Trade News

Last fall, city officials in the nation's car capital embarked on an experiment. They wanted to see whether micromobility solutions — things such as e-bikes and e-scooters — could provide transportation for Detroit residents who needed better ways to get to work.

It was short-lived.

"It seemed like we were creating a solution before there was a need," said Hind Ourahou, senior mobility strategist in Detroit's Office of Mobility Innovation. "So we struggled a little bit with this, because we always try to understand, 'OK, what is the need first,' and then, 'Is this is the best solution for it?' "

That changed when the coronavirus arrived. Public-transportation schedules were reduced. Many drivers for ride-hailing services idled their vehicles. Essential workers suddenly had fewer transportation options.

In June, the Mobility Innovation office, along with a group of public and private partners that include General Motors and Ford Motor Co., recast…

Sonic Automotive Inc. plans to open at least three more standalone used-only EchoPark stores before year's end and an additional four to six in 2021 as part of an expansion strategy that includes increasing e-commerce offerings.

The nation's sixth-largest new-vehicle retailer has been adding to its EchoPark footprint and is accelerating planned store rollouts from just a few months ago.

EchoPark locations set to open this year are Nashville, Houston and Phoenix, plus possibly Dallas, a Sonic spokesman confirmed, while 2021 openings include Atlanta, Orlando and California.

The retailer in April opened its 10th EchoPark location — in Tampa, Fla. — and said that month that it planned to open two more in 2020 and three or four in 2021.

In a mid-June update, Sonic said EchoPark same-store sales were up 18 percent month to date following declines in April and May. Total EchoPark sales jumped 34 percent through the first half of June. The company said …

With car sales in freefall in the U.S., Mercedes-Benz is moving to reduce its exposure in the vehicle segment.

The luxury automaker plans to jettison seven car models from the U.S. market, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Nicholas Speeks told dealers during a webinar in late June. Speeks did not identify the models or offer a timeline, according to retailers who heard the presentation.

But according to a source familiar with the plans, there could be more than seven models. Those under consideration are the coupe and convertible versions of the S-, C- and E-Class nameplates, as well as the CLS coupe and one of the brand's GT models, according to the source.

A Mercedes spokesman declined to comment on the brand's U.S. product plans.

The portfolio paring is a significant sign of change for a global marque that built its identity on luxury sedans, coupes and convertibles. But U.S. demand for cars has slumped, as Americans flock to roomier and more practical c…

Mitsubishi is giving U.S. dealers positive signals with the promise of updated products to revive its aging lineup.

The company said last week that it will deliver a new-generation Outlander midsize crossover in early 2021, built on the architecture of alliance partner Nissan's bestselling Rogue.

The announcement was welcome news to Mitsubishi's long-suffering retailers — particularly since it followed a June shareholders meeting in Japan at which Mitsubishi Motors Corp. CEO Takao Kato said the automaker would scale back growth efforts in global "megamarkets," a term the company later said could include North America.

In addition to the redesigned and reengineered Outlander, Mitsubishi will update three other models.

"Between now and the end of the second quarter of 2021, Mitsubishi Motors North America will launch three considerably revised vehicles and one all-new, ground-up redesign, proof of the company's commitme…

Inconsistency has always been a hallmark of Tesla, whether in manufacturing, or quality control, or the messaging from CEO Elon Musk.

But as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc with most rivals' finances, Tesla has shown uncharacteristic stability where it matters most — the bottom line — by posting its first-ever streak of four consecutive quarterly profits.

The electric vehicle maker, which has yet to finish a calendar year in the black, again relied largely on the sale of regulatory credits to competitors to eke out a modest profit in the second quarter, and the four-quarter streak still makes it eligible to join the S&P 500 index. Analysts say Tesla's recent performance, which helped unlock another big payout for Musk, is impressive given the industry's struggles this year.

"As it flirts with sustained profitability, Tesla has to be celebrated for being one of the industry's strongest brands," Zo Rahim, industry and econo…

Dealerships must remain vigilant about the health and safety of employees and customers amid the coronavirus pandemic, say three groups that each have had to deal with cases of employees who tested positive for the virus.

Dealers have adapted to new realities amid the pandemic, including instituting thorough safety protocols for employees such as requiring daily health questionnaires, temperature checks and wearing face masks, panelists said in the latest edition of the online Automotive News Retail Forum: Dealer Discussions series, which focused on employee issues and safety.

Billy Fuccillo Jr., president of Fuccillo Automotive Group with 23 stores in New York and three in Florida, said he had multiple staffers at one dealership test positive. That led to closing the store for a few days for heightened cleaning including inside the air ducts and air filtration systems, he said. That store also instituted a temperature check policy.

"We really took…

In the early peak of the pandemic, public transit agencies across the country saw sharp declines in ridership, as did ride-sharing and bike-sharing companies.

But of these forms of personal mobility, micromobility — including bikes and scooters — is most likely to bounce back, according to an analysis from McKinsey. Despite COVID-19 disruptions to the micromobility industry, recovery is possible — so long as companies prepare appropriately.

In a report released July 16, the global consulting firm considered the short-term impact of COVID-19 on the future of micromobility, and how the industry, consumers and cities are evolving to accommodate options such as bikes and scooters.

Micromobility companies had been struggling to maintain profitability even before the pandemic hit. But consumer demand has since sparked a boom in bikes and e-bike rides and an uptick in use of scooter-sharing apps — showing that the lull in micromobility use pre-crisis was somew…

Merger talks between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France's PSA Group were defined by a series of starts and stops before the boards of both companies gave a mandate to senior management teams in October to finalize discussions and reach a binding memorandum of understanding, according to a regulatory filing late Friday.

The preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that talks between the companies were halted twice, once when FCA proposed a merger with Groupe Renault in May 2019 and again three months later when there was a disagreement between the automakers on the amount of the pre-merger distribution to FCA's shareholders.

The filing sheds light on the timeline of the merger saga.

During the third and fourth quarters of 2018, the filing said PSA and FCA executives had "several interactions" regarding limited cooperation, projects that are common in the auto industry and usually limited to certain vehicle models …

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. has struck a deal that will cut the debt it owes lenders who financed its rental car fleet to less than $5 billion from $11 billion by Dec. 31, the company’s main bankruptcy lawyer said in court Friday.

Under an agreement with the lenders, Hertz has agreed to sell 182,000 cars over the next few months, Tom Lauria told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath. The deal requires Hertz to make $650 million in lease payments. The reduction in the $11 billion in vehicle debt is tied to the auto sales, Lauria said.

The deal “took a little bit of good luck,” he said, referring to a boost in the used car market that began in the last few months.

Hertz and its vehicle lenders had been fighting about how much the company owed under a lease contract that governs the fleet. Lawyer Marshall Huebner said the lenders he represents believe they were owed $1.8 billion in regular payments through Dec. 31 under that lease. Hertz and lower-ranking credi…

Rivian said Friday it expects to begin delivering a battery-electric pickup and battery-electric SUV to customers starting next summer.

The R1T pickup will arrive first, in June; the R1S utility vehicle is scheduled to roll off the line in August 2021.

The timing puts the company about six months behind original launch plans. But Rivian, like all other automakers, has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rivian, backed by Ford Motor Co., Cox Automotive, Amazon and others, began assembling vehicles on a pilot production line this week.

Building high-quality vehicles will be a challenge on multiple fronts for the upstart. The company is manufacturing in a retooled Mitsubishi plant in Normal, Ill., with new equipment and a work force that has never assembled EVs before.

Pricing has not been released.

Rivian said it will soon release information on vehicle features, the company's charging network and when customers can configur…