Trade News

Lear Corp. released a second edition of its Safe Work Playbook on Monday with new information on employee communication and training as suppliers wrestle with implementing health and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The seating and electronics supplier stepped ahead of the industry when it released the first edition of the Safe Work Playbook on April 6. Days later, the Original Equipment Suppliers Association and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation released their own set of guidelines.

The new edition of the Safe Work Playbook includes information from the first edition along with updated guidelines for returning to plants.

The original document details appropriate social-distancing measures in manufacturing plants. It also includes information on educating employees on new work procedures and protocols for taking proactive health measures in plants, such as worker temperature checking.

The second edi…

SAIC Motor Corp. is spending 3.3 billion yuan ($466 million) on discounts and other incentives to spur demand for gasoline-powered Roewe vehicles from April 24 to June 30.

The incentives -- price discounts and subsidies for sales taxes and interest payments on auto loans – will be offered on five gasoline-powered models, the state-owned Chinese automaker said.

In addition to those five vehicles -- the i5 and i6 Plus sedans and the RX3, RX5 and RX8 crossovers -- SAIC builds and markets plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles under the Roewe and MG brands. 

First-quarter combined sales at the two brands slipped 34 percent to 99,397, reflecting the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, with many dealers and factories idled. SAIC didn’t disclose separate sales for the two brands.

SAIC is not the only Chinese carmaker seeking to attract car shoppers with incentives in the wake of the pandemic. 

Chery Automobile Co., another state-owned…

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will launch two low-orbit satellites in the second half of the year to provide high-precision positioning services and assist fleet management and new mobility services. 

Geespace, Geely’s space technology company created in 2018, developed the two satellites. 

They will undergo final validation testing in June and then be shipped to a satellite launch site in Northwest China for deployment, Geely Group said. 

The satellites can provide centimeter-accurate positioning and enable a satellite-based artificial intelligence cloud platform to optimize fleet management and new mobility services, including ride-hailing and ride-sharing management and autonomous driving. 

The cloud platform can also be used to support remote monitoring, control and maintenance of manufacturing equipment, unmanned drone flights and urban management, according to Geely Group.

Geely Group, a private Chinese company…

General Motors is set to begin sales of its first vehicle equipped with a 48-volt system, helping to reduce fleetwide fuel consumption levels as required by Chinese regulations. 

The Buick Excelle GT with the 48-volt system will hit the market Thursday, GM said. 

The system will reduce the compact sedan’s fuel consumption, powered by GM’s 1.3-liter Ecotec turbocharged gasoline engine, to 5.3 liters from 5.9 liters, according to SAIC-GM, GM’s joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp.

A 48-volt system enables automakers to apply fuel-saving and cost-effective technologies such as stop-start systems and regenerative braking.

SAIC-GM produces and markets cars and light trucks for Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac. It currently markets just two electrified models -- the full electric Buick Velite 6 compact car and the plug-in hybrid Cadillac CT6 sedan. 

GM is the second-biggest foreign automaker in China, after Volkswagen Group, and th…

BEIJING -- Inceptio Technology, a startup developing self-driving trucks, has raised $100 million in a new round of fundraising from logistics provider GLP, key strategic investor G7 and other investors, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The proceeds will be used to further develop technologies and to start commercial trials, said the sources, who declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak to media.

The company, which aims to operate a freight network with autonomous driving trucks in China starting in 2022, has partnerships with Dongfeng Automobile Co., Sinotruk Hong Kong and Foton.

The two-year-old company is developing autonomous driving software and an in-vehicle computing system while the truck makers are responsible for engineering vehicles platforms.

Inceptio declined to comment. G7 and Singapore-based GLP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Inceptio is focused on developing level 3 an…

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BEIJING -- A little-known U.S.-based engineering and design company said it plans to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) to make sports cars with FAW Group under the brand of choice of late revolutionary leader Chairman Mao Zedong, Hongqi.

Silk EV on Monday told Reuters it has signed a memorandum of understanding with FAW to launch a joint venture in the state-owned automaker's hometown, Changchun in northern China, to make cars it has dubbed the S-series.

The plan was first reported on Friday by state media CCTV and Xinhua. FAW confirmed the CCTV report to Reuters.

Silk EV is an automotive solutions provider focused on the China auto market, its website shows.

It launched a company in Shanghai's free trade zone in April 2019 with registered capital of 1 million yuan ($141,281), according to a filing with the official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

Hongqi, meaning Red Flag, was launched by FAW in 1958 and is wid…

General Motors said Monday it has suspended its quarterly cash dividend on its common stock and its share buybacks to save cash in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

The company has also expanded its cash options by extending a three-year revolving credit agreement for $3.6 billion to April 2022. Earlier this month GM and GM Financial, its captive finance company, also extended a $2 billion 364-day revolving credit agreement to April 2021. In March, GM pulled $16 billion from existing credit lines, doubling its cash reserve.

Last month Ford Motor Co. suspended its dividend and tapped credit lines to raise additional cash.

GM last paid a quarterly dividend on March 5 of 38 cents a share.

“We continue to enhance our liquidity to help navigate the uncertainties in the global market created by this pandemic,” GM CFO Dhivya Suryadevara said in a statement. “Fortifying our cash position and strengthening our balance sheet …

TOKYO -- Japan's Nissan Motor Co. will slash its Japan auto production plans by 70 percent in May and 43 percent in June, documents seen by Reuters show, as the impact of the coronavirus shakes the troubled automaker.

Manufacturers around the globe are reeling from consumer demand shrunk by the spread of the coronavirus.

Nissan prior to the pandemic had already been grappling with the turmoil that followed the ousting of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.

This month Nissan said that 15,000 employees at its headquarters in Yokohama and main R&D center in nearby Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, would be required to take leave for 16 days from Monday through Japan's "Golden Week" holiday that starts on May 4.

Nissan stopped production at its Tochigi vehicle plant, which produces the Skyline sedan and Infiniti models, for much of this month, and plans to keep it closed for most of May.

Its plant in Kyushu, southern Japan, will operate only…

MUNICH -- BMW and Volkswagen are among European automakers rebooting their car factories to take advantage of easing coronavirus lockdown rules.

VW restarted production at its home plant in Wolfsburg on Monday, while BMW is cranking up engine manufacturing, also starting Monday.

BMW, VW and Daimler, are banking on Germany's ability to trace and contain the coronavirus, and a healthcare system capable of extensive testing to identify possible carriers of the disease.

Production capacity in the Wolfsburg plant will be at around 10 per cent to 15 percent to begin with, and reach around 40 percent of pre-crisis levels in the week after, said Andreas Tostmann, VW brand's board member responsible for production.

"The restart of Europe's biggest car factory after weeks of standstill is an important symbol for our employees, our dealers, suppliers, the German economy and for Europe," Tostmann said.

VW builds the Golf compact hatchback in Wolfsburg…

Europe's five largest automotive markets edged past China in electric vehicle registrations in the first quarter of 2020, as China battled the outbreak of the coronavirus and imposed shutdowns countrywide, according to a study by PwC and its strategy consulting subsidiary Strategy&.

Germany, France, the UK Italy and Spain collectively registered 79,300 full-electric vehicles between January and March, narrowly edging past the 77,256 in China, the study found.

Unit sales more than doubled in Europe in that period, compared with the first quarter of 2019. In China, sales fell by more than half in the quarter because of the lockdown.

The trend could see a reversal, as sheltering and lockdown requirements are expected to remain in place in most of Europe throughout the spring and restrictions in China are gradually lifted.

More than 80 percent of China's almost 84,000 confirmed coronavirus cases have been in Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the…

The head of the nation's largest U.S. dealership group says "retail has changed forever" because of the coronavirus and that robust safety processes for AutoNation Inc.'s employees and customers will be necessary.

AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson told shareholders last week that the company has implemented numerous safety measures in its stores from spacing markers for social distancing to hand-washing reminders and bulletins for employees and customers. The auto retailer in recent weeks also implemented a nationwide "store-to-door" vehicle delivery service.

"We've taken significant steps already to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees," Jackson said during AutoNation's virtual annual meeting. "That includes providing masks, gloves, hand sanitizers, single-use pens, sprays, wipes [and] much-heightened level of cleaning throughout the stores, including all the high-touch areas such as keyboards, telephones [and] guest common areas."

AutoNation…