Trade News

SHANGHAI -- Xpeng Motors has raised an additional $300 million from investors including Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, people familiar with the matter said.

As enthusiasm builds for EVs, shares of their makers such as Tesla Inc. and Nio Inc. have surged in recent months and automakers are looking to capital markets for funds.

Six-year-old Xpeng, which is backed by Alibaba Group Holding , said earlier in July it had raised around $500 million from investors including Aspex, Coatue, Hillhouse and Sequoia Capital China.

It has now raised an additional $300 million from new investors including the Qatar Investment Authority, the sources said, adding the company might further expand the fundraising.

Funds will go toward research in areas such as intelligent vehicle technologies, the sources said, without giving any further details.

The latest fundraising takes the total amount raised so far in the company's so-called C+ round to more than $800 m…

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican conglomerate Alfa said on Friday it plans to spin off the entirety of its remaining 75 percent stake in auto supplier Nemak.

If shareholders approve the proposal at an Aug. 17 meeting, they would receive one share of Controladora Nemak for each of their Alfa shares. They would also retain share ownership in Alfa's equity.

"We plan a gradual and orderly transition process to make Nemak an independent business," Alfa President Alvaro Fernandez Garza said in a statement.

Controladora Nemak would be listed on the Mexican stock exchange following the spinoff, Alfa said. Nemak, which began to trade publicly in 2015, would continue to be listed as a separate entity. Nemak shareholders in the future would be able to decide whether to merge with Controladora Nemak, Alfa said.

Nemak, which makes aluminum components for automakers including Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Toyota, saw second-quarter results severely …

Shares of the so-called blank-check company merging with electric carmaker Fisker fell 20 percent on Friday after it disclosed it would not close a deal by the end of July to use Volkswagen Group's EV platform for its vehicles.

Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp., backed by alternative investment manager Apollo Global Management Inc., announced a deal earlier in July to take Fisker public through a merger that valued the EV startup at $2.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

A blank-check company, or SPAC, is a shell company that raises money through an initial public offering to buy an operating company, typically within two years.

Shares of Spartan fell 10 percent on Friday to close at $12.32, well below the highs of $23.86 when the deal was announced earlier this month. The stock is still above Spartan's IPO price of $10.

Fisker said at the time of the deal it was in talks with VW to use the German automaker's MEB EV plat…

DETROIT — It appears 2021 will be the year of the electric pickup, with an assorted mix of entries from both industry vets and startups.

But one of the biggest pickup players, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has been mum on its plans for a battery-powered hauler.

CEO Mike Manley on Friday shed some light on his thinking about this new market and made clear that FCA hasn't revealed its full hand when it comes to electrification, for which the automaker has traditionally taken a steady approach.

"The reason we haven't spoken too much about electric pickup trucks is not that we view that market as nonexistent," Manley said during an earnings call with investors. "We've always had a slightly different view in terms of timing and adoption rates, particularly in North America in terms of full electrification."

He added: "We are committed to an electrification strategy, most of which we have revealed — we haven't revealed everythi…

DETROIT— General Motors and EVgo have partnered to triple the size of EVgo's U.S. fast charging network in the next five years, aiming to solve one of the major roadblocks to electric vehicle adoption.

GM and EVgo will add more than 2,700 fast chargers to cities and suburbs starting next year. The expansion will target about 40 metro areas and will make EV charging more accessible and convenient, GM says.

The broader network will increase charging access for drivers who live in multi-unit homes, rent their homes and can't install chargers, or lack access to workplace charging, GM and EVgo said in a joint statement Friday. The companies declined to provide financial details of the partnership.

The partnership "is a proof point that we believe very strongly that [EV sales and EV charging] have to come together. In order to have confidence to have an EV as your only vehicle, you have to know there's robust and fast charging available," GM CEO Mary Barra to…

American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings posted a net loss of $213.2 million in the second quarter, compared with a gain of $52.5 million a year earlier, as the supplier experienced global production shutdowns in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The supplier said revenue for the quarter plummeted nearly 70 percent to $515.3 million from $1.7 billion. Second-quarter sales include $171 million from the company's U.S. iron casting operations sold in December.

American Axle joined several other suppliers this week that reported plunges in second-quarter net income and revenue. More companies are set to report results next week.

About $947 million of sales were "negatively impacted" by the pandemic, American Axle said.

Shares of the Detroit supplier slipped about 6 percent to $6.66 in midday trading on Wall Street.

Second-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and other adjustments fell to negative $52.1 million compared wit…

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Ford Motor Co. said Friday it had won approval to defer some quarterly payments due on its U.S. Energy Department retooling loan, but added it will repay the loan on time by June 2022.

In September 2009, Ford was awarded a $5.9 billion low-cost government loan, a key source of liquidity in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

The automaker said its loan was modified in June to reduce quarterly principal payments from $148 million to $37 million. Ford said it has $1.26 billion of remaining principal left on the loan.

An Energy Department spokeswoman said "the flexibility the Loan Programs Office was able to provide through this loan modification is a good example of what (Energy) Secretary Brouillette meant when he asked for all of the Department’s resources to be supportive of the energy industry during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Ford said "with COVID-19 related economic uncertainty remaining, we believe that is worthwhile to further strengthen our…

Jaguar Land Rover parent Tata Motors reported a bigger quarterly loss on Friday, as the coronavirus crisis hammered sales in several of its key markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on automakers globally and piled pressure on Tata Motors, which was trying to improve JLR's sales after reeling from weak demand and political uncertainty related to Brexit.

Sales at JLR, which accounts for most of the company's revenue, fell more than 42 percent during the quarter and Tata Motors said the outlook for the unit remains uncertain.

"For the rest of FY21, Jaguar Land Rover will continue to manage costs and investment spending rigorously," the company said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the unit named ousted Renault boss Thierry Bollore as its next CEO, with a mission to return the U.K. automaker to profit.

Tata reported a consolidated net loss of 84.38 billion rupees ($1.13 billion) for the first quarter ended June 30, compared w…

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on Friday posted a second-quarter loss of $1.24 billion, as North American operations contributed a small profit despite lost production due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the second quarter, when factories in North America and Europe were closed for weeks to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, FCA's net revenue plunged 56 percent to $13.9 billion. The automaker reported an adjusted loss of $1.1 billion before interest and taxes, compared with a profit a year earlier.

North American vehicle shipments sank 62 percent. But the company said that was "partially offset by favorable channel and model mix," so the region avoided a loss even as net revenue fell 53 percent to $9.71 billion. FCA restarted auto production in May after a two-month hiatus in the region. North America managed to report a $46.1 million profit, down 98 percent from a year earlier.

"Our second quarter showed that decisive actions and extraordinary cont…

TOKYO -- Mazda Motor Corp. forecast a record full-year operating loss Friday as the Japanese automaker continues to be pummelled by falling vehicle sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan's No. 5 automaker anticipates a 40 billion yen ($383.5 million) loss for the fiscal year to March, joining a growing number of automakers which expect annual losses after the virus shuttered vehicle plants and kept customers away from car dealerships.

Mazda posted an operating loss of 45.3 billion yen ($433 million) for the April-June quarter, its weakest in 11 years, due to a 31 percent drop in vehicle sales in the period.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the maker of the CX-5 crossover and the Mazda3 sedan had been suffering from sliding profits for the past two years as slim new vehicle offerings has knocked sales in the United States and China, its two biggest markets.

For its fiscal year ending in March, Mazda anticipates an 8 percent fall in global v…

SHANGHAI -- The chairman of China's state-owned automaker BAIC Group, which has partnerships with Daimler and Hyundai Motor Co., is set to retire, two people familiar with the matter said.

Xu Heyi, 62, took office in 2007. As chairman of BAIC Group, he developed electric vehicle maker BAIC BluePark and helped Daimler and Hyundai expand production in China, the world's biggest auto market.

Xu's retirement will be announced as soon as this week, sources said. BAIC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

He led BAIC's move last year to buy a 5 percent stake in Daimler which further cemented the two companies' long-standing alliance. The deal was also seen as a move by BAIC to counter the influence of China's Geely, which had built up a 9.7 percent stake in the German automaker.