Trade News

Truck maker Navistar International Corp. has bought a minority stake in TuSimple and aims to co-develop self-driving trucks by 2024 with the technology company as it rolls out a national U.S. autonomous freight network, the two companies said Wednesday.

Self-driving technology for freight trucks has attracted investor attention as it should be easier and cheaper to roll out than in self-driving cars and autonomous taxis, while providing a clearer path to profitability.

Unlike self-driving cars and robotaxis, self-driving freight services run on fixed routes between predefined points -- almost all of that on major highways with no intersections or pedestrians. That business is more predictable and requires less mapping than driving customers between random points.

Navistar and TuSimple did not disclose the size of the stake. TuSimple recently announced it was launching a self-driving truck network with United Parcel Service Inc., trucking firm US Xpress E…

FRANKFURT -- The Volkswagen brand has stopped hiring new staff until year end, Ralf Brandstaetter, the unit's chief, said Wednesday.

Despite a slight recovery in demand, car sales remain below levels seen before the coronavirus crisis, Brandstaetter said in an interview published in an internal VW newsletter, which was seen by Reuters.

"We remain under substantial cost pressure. Deliveries and therefore revenue have dropped sharply. At the same time a large amount of costs remain. This is why we have decided not to add new people," Brandstaetter said.

VW's job guarantee for German employees until 2029 remains in place, the CEO said.

The company's works council chief Bernd Osterloh said that without external hiring, VW needs to do more to retrain existing staff.

In an interview with the Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, Osterloh said he expected production at the plant in Wolfsburg this year to drop to around 500,000 cars, instead of 700,000 w…

Toyota is tweaking its sedan lineup for 2021, adding an upgraded suite of safety features to the Camry, a new trim level for the Camry and Corolla and optional all-wheel drive to the Avalon as the brand "recommits" to remaining in the once-dominant but dwindling segment.

But one shriveled sedan segment has proved a bridge too far.

The North American run for the Toyota Yaris is ending with the 2020 model. Through the first six months of the year, Toyota sold just 1,098 Yaris sedans in the U.S., down 93 percent from 2019, and 2,610 Yaris hatchbacks, which were introduced last year at the New York auto show, and 21 Yaris liftback imports. The hatchback was a rebadged version of the Mazda2.

Cynthia Tenhouse, vice president for vehicle marketing and communications at Toyota Motor North America, said this week that the Yaris sedan, which received a midcycle freshening in 2018, and the Yaris hatchback were dropped for unspecified homolog…

Texas is moving forward with efforts to woo Tesla Inc. and lure its next electric-vehicle factory after the county that’s home to the state capital signed off on a tax-relief package.

Commissioners in Travis County voted Tuesday to approve a 70 percent property-tax rebate on the first $1.1 billion the company invests in a site near Austin. The abatement is worth at least $13.9 million.

The areas of Austin and Tulsa, Okla., are the finalists for landing the facility where Tesla plans to build the Cybertruck pickup that CEO Elon Musk first unveiled late last year. He has said on Twitter that the site also will supplement production of Model Y crossovers already being made at the company’s lone U.S. car-assembly plant in Fremont, Calif.

Tesla has told Travis County that its planned factory will eventually employ 5,000 full-time workers with an average salary of roughly $47,000 a year. At least half of those will be county residents.

The weeks-long ef…

TOKYO — Nissan's next electric vehicle, the long-awaited Ariya crossover, is a technological powerhouse with performance chops and a 379-mile range that the Japanese carmaker hopes will rekindle its reputation as a leader in battery-powered vehicles.

In showing the production version of its Tesla fighter in an unveiling online Wednesday, Nissan Motor Co. promises an EV that beats the brand's all-electric Leaf hatchback in almost every way.

The Ariya will be longer, wider and taller, while packing more power and a longer driving range. Lower grade models will target eco-friendly, tech-savvy customers, while high-end variants go for gusto.

"For Nissan, the Ariya is not just another new model. It is a model that opens a new chapter in the history of Nissan," CEO Makoto Uchida said at an online launch on Wednesday. "The Ariya itself represents the future Nissan envisions."

To herald the new nameplate, Nissan also unveiled a new logo. The refreshed br…

After more than two years of protest from California dealers, Volvo Cars USA will replace a controversial subscription program in its biggest market.

The Swedish automaker plans to introduce an updated — and more dealer-friendly — version of the Care by Volvo program in California.

But still unclear is whether the changes in the newer version will satisfy the California dealer complaints.

The original Care by Volvo launched in 2017 as a two-year subscription service. The program bundles the use of a vehicle, insurance and maintenance costs into a monthly payment that ranges from $700 to $800, depending on the vehicle. After a year, subscribers can swap for a different vehicle.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this year deemed the subscription service to be in violation of several state franchise and consumer protection laws.

Last fall, Volvo broadened the service to include more models and make some dealer-friendly updat…

Massachusetts on Tuesday followed California in suing Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. over allegedly misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees entitled to extensive benefits.

The complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court claims Uber and Lyft violate state minimum wage, hour and sick time laws.

"Uber and Lyft have built their billion-dollar businesses while denying their drivers basic employee protections and benefits for years,” Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.

Uber and Lyft argue that the vast majority of their drivers enjoy the flexibility that comes with on-demand work, and a recent analysis by Cornell University of Seattle driver data supplied by the companies showed that some 75 percent of drivers work fewer than 20 hours.

Massachusetts' lawsuit comes roughly two months after California filed a similar complaint, accusing Uber and Lyft of evading workplace protections and…

Leaders from NADA, TrueCar, CDK and the Carter Myers auto group discuss what's working and what they've learned during the pandemic.

Speakers:Mike Darrow, President & CEO, TrueCarBrian Krzanich, President & CEO, CDK GlobalLiza Borches, CEO, Carter Myers Automotive GroupKerri Wise, VP Communications, TrueCarRhett Ricart, 2020 Chairman, NADAJason Stein, Publisher, Automotive News

This conversation was originally broadcast on July 14, 2020 as part of the Automotive News Retail Forum: Dealer Discussions series, which runs through August 4. To learn more and register to watch future broadcasts live, visit http://autonews.com/retailforum.

DETROIT -- General Motors said its filtering facepiece respirators have received N95 certification from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

To achieve the N95 rating, a filtering facepiece must filter out "at least 95 percent of airborne particles during 'worst case' testing using a 'most-penetrating'-sized particle," GM said in a statement Tuesday.

The automaker said this required a new manufacturing process at its plant in Warren, Mich. The process mandates that N95 masks include certain components, such as a wire nosepiece and a sonic weld that extends from the nose to the chin.

After excess material is trimmed off and ear bands are welded into place, the masks are subjected to a "quality check." The masks are then "cleaned, bagged and prepared for shipment," the company said.

GM also said sonic welders that were used in its Brownstown Township, Mich., battery assembly plant have been repurposed for the N95 respirators. T…

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.

Ford's product development boss explains why the automaker waited so long to bring back the Bronco SUV and how the iconic off-roader and its variants will stand out in the market and differentiate itself from rival Jeep.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here…