Trade News

SAN FRANCISO -- Tesla Inc. will provide a highly anticipated technology update on Tuesday when Elon Musk takes center stage at an event the CEO has dropped hints about for months -- and which has helped propel the company’s sky-high valuation.

The “Battery Day” presentation, which follows the annual shareholders meeting, is expected to showcase innovations designed to keep the company’s lead in electric cars as rivals flood the market with new battery-powered vehicles over the next couple of years.

If history is any guide, Musk could talk about demand for Tesla’s vehicles at the shareholder meeting, or give updates about new factories in Berlin and Austin, Texas.

But the first-ever Battery Day, where Tesla will stake out its technology road map, is of keen interest to investors. The tiniest improvement in batteries can have a huge impact, because they are an electric car’s most-expensive part.

Will Musk and Chief Technology Officer Drew Baglino go…

Hilary Cain, vice president of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, discusses the importance of an AV bill, why the lack of one is hindering development and how competitive the U.S. is in terms of mobility.

How do I subscribe?

Apple Podcasts: “Shift: A podcast about mobility” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe.

Spotify: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" can be streamed through Spotify on your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Click here to subscribe.

Google Play: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" is available on Android devices through the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe.

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Will history remember Carlos Ghosn as an electric visionary?

Things haven't been looking so great for Carlos Ghosn's long-term legacy lately.

But that could change. And Page 1 of Monday's issue shows why.

As our lead story points out, Ghosn stuck his neck out more than a decade ago. That's when he, as CEO of a mainstream automaker, placed a big bet on a fully electric car, the Nissan Leaf.

The Leaf ended up capturing only about a third of its sales target. And since then, much of the industry began investing heavily in EVs, overshadowing Ghosn's pioneering effort.

But Nissan is now charging up for a second crack at the segment in the form of the Ariya crossover. When it debuts next year, it will be the first in a new generation of Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi EVs.

A lot will ride on the Ariya's midsize shoulders. It will be a technology showcase, more upscale than the Leaf. It will give Nissan a chance to b…

DETROIT — The dawning electric-vehicle era is likely to mark the end of the road for some low-volume, rural Cadillac dealerships.

The luxury brand is requiring U.S. dealers who want to keep their franchises after 2022 to spend at least $200,000 installing chargers, buying special tooling and training employees to handle a lineup that's planned to be fully electric within a decade. Cadillac officials and top dealers believe that's a worthwhile investment to give customers a first-class experience, but they acknowledge it could be too much for retailers that don't have enough volume to recoup those costs in a reasonable period of time.

"There may be a few dealers that don't necessarily share the Cadillac vision," Rory Harvey, Cadillac's vice president of sales, service and marketing, told Automotive News last week. "We believe that most dealers will."

Harvey communicated the requirements for Cadillac's 880 U.S. dealers to maintain thei…

TOKYO — An automaker mired in red ink kicks off a radical revival plan, and the new boss takes the stage to dangle plans for a redesigned sports car that will generate buzz for a damaged brand.

This sounds like Nissan Motor Co. CEO Makoto Uchida unveiling the Z Proto last week.

But rewind time, and the scenario also describes Carlos Ghosn in late 1999.

Just months after parachuting into Nissan from Renault, Ghosn was fighting big losses, bloated capacity and slumping sales — much like Uchida today.

And when Ghosn took the stage before the Tokyo Motor Show that year to announce his Nissan Revival Plan to a packed audience, a key element was — you guessed it — the rebirth of the iconic Z.

Two decades later, Uchida is taking a page from the same playbook, but with a personal touch.

When Uchida unveiled the close-to-market prototype of the seventh-generation Z car last week, Nissan's car-guy CEO m…

General Motors' aspirations for its future-minded technologies are soaring sky high.

The company indicated last week that it will explore ways to branch beyond its traditional — and terrestrial — business and into aviation.

Flying taxis may be a mere glimmer on the transportation horizon today, but GM intends to explore ways to help make them an everyday reality.

Calling it a "natural next step" in GM's vision for environmentally friendly transportation, CEO Mary Barra said the strength and flexibility of the company's Ultium battery system "opens doors for many use cases, including aerial mobility."

She did not elaborate on the comments, made while speaking to a group of investors at the virtual RBC Capital Markets conference last week.

Despite the lack of firm details, the comments were welcomed by some analysts and investors eager to see automakers examine the possibility of extending their experience in electrification, autonomy and c…

Editor’s note: This story is part of the ongoing Automotive News “Future Product Pipeline” series.

A new age for Jeep is taking shape.

By the end of next year, Jeep will have a varied powertrain portfolio that plays in the electrified and diesel spaces, in addition to new three-row options and a redesigned Grand Cherokee. On top of that, a V-8-powered Wrangler appears close, potentially adding an intriguing option to the brand's rekindled off-road war with the Ford Bronco.

All Jeep models will offer electrification by 2022.

Renegade: The subcompact crossover is getting several special editions for the 2021 model year. The Jeepster Edition, based on the Sport trim, includes 19-inch aluminum wheels, gloss black grille rings, a Jeepster door decal and black cloth seats with Ski Grey accent stitching. The 80th Anniversary Edition, based on the Latitude model, includes 19-inch wheels with a Granite Crystal finish, Uconnect 4C with an 8.4-inch touch sc…

When Hurricane Laura forced people out of their Louisiana homes, Phillip Tarver opened his Toyota dealership as a place of refuge.

Lake Charles Toyota sheltered 31 people and nine animals Aug. 27 as the hurricane blew through southwest Louisiana, damaging homes and businesses. In the weeks after the storm, the dealership continued to be home base for store employees and community members whose homes were left unlivable. More than a dozen people spent at least some of that time camping out on air mattresses in offices or in RVs parked behind the store.

And last week, Lake Charles Toyota reopened for business even as it continued to host three people whose homes remained without electricity.

"We are taking care of our people," Tarver told Automotive News.

Tarver runs the store with his two sons, Corey and Eric. The trio spent the past three weeks "making the dealership as much like home as we possibly can" for those who…

Zoox Inc. on Friday received a permit from California state authorities to test its self-driving vehicles without an in-car backup driver, marking a win for Amazon.com Inc., which acquired the startup in June.

The new permit allows Zoox to test two autonomous vehicles without a driver behind the wheel on specified streets near its Foster City headquarters, the state's Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement.

Amazon has been aggressively expanding into self-driving technology, with the company also participating in self-driving car startup Aurora Innovation Inc.'s $530 million funding round early last year.

Other companies who already hold a permit include Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo, Chinese startup AutoX and Nuro Inc.

MILAN -- The European Investment Bank has increased to almost 800 million euros ($949 million) its credit line being extended to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to support production of electric and hybrid vehicles, the bank and FCA said in a joint statement.

Investments to manufacture battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid EVs will be mainly directed at FCA plants located in southern Italy, supporting employment and compliance with the strictest environmental criteria.

To improve capacity utilization at FCA's Italian plants, the group has announced a 5 billion euro investment plan for the country through 2021 which envisages the launch of new electric and hybrid models.

EIB and FCA previously agreed to 300 million euros in financing before the summer to fund investments for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle production lines at plants in Melfi, in the southern Basilicata region, and battery electric vehicles at Fiat's historic Turin plant of Mirafiori over…

The Geneva auto show may return in March 2021 as a three-day, media-only event.

Automakers are being offered an all-inclusive package that covers the cost of their stands and accommodations for guests, according to documents seen by Automotive News Europe.

No automaker has confirmed participation so far and local health authorities would need to give their approval.

The annual event's 2021 edition was canceled in June by the show's official organizers, the Geneva International Motor Show (GIMS) Foundation. They cited a lack of interest from automakers and the threat of having to cancel the event for the second year in a row because of the coronavirus crisis.

This new, much smaller event would be staged by the management of Palexpo, the venue on the outskirts of the Swiss capital where the show is held.

"This period of transition presents an opportunity for us to reinvent our profession, evolve our events and create new platforms for bringing pe…