Trade News

Mini plans to sunset its two-door convertible after production of the current-generation model ends in February 2024, according to supply chain sources, ending a nearly two-decade run in the U.S.

A Mini spokesman declined to comment on future plans for the model.

"The convertible remains an appealing model in Mini's lineup," he said.

The decision to jettison the convertible is not surprising given the nameplate's relatively low volume. Last year, Mini sold 4,031 convertibles in the U.S., down nearly 25 percent from 2018. It was the lowest-selling Mini model after the Clubman.

While demand for the Mini hatchback has soared above its novelty status, the convertible remains just a niche player, requiring dedicated tooling and complexity to build, said Sam Fiorani, vice president at AutoForecast Solutions.

"Buyers are moving to small crossovers while the few convertible buyers who remain can get the ... Mazda MX-5…

In a future where cars and trucks will rely increasingly on seeing in the dark, making drivers comfortable and sensing danger, there is a new hot commodity: sensors.

Lots of them.

The market for sensors is expected to explode in the coming decade, outpacing forecasts for global auto production and racing to keep up with the rollout of electronic components, such as night vision and hands-free steering systems.

Why? Because the new innovations in electronic gadgetry do not require one new sensor — they need several of them.

"If you start looking into the car where the sensors are hidden, it's amazing, really. The number of applications is going through the roof," said Frank Findeis, vice president for automotive sensors at German semiconductor maker Infineon, which along with Robert Bosch is one of the top two suppliers for the automotive semiconductors that are the "brain" of modern sensors.

"If you go into…

Cadillac's new North America vice president faces a steep task that will be vital to Cadillac's electric future: Prepare dealers to sell electric vehicles.

In his more than 16 years with General Motors, Mahmoud Samara, 43, has driven record sales in Canada, stabilized Cadillac's U.S. Western region and helped improve GM's digital retail tool. He replaces Rory Harvey, who was promoted to vice president of global Cadillac last month. Samara will oversee Cadillac sales, service and retail marketing in North America, along with dealer network development globally. He reports to Harvey, 52.

Samara was GM's global director of customer experience since November. From 2017 to 2019, he was Cadillac regional director, responsible for sales, service and retail marketing in the Western region. He also held leadership posts with GM Canada.

"As Cadillac stands poised to redefine American luxury, the evolution of our dealer network will be a crit…

Mercedes-Benz is dropping the Freightliner Sprinter van in the U.S. at the end of the 2021 model year, with output ending at a South Carolina plant in September 2021.

Sales are expected to end by Dec. 31, 2021, the company told Freightliner dealers this week.

Mercedes has sold the Sprinter van, redesigned in 2018, through two channels, Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz dealers, and will continue to build and market Mercedes versions.

The company cited multiple factors for the decision to drop the Freightliner van, introduced in the U.S. in 2001, including current and future economic conditions as well as the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mercedes-Benz is also reviewing its global product lineup to reduce costs and complexity.

"The high homologation costs for a single-market, low-volume product as the U.S.-only Freightliner Sprinter brand were central to this decision," Robert Veit, vice president and managing director of Daimler Vans, told dealers i…

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the company’s clarification of Speeks’ oversight of Mercedes-Benz Canada.

ATLANTA -- Nicholas Speeks, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, has taken a leave of absence as of Friday morning, the company said late Friday.

It's unclear what prompted the move and Speeks is not expected to return as CEO, said a person familiar with the situation.

Drew Slaven, Mercedes-Benz USA vice president of marketing, will be the CEO on an interim basis, the company said.

Speeks, 61, an outspoken Englishman, took over Mercedes' top job in North America last fall. The executive had steered Mercedes-Benz sales in China for more than six years.

Under his stewardship, Mercedes China grew at a 20 percent annual rate, significantly outpacing the industry and the premium market. Speeks previously ran Mercedes-Benz Japan and has worked for the company in Dubai, Vietnam and Germany.

The vacancy at the top comes as Mer…

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng Inc. said it hopes to raise up to $1.1 billion in its initial public offering in New York, seeking to ride the enthusiasm for EVs even as U.S.-China relations remain strained.

The company said on Friday it intends to sell 85 million American depositary shares, each representing two class A ordinary shares, priced between $11 and $13 per share.

At the top end of the range, XPeng's valuation stood at $9.17 billion.

The IPO comes at a time when U.S.-listed Chinese companies are facing tightened scrutiny and strict audit requirements from U.S. regulators, as tensions escalate between two of the world's biggest economies.

The Chinese EV maker said existing investors Alibaba Group , Coatue, and Qatar Investment Authority had indicated interest in buying up to $200 million, $100 million and $50 million, respectively, of the depositary shares being offered.

Backer Xiaomi Corp. had also indicated interest …

Toyota might not be off the hook just yet in a lawsuit over soy-based wiring that some drivers say has attracted hungry rodents.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's dismissal of the implied warranty claims, with a few exceptions, from a 4-year-old lawsuit against Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. in a decision filed Wednesday. The appeals court upheld the dismissal of state law fraud and consumer protection claims.

The lawsuit, filed in August 2016, alleges Toyota's switch to soy-based insulation for engine wiring — instead of petroleum-based insulation — is attractive to hungry rodents.

Lead plaintiff attorney Brian Kabateck filed the suit on behalf of Albert Heber in Indiana, who paid around $1,500 to fix the wiring of his 2012 Toyota Tundra that was chewed through three separate times. Several more plaintiffs came forward after Heber's claims. The suit says the company should cover the damages under warranty…

FRANKFURT -- German prosecutors are treating the death of a man believed to have played a role in a dispute between Volkswagen and Bosnian supplier group Prevent as a likely suicide, they said on Friday.

Prosecutors in the city of Braunschweig said last week they were looking into the death of the man found in a burned-out car for links to a Volkswagen employee suspended for allegedly illegally recording conversations.

Local newspaper Helmstedter Nachrichten, citing unidentified sources, said last week the dead person was a VW employee who had done business with the Bosnian supplier group and was being investigated for eavesdropping.

Prosecutors said on Friday initial evidence pointed to suicide, but the probe had not been concluded.

They would not comment on the identity of the deceased, saying only he was the owner of the car.

VW and the Bosnian supplier group fell out in 2016 in a disagreement over pricing, prompting Prevent subsidiaries…

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.

Upstream Security product chief Dan Sahar says automakers and suppliers are putting more measures in place and creating ''bigger solutions'' to monitor, detect and prevent potential cyberattacks in connected vehicles.

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 on the Google Play store. Click here to…

President Donald Trump threatened Thursday that if he’s re-elected, he’ll impose tariffs on U.S. companies that refuse to move jobs back to the country from overseas.

“We will give tax credits to companies to bring jobs back to America, and if they don’t do it, we will put tariffs on those companies, and they will have to pay us a lot of money,” Trump said during a campaign event in Pennsylvania.

“So what are they going to do? They are going to bring the jobs back,” Trump said.

He offered no explanation about how such a system of tax credits and tariffs would work, and it isn’t clear if the White House is developing such a policy.

“The beauty of the Trump tariffs is that they represent a powerful inducement for investment in domestic production by both American companies that have offshored our factories and foreign companies that want to sell into the U.S. market,” Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said in a statement, without addressing whether …

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. on Friday said its domestic vehicle production would be 1 percent higher than initially planned in September, as its plants resume output levels following a steep drop because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company plans to produce roughly 2,300 more cars and trucks than its initial plan for around 230,000, Reuters calculations found.

Vehicle production at the world's No.2 automaker is recovering at home and abroad since global output fell by more than half year-on-year in April and May, when plants were shuttered to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Toyota declined to comment on global production plans for next month, but the company has said it expects global sales will be 15 percent lower in the July-September quarter from last year, and 5 percent lower in October-December. By early 2021, it expects sales will be 5 percent higher on the year.

Toyota plans to sell 7.2 million vehicles in the fiscal year to M…