. The tally comprises 2,573 P7s and 905 of the company’s first model, the G3 crossover.

XPeng’s second product, the P7 sedan, went on sale in late June. 

Through September, sales at XPeng rose 9.7 percent to 14,077. 

Li Auto launched sales of its first and only product, the Li One SUV…

Sales gains at Geely Automobile Holdings, China’s largest domestic passenger vehicle maker, continue to accelerate after starting to rebound in April in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Geely’s September deliveries rose 11 percent to 126,365, the Hong Kong-listed company said Thursday. 

The sales growth continues to be driven by its new premium brand, Lynk & CO, as well as exports.

In September, demand for Lynk & CO’s lineup -- four crossovers and one sedan -- jumped 38 percent to 18,745. 

Geely exports more than doubled to 8,068 during the month. 

Because of a 44 percent plunge in first-quarter deliveries, at the height of the pandemic, Geely’s total sales through September dropped 9 percent from a year earlier to 875,472. 

Given the strong recovery in recent months, Geely has maintained a goal of hiking annual sales by 3.5 percent to 1.41 million in 2020. 

Because of China’s Nationa…

Sales at Lincoln grew for the fifth-straight month in September on demand for the brand’s first two locally produced models. 

China deliveries at Ford Motor Co.’s luxury brand surged 75 percent to a monthly record of more than 7,300, Lincoln said this week via its local social media channels. 

Volume was mainly generated by the Corsair and Aviator crossovers assembled at Ford’s joint venture with state-owned automaker Changan Automobile Co.

In September, sales of the Corsair, which went on sale in March with a starting price of 246,800 yuan ($36,348), exceeded 4,000. 

Deliveries of the Aviator, which went on sale in July starting at 509,800 yuan, surpassed 1,400 in the month.

Lincoln didn’t disclose China sales of imported products in September or year to date. 

The next Lincoln model to be built in China will be the Nautilus crossover, according to documents Ford submitted this year to the Ministry of Industry a…

SEATTLE/WASHINGTON -- Virgin Hyperloop has picked West Virginia to host a $500 million certification center and test track for billionaire Richard Branson’s super high-speed travel system.

The center will be the first U.S. regulatory proving ground for a hyperloop system designed to whisk floating pods packed with passengers and cargo through vacuum tubes at 600 mph or faster.

Branson announced the decision in a press conference on Thursday, joined virtually by U.S. Transportation Department Secretary Elaine Chao, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, and U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

“Today we lay the foundation for commercial deployment and operations across the United States of America and beyond,” the company’s CEO Jay Walder told reporters.

In a hyperloop system, which uses magnetic levitation to allow near-silent travel, a trip between New York and Washington would take just 30 minutes. That would be twice as …

Transportation's moving target: Wave of relocations prompted by COVID-19

Americans are getting more comfortable with the idea of moving around again.

Quite literally. As the COVID-19 pandemic grinds on, the number of U.S. residents looking to pull up roots and move elsewhere within the country is on the rise.

Whether because of concerns about being cooped up in major cities or the newfound flexibility provided by remote work, the percentage of U.S. residents requesting a move from United Van Lines rose 32 percent in September compared with the same month in 2019.

That stands in dramatic contrast to the early months of the pandemic, which brought moving activity down 26 percent in March and 31 percent in April over the 2019 data.

United Van Lines surveyed 6,000 customers between March and August 2020, and their answers offer a fascinating glimpse at how Americans are weathering the pandemic and plotting coping strategies that portend subst…

Sonic Automotive Inc. CEO David Smith spent a night in the Mecklenburg County Jail in North Carolina after he was arrested on four charges Monday, including assault by strangulation, according to the jail.

Smith, CEO of the nation's sixth-largest new-vehicle retailer, was arrested at about 9:45 a.m. Monday and taken to the jail later that day, according to police and the jail. He was released around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.

He was arrested on a felony charge of assault by strangulation and misdemeanor charges of false imprisonment, assault on a female and interfering with emergency communication. Smith posted a $30,000 bond, according to the jail. He is scheduled back in court Oct. 20.

In a statement, Sonic's board of directors said it "remains steadfast in its support" of Smith.

“We believe in David’s leadership, honesty and transparency, which he has demonstrated throughout his tenure as chief executive officer and over 20 years of service to the com…

LOS ANGELES — After four years on the market, Honda's current Ridgeline is getting a fairly significant exterior freshening to give it more squared-off styling and chunkier proportions.

The changes come as the midsize pickup market has heated up with the debut last year of the resurrected Ford Ranger.

"The 2021 Ridgeline features all-new sheet metal from the front roof pillars forward. Design changes include a new hood sporting a pronounced power bulge, and new front fenders that emphasize the squared-off nose and more upright grille," Honda said Wednesday.

"A new front bumper highlights the toughness of the new Ridgeline's design and adds broad side vents that route air through the bumper and around the front tires and wheels, creating air curtains to improve aerodynamic performance," the automaker said.

The freshened midsize pickup goes on sale early next year. Pricing will be announced closer to the launch date.

Interior u…

Tesla Inc. has a chance at producing 500,000 cars this year, CEO Elon Musk told employees, according to an internal email seen by Reuters.

Tesla said in January that 2020 deliveries should comfortably exceed 500,000 vehicles, a forecast the company has left unchanged despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This all comes down to Q4. Please take whatever steps you can think of to improve output (while increasing quality)", Musk wrote to employees Wednesday.

Such emails are traditional at Tesla, with Musk sending them out every quarter to hint at targets and potential new records.

Industry blog Tesmanian first reported on the memo earlier in the day. Shares of Tesla closed Wednesday's trading up 2.7 percent to $425.30.

Last week, Tesla said it delivered 139,300 vehicles in the third quarter, an all-time quarterly record for the electric vehicle maker. The company will have to increase deliveries to nearly 182,000 in the fourth quarter to reach its …