Trade News

Auto fraud has increased exponentially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic as some people attempt to take advantage of the unprecedented moment in time. Investing in identity verification technologies can reduce fraudulent auto originations during the crisis, fraud experts said, but only if dealerships and lenders are on board.

One unexpected, increasing area of fraud risk for dealerships and auto lenders: the federal financial hardship and forbearance strategies keeping millions of Americans from falling behind on auto loan payments.

Thanks to existing protections and additional guidance in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, lenders granting forbearance to customers in need aren't jeopardizing their credit standing.

Lee Cookman, director of product strategy of global fraud and identity solutions at credit bureau TransUnion, said while these tools are preserving legitimate customers' credit standing, they …

Jeff Guyton picked an interesting time to move back to the U.S. from Europe to take over as president of Mazda North American Operations just more than 14 months ago. The brand's first redesigned model under its new "premium" image — the compact Mazda3 sedan and hatchback — was headed toward a disappointing sales debut after a price hike and a wrong bet that offering all-wheel drive would entice Americans out of their crossovers.

Guyton, 53, who was head of Mazda Europe for a decade, inherited rapidly fading sales in the U.S. But Mazda had a plan: Redesign the dealerships in addition to remaking the vehicles, and hit hard at the crossover space with an upscale entry that would still compete with Toyota and Honda in the base-trim volume segment. Guyton's job was to execute that plan quickly.

The Japanese automaker kicked off this year with record sales, along with the debut of the CX-30 crossover that essentially is the higher-riding cousin of the Mazda3 hatch…

General Motors designated $10 million to support organizations that promote inclusion and racial justice, the company said Friday after making public statements advocating for inclusion and an end to racism this week.

The automaker's support will start with a $1 million donation to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the company said in a statement.

GM will determine recipients for the additional funding with input from its employee resource groups and the inclusion advisory board, which CEO Mary Barra will chair and commission by the end of the quarter.

The company also will match employees' contributions as part of its $10 million commitment.

"Through today's donations, GM is taking action in helping root out intolerance – and that means racism, bigotry, discrimination and any other form of hatred," Barra said in a statement. "We want to be part of meaningful, deliberate change and we will not allow ourselves the passivity of urging ot…

Dealership technology company Reynolds and Reynolds this week named Tommy Barras its president and COO, a new role that will report directly to CEO Bob Brockman.

Prior to his appointment Wednesday, Barras, 61, had served as Reynolds' executive vice president of software development since 2008, the company said Friday. He has worked on software development since the 1980s.

"With more than 40 years in the industry and with the company, Tommy understands in amazing detail the core strengths of our software and products, and how both fit into a dealership's operations as a retailer," Brockman said in a statement. "Tommy has been involved in developing virtually every major software and product initiative across the company, and his product achievements have been an important key to our success."

Reynolds provides technology to dealerships, including dealership management and customer relationship management systems.

Barras is the first executive …

BANGOR, Maine -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to impose tariffs on European Union cars if the bloc does not drop its tariff on American lobsters, naming White House trade adviser Peter Navarro the "lobster king" in charge of talks.

Trump, speaking at an event with commercial fishermen, also asked Navarro to identify Chinese products to hit with tariffs unless Beijing dropped its duties on American lobsters.

"If the European Union doesn't drop that tariff immediately, we're going to put a tariff on their cars, which will be equivalent," Trump said.

"Peter Navarro is going to be the lobster king now," he added after putting the adviser in charge of talks, promising the fishermen the tariffs on American lobsters would be dropped quickly by the EU.

No comment was immediately available from the U.S. Trade Representative's office or the EU's delegation in Washington. The Chinese embassy had no immediate response.

Trump's top t…

Companies working on self-driving vehicles have criticized an insurance industry study suggesting that only a third of all U.S. road crashes could be prevented by driverless cars, arguing that the study has underestimated the technology's capabilities.

The study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released on Thursday analyzed 5,000 U.S. crashes and concluded that likely only those caused by driver perception errors and incapacitation could be prevented by self-driving cars.

The autonomous vehicle industry quickly responded that its cars were programmed to prevent a vastly higher number of potential crash causes, including more complex errors caused by drivers making inadequate or incorrect evasive maneuvers.

Taking those design choices into account, autonomous vehicles could avoid some 72 percent of crashes, said Partners for Automated Vehicle Education, a consortium of self-driving technology companies.

The group in a blog post on Thur…

Toyota Motor Corp. has postponed the online reveal of the redesigned 2021 Lexus IS sedan that had been planned for June 9 in the wake of ongoing civil unrest in the U.S. over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Lexus issued a two-sentence press release today, saying it "has respectfully postponed the world premiere of the new IS, which was originally scheduled for June 9. Revised timing will be announced soon."

The Japanese automaker also issued a statement Wednesday decrying "unacceptable bigotry and a lack of education around the COVID-19 virus to more recent societal issues of violence, killings and racism against African Americans in Minnesota, Kentucky, Georgia and elsewhere." It had planned to introduce the redesigned luxury sports sedan from its headquarters in Plano, Texas. Lexus announced the online event on Monday and released a teaser image with the announcement.

Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, died May 25 in Minneapolis after Der…

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co is re-evaluating how much office space it needs for white-collar workers as restrictions put in place during the coronavirus pandemic are eased and employees return to workplaces.

In March, Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles told salaried employees to work from home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Ford brought back 12,000 salaried employees last month, and others have been told they can work from home until September, spokeswoman Marisa Bradley said. Given potential workplace changes caused by the outbreak, a facility consolidation the No. 2 U.S. automaker had already launched could accelerate.

"If we know we are going to have a smaller population that's going to come back to work, we could look at maybe shrinking our footprint," Bradley said.

U.S. companies are wrestling with who can work from home and how much office space is necessary.

Ford COO Jim Farley said recently many salaried employees c…

Online used-car retailer Vroom Inc. on Friday increased the target range for its U.S. initial public offering, looking to raise up to $375 million as the IPO market gathers steam after the COVID-19 pandemic put several debuts on hold.

The company is offering about 18.8 million shares at a price range of $18 to $20 in the IPO and is expecting a valuation of $2.25 billion at the top end of the range, according to a filing.

It had earlier expected the offering to be priced between $15 and $17 per share.

Markets surged Friday after a better-than-expected jobless report from the U.S. Department of Labor.

HAMBURG -- Volkswagen has completed an internal report into how it came to publish a racist advert, the automaker said.

The findings will be released once its management board has reviewed the matter, VW said on Friday.

VW's management board, headed by CEO Herbert Diess, meets regularly on Tuesdays.

In the clip, a black man is depicted next to a new VW Golf, being pushed around by an oversized white hand, which then flicks him into a building adorned with the sign "Petit Colon."

Petit Colon is a real cafe in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located near the Teatro Colon. In French the term translates into "small settler," which has colonial undertones.

Criticism of the advert went viral last month and the company apologized and pulled the clip, prompting VW's labor leaders to accuse management of damaging the company.

"The clip is disgusting and inexcusable," VW works council member Bernd Osterloh said at the time.

VW itself admitted …

WASHINGTON -- America’s labor market defied forecasts for a Depression-style surge in unemployment by rebounding in May, signaling the economy is picking up faster than anticipated from the coronavirus-inflicted recession.

A key gauge of payrolls rose by 2.5 million, trouncing forecasts for a sharp decline following a 20.7 million tumble the prior month that was the largest in records back to 1939, according to Labor Department data Friday. The jobless rate fell to 13.3 percent from 14.7%.

U.S. stocks jumped after the report, adding to weeks of gains in equities since mid-March.

While the overall picture improved, one key number in the report deteriorated. Unemployment rates declined among white and Hispanic Americans, but the level ticked up among African Americans to 16.8 percent, matching the highest since 1984. That comes amid nationwide protests over police mistreatment of African-Americans, which have drawn renewed attention to black people’s econo…