Trade News

AutoCanada Inc. reported a net loss in the first quarter of $46.9 million (all figures in CND) as economic shutdowns that began in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic offset year-over-year retail sales gains in the first two months of 2020.

Total vehicles sold in the quarter ended March 31 fell by 13 percent to 13,735 units, while revenue dipped 4.1 percent to $708.8 million. The $46.9-million net loss compares with a $2.7-million loss in the first quarter of 2019.

The results were due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down economic activity across Canada and the United States beginning in mid-March, the company said. Through February, AutoCanada, the country’s only publicly traded dealership group, said total retail vehicle sales were up 2 percent from a year earlier, driven by a 6 percent gain in retail vehicles sold in Canada.

The rapid deterioration of AutoCanada’s first-quarter performance underscores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on auto r…

U.S. auto sales will fall about 20 percent this year and not recover from the coronavirus pandemic for more than half a decade, according to AlixPartners.

In its Global Automotive Outlook released Thursday, the consulting firm projected that U.S. sales will fall to 13.6 million this year from 17.1 million last year and not return to 17 million until 2026. The forecast extends to 2027 without reaching the peak of 17.55 million sales set in 2016.

The virus has damaged economies around the world, and global sales are projected to plunge 21 percent this year to 70.5 million from last year's 89.7 million. From 2020 through 2022, 36 million sales will be lost compared with 2019's run rate, AlixPartners projected.

"The impact of the COVID-19 crisis globally is as if a market the size of all of Europe had vanished for the year," Stefano Aversa, chairman of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at AlixPartners, said in a statement.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that employers offer employees incentives to use private vehicles to get to work, rather than public transportation or shared rides. Part of a broader set of coronavirus-related workplace recommendations, the guidelines included "biking, walking, driving or riding by car either alone or with household members" as options.

Paul Skoutelas, CEO of the American Public Transportation Association, criticized the CDC's guidance in a statement released on Friday.

He said many individuals face financial barriers to owning a car and the guidance ignores essential workers' reliance on public transportation. He also said increased traffic could lead to increased pollution.

"Gridlock and polluted skies are not the mobility future we want emerging from this crisis," he said.

Corinne Kisner, executive director of the National As…

Nio Inc. founder William Li said the long-term growth potential of China’s EV market remains in place, boding well for the company even as competition from the likes of Tesla Inc. intensifies.

The country’s auto market has started to recover from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, and the minuscule market share of EVs means they have a chance to grab sales from traditional gasoline powered vehicles, Li said in an interview with Bloomberg.

But he has his work cut out. EV sales have declined for 10 straight months in China and are forecast to drop 14 percent this year to fewer than 1 million units, according to BloombergNEF. 

Tesla Inc. started deliveries from a massive new Shanghai plant around the start of the year.

“We do compete against each other, but in general we are allies,” Li said, stressing both are trying to win users from gasoline rivals. “In fact, our sales kept growing since Tesla started production in Shanghai.”

Nio…

Self-driving cars, long touted by developers as a way to eliminate road deaths, could likely only prevent a third of all U.S. road crashes, an analysis of traffic accidents released on Thursday has found.

The study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a research group financed by U.S. insurers, found the remaining crashes were caused by mistakes that self-driving systems are not equipped to handle any better than human drivers.

Traffic experts say that roughly nine in 10 crashes result from human error and more than 36,000 people are estimated to have died in U.S. car crashes last year.

Companies developing self-driving vehicles, including traditional automakers and technology companies, have repeatedly positioned fully automated driving as a tool to drastically reduce road deaths by taking the human driver out of the equation.

But the IIHS study outlined a more nuanced picture of human driver error, showing that not all mistakes can be …

Volvo Car Corp. recorded robust sales growth for the second straight month in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. 

Volvo’s China deliveries jumped 22 percent to 15,132 in May after rising 21 percent the previous month, according to figures the Swedish carmaker released on June 4.

Because of the viral outbreak, which was not brought under control in China until mid-March, Volvo’s sales slipped 31 percent in the first quarter.  

In the first five months, the brand’s China sales declined 7.1 percent to 50,636. 

China was the only market where Volvo realized growth in May. With the outbreak still spreading in the rest of the world, the brand’s global sales fell 26 percent to 44,830 last month.

Volvo’s sales in Europe plunged 50 percent to 14,965 in May while U.S. deliveries dipped 2.5 percent to 9,519. Volume in other markets slumped 37 percent to 5,214.

Through May, the Swedish car brand’s global deliveries dropped 25 …

Hyundai's Santa Fe crossover is getting an early interior and exterior freshening for the 2021 model year, with a distinctive front fascia, new taillights and a redesigned interior with a 10.25-inch infotainment display.

The Korean automaker is calling the revisions a "redesign," although the fourth-generation midsize crossover debuted for the 2019 model year with new styling and an updated drivetrain.

The Santa Fe is a cornerstone of Hyundai's crossover lineup, with U.S. sales of 127,373 in 2019, making it the brand's No. 3 seller after the Elantra compact car and the Tucson compact crossover. The midsize crossover segment, led by the Subaru Outback, Ford Edge and Honda Pilot, is becoming a true battlefield, with new entries from Chevrolet (Blazer) and Honda (Passport), as well as Toyota's plans to resurrect the Venza.

The latest Santa Fe is equipped with a wider grille, T-shaped daytime running lights, a rear horizontal bar th…

Efforts to restart the automotive industry accelerated last month as automakers and suppliers gradually reopened more factories and ramped up production of vehicles and parts. But "a high degree of uncertainty" stemming from supply chain challenges, consumer confidence and a weakened economy remain concerns, said John Bozzella of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

Bozzella, CEO of the auto lobbying group representing most major automakers, spoke Wednesday at a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on transportation and critical infrastructure. Witnesses included national trade groups representing various transportation sectors such as trucking and freight railroads.

"As automakers, suppliers and others absorb COVID-related losses, the industry will have less capital to invest in future technology development," he said in written testimony. "In this highly competitive, cap…

Auto retail giant AutoNation Inc. is permanently cutting about 3,500 jobs across the company — or about half the number of workers it furloughed in early April amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The nation's largest new-vehicle retailer brought back more than 3,500 furloughed workers, including 2,300 since May 11, after furloughing 7,000 employees following a sharp drop in vehicle sales and service business.

Marc Cannon, AutoNation's chief customer experience officer, said AutoNation was able to bring back many employees as vehicle sales have improved over the last several weeks.

"The business environment continues to change and AutoNation is adapting by restructuring and reducing the work force," Cannon said in an emailed statement to Automotive News.

"At AutoNation we have adjusted to the new normal, which focuses on digital and store efficiencies. We have made strategic adjustments to capitalize on the digital marketin…

DETROIT — Former UAW President Gary Jones on Wednesday pleaded guilty to federal embezzlement and racketeering charges, a landmark development in the yearslong corruption investigation into one of the country's leading labor unions.

Jones, appearing in U.S. District Court by video conference wearing a dark suit and navy blue tie, admitted to stealing money from the membership he was elected to lead.

"I recognize that my actions violated the law as well as my sworn obligation to my fellow union members," Jones, 63, said in a prepared statement. "I apologize to my UAW family for this betrayal of trust and pray that they will forgive me."

In pleading guilty, Jones promised to cooperate with investigators as they continue to probe the union for financial impropriety.

He could receive up to 10 years in prison, although the two parties said Wednesday they had agreed to a sentence of 46 to 57 months, or a little less than half of the maximum. If Jones p…

After four vehicles were stolen Saturday from Dolan Auto Group's Lexus dealership in Reno, Nev., while a protest was happening nearby, CEO Ryan Dolan is taking more precautions.

The five-store dealership group has heightened lot security, added more cameras and changed internal processes such as where keys are kept, he said."We hope that we can stay safe and protect our businesses and give people the rights to protest peacefully," Dolan said.

The changes at Dolan Auto mirror actions numerous dealerships across the nation are taking in the wake of protests following last week's death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. While many of the protests have been peaceful, some have turned violent and led to property damage, vehicle theft and arson of nearby businesses.

More than 20 U.S. dealerships have faced damage and theft and/or were forced to close their doors because of violence that sometimes escalated. Numerous others have temporarily…