Trade News

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…

While American Axle and Manufacturing is still assessing the damage from a Tuesday fire at its Colfor Manufacturing plant in Malvern, Ohio, its insurance policies are expected to cover any interruptions to the business.

Employees escaped the blaze unharmed, but it remains unclear how much damage could be done to the company's business with customers such as General Motors.

Representatives for the supplier declined to discuss the topic. Calls seeking comment from Automotive News this week have not been returned.

"GM’s supply chain team is working closely with American Axle to develop contingency plans to mitigate any impact to parts supply and on our manufacturing operations," GM said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

American Axle, in a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, said it is "still assessing the impact of the damage as well as coordinating plans to work around this disruption and protect continuity of supp…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. this week began airing a new ad promoting its adoption of stringent California emissions regulations and calling out its rivals for failing to join the effort.

Called "Built for Progress," the campaign is meant to highlight in a more aggressive way the steps Ford is taking to combat climate change and reduce tailpipe pollution. It was launched the same day the Golden State issued plans to ban the sale of gasoline-powered passenger cars by 2035, but officials say the timing was coincidental.

The first spot, "California Innovation," takes shots at General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Toyota Motor Corp. for failing to adopt the California Air Resources Board's emissions framework that calls for a 2.7 percent year-over-year fuel efficiency increase through 2026.

Ford joined Volkswagen Group, Honda Motor Co. and BMW this year in locking in support for California's framework, which is more stringent than the Trump administrat…

XPeng, a U.S.-listed Chinese electric-vehicle startup, has started exporting vehicles to Europe. 

It loaded 100 G3i crossovers on an ocean liner at a port in the south China city of Guangzhou on Thursday. The vehicles will be shipped to Norway, XPeng said.

The G3i compact crossover -- XPeng’s first product -- has a range of 520 kilometers (323 miles) on one charge. 

The EVs will be distributed by Norwegian EV dealer Zero Emission Mobility with a starting price of 358,000 Norwegian Krone ($37,590), XPeng said. 

XPeng was established in Guangzhou in 2014 by He Xiaopeng, a former executive at e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. 

In August, the company launched an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. It is the third Chinese EV startup to list in the U.S. following Nio and Li Auto. 

Xpeng is the second Chinese EV startup to launch sales in Europe this year. 

Aiways, a Shanghai-based com…

MG, the British car brand owned by SAIC Motor Corp., will launch sales of two electrified models in the fourth quarter, expanding product offerings in the United Kingdom.

The two models -- a battery-powered version of the MG5 sedan and a plug-in hybrid variant of the MG HS crossover – come with a seven-year warranty, MG said this week.

The MG5 EV has a range of 214 miles under the WLP. 

After subsidies, the MG5 EV's starting price will be £24,495 ($31,207), and the MG HS plug-in hybrid will have a starting price of £29,995. 

In the U.K., MG distributes the gasoline-powered MG3 sedan and the gasoline MG HS, as well as both gasoline and battery versions of the MG ZS crossover.

With the rollout of the MG5 EV and the MG HS plug-in hybrid, MG expects to derive more than half of its annual sales in the U.K. from electrified vehicles in 2021. 

In 2005, Nanjing Auto, a state-owned Chinese automaker, purchased the MG…

Used-vehicle deliveries in China rose for the second straight month in August, advancing nearly 12 percent to nearly 1.3 million. 

The growth came from demand for trucks and sedans, according to a tally by the China Automobile Dealers Association. 

Benefiting from Chinese government infrastructure and construction projects, sales of used cargo-carrying trucks surged 29 percent to about 130,000 last month. 

Secondhand sedan sales jumped 18 percent to nearly 804,000 in August.

Demand for used SUVs and crossovers rose 9.7 percent to some 122,000, while used-bus deliveries gained 7.7 percent to roughly 116,000.

By contrast, secondhand multipurpose vehicle sales dropped 6.8 percent to around 77,200 while used-minibus deliveries slid 1.6 percent to approximately 30,000. 

Demand for used vehicles in China has lagged behind new vehicles in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak. 

The new-vehicle market has…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. auto safety regulators on Thursday proposed revising recommendations to increase the number of children age 1 or younger who are transported in rear-facing car seats.

NHTSA is proposing to recommend that all children 26.5 pounds or less are transported in rear-facing car seats rather than the existing recommendation for children 20 pounds or less.

The agency says it is “significantly safer” for young children to be rear-facing than forward-facing in a crash.

Meanwhile, NHTSA introduced the first child-sized side impact crash test dummy in federal regulations.

The new dummy, known as Q3, represents the average weight and height of a 3-year-old child. NHTSA said the Q3 “will provide more realistic data about the effect side impact crashes have on children” because it was specifically designed for testing child seats in such crash tests.

“Every child’s life is precious, and the Department’s work will save young lives,” Trans…

Record-breaking Florida car dealer and philanthropist Rick Case, CEO of Rick Case Automotive Group, died Monday at his home in Fort Lauderdale from complications of cancer. He was 77.

In 1962 at age 19, Case opened his first dealership, a used-car lot named Moxie Motors, in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. In 1966, he opened a Toyota dealership. By age 29, he had amassed a chain of motorcycle stores.

Case was determined to continuously break sales records, according to his family, and he challenged himself by betting on fledgling vehicle brands. He opened some of the first U.S. dealerships for brands such as Toyota, Honda, Acura, Hyundai and Kia. Sales volumes at many of his stores set brand records.

Case and his wife, Rita, moved from Akron to Fort Lauderdale in 1985. They opened one of the country's first Hyundai dealerships. Their Acura dealership was that brand's highest-volume store several years in a row.

Case's empire, now in its 59th year, has…

WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES -- California plans to ban the sale of new gasoline powered passenger cars and trucks starting in 2035 in a dramatic move to shift to EVs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday.

Newsom told a press conference the state was committing to a "firm goal" to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 and was encouraging other states to take similar action.

Newsom's order labeled the elimination of gasoline-powered vehicles a "goal" and a "target" after his office said earlier his order would require the sale of nothing but zero emission passenger vehicle starting in 2035.

The move would be the most significant to date by a U.S. state aimed at ending the use of internal combustion engines for passenger travel.

California is the largest U.S. auto market, accounting for about 11 percent of all U.S. vehicle sales, and many states choose to adopt its green vehicle mandates.

Ne…

Tesla Inc. appeared to suffer a network outage that left owners of its electric cars unable to connect to their vehicles via the company’s mobile app.

People filed hundreds of complaints on the website DownDetector.com saying they can’t use their mobile apps or get through to Tesla’s customer-service lines. One owner said he accidentally locked his keys inside the car and couldn’t open it.

Robert Vogt, a Model S owner from Ann Arbor, Mich., confirmed that his mobile app was down around 11:30 a.m. EDT.

“If you’re unable to unlock your car and drive, that’s a problem,” he said.

Other users tried to bring the issue to the attention of CEO Elon Musk via Twitter.

The company’s stock plunged 10.3 percent to close Wednesday at $380.36 following news about the outage.

Tesla shares already were sinking Wednesday morning after the company’s highly anticipated Battery Day presentation failed to wow Wall Street. Musk laid out a plan to build a $…

Verifying a customer's identity in digital vehicle sales is a leading fraud issue for dealerships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notary services are one option dealerships have at their disposal to confirm an identity outside the dealership, and experts say these services are increasingly performed virtually.

For most dealerships, there is still an identity check before final delivery, Digital Air Strike COO Erica Siestma told Automotive News. This can be done either in-person at the dealership or through a notary for out-of-state or remote deliveries.

"Even with Carvana there is an ID check so there is no true 'digital transaction' like you may have with buying something from Amazon," she said in an email.

Because several states require certain documents such as car transfers to be notarized, retaining a commissioned notary inside a dealership is not unusual. However, an alternative to the traditional notary method of identification…

Nikola Corp.'s talks with energy firms including BP PLC to build hydrogen-refueling stations have been stalled following a short-seller's allegations that the electric automaker misled investors, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Potential partners have been reluctant to move forward amid the heightened scrutiny, but a deal could still come together, the Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Nikola and BP did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Shares of Nikola plunged 26 to close Wednesday at $21.15. The stock has fallen steadily since it closed at $79.73 on June 3.

In a scathing report two weeks ago, short-seller Hindenburg Research said it had enough evidence to show Nikola and its founder Trevor Milton made false claims about the company's proprietary technology to form partnerships with automakers.

Milton resigned following the allegations but Nikola CFO Kim Brady said Tuesday the comp…