Trade News

NEW DELHI -- Toyota Motor Corp. will offer its cars in India on leases or shorter-term subscriptions, hoping to tap growing demand for private transport as travelers cut down on communal journeys during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Japanese automaker said on Tuesday it would offer leasing plans to corporate and retail customers of three to five years across its portfolio of cars -- including the Glanza hatchback, Yaris sedan and Fortuner utility vehicle -- for as little as 21,000 rupees ($281) a month.

Naveen Soni, senior vice president, sales and service at the automaker's India unit, said the need for safe transport was growing and leasing or subscription models offered a more cost-effective solution than buying a car.

So far, leasing and subscription services in India have largely focussed on the higher end of the auto market and therefore make up a fraction of the overall numbers, said Soni.

"The lower end of the market is where the bulk is," he…

Detroit has been getting a lot of attention on the self-driving vehicle front recently.

Just last week, the State of Michigan said it has embarked on efforts to create a corridor between Detroit and Ann Arbor with infrastructure specifically slated for connected and autonomous vehicles. The project's viability will be considered over the next 24 months.

And now, a self-driving paratransit shuttle pilot is being deployed to help senior citizens in the Motor City.

Last year, French company Navya received a mobility grant from PlanetM, the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s mobility arm, to deploy such a shuttle. This month, a Navya Autonom shuttle began operating along a preprogrammed 1.3-mile route in Detroit, connecting Brush Park Manor senior center and Brewster Homes to Detroit Medical Center Heart Hospital, according to a release.

The free, wheelchair-accessible shuttle runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and is excl…

Finance and insurance managers aren't likely going anywhere, according to one industry expert. But at what point in the sales process they're introduced may shift based on changes expedited by the coronavirus pandemic.

Jim Houston, managing director of consumer lending and automotive finance at J.D. Power, said on a webinar hosted by the Automotive Press Association that the F&I product sales experience is here to stay. But it may gravitate more often from the time — and the place — it historically has occurred during a vehicle sale.

"Maybe it's upfront before the vehicle's selected, or in many cases, it could be after the vehicle has been selected, purchased, the consumer goes home and [they] engage you in that particular product after the fact," Houston said.

"More consumers will look to be able to find the vehicle they want and the financing options they want outside of the dealership. The typical indirect model where I sho…

DealerPolicy, a digital insurance platform that allows customers to compare quotes for car insurance while still in the dealership, is adding a mobile option, the company said last week.

The expansion comes during increased remote and digital change in dealerships as the nation copes with the coronavirus pandemic. The tool, FastPass, allows customers to view insurance quotes with the dealership's assistance at the store or at home.

The company's goal is to connect customers to more affordable insurance policies as many struggle with monthly vehicle costs, and to help dealerships sell more finance-and-insurance products. Mike Burgiss, president of dealer solutions at DealerPolicy, said the mobile feature was tested at select dealerships in the spring and rolled out officially Aug. 13.

To initiate the process, dealership employees enter a customer's cell phone number and vehicle identification number into DealerPolicy's back-end s…

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.

Kristin Kolodge, executive director of human machine interface research and driver interaction at J.D. Power, discusses how the firm's redesigned annual technology experience study can give manufacturers an ''early read'' on systems with staying power. 

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Drivers appreciate an extra set of eyes on the road. But they're giving the finger, quite literally, to another feature making its way into new vehicles.

Those are the findings of a new J.D. Power study that measures how effective automakers are in bringing advanced technologies to market in ways that consumers find intuitive and not overbearing.

Vehicle owners are most enamored with cameras, according to the company's 2020 U.S. Tech Experience Index. Luxury owners rate such features highest in five of the six satisfaction attributes measured in the study.

Camera rearview mirrors earned the highest execution index score among luxury owners, followed by ground-view cameras. Among advanced camera/vision technologies in the mass-market segment, camera rearview mirrors received the highest overall execution score, followed by transparent trailer view and ground-view cameras.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents who have thes…

SHANGHAI -- General Motors is overhauling its Chinese lineup with a greater emphasis on electric vehicles and smart-driving technology to stem a slide in sales after more than two decades of growth in a country that contributes nearly a fifth of its profit.

More than 40 percent of its new vehicle launches in the country over the next five years are set to be electrified, the U.S. carmaker said on Wednesday.

GM's electric vehicles, many of which will be all-electric battery cars, will be manufactured in China with almost all parts coming from local suppliers, the company said in a statement released at its Tech Day event in Shanghai.

GM did not say in the statement how many new or significantly redesigned models it was planning to launch in China over the next five years.

"China will play a crucial role in making our vision a reality," GM CEO Mary Barra said in the statement, referring to its initiative to create what it describes as a future of "z…

When states instituted stay-at-home orders in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, OEC performance coaches found themselves in an unfamiliar position. That is, coaching parts departments virtually on how to strategically implement software solutions — a task they typically did in person. Now, as states continue to combat the virus through the summer and adjust to restrictions, the coaches' early online experiences offer useful insights into how to provide customer service from a distance. Here are a few keys:

When his team first started to offer virtual coaching to help dealerships adapt to the circumstances, Shane Murphy, OEC Manager, Field Services, told them: "Just do me one favor and start turning your cameras on." This simple request led to the coaches developing and maintaining a human connection that, despite geographical differences, eased the transition to online interactions.

Dealerships and coaches shared screens and wo…

HONG KONG -- The parent of BMW's joint venture partner in China, Brilliance Auto Group Holdings Co., is facing mounting scrutiny from investors who are increasingly worried about the state-owned company's capacity to juggle its debt load as the pandemic weighs on profits.

Brilliance Auto is the parent of Hong Kong-listed Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., which manufactures vehicles with BMW in China via a joint venture. The joint venture builds the 3 Series, 5 Series, and 1 Series alongside the X1 and X3 utility vehicles in China for BMW. It also builds the 60H from its China-only brand Zinoro, according to information on the company's website.

Speculation has been building that the group will struggle to service its liabilities after its banks set up a creditor committee to coordinate claims on the company's debt. The group needs to repay 1.37 billion yuan ($200 million) in outstanding local bonds this year, Bloomberg-compiled data show.

Brilli…

In another sign that a new law in California could force dramatic changes to ride-hailing in the state, Uber Technologies Inc. said it’s considering licensing the brand to independently operated franchises. The move would create distance between the ride-hailing company and its drivers and would serve as an alternative to classifying them as employees.

Uber said the model would look similar to its black-car operations in the early days. “Drivers would likely earn a predetermined hourly wage for their time on-app, but in exchange, fleets would likely monitor and enforce drivers’ activity and efficiency, for instance by putting drivers into shifts, dictating where and when they drive, and enforcing trip acceptance criteria,” Matt Wing, a spokesman for Uber, wrote in an email. “We are not sure whether a fleet model would ultimately be viable in California.”

The internal discussions were reported earlier Tuesday by the New York Times. The newspaper also said Lyft w…