Trade News

DETROIT — The F-150 redesign that Ford Motor Co. plans to unveil this week isn't as risky as the switch to an aluminum body for the current generation. But the new pickup nonetheless will determine the automaker's fortunes in a segment that's increasingly volatile and soon to be invaded by electric vehicle makers.

The gamble Ford took in switching to a more expensive material on its most important vehicle has largely paid off, though perhaps less conspicuously than Ford had hoped.

Since the pickup was redesigned in 2014, sales, market share and average transaction prices have risen, and studies have shown that repair and insurance costs — a major question mark at launch — have largely remained flat. The rest of the industry, however, declined to follow Ford's aluminum gambit, choosing other routes to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency.

Still, Ford sold more pickups in 2018 than any other year besides 2001 and 2004. It end…

Tesla Inc. will postpone its annual shareholder meeting because large gatherings won’t be allowed because of COVID-19 restrictions, company CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet.

Tesla’s shareholder meeting had been scheduled slated for July 7.

Musk said in response to questions on Twitter that he’s not sure of a new date, but guessed it may be “a month or so later,” he tweeted.

The annual meeting probably will be held in Fremont, Calif., and may also be combined with Tesla’s battery day, Musk added. 

Nissan's redesign of its flagship Rogue model delivers an improved portfolio of family-friendly technologies expected of a crossover.

But also notable is what Nissan's volume-leading nameplate will not offer — a hybrid powertrain.

When the new 2021 Rogue launches this fall, it will offer a single powertrain: a 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine. That's in contrast to Nissan's competitors in the critical compact crossover segment that are doubling down on fuel-sipping electrified vehicles.

Three of the Rogue's biggest rivals — the Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V — are available with hybrid powertrains. At times, Nissan's Rogue has outsold all of them.

But the market is changing.

Hybrid variants give automakers a differentiator in a crowded segment, said Conrad Layson, researcher with AutoForecast Solutions.

"The RAV4 turned the virtue of a hybrid's fuel savings into a performance s…

Poor people stand to gain substantial health benefits from the arrival of autonomous vehicles. But a new study finds they're least likely to afford the rides.

Affordability concerns surrounding self-driving technology mean low-income citizens will largely miss out on improved access to transportation and the chance to buy cars equipped with systems that prevent collisions.

The study, published this month by the American Journal of Public Health, deflates some longstanding optimism from industry executives and government leaders who have touted autonomous vehicles as a means for improving the health of U.S. residents.

Self-driving vehicles have been expected to add those benefits, at least in part, by providing more efficient links between poor people and their medical appointments. More than 3.6 million patients miss or delay non-emergency treatment each year in the U.S. because of a lack of transportation, according to the report.

"Even with univ…

Jaguar Land Rover is truly a tale of two brands. On one hand, Land Rover, the sole brand that sells only premium SUVs, is in the sweet spot of having an array of vehicles that customers want to buy. SUVs, pickups and crossovers account for almost 70 percent of the U.S. new-vehicle market.

Jaguar, on the other hand, despite having three crossovers in its lineup, is still best known for its sports sedans and sports cars. The transition to crossovers and electric powertrains has not been a smooth one.

The battery electric I-Pace crossover has won a trophy case of awards but has been a slow seller and is a vehicle many dealers can't move at a profit. The entry level E-Pace crossover has also posted low sales compared with its main competitors.

With the Land Rover Defender back in the lineup, the redesigned Range Rover Evoque flying off dealership lots and the evergreen Range Rover racking up huge sales and profits, Land Rover is carrying the company as Jagu…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is postponing the reveal of its Bronco SUV by four days amid concerns that its previous unveiling coincided with the birthday of O.J. Simpson.

In 1994, Simpson was infamously riding in a white Bronco along Los Angeles freeways being driven by his longtime friend Al Cowlings. Simpson was attempting to flee police as he faced charges of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. His birthday, July 9, happened to be the Bronco's planned reveal date.

That has now been moved to July 13.

"We wanted to be sensitive and respectful of this concern," Mark Truby, Ford's communications chief, wrote on Twitter.

The automaker was adamant the July 9 date was "purely coincidental."

The Bronco originally was expected to be revealed this spring, but those plans were halted by the coronavirus pandemic.

PARIS -- Renault's incoming CEO Luca de Meo said he was conscious that the automaker faced many problems, but he is confident the group could end up becoming a positive turnaround story.

De Meo, addressing investors at the company's annual shareholder meeting Friday before taking up his new job July 1, said he shared a "sense of urgency" with teams at Renault to deliver on the automaker's new strategy and restructuring.

"I'm very conscious of the company's difficulties," said de Meo, a former Volkswagen Group executive who started his automotive career at Renault nearly 30 years ago, adding that he had been keen to join the company to help tackle the challenge.

De Meo was subject to a six-month noncompete agreement after leaving his post as head of VW Group’s Seat brand in January, but the German automaker reportedly agreed to waive part of the requirement to allow him to make contact with Renault executives starting in early June.

He is sche…

For a self-driving vehicle startup, Gatik has an odd mantra: don’t agonize over autonomy, worry about delivery.

Specifically, the three-year-old company is focused on so-called middle-mile delivery, the oft-overlooked leg between when, say, a sweater is trucked across the country and when it is ferried over the last few miles and dropped on someone’s porch. For three years now, Gatik has been strapping sensors all over vans and small trucks and moving groceries from large distribution centers to small warehouses, albeit with a human back-up driver aboard.

In a world of moon-shot technology, billion-dollar capital rounds and promises to disrupt private (and public) transportation as we know it, Gatik’s ambition is humble. Last summer, it raised $4.5 million from investors, a pint-sized sum among self-driving ventures. Though Gatik may not be sexy, its slow-lane approach has proved to be pragmatic and lucrative. Last summer, Walmart signed on as one of its first …

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.

Bank of America senior auto analyst John Murphy provides key takeaways from the company's annual ''Car Wars'' study. He discusses what's in the U.S. product pipeline and the hurdles the industry faces due to the outbreak.

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DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. will return to pre-coronavirus levels of U.S. vehicle production two weeks ahead of schedule, the company said Friday.

The automaker is expected to run normal shift patterns at all of its U.S. assembly plants starting Monday, June 22, ahead of the original target of July 6.

"We are pleased to be able to return to our normal operating pattern in the U.S. on Monday — which is sooner than expected — because our workforce and suppliers are able to support," Ford spokeswoman Kelli Felker said in a statement. "The safety of our workforce continues to be our top priority."

Ford resumed production in North America on May 18 after a two-month shutdown due to the coronavirus. There were some initial hiccups as the automaker briefly halted lines at multiple plants when workers tested positive for COVID-19, but in recent weeks Ford has added shifts and overtime to most facilities. In the first three weeks after the restart, Ford said it hit…

FRANKFURT -- Daimler said Friday it had put on hold a development alliance in the area of automated driving between its Mercedes-Benz brand and rival BMW.

"Following extensive review, the two companies have arrived at a mutual and amicable agreement to concentrate on their existing development paths, which may also include working with new partners," Daimler said in a statement.

Daimler said the cooperation, which was announced in 2019, may resume at a later date.

BMW and Daimler said last year that they had entered into a long-term development partnership to develop highly automated driving functions to enable "hands off" autonomous driving on highways as well as automated parking.

BMW said at the time the non-exclusive cooperation was open to other automakers and technology partners.

In 2018, BMW and Daimler merged their short-term rental services Car2Go and DriveNow in a bid to create more of a presence in the developing mobility market.

Temporary store closures and stay-at-home orders sent CarMax Inc.'s sales and profits down by double digits in its fiscal first quarter, which ended May 31.

But business has been recovering and company shares are rising.

The country's largest used-vehicle retailer had its fiscal quarter coincide with the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted many local and state governments to implement measures that kept stores from operating and customers from shopping.

More than 80 percent of the days in the quarter were negatively impacted by the pandemic, including a mix of store closures and limited operations, CarMax said in an earnings release Friday.

Net earnings dropped 98 percent to $5 million in the quarter while net sales and operating revenues fell 40 percent to $3.23 billion. The used-vehicle retailer's gross profit decreased 52 percent to $354.2 million.

Used-vehicle gross profit was down 47 percent, impacted by a decline of $278…