Trade News

General Motors ambitious push into electric vehicles could pose a near-term risk as the automaker spends less to replace its more profitable gas-powered vehicles, according to a Bank of America Global Research report.

GM’s $20 billion investment in electric models and self-driving technology over the next five years makes it one of the most aggressive automakers when it comes to rolling out plug-in models, along with Germany’s Volkswagen Group. But the Detroit-based company plans to refresh only about 65 percent of its current sales volume with revamped vehicles, which is third-to-last among major manufacturers. VW is just ahead of GM at 66 percent.

Fewer updates for popular gasoline-powered models may hurt market share, underscoring the quandary the industry faces as companies try to fund an electric-focused future. The billions spent on plug-in vehicles that typically lose money -- and that no one besides Tesla Inc. has sold in large numbers -- take…

Automotive photographer Jack Schroeder and model Britni Sumida filed a lawsuit against Volvo, alleging that the automaker used Schroeder's photos featuring Sumida and a Volvo S60 without authorization.

The 20-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, contends Volvo Group North America LLC took 11 photos from Schroeder's Instagram page and website without permission and used them in its own Instagram stories and Pinterest page.

The photos included links directing customers to a website page dedicated to the S60, the suit alleges.

Six months prior, Volvo had commented on Schroeder's Instagram post asking to license the photos with no compensation, according to the lawsuit. Schroeder emailed Volvo a week later offering to "negotiate a license" and included a link to his website but received no response, the suit alleges.

The lawsuit also alleges that Volvo did not take down all of the photos from its s…

The Detroit 3 are doing things all wrong.

Their executives, clueless as always, are focused on pointless metrics such as sales, revenue and — worst of all — profits.

Don't they get it by now? That's no way to impress Wall Street.

So Ford Motor Co., on average, built an F-150 every 45 seconds last year. Who cares?

Nikola Motor, an electric vehicle startup named for the part of Nikola Tesla's name that Tesla didn't use, built zero production-ready trucks last year. It's still building zero today.

Now that's the kind of rock-solid consistency that investors can get behind. And did they ever this week, when Nikola's market cap surpassed that of Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Nikola has no sales, no revenue and nothing even remotely resembling profits. What it does have is founder Trevor Milton, with big ambitions, plenty of confidence and a Twitter account he used this week to share his views on "what legacy automakers don't underst…

Riderless scooters hit the streets of Atlanta suburb

In Peachtree Corners, Ga., residents may see an e-scooter zooming down a street – with no rider in sight.

Electric scooter company Go X and Tortoise, a startup specializing in "remote repositioning" technology, have rolled out teleoperated scooters in the northeast Atlanta suburb. They are making them available to the public in a six-month pilot project at the Curiosity Lab, an autonomous-vehicle test track and innovation center in a 500-acre technology park.

The "living lab" announced the partnership on May 20, calling this the first time teleoperated scooters have been deployed on public roads.

A Tortoise team in Mexico City remotely controls the scooters while watching a live feed from cameras mounted on the vehicles.

To take a ride, the customer uses an app to summon a Go X Apollo scooter. A remote operator sends the vehicle to the customer's location. The rider assumes manual…

DETROIT --  Auto suppliers across North America said they are encouraged as major automakers accelerate production after coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, but are holding back on hiring and investment because of longer-term uncertainty.

U.S. automakers reopened most assembly plants in late May after states began loosening restrictions, and stronger-than-expected retail auto sales in May have automakers ramping up production of the highly profitable trucks and SUVs consumers are buying.

However, several auto suppliers interviewed by Reuters worry about demand heading into 2021. U.S. and global auto sales are not expected to recover to pre-COVID-19 crisis levels until 2022 or 2023, Bank of America analyst John Murphy said during a presentation on Thursday.

Andreas Weller, CEO of aluminum parts maker Aludyne, sees very strong orders for July, but he laid off more than 10 percent of his workers because the days of Americans buying 17 million new…

DETROIT — Automakers' aggressive product launch cadence over the next few years, normally a sign of a strong industry, could be a detriment in the near term as the coronavirus pandemic hampers demand, according to the annual "Cars Wars" study of the U.S. product pipeline.

John Murphy, a senior auto analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said he expects automakers to launch roughly 250 new models over the next four years. That averages out to 63 per year, well above the average of 40 over the past two decades.

Of those vehicles, nearly half will be crossovers, and 28 percent will be SUVs or pickups.

In the immediate future, however, Murphy expects the pandemic to continue to hurt sales. Bank of America forecasts that U.S. sales will plunge about 25 percent in 2020 to 12.7 million vehicles, although it expects a recovery in 2021 to roughly 14.5 million.

The study expects 43 new vehicles to be introduced this year, but Murphy argues that automake…

In the first virtual event in our three-part series, Francesco Fazio presents Doblin's ten types of innovation and Ford's Jonathan Jennings discusses Ford's approach to process innovation.

Speakers:Jason Stein, Publisher, Automotive NewsJoe Vitale, Global Automotive Sector Leader, DeloitteFrancesco Fazio, Principal, DoblinJonathan Jennings, Executive Director, Global Commodities, Purchasing, Ford Motor Company 

The Automotive News PACEpilot series, exclusively sponsored by Deloitte, looks at innovation in automotive and exploring how things are shifting. Every Thursday from June 11 through June 25 at 11am EDT, some of the industry’s award winning innovators and experts will share their insights and strategies around recovery and sustained growth. This conversation was originally broadcast on June 11. Learn more about the PACEpilot series and register at autonews.com/PACEpilot

DETROIT -- Simon Sproule, FCA's global chief communications officer since February, is leaving the company.

Sproule, 51, told Automotive News his last day is Friday. He decided he wanted to do something different with his life and pursue other interests.

"Simon Sproule has made the personal decision to leave FCA," the company said in a statement. "Shawn Morgan will replace him on an ad interim basis for North America. We wish Simon the best in his future endeavors."

Morgan, 51, FCA's head of corporate communications, has been with the company for nearly 22 years.

Sproule began his stint on Feb. 3, but he hadn't moved to Michigan yet. He joined the company from Aston Martin, where he was vice president and chief marketing officer. He has also worked at Tesla Inc., Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co.

He is the latest person to leave FCA's top communications role after a short tenure. The previous head, Niel Golightly, left the company in Dece…

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., under regulatory pressure to expand its electrified-vehicle lineup, has begun taking orders for a four-door, electric sedan with a starting price of 29,800 yuan ($4,220).

It is the lowest-priced EV a global automaker has launched in China. 

The Hongguan Mini EV will be distributed under the Wuling brand, said SAIC-GM-Wuling, a three-way partnership between GM and two Chinese automakers – SAIC Motor Corp. and Wuling Motors Holdings. 

The EV is powered by lithium ion batteries and can drive up to 120 kilometers on one charge and at a top speed of 105 km per hour. 

The vehicle is 2,917 mm long, 1,493 mm wide and 1,621 mm tall. The interior configuration includes 12 storage compartments and a bench-style rear seat that can be folded flat to create up to 741 liters of cargo space.

“Its compact size makes it convenient for urban commuters. It has room for up to four people to meet daily driving needs…

WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it will recall 2.15 million U.S. vehicles with potentially faulty door latches.

The automaker said the recall covers many Ford and Lincoln vehicles from the 2011-15 model years. The recalled vehicles may not have had all door latches replaced or correctly replaced when repaired by dealerships under recalls issued in 2015 and 2016.

Ford said a recalled vehicle with a faulty latch may unlatch while driving, but said it is not aware of any reports of accidents or injury related to the condition.

The company previously recalled more than 5 million vehicles for varying door latch-related issues since 2015 and has booked hundreds of millions of dollars in costs.

The recall covers some Ford Fiesta, C-Max, Focus, Mustang. Fusion, Escape, Transit Connect, Lincoln MKZ and MKC vehicles.

Ford said the latches have a part susceptible to cracking that in some circumstances can lead to doors failing to clos…

DETROIT — Owners of 2011-2019 model year Ford Mustangs are suing the automaker for what they allege are defective manual transmissions that have caused the pony cars to slip, jerk and clash gears while shifting.

A suit seeking class-action status, filed last year in California and transferred last month to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleges Ford knew about defects in the Getrag MT82 six-speed manual transmissions for a decade. Since 2011, the lawsuit says, Ford has issued seven special service messages and technical service bulletins related to shifting issues and other defects.

"The transmission is defective in its design, manufacturing, and or materials in that, among other problems, the transmission slips, jerks, clashes gears, and harshly engages; has premature internal wear, increased shift efforts, inability to drive, and eventually suffers a catastrophic failure," the lawsuit says. "Ford repeatedly failed to disclose and ac…

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group are likely headed for a lengthier probe of their merger after failing to offer early concessions in exchange for an expedited process.

Executives don’t expect speedy approval of the deal and believe the European Commission is likely to open a so-called phase two investigation that would push the deadline out to October, according to people familiar with the matter. The current target to complete the merger is during the first quarter of next year.

Representatives for Fiat and Peugeot owner PSA declined to comment.

Antitrust is a difficult obstacle for European companies seeking to buy or combine with rivals. The European Union’s authority has frequently demanded the sale of overlapping businesses to prevent the merged entity from becoming too powerful and has been unafraid of wielding its ultimate threat to veto deals, such as Siemens AG and Alstom SA’s plan to merge into a European rail behemoth.

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