Trade News

Imagine turning 65, looking back and realizing that you peaked in your mid-teens and that you spent much of the last 50 years trying to once again taste the popularity of your youth.

The so-far failed chase by this boomer has been both exhausting and expensive — including a stretch a decade ago spent with a pretty expensive substance abuse problem. But Volkswagen of America is clean now and ready to give it another go, if historically low oil prices and a global pandemic don't muck up its chances to get back to the 5 percent market share it had in the U.S. half a century ago.

And while the push to grow in the U.S. will ultimately be product-driven, top Volkswagen leaders insist it will be powered not just by electrons and carbon molecules, but by something they know from experience is far more difficult to develop and easier to burn through: trust.

"The absolute bedrock of that 5 points of share and the bedrock of those 570,000 units [in 1970] was, firs…

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that Tesla will move its headquarters and future programs to Texas or Nevada from California immediately.

"If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen (sic) on how Tesla is treated in the future," he wrote on Twitter, referring to the facility in the San Francisco Bay area that is Tesla's only U.S. vehicle factory.

Musk also tweeted about suing Alameda County, Calif., after its health department said the electric carmaker must not reopen the Fremont factory as local lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in effect. 

Musk had told employees on Thursday that limited production would restart at Fremont on Friday afternoon.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Thursday that manufacturers in the state would be allowed to reopen. But Alameda County, where the factory is located, is scheduled to remain shut until the end of May with only essential…

Tesla Inc. sued local authorities in California on Saturday as the company pushed to reopen a factory there and CEO Elon Musk threatened to move Tesla's headquarters and future programs from the state to Texas or Nevada.

Musk has been pushing to restart Tesla's Fremont, Calif., factory after Alameda County's health department said the company must not reopen because local lockdown measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in effect.

In a blog post on Saturday, Tesla said the county's position left it no choice but to take legal action to ensure Tesla and its employees can go back to work.

The company said it had worked out a thorough return-to-work plan that includes online video training for personnel, work zone partition areas, temperature screening, requirements to wear protective equipment and rigorous cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

The company said it had informed health authorities in Alameda County, where the Fremont fact…

TOKYO -- Mazda Motor Corp. has sought loans totaling about 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from Japan's three megabanks and other lenders to ride out the coronavirus epidemic, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Saturday.

The megabanks -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group -- along with the Development Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings and others are set to agree, with some already having extended the loans, the person said, declining to be identified because the information is not public.

All three megabanks declined to comment on the loan request, which was reported by the Nikkei business daily earlier. Mazda did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mazda, like most other automakers, has reduced or halted production at factories around the world for the past few months as governments try to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

Mazda's light-vehic…

DETROIT — Liberated from its longtime slot in the deep freeze of January, the Detroit auto show had big plans for the 2020 event that were years in the making.

It was supposed to be a summertime celebration for a transforming auto industry and a resurgent downtown. With just months to go before the new June date, plans were largely set:

Barges would be docked along the Detroit River showcasing new vehicles. Downtown parks dotted with food trucks and automaker-sponsored displays. Ride-and-drives zipping along the riverfront.

Working with 14 acres of outdoor space, officials received permits to block traffic in order to park British and Italian classics as part of a Concours-like expo. A German Haus across the street from the convention hall was planned with a biergarten and curbside space to show off Audis and Volkswagens.

There was even talk of helicopter companies staging demonstrations of vertical takeoffs and landings.

Then the coronavi…

For Canadian auto retailer HGreg.com, setting up a cloud-based computer system was necessary to connect its dealerships across two nations. That initiative started around 2014, and it turned out to be a beneficial strategy during the current coronavirus pandemic.

The company uses a cloud-based phone system and Google technology for email and file-sharing across its 32 rooftops, including two Nissan stores and six used-car dealerships in Florida, CEO John Hairabedian said. When the coronavirus swept across North America in March and HGreg shifted non-customer-facing employees to work remotely, "we were pretty well prepared already," he said.

Companies have expanded remote work arrangements in recent weeks as governments have ordered nonessential businesses closed to keep people from congregating at offices, dealerships included.

Yet dealership consultants who specialize in information technology say retailers generally aren't familiar with having employ…

For the past two months, consumers have been awash in a wave of goodwill from automakers using TV and social media to say they are here to help.

This outpouring of assistance has revolved around a common toolbox among manufacturers: deferred payments, extended lease offers and no-interest loans that are enticing shoppers to buy during a period of economic uncertainty.

The traditional upbeat ads touting big deals have given way to sympathetic tones respecting the gravity of the moment. But the mood of the country appears to be shifting.

The atmosphere heading into the summer is one of reclamation as the economy — soon to be buoyed by the resumption of auto production to supply dealerships that have been classified as essential businesses — begins to reopen in numerous states.

The question now is, how should brands and dealerships move forward with their messaging in what could be the beginnings of an economic comeback…

LOS ANGELES — Dealership showrooms began opening in Los Angeles County on Friday and are poised to reopen across the rest of California, the nation's biggest new-vehicle market, after state and local officials eased some of the country's strictest rules to counter the coronavirus outbreak.

After permitting only online sales for the past several weeks, the new rules outlined by Los Angeles County officials allow explicitly for the opening of "car dealer showrooms (open for sales with adherence to distancing and infection control protocols)," with a 5-page list of health and safety protocols published Friday by the public health department.

Come Monday, the entire state should be open to in-store auto sales, with the city of Fresno setting the day for relaxed rules and six counties in the Bay Area this week permitting the reopening of businesses that are primarily located outdoors, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.

"Effective no late…

Dealership marketing company AutoWeb acknowledged this week it may have to return the $1.38 million loan it received in April under the U.S. Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program.

The company advised with its first-quarter earnings this week that the federal government issued new guidance that large companies will have to certify their economic needs to receive the loans, part of the coronavirus relief package. The loans help cover small businesses' employee payroll costs for eight weeks and can be forgiven.

"Although we believe that we are compliant with the 'economic uncertainty' certification we made in connection with our PPP Loan, there can be no assurances given that upon an audit of our loan application, an adverse audit opinion might result that could require us to repay the entire amount of the loan, which could materially and adversely impact our financial performance," AutoWeb wrote in a regulatory filing Thursday accompany…

SHANGHAI -- Ford Motor Co.'s two China joint ventures reported year-over-year sales growth in April, indicating the world's biggest auto market has started a recovery from coronavirus-induced lows.

Ford's main joint venture with Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. sold 20,465 vehicles in April, up 38 percent from the same period a year earlier, Changan said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday.

Jiangling Motors Corp., in which Ford owns a stake, said in a filing on Thursday that it sold 28,028 vehicles in April, up 7.8 percent. JMC sells Ford-branded SUVs, crossovers and vans as well as JMC-branded commercial vehicles.

Ford's China sales fell 35 percent to 88,770 in January-March. During that time, the government imposed restrictions on movement to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has led to over 4,000 deaths in the world's second-biggest economy.

China's overall first-quarter light-vehicle sales fell 42 percent.

The two Chin…

DETROIT — American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings said earnings and revenue slipped during the first quarter as it grappled with the COVID-19 crisis, but the company said operating results remained strong under the circumstances.

Shares in American Axle surged on the news, rising 40 percent to close at $5.96 on Friday.

Adjusted earnings, after interest, taxes and other onetime deductions, fell 13 percent to $213 million during the quarter. The company said COVID-19 costs took a $47 million bite out of those EBITDA results.

On a call Friday, CFO Chris May credited the positive adjusted EBITDA performance to high productivity and low launch costs.

In the statement, the company reported first-quarter net sales dropped 22 percent to $1.34 billion.

The company previously targeted sales of $5.8 billion to $6 billion in 2020, lower than in previous years.

American Axle joins other suppliers — including Aptiv, BorgWarner, Magna, Lear Corp.…