Trade News

With economic activity in a pandemic freeze during much of the second quarter, Nissan's quarterly sales cratered 50 percent.

The Nissan division sold 161,233 vehicles in the quarter, down 50 percent from the year earlier. Infiniti volume tumbled 44 percent to 16,095 vehicles.

Behind the dismal performance is good news.

Monthly sales momentum rose consistently in April, May and June — with retail deliveries accounting for a growing share of volume, said David Kershaw, Nissan division vice president of sales and regional operations.

"Retail sales have exceeded our expectations in the second quarter as we continue to decrease rental fleet volume and focus on steadily building a quality, sustainable business for our employees, dealers and for our customers," Kershaw said, declining to disclose the retail-fleet sales mix.

Nissan is pivoting away from an aggressive pursuit of market share championed by former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. A cornerstone…

The toaster-shaped shuttle slammed into a concrete barrier. Shards of glass sprayed through the air. Hub motors on the rear wheels detached from the underlying vehicle structure.

For Local Motors, this constituted a good start.

Where none existed before, the mobility company — perhaps most well-known for 3D-printing vehicles — had developed testing protocols to vet the crashworthiness of its purpose-built Olli autonomous shuttle. That was a year and a half ago.

The company took lessons from that initial round of testing and iterated on its printing methods, its frontal-crash structures and made design changes to the vehicle itself. In January, Local Motors ran a second gauntlet of crash tests more narrowly focused on components that showed substantial gains in how crash energy is dissipated in a vehicle without traditional crumple zones.

Among the findings: Local Motors says its 3D-printed frontal crush structure per…

Subaru of America reported a 12 percent decrease in its June deliveries as the industry works to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Forester compact crossover bucked the downward trend as its June sales rose 32 percent to 19,490. It accounted for more than a third of Subaru's 53,911 sales in the month, and the vehicle's volume is down just 0.4 percent year to date.

"The Forester continued to shine in our lineup of all-star vehicles, drawing a healthy demand from car buyers looking for vehicles they can rely on when times are tough," Jeff Walters, senior vice president of sales, said in a statement.

Subaru's other key light trucks — the Ascent, Outback and Crosstrek — fell in June. The lower-volume WRX/STI and BRZ cars saw gains.

Subaru of America earlier this week said it would switch to quarterly sales reports after June, but a spokesperson on Wednesday evening told Automotive News that the brand changed its …

Volkswagen is freshening its top-selling global crossover to give it new styling and new features — just not here, and not yet.

The changes being baked into the updated Tiguan — including new styling, an upgraded infotainment system, a new steering wheel and configurable ambient lighting — will hit its German homeland and neighboring European markets this fall.

But the U.S. and Canada won't see the upgrades revealed Tuesday until the changes come with the 2022 model year, some 16 months from now.

The changes will include a freshened interior featuring Volkswagen Group's latest MIB 3 infotainment system, a steering wheel with upscale touch controls instead of analog buttons and optional personalization options.

On the exterior, the updated Tiguan will get a redesigned front fascia and standard LED headlights, as well as some new exterior colors such as Oryx White and Kings Red.

The crossover's powertrain will…

DETROIT — UAW President Rory Gamble and U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider in a nearly two-hour meeting Tuesday discussed the possibility of an "independent monitor" to ensure progress on reform efforts aimed at rooting out corruption.

The unusual gathering, amid the backdrop of an ongoing federal corruption probe, came as Gamble tries to prove the union can clean itself up from within, even as Schneider calls for more meaningful changes.

The two sides, according to a joint release, discussed the prospect of altering longstanding UAW procedures to implement direct election of officers — a move Schneider has publicly advocated for. Gamble also laid out steps the union has taken in recent months to add more stringent controls over spending and other financial matters.

The release said the two sides are considering third-party oversight of any future agreements over reform efforts.

"The Justice Department seeks genuine and sincere reform of the UAW so a…

Subaru of America, once a monthly sales streak darling as its U.S. volume rapidly expanded over the past decade, is switching to quarterly sales reporting.

The automaker will report its June U.S. sales Wednesday, then switch its cadence going forward.

The automaker, of Camden, N.J., was one of the few holdouts still reporting on a monthly basis. After Subaru switches to quarterly, Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mazda, Toyota and Volvo will remain the only automakers to report monthly.

Subaru follows Porsche, Nissan, Mitsubishi and BMW in making the switch this year.

Starting in December 2011, Subaru cultivated a 93-month streak of year-over-year sales gains, which was snapped in September when sales dropped 9.4 percent.

While Subaru also had a monthly sales decline in December, 2019 was another record year for the brand, with 700,117 vehicle sales, an increase of 2.9 percent.

The automaker posted monthly increases in January and February, but s…

DETROIT — The UAW paid out more than $80 million to workers who went on strike against General Motors for 40 days last fall, according to the union's annual report filed Tuesday.

UAW members received weekly checks of $250 to $275 after the first week of the strike. The payments amounted to more than 10 percent of the roughly $800 million that was in the union's strike fund before the walkout.

In addition to benefit costs, the UAW paid $23,626 to print strike signs at the end of September, according to its filing with the Department of Labor. The union paid $18,550 for more signs Oct. 17, and it paid a printing company nearly $62,000 for "strike materials" in early December.

The UAW also dealt with strikes against Mack Truck and Aramark, a custodial company that services multiple GM sites.

GM has said the strike cost it more than $3 billion.

The walkout occurred toward the end of a year in which UAW membership grew by more than 3,000 people,…

With the CT4, Cadillac is overhauling its car lineup again and says it's committed to the luxury sport sedan market, even as the rest of General Motors continues to shift away from sedans.

The CT4 faces an uphill battle to stand out against European competitors, but Cadillac is banking on a lower starting price point and a rear-wheel-drive option to give the sport sedan an edge.

"Cadillac has not abandoned providing world-class cars," said Ken Kornas, product manager for the CT4 and CT5. "You hear a lot of discussion and talk about the shift in the marketplace to crossovers and SUVs. But we know to be a full-line global manufacturer ... it's important for us as Cadillac to play in these spaces. The CT4, and really the CT5, which is also launching this year, reflects Cadillac's commitment as well as our realignment of our sedan portfolio."

The 2020 CT4 Luxury base trim with rwd starts at $33,990, including shipping, making it a ke…

Kia's sees its next-generation midsize sedan as such an upgrade — from the interior and exterior styling to the high-output engine and newly available all-wheel drive — that the Korean automaker is changing the name. The fifth iteration of the sedan will drop the Optima badge in favor of the K5.

The name isn't out of left field. Kia has long used the K5 moniker for the sedan in Korea, where the redesigned model has been on sale since December. And Kia's large flagship sedan is called the K9 in its home market and the K900 in the U.S. — to avoid any canine association.

Kia presented the 2021 K5 in a virtual event Tuesday.

"The K5 celebrates this bold, new chapter in Kia's history with an equally bold name to emphasize the midsize sedan's revolutionary design, all-new safety and performance-enhanced N3 platform, turbocharged engines, available all-wheel drive and high-impact technology," Kia said.

The K5, which goes on…

Several automakers — such as Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles — collaborated to launch an online tool that identifies recalled Takata airbag modules and inflators.

The free site, launched on Monday, also provides information regarding free pickup and disposal options.

The industry's new tool has parts information for 19 auto brands. Aftermarket industry workers can search parts by "whatever information is known," such as the serial number or supplier part number.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the auto lobbying group representing most major automakers, said it supports the tool as a customer safety measure. The long-term plan for the tool is expansion to cover additional nonsaleable parts, an group spokesperson said.

FCA also said it "strongly supports" the tool, adding that "parts recyclers are in a unique position to help protect" customers.

"In addition to replacing defective airbags, a key objecti…

The UAW local in Arlington, Texas, has asked General Motors. to temporarily close its large-SUV plant in the city for the safety of its workers as cases of COVID-19 rise rapidly in the state.

“Due to the most recent data on the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bargaining Committee has asked General Motors to shut down Arlington Assembly until the curve is flattened for the benefit and well-being of our members,” UAW Local 276 said on its website. “Every day we are setting new records in the number of people who are testing positive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.”

Confirmed cases in Texas have been rising by more than 5,000 a day in recent weeks, and the Lone Star State reported 4,288 new cases yesterday, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Cases in Tarrant County, where the plant is located, increased by 393.

There could be a standoff over closing the GM plant. The union is worried about worker safety, but shutting down Arlington would be a…

LONDON -- Bentley has spent big to upgrade its top-selling model, the Bentayga SUV, in a bid to hold off new competition such as the Aston Martin DBX.

The British ultraluxury automaker has redesigned the SUV to give it a higher market position, farther away from rivals, CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a news release Tuesday.

With the exception of the doors, all of the SUV’s exterior panels have been redesigned, with the most dramatic changes coming at the rear.

The current model’s conventional tailgate has been replaced with one that stretches around the side of the vehicle. The change eliminates the shut lines seen from the rear and also allows the adoption of elliptical lights similar to those on Bentley’s Continental GT coupe and convertible.

“The level of investment in this car is significant,” Bentayga product line director Chris Cole told Automotive News Europe at a pre-reveal of the SUV in March.

“With new entrants such as the Roll…