Trade News

Louisiana auto dealers woke up to the devastation that Hurricane Laura left behind after making landfall overnight.

Laura hit Cameron, La., at 1 a.m. Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane. It was later downgraded and, as of midday, was listed as a Category 1 hurricane. Major damage was visible throughout southern Louisiana.

About 609,000 homes and businesses were without power in three states, The Weather Channel reported. So far, one death attributed to the storm has been reported.

Will Green, president of Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, said in an email that many of his members closed their dealerships Wednesday and Thursday as the storm continues to make its way up the state.

"Many I have talked to have lost power and have damage to their buildings, especially those in the Lake Charles area," he said.

The Louisiana Independent Auto Dealers Association said it is still waiting to hear from dealers in the impacted areas. Typically,…

TOKYO -- A Japanese mobility venture has unveiled two adapted vans, one which can serve as a workspace or a mobile shop, and another that pumps fresh air through the vehicle to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading between passengers.

It is the first commercial offering from Monet, a joint venture between SoftBank Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. In one version, the adapted Toyota Hiace van takes in outside air and circulates it through the interior, which is also fitted with screens and curtains to limit virus transmission. It can seat eight passengers in the back. The other version of the van allows users to fix fittings to the floor and arrange the interior as a shop or work space.

The Monet joint venture was first announced in October 2018 with the goal of becoming a platform for driverless services.

Neither design incorporates self-driving technology and, in the case of the multi-purpose design, Japan's road rules require fittings such as tables to be s…

Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony.ai and German megasupplier Bosch's Automotive Aftermarket division in North America are teaming up to develop and test a maintenance and repair system for future AV fleets.

The partnership, announced Wednesday, capitalizes on Bosch's Car Service network, which provides automotive repair and maintenance through independent operators. The network has more than 20,000 locations across the world, more than 1,000 of which are in North America.

As vehicles become more automated, fixed operations require service technicians with expertise in self-driving technology.

Bosch and Pony.ai started a pilot of their robotaxi fleet maintenance program at an undisclosed Bosch Car Service location in the San Francisco Bay area in July, according to the statement.

The companies are testing "the readiness and operational efficiency to steer a fully autonomous multiplatform fleet," the statement said.

"High operational ef…

A pair of self-driving car startups are offering a solution to commuters shunning shared transportation in the midst of a pandemic: ultraviolet rays.

Voyage and May Mobility, two autonomous-vehicle companies that charge riders to go on simple, specialized routes, are putting UV-light emitters in their shuttles to help keep their services running. The rays are already used in ambulances and can destroy viruses, fungus and bacteria between rides.

The effort echoes Avis Budget Group Inc.’s move to market its partnership with Lysol maker Reckitt Benckiser Group to boost disinfection protocols for its rental cars. Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. also have taken steps to keep riders safe, though both are transporting far fewer people than before COVID-19.

Voyage’s service offers low speed trips on predictable routes to riders in two massive retirement communities in California and Florida. The company is putting the UV system in its third-generation vehi…

Credit unions ceded market share to automaker lenders wielding aggressive incentives in the spring. But used-vehicle lending remains a bright spot for credit unions amid the coronavirus pandemic as used-car values skyrocket.

All non-captive auto financing companies forfeited market share to automaker lenders boasting 0 percent interest, seven-year car loans in the first and second quarters, J.D. Power and credit bureau Experian noted in reports. Yet credit unions are benefiting from high consumer demand on a dwindling supply of new vehicles.

More shoppers are turning to used vehicles, leading to record-high auction prices as dealers lock horns over limited inventory. Used-vehicle lending, an area in which credit unions long held an advantage, improved this summer for those financial institutions on Credit Union Direct's lending network.

Used-vehicle loan volume at credit unions connected through CU Direct decreased by about 1.1 pe…

Safe-Guard Products International, one of the largest finance and insurance product providers in the U.S., is launching branded products for Prime Automotive Group, both companies announced last week. The agreement with Prime is Safe-Guard's second-largest with a retailer after its relationship with AutoNation Inc.

Prime Automotive, which ranks No. 11 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 U.S. dealership groups based in the U.S., formally launched its Prime Automotive Protect brand this month. Prime signed onto Safe-Guard, which supports a cadre of automaker white label F&I solutions, to launch its name brand and to add manufacturer-branded products to its offerings.

A branded-product strategy is among the ways Prime anticipates raising F&I profit per vehicle retailed by $200 by the end of this year, according to Paul Monarch, a senior consultant for Prime. Monarch said he was hired nine months ago to raise finance profits and increa…

Volkswagen Group plans to roll out its first fleet of self-driving test cars in Hefei, an eastern Chinese city that’s emerging as a hot spot for the nation’s electric vehicle ambitions.

Ten Audi E-trons, VW’s premium electric crossover model, will be deployed in the city’s Haiheng district in a community that’s home to about 400,000 people and about 50 miles of roads with intelligent vehicle-friendly infrastructure. Residents will be able to hail one of the Audis using a VW app.

“This is our first-ever pilot project in China” that seeks to link the automotive, electrical and digital worlds to the benefit of consumers, Volkswagen China Executive Vice President Weiming Soh said. The trial, dubbed Project Tiger, may be replicated in other cities although there isn’t any specific timetable, he said.

The venerable German group is doubling down on a market that’s struggling to revive from a coronavirus-induced slump. Electric vehicle sales in Europe exceeded C…

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.

Virginia Automobile Dealers Association CEO Don Hall says dealers need to embrace digital retailing, learn from disruptors, adopt new technologies and better meet customer demands to survive in the rapidly changing auto retail sector.

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Consumer accounts in forbearance declined across credit products for the first time during the monthslong coronavirus pandemic, credit bureau TransUnion said last week, an indication auto borrowers rolling out of financial hardship are landing on their feet.

Government stimulus programs and lender accommodation programs are largely responsible for the market's health, though Matt Komos, vice president of research and consulting at TransUnion, said economic stability remains tenuous as the pandemic rages on.

"It's a reassuring sign that delinquency levels have remained relatively low — especially as the percentage of consumers in financial hardship status has started to decline," Komos said in a statement.

The total percentage of auto accounts in financial hardship status — defined by factors such as a deferred payment, forbearance program, frozen account or frozen past-due payment — slid from 7.2 percent in June to 6.2 percent in J…

Porsche will freshen the Panamera with engine upgrades and a new hybrid variant.

The 2021 Porsche Panamera is expected to arrive in U.S. stores in spring 2021. Pricing was not disclosed.

The Panamera, which popularized the four-door coupe, takes on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Audi A8. Panamera sales totaled 2,055 through June, a 45 percent drop from the first six months of 2019.

The updated standard Panamera features a 2.9-liter twin-turbo engine that delivers 325 hp, replacing the previous 3.0-liter single-turbo engine.

The sporty Panamera GTS variant is powered by a twin-turbo V-8 that delivers 473 hp — a 20-hp increase from the current model.

Meanwhile, the top-of-the-line Panamera Turbo S has a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 that delivers 620 hp, up from the 550 hp cranked out by the current model. The 2021 model sprints from 0 to 60 mph, using Launch Control, in 2.9 seconds.

New variant

Porsche will introduce a new plug-in h…

Canadian auto supplier Magna International manufacturers some of the best seats in the industry, according to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study.

Magna finished an industry-leading first in three of seven categories, and second in a fourth. Lear Corporation and Bridgewater Interiors each won a pair of categories.

Magna earned top spot in the mass-market compact SUV segment for its seats in the Ontario-made Chevrolet Equinox; finished first in the luxury car division for seating in the BMW Z4; and topped the luxury SUV category with its seats in the BMW X6. It’s seating in the Ford Edge, also built in Ontario, finished second behind Bridgewater’s Honda Pilot seats in the mass-market midsize/large SUV category.

“Our secret to making sophisticated seating systems, like the optional one on the X6 with its 20-way power-adjustable multi-contour and massaging front seats? It’s all about designing with manufacturing in mind,” …