Trade News

The automotive industry has undergone significant disruption in recent years. Advancements in electric mobility, autonomous solutions, automotive retail and vehicle connectivity have propelled the sector forward and left enterprises and consumers alike excited for what comes next.

Despite all of this growth, the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in challenges, specifically surrounding supply chains. The semiconductor shortage and other geopolitical factors have resulted in supply and demand issues across all functions, which has led many companies in the industry to focus on building a future-proof supply chain that is both flexible and resilient.

To ensure preparedness for potential future crises, many auto manufacturers have begun digitizing their supply chains and prioritizing risk management as a part of their strategy. But this cultural and technological shift toward resiliency — with an added focus on sustainability — cannot happen overnight, an…

A gaggle of May sales reports from different regions and companies affirm that the slump in demand for new vehicles that at least some industry executives feared has not happened – so far. In China, BYD boosted sales by 14 percent in May compared to April, according to preliminary figures from the China Passenger Car Association. That growth was ahead of the 2.4 percent month over month improvement reported for Tesla in the world’s largest vehicle market. Even so, investors gave Tesla shares a lift this morning. In the U.S., Ford said its vehicle sales in May rose 10.7 percent. Sales of the F-Series pickup truck line surged by nearly 43 percent. Volvo Cars said its May sales rose by 31 percent. Hyundai and Toyota last week reported strong U.S. sales, as reported by Automotive News. Preliminary sales figures for May show that U.S. car and light truck sales achieved a 15.05 million annualized sales pace, according to Wards Intelligence. That’s we…

Modify your service strategy to find success in the face of industry shortages. Use the guide, Service Solutions for Inventory Challenges, to implement five specific strategies to overcome industry obstacles and supply chain challenges:Find potential acquisition opportunities by reviewing past service recordsSend trade-in reminders to customers with repair-prone vehiclesBring your sales team into the service loop to seek out in-demand vehiclesMake offers to customers who decline expensive service recommendations Ensure marketing, sales, service, and operations are all in sync to accomplish acquisition goals

Our Next Energy CEO Mujeeb Ijaz talks about the company’s first product deliveries, its growth plans, and the changing landscape for powering EVs. GM makes a couple of billion-dollar investments. And Toyota announces a new hydrogen car.

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You know the old saying: The more things change, the more they stay the same.

This week, my feeling is more like: The more things get back to normal, the weirder some other things get.

The big-picture view of the heart of the industry — making and selling cars and light trucks — is definitely continuing to get back toward normal after the pandemic.

The supply of vehicles in the U.S. is still tight, but inventories are up almost 50 percent from a year ago, as Michael Martinez and David Phillips report, helping May sales jump by an estimated 21 percent among the companies that report monthly U.S. results. (Volvo said it plans to put its numbers out early in the coming week.)

Consumer demand remains strong in the face of higher interest rates and economic uncertainty — the latter of which was lessened a bit as Congress passed a debt-ceiling increase that averted a global financial catastrophe. Shoppers were encouraged by s…

The head of product at the eVTOL startup breaks down the FAA certification process, discusses the company’s partnerships with Delta Air Lines and Uber, and explains how Toyota, a key investor, has imprinted its culture onto Joby’s plans to scale.

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Housed in an old hangar at the historic Coleman A. Young Municipal Airport in Detroit is the Sigma-6, a sleek $5 million eVTOL aircraft that represents the future of aviation.

But the electric vertical take-off and landing machine is running out of runway.

Airspace Experience Technologies, the startup behind the aircraft, has burned through nearly all of its cash, founder Jon Rimanelli said. And it seems there's little appetite from investors or economic development officials to continue backing the project — at least in Michigan.

Rimanelli said he has been looking around at sites outside of the state to potentially move his startup, and he even considered trying to sell it. Last month, he visited Wichita, Kan., where he said economic development officials rolled out the red carpet for him. He said he's not received the same treatment in Michigan.

"How are we going to survive if we can't raise money in this town?" Rimanelli said. "I'm open to sell…

A Turkish court acquitted three people over former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn's escape via Istanbul to Lebanon after fleeing Japan, a lawyer for one of the defendants said.

A jet company executive and two pilots, who were detained for several months, were sentenced to four years and two months in jail in 2021 for migrant smuggling.

Mehmet Fatih Danaci, a lawyer for the jet company executive, said last week that an appeals court ordered the retrial of the case and returned the file to the lower court.

"We appealed the ruling. In the retrial, the court acquitted our client, along with two pilots who were initially convicted," Danaci told Reuters.

Ghosn, once an influential leader in the global auto industry, was arrested in Japan in late 2018 and charged with financial misconduct. He denied the charge and said his detention was part of a plot by Nissan executives to block a merger.

The ousted chairman of the allia…

WASHINGTON — For years, automakers have voluntarily equipped most new passenger cars and trucks with technology that can stop or slow a vehicle to prevent a collision. Now, U.S. auto safety regulators are proposing to require such systems — and demand that many improve.

NHTSA last week released a proposal to mandate automatic emergency braking, including pedestrian detection, on all new light-duty vehicles. The agency also set minimum performance standards, calling for systems that can prevent or mitigate frontal crashes at higher speeds and work effectively in the dark.

If the proposal is adopted, nearly all U.S. passenger cars and trucks would be required to have crash-avoidance technology that meets a number of performance standards three years after the rule is finalized. The agency's ultimate requirements would take effect the following year.

NHTSA projects the proposed rule, if finalized, would prevent at least 360 deaths a…

Learning and adapting are necessary for business success — and those who take unconventional approaches can reap outsized rewards.

When you're busy just trying to get through today's to-do list, it can be hard to step outside of your routines and take a fresh approach. And many folks feel so maxed out that they worry about the opportunity cost of taking the time for self-development. (Which is not the same as Homer Simpson's concern: "Every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain.")

One of the things I enjoy about observing modern commerce — especially in the auto industry — is getting to see smart people solve problems in unexpected ways.

Reporter Mark Hollmer, a veteran business journalist who is still pretty new to Automotive News, wrote last month about Tekion's experience owning a couple of dealerships, which definitely fits the bill.

It was an unconventional approach for a software …

HEALDSBURG, Calif. — Audi officials say they have learned a lot from the 2019 launch of the brand's first electric vehicle, the E-tron. Refashioned for 2024 as the Q8 E-tron and Q8 Sportback E-tron, the second-generation EV is available in Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige trims. The base price increases by $3,600 over the outgoing model, but the vehicle offers more range and Level 2 adaptive cruise control. Here are some features that stood out on the 2024 Audi Q8 E-tron previewed during a media drive here in May.

Audi's four famed rings, which have made up the brand's corporate badge for decades, have been reworked from chrome into black and white and are being introduced on the Q8 E-tron. Audi designer Andre Georgi calls the look the "new chrome," with each of the four white rings floated in a black one. "The new two-dimensional look gives our rings a significantly more modern and even more graphic makeover, although their geometry is almost identical to the for…

Fiat has all but faded away in the U.S., but it has a new North American leader whom parent company Stellantis has charged with "providing cool mobility solutions for all."

Fiat could use that cool factor when it reenters the U.S. electric vehicle race in 2024 with the 500e, a model that analysts say can open a pathway to success for a brand that has struggled with lackluster sales in the country for years.

The stage is set for Aamir Ahmed, a former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles marketer appointed to head Fiat's North American operations last month. Ahmed left FCA in 2017 to work for Harman International and Amazon. Ahmed succeeds Larry Dominique, who had been leading Fiat in addition to his role as senior vice president for Alfa Romeo in North America.

There's a tough job ahead.

Although the brand has been a major player globally, it hasn't been able to find its footing in the U.S. market, where it sells only the 500X. F…