Trade News

DETROIT -- Detroit 3 executives Wednesday vowed to continue to take a stand against injustice and to be leaders in creating more inclusive workplaces and communities.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles North America COO Mark Stewart were part of a group of nine leaders from some of Detroit's largest companies who spoke against racism and injustice during a media event here.

GM, Ford and FCA's messages at the event follow letters sent to employees in recent days in which each company committed to creating awareness and taking action on racism and discrimination following nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd.

"These CEOs are here not only because they have chosen to respond to the pain and the anguish of injustice in the African American community today. They will remain committed to the roadway of justice and equity tomorrow," the Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Det…

DETROIT — Union leaders at one of Ford Motor Co.'s largest U.S. assembly plants say the automaker has not consistently followed the protocols it created to keep workers safe since restarting production last month.

UAW Local 249, which represents more than 7,000 workers who make the F-150 pickup and Transit van at the Kansas City Assembly Plant, said on Facebook that it planned to file safety complaints over "failures of the company to follow COVID-19 protocols and to provide safe working conditions for our members." The local said plant management has failed to properly screen workers for symptoms of the virus and to adequately clean work equipment.

"The return to work from the layoff created by the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a significant amount of challenges to KCAP," Local 249 leaders wrote. "These challenges have also revealed the unfortunate reality that the company is backsliding on its public commitment to put people over production and profit…

Aggressive incentives bolstered the new-vehicle market in May, dragging down the average interest rate on a loan to its lowest level since 2013, Edmunds said. But as the parade of finance deals marched through Memorial Day, fewer buyers took the bait.

The economic pressure caused by measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus, along with affordability concerns, inventory constraints and low consumer confidence curbed the typical seasonal bounce, according to Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of industry analysis.

"The deals started dropping as demand was picking up," Caldwell said, adding that May's final weekend was impacted by the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.

The average interest rate on new-car loans fell to 4 percent last month, compared with 6.1 percent in May 2019.

Though 0 percent interest, seven-year loans remain at near-record levels, the deals started…

Hyundai Motor Co. is launching license plate reader technology through a website for owners to access open safety recalls and service campaigns on their vehicles.

The website, when used on a smartphone, allows vehicle owners to take a photo of their license plate. It then links the license plate number to the VIN and displays all open safety campaigns for that vehicle. Owners can then schedule an appointment through the site for the necessary repairs at a Hyundai dealership.

Brian Latouf, chief safety officer of Hyundai Motor North America, said the technology fits into the company's vehicular designs that aim to address "the before, during and after" of a crash.

"This is kind of one step of many different things we're doing holistically for automotive safety," he said.

Latouf said the new technology is meant to get vehicles fixed as quickly and conveniently as possible. He said the technology, like the SmartSense sui…

A lawsuit filed in Delaware by a group of Carvana shareholders accuses the company's leadership of insider trading in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The online used-vehicle retailer issued two stock offerings — first a private one in late March and early April at $45 per share, followed by a public one last month at $92 per share, according to the lawsuit.

Filed on behalf of a group of pension funds based in St. Paul, Minn., the suit, first reported by Bloomberg Law, alleges that the controlling Garcia family and company directors issued millions of shares at "bargain-basement" prices in the first offering, enriching themselves in the process, despite knowing that the company was on solid footing and that Carvana's stock would rebound.

On March 30, Carvana announced a private offering of 13.3 million shares at $45 per share. Ernest Garcia II and Ernest Garcia III each purchased $25 million worth of stock.

The $…

Dealerships across the country continue to be targets of vandalism and theft amid sometimes violent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.

Stores from the Los Angeles area to St. Louis to Philadelphia were impacted by incidents Monday, bringing the total number of dealerships damaged or that have experienced looting to more than 20, according to Automotive News estimates and news reports.

More protests were planned in cities across the country Tuesday.

Toyota spokesman Scott Vazin said Tuesday that six Toyota and Lexus dealerships have suffered damage and/or are closed because of the protests, including stores in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. That was up from four stores impacted as of Monday.

The stores are Toyota Santa Monica and Lexus Santa Monica in California, Central City Toyota in Philadelphia, Toyota on Western in Chicago, McGrath Lexus of Chicago and Dolan Lexus in Reno, Nev. A Herb Chambers processing cen…

A shipping yard employee was hit by a vehicle stolen from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Jeep assembly complex in Toledo, Ohio, on Tuesday. The vehicle was one of six Ram trucks stolen from a shipping yard near the complex.

The employee, Becky Huston, 60, was taken to a medical center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police told The Toledo Blade that there were no suspects yet. Investigators were attempting to obtain surveillance footage.

In an email statement to Automotive News, FCA said that five of the trucks were recovered. The company also said it was "actively working" with Toledo police in the investigation.

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor for Logistics Management and the Peerless Media Supply Chain Group, interviews Chris Rogers, research director for global trade intelligence firm Panjiva.

Richard Hollingshead, owner of a chemical company, opens the world's first drive-in movie theater in Camden, N.J., on June 6, 1933.

Hollingshead, who died in 1975, came up with the idea for Park-in Theaters when he set up a screen on his driveway and a home projector on top of a car so his family could enjoy a movie outdoors. He received a patent in May 1933.

The first movie played at the drive-in — Wife Beware — had been released three years earlier. The admission price: 25 cents a person or $1 a carload.

The drive-in move theater, following the Great Depression so closely, took time to perfect. Over time theaters grew in size, accommodating as many as 1,000 or more cars at once. One of the largest was the All-Weather Drive-In of Copiague, N.Y., with room for 2,500 cars, a playground and a full-service restaurant, all nestled within a 28-acre lot on Long Island's south shore.

The postwar 1950s were the golden age of …

While General Motors has decided to cancel some or all of the usual summer break for many of its U.S. assembly plants to make up for production lost during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, GM Canada says its plans remain in flux.

Most GM plants in the United States will stay open the weeks of June 29 and July 6, a period when they normally would be closed, spokesman Jim Cain said.

"Thanks to excellent teamwork, the restart of vehicle production at GM's manufacturing facilities continues to go safely and smoothly," Cain said.

Plans in Canada, where the automaker assembles the Chevrolet Equinox in Ingersoll, stamps some of the vehicle’s parts in Oshawa, and operates a powertrain plant in St. Catharines, are still being determined.

“GM Canada is not planning a standard time frame for a manufacturing summer shut down period,” spokeswoman Jennifer Wright said. “We anticipate continuing to run portions of the St. Catharines plant to meet stren…

A Russian tech company with an extensive self-driving car test program will continue to make the Motor City its North American hub.

Yandex said Tuesday it will maintain a presence in Detroit and expand its fleet in the city once testing resumes after its coronavirus-related pause.

The company had been among those contracted to provide autonomous taxi services during the now-canceled North American International Auto Show this month. Michigan's business-friendly laws made it an attractive location for a longer-term commitment, the company said.

"There are definitely more opportunities to test our technology in more of an autonomous mode there," said Yandex spokesperson Yulia Shveyko. "I cannot tell you the concrete timing of when we will do what, but we plan to relaunch active testing, continue testing, and move to more and more autonomous driving."

Starting in February, 10 of the company's Toyota Prius V test mules ro…