Trade News

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. will open the taps on production in Japan to expedite shipments to the U.S., where local factories are still slowly ramping up and inventories are evaporating.

Toyota's return to production in Japan occurred quickly, after dialing back plans in the face of diminished sales as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toyota now plans to ramp up Japan production to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and it is prioritizing models that it exports to the U.S.

Toyota's Japan production was down 40 percent in June, as the company responded to plunging demand. But for July, volumes will be down only 10 percent.

Giving new priority to U.S. retailers mostly will affect production that had been earmarked for Japan, mainland Asia and Middle East markets, Toyota said.

The plan unfolds as U.S. shoppers emerge from weeks of lockdown and business closings, hungry for vehicles and pressuring deplete…

HOLLY, Mich. — Dave Pericak smiles as he hops in the driver's seat of a topless 1971 baby blue Ford Bronco.

The late-afternoon sun glints off his Aviator sunglasses as he turns the key and the restored SUV rumbles to life.

Pericak is finishing a long day of shooting promotional material for the July reveal of the 2021 Bronco — a storied nameplate Ford is reviving after a 24-year hiatus — but not before he takes the classic model for a spin with a reporter through an off-road park about an hour north of Detroit.

"How often do you get to drive something like this?" he asks as the Bronco bounds along uneven dirt trails.

For Pericak, 49, the answer is: a lot. He's director of "Ford Icons," a new role that includes stewardship of the Bronco, the Mustang and the GT supercar, as well as Raptor-badged pickups.

But among the litany of venerable products he took responsibility for in January 2019, one stood apart.

The Bronco retains a cult f…

TOKYO — Nissan's e-Power hybrid system is finally getting an international run that foreshadows the automaker's plan to introduce the technology globally.

Nissan is deploying the electrified powertrain in a version of the Kicks subcompact crossover that it will sell in Thailand and Japan.

Nissan hasn't confirmed U.S. launch plans for e-Power or said whether the U.S. version of the Kicks will get it. But engineers and product planners have said the company intends to eventually introduce a high-power version of the gasoline-electric system stateside.

Nissan unveiled the Kicks e-Power in Japan last week. The model is assembled in Thailand and initially will be sold there and in Japan. The U.S. version of the Kicks is built in Mexico, sharing its platform with the Versa, also made in Mexico.

Internationally, the lack of a hybrid option on the redesigned Rogue compact crossover, Nissan's top-selling nameplate in the U.S.,…

The second quarter made clear that U.S. auto sales are in recovery mode.

The question heading into the third quarter, with COVID-19 cases surging in major automotive markets in California, Florida and Texas, is whether the upward trend will continue.

The industry bounced back from a treacherous decline in March and early April, helped by particularly resilient demand for pickups, after the pandemic confined millions to their homes and cut off traffic to dealerships. On the used- vehicle side, certified pre-owned sales last month were on par with February's, analysts said.

But the market lost some momentum in late June, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Cox Automotive. A rebound in coronavirus cases could cause some people to second-guess going out, Smoke said, and the big discounts that drew customers in April and May aren't as prevalent now.

That combination, Smoke said, is "probably going to produce a June that won't b…

DETROIT — Kristina Nunez is trying to land a full-time job in the auto industry — and do it without meeting her boss in person.

Many internship programs were canceled in the spring when offices across the country closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But some have been able to pivot and allow interns to work online, just like their full-time counterparts.

Nunez and other work-from-home interns are confronting the difficulties of working with people they know only as tiny, pixelated faces or phantom voices on the phone. It's harder than in the past for interns hoping to snag job offers to make a strong impression or develop relationships with peers and mentors. But doing an internship online keeps them in the pipeline.

Nunez, 22, started a coveted product development internship at Ford Motor Co. on June 1. The fifth-year undergraduate at the University of Michigan is at a pivotal point in her career path.

"It's kind of m…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. knows there's no room for error in launching its redesigned F-150 pickup. But executives are confident they won't repeat the costly mistakes that tripped up early Explorer production last year.

To roll out the Explorer, Ford tore its Chicago Assembly Plant down to the studs, rebuilt it in 30 days and tried to run three shifts of Explorers, Lincoln Aviators and Police Interceptors from the jump. It turned out to be a grave error.

The plant couldn't get line speeds moving as quickly as intended, and some early builds had to be shipped to Michigan for extra quality checks. The stumbles contributed to a dismal final quarter in 2019 and likely cost longtime executive Joe Hinrichs his job.

Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's product development and purchasing boss, told Automotive News nothing like that will happen with the F-150.

For starters, Ford doesn't have to gut its pickup assembly plants in Kansas City, …

DETROIT -- General Motors on Friday asked a U.S. appeals court to allow it to continue pursuing its civil racketeering suit against rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, rejecting a lower court judge's belittling of the complaint.

The automaker's filing with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes less than a week after U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman called GM's suit against Fiat Chrysler a "waste of time and resources" at a time when both automakers should be focused on surviving the coronavirus pandemic.

Borman ordered GM CEO Mary Barra and Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley to meet by July 1 to negotiate a resolution.

In its motion Friday, GM asked the appeals court to throw out Borman's order and reassign the case to a different district court judge. GM in its petition called Borman's order "unprecedented" and "a profound abuse" of judicial power.

"As we have said from the date this lawsuit was filed, it is meritless," FCA said on Friday.<…

Honda Motor Co.’s U.S. automobile division is joining a Facebook ad boycott, making it the first automaker to publicly pledge to join a movement that is gaining momentum by the hour.

“For the month of July, American Honda will withhold its advertising on Facebook and Instagram, choosing to stand with people united against hate and racism," Honda said in a statement. "This is in alignment with our company’s values, which are grounded in human respect.”

The move includes spending for the Honda brand as well as Acura, Honda's luxury brand.

Verizon, Unilever and other big consumer goods makers have pledged to halt Facebook and Instagram spending in response to civil rights groups, while calling out the social media giant for failing to prevent the spread of disinformation and hate speech.

Unilever took its pause a step further, including Twitter, and extended the suspension in the U.S. through the end of the year. An American Honda spokeswoman said th…

Burt Jordan, Ford Motor Co.'s vice president for global purchasing and supply chain sustainability, will retire effective July 1, the company said Thursday.

The automaker has not determined whether the role will be filled or the responsibilities distributed among other employees, according to a Ford spokesperson.

Jordan, 53, has reported to Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's chief product development and purchasing officer.

Before coming to Ford, Jordan spent 10 years working for General Motors, Toyota Motor Corp. and United Technologies.

He joined Ford in 1999 and has held several corporate officer positions in purchasing since 2013.

He was named 2020 CPO of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council in recognition of impactful leadership. He has also been "a driving force behind Ford's supplier diversity and inclusion activities," Ford said in a statement.

Rising cases of COVID-19 are prompting Manheim to delay reintroducing in-lane bidders at three auction sites in Florida.

The Cox Automotive-owned auction operator planned to allow bidders to return to Manheim Central Florida, Manheim Lakeland and Manheim Orlando next week, after doing so at five pilot locations in Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas this week.

Florida has record daily increases in reported cases of the virus this week.

"As safety is our top priority, we delayed the pilot of in-lane bidding at those three Florida locations due to rising pandemic levels in the area," Alan Lang, Manheim division vice president, said in an emailed statement.

Manheim and KAR Global's ADESA said on March 16 they would switch to digital-only auctions, as the virus outbreak began triggering stay-at-home orders in some parts of the U.S.

Some independent auctions continued to operate with buyers in lanes t…

MILAN -- The COVID-19 crisis has not delayed plans to finalize a merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group by the first quarter of next year, FCA Chairman John Elkann said.

"In spite of the huge challenges that have materialized with the COVID-19 emergency, I can confirm that the work of our teams towards the completion of the merger has continued apace and we expect to meet our objective of combining as a single company by the first quarter of next year," Elkann said during the automaker's shareholders' meeting on Friday.

"The COVID-19 crisis has further underlined the compelling logic of this merger," he added.

PSA CEO Carlos Tavares told his company's shareholders on Thursday that he was confident that it would be finalized by the first quarter of 2021 "at the latest." Tavares also pushed back against suggestions that the terms of its merger agreement with FCA should be revised because of the impact of the coronavirus crisis.