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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.

IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin discusses how the fragmentation of globalization is impacting the auto industry and why the coronavirus has created an economic "Twilight Zone."

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Tesla Inc. is warning workers at its auto plant in Fremont, Calif., that an employee allegedly “maliciously sabotaged” part of a factory last month and was fired after an internal investigation, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.

The EV manufacturer responded to the incident rapidly, and operations at the facility were disrupted for only a short period, according to an e-mail sent Monday by Al Prescott, Tesla’s vice president of legal and acting general counsel.

“Two weeks ago, our IT and InfoSec teams determined that an employee had maliciously sabotaged a part of the factory,” Prescott wrote. “Their quick actions prevented further damage and production was running smoothly again a few hours later.”

More than 10,000 people work at Tesla’s auto plant in Fremont, where the company makes the S, X, 3 and Y models. It was not immediately clear if Tesla handled the incident internally or reached out to law-enforcement agencies for assistance. A spok…

Audi’s former chief executive and head of engine development rejected German prosecutors’ allegations related to their roles in the diesel-emissions scandal that rocked the luxury-car maker’s parent Volkswagen AG half a decade ago.

Lawyers for Rupert Stadler and Wolfgang Hatz began laying out their defense Tuesday after prosecutors started making their case last week in a trial near Audi’s headquarters. Stadler is accused of failing to stop the sale of rigged cars in Europe even after U.S. authorities uncovered the engine-rigging scandal in September 2015, while Hatz is alleged to have known about the cheating as early as 2008.

Gerson Trueg, an attorney for Hatz, said there’s no evidence his client was aware of the cheating and insisted he wouldn’t have tolerated illegal conduct at Audi. Stadler’s lawyer Thilo Pfordte lashed out at prosecutors over their tactics, claiming they were designed to force the former CEO to become part of the trial even as allegation…

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus brand outsold luxury rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the latest quarter in the U.S. as inventory shortages triggered by the pandemic hampered the German brands.

Lexus, which hasn’t won the annual U.S. luxury sales race in a decade, grew 2 percent in the third quarter to 75,285 vehicles. Deliveries at Mercedes declined 9.4 percent to 69,631 units, and BMW suffered a 16 percent decline to 69,570. Mercedes is still leading the other two brands year-to-date by a wide margin.

Lexus has weathered the pandemic better than its German rivals, with the brand’s best-selling RX crossover seeing strong demand in the quarter. Both Mercedes and BMW have been hamstrung by tight inventory as the pandemic idled plants in Europe and the U.S. for weeks. Lexus saw a 31 percent jump in September alone, led by its RX, NX crossover and ES sedan. That pared declines this year to 13 percent.

“BMW used sales have been very strong -- I think it’s eating …

Tesla Inc. is in talks with BHP Group on a nickel deal as the electric vehicle maker targets higher production and seeks to avoid a supply crunch, according to people familiar with the matter.

Talks are held up on pricing, and no final agreement has been reached so far between the automaker and BHP, the world’s largest miner, said one of the people, requesting anonymity because the talks are private. The discussions come as Tesla works to raise the amount of the metal used in vehicle batteries to improve performance, and as it makes a push into in-house cell production.

Nickel is a key component for the cathodes of EV batteries, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has expressed concern about supply due to challenges in sustainable sourcing. A deal with Tesla may come as a surprise to some BHP investors since nickel makes up a small part of BHP’s business. It would signal real progress in the company’s efforts to expand in the space and retool the nickel division to serve …

FRANKFURT -- German auto supplier Continental AG plans to sell some of its automotive operations, including parts of powertrain arm Vitesco Technologies and rubber unit Contitech, CEO Elmar Degenhart told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Degenhart was quoted as saying Continental's management was already holding talks with parties potentially interested in some of the divisions. The company's tire business is not part of the divestment plan.

The asset sales are part of a restructuring at Continental, which in September announced 30,000 job cuts and a target of annual savings of more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in 2023.

Continental ranks No. 4 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $35.3 billion during its 2019 fiscal year.

One of the year's biggest product additions is the 2020 Land Rover Defender. The Defender, which began arriving at U.S. dealerships this summer, returns to North America after a 23-year absence. The Defender 110 four-door starts at $50,925, including shipping. Two engines are available, a 296-hp turbocharged four-cylinder and a gasoline-electric hybrid powered by a 395-hp inline six-cylinder engine. That motor is equipped with a turbocharger and a 48-volt electric supercharger. Both are mated to eight-speed automatic transmissions. Here is a roundup of snippets of Defender reviews from the automotive media.

"Like its famous ancestors, Rover comes in two-door (90) and four-door (110) variants. Unlike Defenders of yore, the brute is built on a unibody which Rover engineers say eclipses the old ladder frame for strength. It felt plenty solid off-road, but the Defender was quite comfy on my drive up Interstate 75. Made to shed its doors, the Wrangler is noisie…

The first Toyota built in North America — a white Corolla FX16 — is assembled at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, Calif., on Oct. 7, 1986, following several months of pilot production.

NUMMI was a joint venture formed by Toyota and General Motors Corp. in 1984. Toyota, after decades of steady U.S. sales growth with imports, was eager to learn how to build cars in the U.S. GM wanted to learn how to build world-class vehicles in the country using lean production techniques.

The Corolla went on sale in Japan on Nov. 5, 1966, marking the beginning of what has become the world's top-selling car nameplate.

The FX16 was based on Toyota's fifth-generation Corolla and featured a front-wheel-drive chassis. There was a base model and a the sporty GT-S variant that featured four-wheel-independent suspension, power rack-and-pinion steering and four disc brakes.

It was slotted on a 95.7-inch wheelbase, was 160 inches…

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.

Jack Hollis, automotive operations boss at Toyota Motor North America, explains why September's strong sales results are good for the industry and U.S. economy. Hollis also sees the need for marketing to touch more than a person's mind during tumultuous times.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

“Daily Drive” is available o…

Matthias Mueller, the former CEO of Volkswagen Group, has been named chairman of Piech Automotive, an electric-car startup run by the son of the late former VW Group Chairman Ferdinand PIech.

Mueller is one of a number of high-profile figures involved in Piech Automotive, which was founded by Toni Piech and Rea Stark Rajcic, a Swiss designer and entrepreneur. They include tech investor Peter Thiel -- a co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook.

Piech Automotive said in a statement that it had completed its first round of investment with Thiel’s involvement, but did not provide further details. It announced that a second round to raise capital to launch a production car would be managed in the coming months under the leadership of UBS.

Mueller was ousted by VW Group’s board, controlled by the Piech-Porsche clan, in April 2018 and replaced by Herbert Diess.

Mueller had taken the top job at VW after the automaker's diesel chea…