Trade News

Construction delays scuttled Kelly Automotive Group's plan to open a sprawling new Jeep store on 6 acres near Boston last fall. The group then hoped to have the dealership up and running in time for the big Presidents' Day weekend, but it still wasn't ready.

The postponements turned out to have some benefits.

Not only did the Lynnfield, Mass., store avoid a head-on collision with the pandemic in the spring, but the 10-month setback let the dealership tailor its layout for the COVID-19 era, allowing for more spacing in the sales and service areas. Spreading things out led to some spots being turned into working spaces that weren't originally planned to be.

The opening in August, after consumers and businesses adjusted to a new reality and auto plants were running again, cast the company's $20 million investment in an entirely different light, Kelly COO Brian Heney said.

"We would have had a different mind-set," Heney t…

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect revised time frames provided by Ford after this story was first published.

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. executives are hopeful that dealers will convert an "incredibly high" percentage of Bronco SUV reservations into actual sales and believe they'll be filling those orders for more than a year.

The automaker on Friday reached out to its U.S. retail network in a video to describe the allocation process for one of the most highly anticipated vehicle launches in its recent history. Ford began building Bronco pre-production models at its Michigan Assembly Plant this week and plans to deliver the first off-roaders starting in late spring of next year.

Ford earlier this week said the Bronco build-and-price site will go live in October. Beginning in December and continuing through January, dealers will work with customers to convert their $100 refundable deposit into an actual sale, confirming accessory purchase…

BRUSSELS -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group have offered concessions to address EU antitrust concerns about their plan to create the world's fourth-biggest automaker, a European Commission filing showed on Friday.

The EU antitrust enforcer temporarily halted its investigation into the deal in July while waiting for the companies to provide requested data. It did not set a deadline for its decision.

The EU investigation focuses on whether the deal would hurt competition in small vans in 14 EU countries and Britain.

As part of the plan, PSA has offered to increase the production capacity for Toyota in their van joint venture, Reuters reported, quoting an unnamed source. Another source said the French company would sell the vans at close to cost price.

PSA makes vans for Toyota in its Sevelnord plant in northern France. The van collaboration started in 2012.

"As of now, the transaction has obtained merger clearance in fourteen jurisdic…

Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali is leaving the Volkswagen Group supercar brand to join Formula One as CEO.

Domenicali, 55, will assume the role in January 2021, F1's owners, Liberty Media, said in a Friday statement.

Chase Carey, F1's current chairman and CEO, will become non-executive chairman.

Domenicali will also be F1 president with Carey, who led the revamping of the race series following the 2017 ouster of former supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Domenicali ran Ferrari's F1 team from 2008-2014. His appointment puts Formula One's three top jobs in the hands of former bosses of Ferrari's race team. Jean Todt, whose term expires next year, is FIA president while former technical director Ross Brawn is F1's managing director for motorsport.

In a separate release, Lamborghini said Domenicali guided the brand through a crucial transformation after he became CEO in 2016, with the introduction of the Urus SUV, more than 700 new hires, a doubling o…

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Lucid Motors design chief Derek Jenkins explains how the California startup is cementing its brand identity and retail strategy as the company prepares to bring its first luxury vehicle -- the Air electric sedan -- to market in 2021.

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BEIJING -- When 32-year-old photographer Jaco Xu needed a run-around car for work in the eastern city of Hangzhou, the price tag on the latest micro EV from General Motors' China joint venture overcame his qualms about electric vehicles.

Xu paid 38,800 yuan ($5,735) for his tiny two-door Wuling Hong Guang MINI EV, while the basic model retails for just 28,800 yuan ($4,100), making it China's cheapest EV.

"It feels pretty good. The price is so low and the appearance is simple and beautiful," said Xu. "Why would I hesitate at that price?"

Launched in July, the Wuling MINI is heading a trend toward a new segment of EVs in China following changes to government subsidies -- smaller vehicles with less range between charges, but a cheap price tag.

Despite basic features -- no safety airbags, optional air-conditioning and a driving range of less than 125 miles due to a smaller battery -- buyers have been enthusiastic.

SGMW, GM's venture with partne…

Acura faces headwinds on multiple fronts as it tries to drum up interest in its new TLX sedan, which hits dealers Monday. 

The luxury segment the car competes in remains mired in a pandemic-induced sales slump. And sedans continue to lose ground to SUVs and crossovers as buyers gravitate to higher-riding vehicles. 

But those forces are not stopping Honda Motor Co. from pouring significant marketing behind its premium brand with an ad approach executives hope rises above the sedan clutter. 

A new ad from MullenLowe Los Angeles hitting the airwaves Sunday turns the clock back to the silent-film era. A blue TLX appears as the only colored image in the black-and-white ad as it barrels through clichéd silent movie scenes, including a western shootout. A man driving the car outruns a locomotive to rescue a damsel in distress tied to railroad tracks. The soundtrack is “It’s Oh So Quiet,” a song released in the 1950s by comedic actress and singer…

BERLIN -- Tesla said it will build battery cells and battery packs at its new factory in Germany.

Earlier this year, Tesla submitted revised planning documents for the plant in Brandenburg, near Berlin, with changes that included eliminating facilities for battery-pack production.

The automaker said Thursday that it still intends to build battery cells and packs at the site. It said it would have to start a new approval process for battery production. Currently no timeline for this application has been communicated.

The Ministry for Agriculture, Environment, and Climate Protection in the State of Brandenburg is expected to formally approve the construction plans for the factory toward the end of the year once the relevant applications have been filed.

Environmentalists had expressed concerns about the plant but environmental authorities have received assurances on water usage, ac…

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Infiniti is previewing more athletic, commanding styling for the next-generation QX60 three-row crossover, promising it will elevate the brand's premium image.

The sleek, platinum-hued QX60 Monograph debuted late Thursday in an online unveiling from the global headquarters of the Infiniti brand's parent, Nissan Motor Co. The vehicle is a close-to-market design study of the production version midsize QX60 that is expected to be redesigned and go on sale next year.

Updating the QX60 is a critical step in rejuvenating the premium brand, said Peyman Kargar, who took over as global chairman of Infiniti in June. The nameplate is the brand's No. 2 seller worldwide behind the QX50, racking cumulative sales of 400,000 globally since its launch.

Infiniti's global sales peaked at 249,000 in 2018 before dropping 24 percent to 188,994 last year. Kargar said the goal is to maintain market share in 2020, even as sales fall amid t…

WASHINGTON -- BMW and two U.S. subsidiaries agreed Thursday to pay an $18 million fine to resolve accusations that they disclosed misleading information about the German luxury automaker's retail sales volume in the United States while raising approximately $18 billion from investors in corporate bond offerings.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said from 2015 to 2019, BMW inflated reported U.S. retail sales, which helped BMW close the gap between actual retail sales volume and internal targets and "publicly maintain a leading retail sales position relative to other premium automotive companies."

It added BMW of North America "maintained a reserve of unreported retail vehicle sales — referred to internally as the 'bank' — that it used to meet internal monthly sales targets without regard to when the underlying sales occurred."

The SEC probe started in late 2019, BMW said.

"There is no allegation or finding in the Order that any BMW entit…

A Michigan House committee passed a bill Thursday that would prevent electric vehicle manufacturers beyond Tesla from selling directly to consumers in the state, setting up a battle between franchised dealerships and EV startups over the direct-sales model.

Michigan's House Bill 6233, which would codify into law a settlement reached by Tesla and the state of Michigan in federal court this year, would exempt the EV maker from the state's ban on direct vehicle sales. But rival electric startups, such as Rivian, contend the bill would prevent them from selling directly in Michigan by carving out an exception that applies to Tesla only.

The five-member House Government Operations Committee passed the bill along party lines, sending it to the floor for consideration. The bill was on the state House's session agenda Thursday as a potential addition, but a spokesman for majority House Republicans told Automotive News it was not expected to see action Thursday whi…

Junior creditors to auto supplier Garrett Motion Inc. are preparing a rival proposal to provide the bankrupt company with financing for its restructuring, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The group of bondholders organized and is in the process of hiring investment bank Moelis & Co. to represent them in the case and submit an offer for a debtor-in-possession loan, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. The group is getting legal advice from Ropes & Gray, Bloomberg previously reported.

Garrett filed bankruptcy this week, struggling to deal with a pandemic-related slowdown in business on top of asbestos liability reimbursements it owes to its former parent Honeywell International Inc. The payments Garrett owes to Honeywell relate to asbestos claims stemming from Honeywell’s old Bendix brake business.

Representatives for Garrett and Moelis declined to comment.

The original $250 million bankr…