Trade News

LONDON -- Jaguar Land Rover's shortlist of executives to succeed CEO Ralf Speth includes ex-BMW development chief Klaus Froehlich and former Audi CEO Bram Schot, the Financial Times reported.

The announcement could come as early as this week, the paper said.

JLR said in January that Speth would retire in September, triggering a search for a replacement.

Speth reaches 65 in September, which requires him to retire under the company policy of JLR parent Tata Motors. He will become non-executive vice-chairman of JLR.

The shortlist includes Froehlich, Schot, Nick Rogers, who is JLR's head of engineering, and Fred Schulze, head of production at Audi's home plant in Ingolstadt, Germany, the FT said, citing multiple sources familiar with the search.

Froelich retired from BMW at the end of June after reaching 60, the mandatory retirement age at BMW.

In January 2019, Audi promoted Schot, its former sales and marketing chief to the CEO role he…

Manheim said Monday it is adding 12 more auction sites where it's allowing dealers to bid in-lane, bringing its total to 17 such locations. The latest pilot locations include Manheim Denver, Manheim Nevada and Manheim Utah.

While bidders are allowed in lanes, vehicles are still not running through them, instead being shown on large screens as part of "digital blocks" with simulcast.

The Cox Automotive company first began allowing bidders to return to lanes at five pilot locations the week of June 22. It had planned on adding three additional sites in Florida, but postponed those amid rising levels of the novel coronavirus. Other pilots could also be postponed, based on the state of the virus.

"As we continue to move forward with our re-opening plans, we saw great success with our return to in-lane bidding at our five initial pilot sites," Alan Lang, Manheim's division vice president, said in a release. Lang added that the company adheres to "strict safet…

BEIJING -- Ford Motor Co.'s China ventures reported sales growth in June as the world's biggest auto market continues to recover from coronavirus-induced lows.

The automaker's Chongqing-based venture with Changan said on Monday sales jumped 7.7 percent from a year earlier. It did not disclose the number of vehicles sold.

Ford's new and redesigned crossover models, including Escape, Edge and Explorer, are selling well and contributed to growth in past months, it said in a statement.

Jiangling Motors Corp., in which Ford owns a stake, said in a filing last week that it sold 39,192 vehicles last month, up 67 percent year on year. JMC sells Ford-branded crossovers and vans as well as JMC-branded commercial vehicles.

The ventures also saw sales up in April and May, putting the U.S. company on track for its first quarterly growth since the third quarter of 2017. It said the aging model lineup caused the sales slide.

Ford's rival General Motors sa…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is not just introducing the Bronco and Bronco Sport next week; it's launching a vehicle line that could grow to include more off-road nameplates.

The automaker on Monday confirmed Bronco would be a subbrand, using the "Built Wild" tag line. Executives as far back as early 2019 had been telling dealers its off-road offerings would be a "family" of vehicles.

That brand will include two-door and four-door versions of the Bronco SUV, as well as the smaller Bronco Sport crossover, a name Ford confirmed Monday after previously referring to it as a small, rugged off-road utility.

There's room to expand the Bronco line beyond those models, officials say.

"We'll start with the three models that we have," Mark Grueber, Ford's U.S. consumer marketing manager, said on a call with media. "We will continue to look to where there's customers we could satisfy with Bronco and how to continue to expand the brand in the future."

Ford …

Ford Motor Co. has committed to achieving global carbon neutrality. It's an ambitious goal for such a large-scale manufacturer, but it's also a safe bet that hardly anyone who works for Ford today will still be on the job to see if it happens.

The automaker said in its 21st annual Sustainability Report that it would offset all of its carbon emissions by 2050. Ford said it's primarily focused on three areas that make up 95 percent of its carbon emissions: vehicle use, supply base and company facilities. The company listed a number of potential hurdles to its target, including customer acceptance, government regulations, economic conditions and the availability of renewable fuels.

"We can develop and make great vehicles, sustain and grow a strong business and protect our planet at the same time — in fact, those ideals complement each other," Bob Holycross, Ford's chief sustainability, environment and safety officer, said in a statement. "We don't …

Workers at a key General Motors assembly plant want a break for coronavirus safety, but the automaker isn't interested in shutting down.

The UAW local in Arlington, Texas, has asked GM to temporarily close its 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, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Tarrant County, where the plant is located, had 11,739 confirmed cases and 225 deaths as of Wednesday, July 1.

Th…

For years, you could always count on Fiat Chrysler brands being doormats in surveys of vehicle quality.

In a decade of annual J.D. Power Initial Quality Studies starting in 2008, only one FCA brand — Ram in 2017 — managed to make it among the top 10. That's one for 100, a sorry batting average in any league.

FCA did better in scoring last-place finishes. During the same span, Dodge and Jeep each had one such inglorious title. And Fiat — true to its "Fix It Again, Tony" reputation — claimed four.

This is hardly what Dennis Pawley, Chrysler's former manufacturing chief, had in mind when he went public in the 1990s with his goal of topping Toyota in quality.

What we saw in late June was more like it: FCA's Dodge, in a tie with Kia, ranked No. 1 in the 2020 IQS report, the first time a domestic brand finished on top in 34 years of the study.

What's more, Ram came in at No. 3. And Jeep finished above the industry average at 11, a notch above Le…

In 2018, I wrote an article about how your dealership's service department is moving to your customer's home, and that message could not be more applicable today. Because of the pandemic, touchless automotive service is the name of the game. This has been a consumer preference for some time. Case in point: Apple stores have been offering no-contact service since 2001.

Dealers have long been incredible survivors. As Winston Churchill is famous for saying, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." What can you do to come out of this swinging and be even more efficient? How can your dealership further improve the customer experience with touchless service in your service department?

You can choose to be the Usain Bolt of the service world and use the right training regimen and processes to trounce your competition, or you can be stuck in the past. My advice is to study what other successful businesses have done.

Apple has been the leader…

A theft of a $120,000 Maserati from a dealership in New York City was foiled by a red light in the next block.

An employee of Maserati of Manhattan who noticed a white 2019 Quattroporte GTS missing from the showroom June 26 spotted it running on the street near the exit from the service department, according to the New York Post. The thief sped away but made it only about 500 feet before getting stuck in traffic at a red light.

At that point, he jumped out, handed over the keys and ran off. But other dealership employees chased down the man and held him until police arrived.

Prosecutors charged the 30-year-old with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle. He also appears to be guilty of bad planning.

The Case of the Briefly Missing Maserati was solved a day after the same dealership reported that someone stole an $87,000 Ghibli SQ4.

That theft happened at night and was captured on surveillance…

What good is a Lamborghini that can drive only on land when 71 percent of the earth's surface is covered in water?

The Italian automaker has just the solution. It's collaborating with the Italian Sea Group to produce the first seaworthy Lamborghini, the Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63.

It's a 63-foot yacht with a starting price of about $3.4 million.

The Tecnomar, which pays homage to Lamborghini's founding in 1963, borrows design cues from the automaker and has a helm made to resemble a Lamborghini cockpit. The plan is to sell 63 of the boats, which are powered by a pair of 2,000-hp MAN V-12 diesel engines.

"If I had to imagine a Lamborghini on water, this would be my vision," Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, said in a statement. "I'm delighted to celebrate this successful collaboration."

The Tecnomar, which has a top cruising speed of 69 mph, goes on sale in 2021. Until then, it's best to ke…