Trade News

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic shows the importance of ensuring that the U.S. is not dependent on other countries for oil, a nonpartisan think tank said.

Securing America's Future Energy, or SAFE, announced an initiative Thursday called Get America Moving Again to promote the rebuilding of America's economic competitiveness and security to ensure industrial leadership. The group advocates policies that curb energy dependence on foreign oil.

The initiative calls for a 15-point plan to support the reopening of the U.S. energy and transportation industries amid the pandemic.

SAFE is backed by members of the Energy Security Leadership Council, which is made up of current and former CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Transdev Group, FedEx, Waste Management and other U.S. military and business leaders.

Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, a member of the council, said on a call Wednesday that the U.S. needs to prepare for global trends as the shift to electric …

A portion of the General Motors Canada transmission plant in St. Catharines, Ontario, will come back online May 11, with most of the rest of its North American manufacturing operations resuming the week of May 18, the automaker said today.

In a statement, GM Canada said “a portion” of its HFV6 engine line would resume on May 11. The 3.6-liter HFV6 engines power the Chevrolet Impala sedan, Chevrolet Colorado pickup, Buick Enclave crossover and GMC Terrain crossover, according to the automaker’s website.

The rest of the St. Catharines plant, as well as the automaker’s CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, where the Chevrolet Equinox is assembled, and the Oshawa, Ontario, stamping operation will “come back gradually in the weeks that follow,” GM Canada said. It was not immediately clear if they would resume the week of May 18, though the automaker said it planned to resume production at a majority of its North American plants then.

Cars.com lost money in the first quarter as the novel coronavirus took a financial toll on the company and its dealership customers, but the company still generated a gain in adjusted net income and its shares skyrocketed.

The Chicago vehicle listings company posted a net loss of $787 million in the quarter ended March 31, up from a net loss of $9 million in the same period a year ago.

Cars.com attributed the loss to a virus-related noncash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charge of $905.9 million recorded in the first quarter.

Revenue dipped 4 percent to $148.1 million, mainly resulting from declines in dealership customers and average revenue per dealership compared with the prior year, the company said. Cars.com said it achieved its second straight quarter of dealership customer growth in the first quarter, reporting 18,938 customers as of March 31, up 104 from the fourth quarter of 2019.

Cars.com said its adjusted net income for the fi…

SHANGHAI -- Geely Automobile Holdings said it sold 105,468 vehicles in April, 2 percent higher than the same period last year, as the world's biggest auto market recovers from the coronavirus.

With the global auto industry hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic, China has become one ray of hope for automakers including Volkswagen Group and General Motors.

Geely said in March that 2020 may be one of its toughest years yet, as pressure stemming from the coronavirus outbreak on production and sales persists, but it planned to go ahead with a global expansion.

It maintained its sales target of 1.41 million cars and light trucks this year, up from 1.36 million last year.

Geely, based in the eastern province of Zhejiang, is China's most globally high-profile automaker following investments by parent company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. in European manufacturers Volvo Car and Daimler.

Volkswagen also sees demand rebounding in China, helped by ne…

Uber Technologies Inc. will eliminate 3,700 jobs and permanently close 180 driver service centers, the first in a series of cost-cutting measures to be announced in the next two weeks as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The reductions will affect 14 percent of staff around the world, mainly those in support and recruiting, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in an email to employees Wednesday. Ridership is down significantly, and the company is maintaining a freeze on hiring, Khosrowshahi wrote in the email, which was reviewed by Bloomberg.

Of the more than 450 driver centers Uber operates worldwide, 40 percent will shut down. The locations, called Greenlight Hubs, are used to sign people up to drive for Uber, teach them how to use the app and address issues that arise on the job. In March, as the virus was spreading in North America, Uber said it was temporarily closing all hubs in the U.S. and Canada.

Khosrowshahi signaled that more “difficult…

Bimmer superfans who had the European delivery experience on their bucket list might want to step on the gas.

BMW is discontinuing the European Delivery program for U.S. customers starting in the fall, citing a lack of interest and growing demand for U.S.-made crossovers. The Bavarian automaker follows Audi, which discontinued its European delivery program last year.

Under the BMW European Delivery program, a customer picks a dealership, places an order, completes paperwork and travels to BMW's Welt delivery center in Munich. The program includes 14 days of free insurance and registration, a tour of the automaker's Munich factory and admission to the BMW Museum.

Once the customer is ready to return home, the vehicle is dropped off at one of 12 points throughout the continent for shipping to North America.

European delivery, which is also offered by Mercedes, Volvo and Porsche, has been around since the 1950s, when American troops wanted to import …

Some House Democrats and Republicans representing hard-hit auto states such as Michigan and Ohio are asking Congress to support aid for the automotive industry in upcoming legislative proposals related to the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. representatives including Michigan Republican Fred Upton, Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell, Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur and others are gathering signatures on a draft letter that was circulated among lawmakers Tuesday.

"The projected economic fallout for the industry is grave," the lawmakers wrote in a copy of the letter obtained by Automotive News.

"Manufacturers moved swiftly to fill the desperate call for additional personal protective equipment and ventilators where they could," the letter said. "But sales are projected to drop as much as 30 percent for the year, from over 17 million cars sold in 2019."

All parts of the auto industry have been upended by the COVID-19 crisis and resulting economic downturn, with m…

The falling number of credit inquiries for auto loans, in the middle of a pandemic, should not shock anyone. After all, with many states under stay-at-home orders during March and people experiencing uncertain economic times, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Consumer Credit Panel's look at how the coronavirus affected that month's credit applications is not surprising.

Nevertheless, they are stark reminders of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having. Looking at the number of credit inquiries in credit records, the panel found auto-loan inquiries dropped 52 percent between the first and last week of March, revolving credit card inquiries declined by 40 percent during the same period and new mortgage inquiries dipped by 27 percent.

"The observed drop in inquiries could be due to a drop in underlying credit demand, a drop in credit supply affecting inquiries either directly or indirectly by heightening consumers' expectation of being…

Household debt increased in the first quarter before the COVID-19 pandemic, driven primarily by the housing market. Debt levels across other credit products, including auto loans, dipped slightly, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday.

The New York Fed noted that because individual consumer credit reports typically are updated on a monthly basis, the results of its latest survey of consumer credit doesn't reflect the true impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The total U.S. debt balance is now $1.6 trillion more than the previous peak of $12.68 trillion recorded during the financial crisis of 2008.

Auto-loan debt rose $15 billion in the first quarter, though loan applications fell and credit standards constricted marginally. Currently, there is about $1.35 trillion in outstanding auto-loan debt in the U.S.

Auto-loan originations slid in the first quarter, the New York Fed said, as the median credit score am…

After Ford Motor Co. reported a $2 billion net loss in the first quarter and warned of more than $5 billion in operating losses in the second quarter, analysts on a Bank of America webcast last week asked executives if they would consider spinning off the company's profitable captive arm.

"Heck no," Ford COO Jim Farley said. "When you look at the stress the dealer's been under over the last couple of months, Ford Credit has been indispensable."

Farley emphasized the effect of leveraging an auto lender whose operations are interwoven with the automakers. The relationship allowed Ford to rapidly launch aggressive incentives in the market as the coronavirus closed stores and slowed vehicle sales nationwide. The fruits of those incentives were reflected in vehicle sales figures for the end of March and the beginning of April, during which the Detroit 3 automaker's captives gained the highest market share of new-vehicle originations since 2004.

Customers in the market for Ford Motor Co.'s upcoming offroaders will have at least a couple grille options.

The automaker plans to offer three front-end designs for both the Bronco SUV and Bronco Sport crossover, according to Ford Authority. They'll reportedly be called "Modern," "Classic" and "Custom."

Ford, as a matter of policy, does not comment on future products.

Spy photos recently posted on broncosportforum.com appear to show two of the three designs for the smaller crossover. Both the Bronco and Bronco Sport were scheduled to be revealed by now but have been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus crisis.

Uncamouflaged photos of both vehicles have already leaked. The photos show the word BRONCO stamped in the middle of each grille, flanked by the vehicle's classic round headlights.

Ford told suppliers this week it now plans to begin mass output of the Bronco Sport at a plant in Mexico on Au…