Trade News

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group named Ralf Brandstaetter as VW brand CEO, promoting him from his current role as the brand's COO.

The change -- effective July 1 -- means that VW Group CEO Herbert Diess gives up his role as VW brand CEO. The change will give Diess greater leeway for his tasks as group CEO, VW said in a statement on Monday.

In Brandstaetter, 51, VW's supervisory board has picked a company veteran to head its core brand. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume was also a contender for the post.

Brandstaetter, a German national, joined VW in 1993. He was promoted to brand COO from head of purchasing in 2018.

The leadership discussion comes at a time when VW is attempting to push through painful cost cuts at the VW brand with the company's powerful labor representatives.

Diess, 61, has embarked on radical reforms of the group, which includes the Audi, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Porsche and Bentley brands, but has run into opposition from the labor side.…

LONDON -- A reported visit by Tesla CEO Elon Musk to the U.K. has prompted speculation that the entrepreneur is reconsidering Britain as a site for the production of batteries or cars.

Musk flew to the U.K. last week to visit Bristol in southwest England to view a potential car factory site, the Times of London reported, without quoting sources. Musk may have visited the site of a former munitions plant in Bridgewater, southwest of Bristol, the paper said. The site is being redeveloped as an energy-related business park.

Tesla is currently building a car factory plant in Berlin, Germany, initially to build the Model 3. Production is scheduled to start in 2021, casting doubt on whether Tesla would need a second plant in the U.K.

Musk has previously said Britain had been in the running for the plant location but Germany was chosen because of concerns about the future of the U.K.'s future trading relationship with Europe. The U.K. quit the EU on Jan. 31 and…

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.

American Honda's auto division boss Dave Gardner discusses the automaker's incentive strategy for retailers, his new role at the company and the protests stemming from the death of George Floyd.

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BRUSSELS -- EU antitrust regulators are concerned about Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group's combined high market share in small vans and may require concessions to clear their $50 billion merger, people familiar with the matter said.

The companies, which are seeking to create the world's fourth-biggest automaker, were told of the European Commission's concerns last week.

If FCA and PSA fail to dispel the European Commission's doubts in the next two days and subsequently decline to offer concessions by Wednesday, the deadline for doing so, the deal would face a four-month long investigation.

The EU competition enforcer, which has set a June 17 deadline for its preliminary review, declined to comment. FCA was not immediately available for comment while PSA had no immediate comment.

FCA and PSA produce vans through a 50-50 joint venture called Sevel, which is based in Atessa, Italy, and is Europe's largest assembly plant for vans. It built 1,20…

In 2008, Schaeffler, a family-owned German supplier, made an offer to buy the shares of its listed rival Continental. It almost collapsed under the debt it amassed to fund the deal, which was unveiled shortly before the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.

A decade later, another privately held German supplier, ZF Friedrichshafen, has made a similarly ill-timed, debt-funded takeover: the $7 billion acquisition of truck-braking specialist Wabco Holdings. ZF is now cutting thousands of jobs to keep its creditors at bay.

ZF is not a household name in the public domain because it does not sell directly to consumers and is not listed on the stock market. But many have heard of Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the man who set up ZF a century ago to start building gears for his airships. This mode of travel captured the world's imagination until the 1937 Hindenburg fire ended the era of luxurious passenger-carrying airships.

Today ZF is one of the largest suppliers, with almost…

Across Denver this spring you could hear the joyous honking of cars lined up for drive-through graduation ceremonies in high school parking lots.

The adaption of this annual celebration to meet the physical distancing realities of the COVID-19 era vividly displayed our nation's power of resilience — and the power of cars in helping us rise to this unprecedented challenge.

The same pandemic that has sorely tested the automotive industry is demonstrating its bright future as a key element of the U.S. recovery. Is it possible that one of our worst moments will pave the way for some of our best?

In a world with new dangers, there is a renewed appreciation of the personal vehicle as a place of safety and an important element in our nation's recovery.

The nation's privately owned vehicle fleet has become a lifeline and lifesaver.

Before the pandemic took hold in Denver, cars were increasingly being targeted as a problem that needed to be solved…

As dealerships reopen, making sure customers — on edge due to the coronavirus — are confident their serviced cars are clean and germ-free has become a top priority.

Antimicrobial treatments for vehicles have become increasingly popular at dealerships. In many instances, dealerships provide the cleaning for free. But in the past two months, antimicrobial treatments as F&I offerings have experienced a 20 percent market-share gain compared with last year, according to F&I product provider Portfolio.

When dealers needed a product to sanitize cars in their service departments, Cilajet — a supplier of aviation-grade paint and metal sealants — started manufacturing an antimicrobial solution. The product, which was offered as a free service to front-line workers in some stores, is making its way into the F&I department.

"We are working with major administrators to ensure that there are some good and valuable F&I benefits …

Hyundai made a big bet heading into the coronavirus pandemic, and it paid off in May.

The Korean automaker's moves over the past several weeks should position it for a stronger rebound coming out of the industry's shutdown.

Hyundai was among the first brands to introduce 0 percent financing for 84 months, deferred payments for 120 days and an industry exclusive in March: job-loss insurance that would cover up to six payments.

But for the strategy to work, Hyundai had to gamble on stocking up on inventory as its sole U.S. plant in Alabama was closing because of stay-at-home orders.

Luckily, South Korea had mostly overcome the worst of its virus outbreak, so Hyundai executives in the U.S. had a pipeline for popular crossovers such as the Kona, Tucson and Palisade.

"We elected to be very aggressive upfront to demonstrate leadership, to demonstrate confidence in the company and to provide resources for our …

This was supposed to be a comeback year for Aston Martin and its retailers with the arrival of its DBX SUV, a major component of the automaker's Second Century business plan issued in 2015.

But halfway into 2020, the British ultraluxury brand — which has struggled financially since going public in 2018 — has experienced more turmoil. The DBX is still set to arrive at dealerships this summer, but it will now go on sale without one of the key executives behind the vehicle, Andy Palmer.

Palmer stepped down as CEO last month. He is to be replaced by Mercedes- AMG CEO Tobias Moers, who is set to start his new role on Aug. 1.

Last week, the automaker said it would cut up to 500 jobs, or about 20 percent of the company's work force, as the COVID-19 pandemic saps consumer demand and the need for vehicle production.

The change in CEO followed the addition of a new executive chairman, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, in A…

Wearing masks in public to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus has quickly become a staple in American life.

Should it be common in automotive advertising, too?

Donning masks is a polarizing issue in some circles, and it appears auto retailing is one of them. Ford has experienced this firsthand.

Matt VanDyke, Ford's director of U.S. marketing, said some dealers aren't ready to accept ad content with people wearing masks. Others think it's important to show mask use.

"We shared with our dealer association groups some new creative that we have developed and literally about a third of the group said, 'If you show people in the showroom of a Ford dealership and they don't have a mask on, I can't or won't use it,' " VanDyke told Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein last week during the Congress Conversations series.

Other dealers argued that if Ford shows people in a showroom with masks on, it will scar…