Trade News

Electric commercial truck maker Nikola Corp. tried unsuccessfully to raise $1 billion in the private markets and only turned to a merger with a so-called blank-check company to go public as a way to raise the needed funds, its CFO said.

Nikola quickly raised a $250 million commitment from lead investor CNH International last summer, but market concerns about inflated valuations for some companies led the startup to consider an initial public offering before VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. approached in late November, Kim Brady told Reuters this week.

A deal with the special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, became a reality when it was able to arrange an additional $525 million from institutional investors like Fidelity Management & Research Co. upon the closing of the $240 million acquisition, allowing Nikola to achieve its fundraising goal, he said in a telephone interview.

Nikola’s SPAC merger has been a catalyst for the industry as electric carmake…

Volkswagen Group’s financial-services division boosted provisions for credit and residual-value risks by about 500 million euros ($590 million) in the first six months and warned the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen in the second half of the year.

The costs booked mainly covered U.S. operations, because other countries allow deferring some credit payments during the crisis, said Frank Fiedler, CFO of VW’s lending unit. The postponement could shift ripple effects from shutdowns to the second half.

“We’re seeing a substantial rise in unemployment in the U.S., and in Europe the further development is difficult to predict,” Fiedler said. “Maybe the economy revs up again, but we do anticipate that credit defaults go up.”

Regulators around the world are closely watching credit risks that the global pandemic continues to pose to economies supported by impermanent stimulus and relief measures. European banks including HSBC Holdings and Banco Santa…

Nio Inc.’s loss narrowed for a fourth consecutive quarter, as rising demand for electric crossovers helps the Chinese carmaker revive its fortunes.

The second-quarter net loss shrank to 1.2 billion yuan ($173 million) from 3.3 billion yuan a year earlier, Nio said Tuesday in a statement. The company predicted third-quarter revenue exceeding analysts’ estimates as deliveries rise.

The sleek ES8 and ES6 crossovers are attracting buyers as the coronavirus pandemic eases in China, helping Nio’s stock price to more than triple this year. As the country’s electric-vehicle makers battle for survival, Nio is getting closer to securing a position as a longer-term challenger to Tesla Inc. in the world’s largest EV market.

The company’s stock rose as much as 8.7 percent to $15.45 in New York trading on Tuesday before falling 4.3 percent to $13.60 at 10:46 a.m. ET.

A cash injection from a regional government and a fresh credit facility from local banks helped…

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation filed an amicus brief Monday in support of Volkswagen's petition to a U.S. court to reconsider a ruling that would allow state and local governments to regulate modifications to emission-control systems once a vehicle is sold.

The action comes after VW asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July to reconsider its ruling, which determined the Clean Air Act does not preempt state and local authorities from enforcing anti-tampering laws against manufacturers' post-sale updates to emission-control systems.

In the filing, the Alliance echoed the German automaker's position that permitting state and local governments "to apply their own prohibition on tampering to post-sale, model-wide changes" to vehicles would scrap regulatory certainty and create chaos.

The Washington auto lobbying group represents most major automakers, including Volkswagen, in the U.S.

The Alliance said manufacturers routinely update t…

Electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors, which aims to begin selling its first luxury model, the Lucid Air, in early 2021, said Tuesday that the new sedan is the first to achieve a 500-mile driving range.

The Lucid Air has an estimated range of 517 miles (832 km), as verified in independent testing, Lucid said.

Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson told Reuters the Air initially will be priced "well north of" $100,000 but said lower-priced versions would arrive later. The Tesla Model S sedan starts at around $75,000.

Tesla in June said the new Model S Long Range Plus is the first vehicle certified by the EPA to have an estimated driving range of more than 400 miles.

The Lucid Air will be followed by a crossover, built in early 2023 on the same vehicle platform, said Rawlinson, who is the former chief engineer on the Model S, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Lucid is based in Newark, Calif., on the southeastern side of Silicon Valley, not far from Tesla…

Audi has added two wagons to the A6 lineup in the U.S., the performance RS 6 Avant and now, the off-road-minded A6 Allroad. The all-wheel-drive A6 Allroad is powered by a 3.0-liter, six-cylinder engine with 335 hp and 369 pound-feet of torque and a seven-speed transmission. The midsize wagon gets off-road features such as an air suspension, roof rails, body cladding and 20-inch wheels. Here's a roundup of select A6 Allroad reviews from the automotive media.

"The V-6 propels the Allroad with an easy sensation of power, but the engine note is so flat and distant, we find ourselves missing the cabin-filling character of Audi's old supercharged V-6. The dual-clutch transmission shifts quickly and smoothly but exhibits just enough clumsiness at low speeds to make us wonder why Audi doesn't use ZF's peerless eight-speed automatic here, as it does in the Q7 SUV with this engine."

— Joey Capparella, Car and Driver

"While climbing steep hills and navigating obs…

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.

Principle Auto CEO Abigail Kampmann explains how her dealership group is refining processes as it looks to manage expenses and retain employees while becoming more digital and customer centric.

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Cadillac may have found its next big thing: screens.

We've seen two future Cadillacs — the 2021 Escalade coming this year and the electric Lyriq due in late 2022 — that show the brand aiming for leadership in the race to own screen size.

Both vehicles have massive screens by today's standards, 38 inches for the OLED screen in the Escalade and 33 inches for the LED screen in the Lyriq. The screens in both vehicles are not the usual tablet style that look a bit like a tombstone protruding from the center of the dash.

Instead, they are neat, thin horizontal devices that stretch from the left of the steering wheel out to the center of the instrument panel or beyond. The screens in both vehicles are smoothly integrated and look like a natural part of the dash, not an add-on.

Cadillac has a history of going big: the 472-cubic-inch V-16 engine made from 1930 to 1940, the massive tail fins on the classic 1959 Eldorado and the 50…

Rolls-Royce confirmed that the upcoming redesign of the Ghost sedan will feature standard all-wheel drive.

The Ghost, which will also move to Rolls-Royce's aluminum architecture, follows the redesigned Phantom, which went on sale in 2018, and the addition of the Cullinan SUV late the same year.

The sedan, which is slotted below the larger Phantom in Rolls-Royce's lineup, was previously rear-wheel-drive. Rolls-Royce says the redesigned Ghost will also have all-wheel steering, also found on the Cullinan.

With the redesign, Rolls-Royce developed what it has named the Planar system for the sedan's suspension.

The system is highlighted by three components, including an upper wishbone damper unit, which is mounted above the front suspension assembly and allows a more stable ride. A camera-based Flagbearer system monitors the road ahead and prepares the suspension system for any changes in surface, Rolls-Royce said. A satellite…

Daimler introduces the six-cylinder 220, 220 S and 220 SE tail fin models — billed as the world's first series-production vehicles with advanced safety features and bodies — to the press Aug. 11, 1959.

The midsize cars were replacements for the "ponton" sedans that Mercedes-Benz sold through the 1950s.

The most distinctive styling features of the new Italian-influenced models were the tail fins — a blatant concession to American influence on automotive design at the time. Today, the entire model generation is referred to as the "fintails."

Four-cylinder models featured single, round headlamps and subtle chrome trim, while the high-end six-cylinder cars were equipped with stacked, quad headlamps, a longer hood and more opulent trim.

A coupe version of the 220 SE arrived in February 1961, and a convertible followed that September.

The car's safety cage — a first for a mass-produced car — was developed by Hu…

DETROIT — General Motors CFO Dhivya Suryadevara, who played key roles in the automaker’s selloff of Opel, purchase of Cruise Automation and 2018 restructuring plan, is quitting to take the top finance job at Stripe, a San Francisco online payments processor that has become one of the world’s most valuable tech startups.

John Stapleton, GM's North American CFO, will replace Suryadevara on an acting basis while the automaker searches for a permanent successor.

"Dhivya has been a transformational leader in her tenure as CFO," GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday in a statement. "She has helped the company strengthen our balance sheet, improve our cost structure, focus on cash generation and drive the right investments for our future. We wish her every success."

Suryadevara, 41, became GM’s first female CFO in September 2018 after holding various roles in GM’s finance office and at GM Asset Management in New York since 2004. Suryadevara grew up in India and moved …