Trade News

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.

Volkswagen Group on Thursday asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reconsider a ruling that said two counties could seek potentially billions in financial penalties over excess diesel emissions.

The 3-0 ruling in June said Utah's Salt Lake County and Florida's Hillsborough County could seek "staggering" damages over updates made to polluting diesel vehicles after they were sold.

VW said in court papers Thursday that the ruling, if upheld, could have sweeping ramifications for the U.S. auto industry and could force car companies "either to avoid maintaining or improving the emission control systems of in-use vehicles... or pass on the substantial increased compliance costs to consumers."

VW asked the panel to reconsider its ruling or for the full appeals court to take up the case, warning the decision could result in "regulatory chaos."

Volkswagen admitted to using illegal software to cheat U.S. pollution tests in 2015.

VW argues …

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Thursday reported second-quarter income of $1.1 billion despite a pandemic that idled its North American plants for roughly half the reporting period.

The surprise profit came largely from a $3.5 billion gain on its investment in Argo AI, the company that is developing a self-driving vehicle system. Volkswagen Group closed on an deal with Ford for a stake in Argo last month and CFO Tim Stone said the startup is now valued at $7.5 billion.

The automaker lost $1.9 billion before interest and taxes and one-time items in the quarter as revenue fell 50 percent to $19.4 billion. Still, the operating loss was much less than the $5 billion Ford had forecast earlier in the year.

“Overall it was a good quarter for Ford in light of the circumstances,” Stone said on a call with reporters.

Shares in Ford rose 1.9 percent to $6.74 in after-hours trading.

In addition to the gain from Argo, Stone said Ford benefited from a smoot…

Visteon Corp. said Thursday that its second-quarter earnings fell into the red after revenue was cut nearly in half as the coronavirus pandemic continues to bludgeon many auto suppliers.

The cockpit electronics supplier's adjusted second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes and other adjustments dropped to a loss of $3 million from a gain of $46 million during the same quarter last year. The company reported a $45 million net loss compared with a $7 million gain in 2019.

Total revenue fell to $371 million, compared with $733 million in the second quarter last year.

"Adjusted EBITDA was impacted by lower sales volume, primarily due to COVID-19 and partially offset by strong cost-reduction actions," the company said in a statement.

"Despite the challenging environment, we launched 21 new products during the first half of the year, including all-digital clusters, a new Android-based infotainment system and large displays," Visteon CEO Sachin Lawan…

The economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic contributed to lower revenue and profit for Cars.com in the second quarter, as the company offered discounts to dealerships and cut costs to offset the revenue hit.

The Chicago company, which provides dealership technology and vehicle listings services, reported Thursday that it posted a deeper net loss in the quarter ended June 30 than a year ago — $24.6 million, compared with $6 million in the second quarter of 2019.

Revenue fell 31 percent in the second quarter to $102 million, which the company said mostly was attributed to billing discounts to its dealership listings customers worth 50 percent in April and 30 percent in May and June. National advertising revenue also fell 17 percent, Cars.com said, as restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 led to more cancellations.

The company's adjusted net income in the quarter was $8 million, down from $20 million in the second quarter last year. The adjus…

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.

Kim Stonehouse, director of automotive at Facebook, says the social media giant is focused on supporting dealers as they navigate the new digital retail landscape accelerated by the pandemic. She also shares what the company is doing to prevent the spread of disinformation and hate speech.

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Sonic Automotive Inc.'s second-quarter earnings rose despite the coronavirus pandemic, aided by lower expenses, higher new-vehicle gross profit per vehicle and a recovery in used-vehicle sales late in the quarter, including at its standalone used-only EchoPark stores.

The nation's sixth-largest new-vehicle retailer saw revenue slip 19 percent to $2.1 billion, while net income jumped 16 percent to $30.8 million. Net income from continuing operations also increased 16 percent, to $31 million. The second quarter included a $3.2 million tax benefit.

"Our second quarter results reflect not only a dramatic operating improvement since the onset of COVID-19, but also an all-time record monthly profit in June," Sonic CEO David Smith said in a statement Thursday. "The record-setting momentum we saw during the month of June has continued throughout July to date."

New-vehicle sales fell 40 percent in April but were down 15 percent in June, while used-vehicle sales a…

Power companies are loaning out Teslas in Washington, electrifying bus fleets in Virginia and lobbying for electric vehicle tax credits on Capitol Hill.

San Diego Gas & Electric Co. even went so far as to help train salespeople on how to convince consumers to buy electric cars and then paid them as much as $500 per sale. It’s all part of a $1.5 billion effort by utilities such as Exelon Corp. and Dominion Energy Inc. to promote vehicles that run on electricity.

The companies see it not just as a chance to sell more power, but to balance electricity demand and meet sustainability goals, said Max Baumhefner, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“The grid is built for the one hour of the year when electricity demand peaks,” Baumhefner said. Pushing energy consumption to after hours, when many drivers charge their cars at home, helps smooth out the swings in usage and could even reduce power costs for everyone, he said.

Bu…

DuPont reported a wider second-quarter loss on Thursday and wrote down the value of its automotive business by $2.5 billion as the industrial materials giant struggles with a prolonged weakness in one of its biggest end-markets.

DuPont, which makes materials used in products ranging from engine covers to brake fluid, is heavily exposed to the auto industry, which has been among the hardest hit after the coronavirus lockdowns emptied roads and shuttered car showrooms.

The company booked the impairment charge under its Transportation & Industrial segment, saying the business was now worth less because of continued weakness in global automotive production.

Even before the outbreak, DuPont had been grappling with lower sales in the unit, particularly due to lower prices for nylon, a stiff plastic used in making auto parts and industrial equipment.

The company said transportation unit earnings before interest, taxes and other expenses fell 86 perce…

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group on Thursday moved to quash rumors that CEO Herbert Diess had been sidelined, issuing an unsolicited declaration of support for the executive, who has clashed with the company's labor leaders over deeper-than-expected cuts.

"The most important message is that the supervisory board and executive committee ... are in complete agreement that our CEO Herbert Diess is leading the implementation of our strategy," CFO Frank Witter said in remarks that were read out on a call with journalists on Thursday.

Witter acknowledged that "smoke emanating from Wolfsburg" was a sign of how difficult it was to balance the interests of various stakeholders at the company.

Diess has for months pushed to lower costs at the automaker's German operations, repeatedly clashing with labor representatives, who control nine of the 19 seats on VW's board of directors, known in Germany as the supervisory board.

In June, Diess was forced to apologize to …