Trade News

BMW is prepping to expand its crossover lineup — now at seven nameplates — once again, with a sporty version of the flagship X7.

While BMW has not announced plans for the new crossover, the automaker recently registered the X8 M trademark, as reported by X7Forum.com.

It's not clear whether the X8 would be approved for the U.S.

Production of the X8 "fastback," which would compete against the Lamborghini Urus and Porsche Cayenne Coupe, could begin at BMW's Spartanburg, S.C., plant in summer 2022, said Sam Fiorani, vice president at AutoForecast Solutions.

Consumers have evolved from desiring sedans to crossovers, and traditional coupe buyers are doing the same.

"A top of the line sporty crossover appeals to the person who would have purchased a performance two-seater or coupe a generation or two ago," Fiorani said in an email. "Instead of buying something like a BMW 850Ci, today's version of that driver wou…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.'s pivot from transmissions to face masks at a Michigan plant began with an executive's late-night text to a colleague. It quickly morphed into a complex, intercontinental scramble to secure and ship machinery and materials — which was nearly thwarted by a flock of unfortunate birds.

It's the stuff of a Hollywood action thriller, even for a century-old automaker that has done logistical backflips in recent years to keep vehicle production from being disrupted by supplier fires and complex plant renovations.

"We have an amazing logistics team," Adrian Price, director of global core engineering for vehicle manufacturing, told Automotive News. "When we have issues, that team just swings into action, and they're able to work magic."

Ford's decision to mass-produce face masks at its Van Dyke Transmission Plant north of Detroit is part of a larger effort to make medical equipment for health care workers and COVI…

As the severity of the coronavirus outbreak was coming into focus mid-March with a plunging stock market and a national emergency declaration from the White House, Hyundai Motor America CEO Jose Muñoz and his top executives were trying to get in front of the wave about to crash down on the U.S. auto industry.

Muñoz, who was closely watching the disruption in Hyundai Motor Group's home market of South Korea and in China, wanted to move quickly and aggressively to support dealers and customers in the U.S. with the relaunch of the automaker's job-loss protection program for new buyers — first seen during the Great Recession. But not everyone was on board.

Muñoz stuck with the plan. That and other moves by Hyundai and its corporate siblings Genesis and Kia mark a line in the sand for the surging Hyundai Motor Group. After gaining market share and industry awards in recent years, the group is willing to spend to defend its gains and position itse…

Even as automakers aim to resume assembling vehicles in as little as two weeks, some now have a new problem: A critical supplier facility has been knocked out by a tornado.

BorgWarner is scrambling to figure out how to quickly put its South Carolina transfer case factory back together after it was demolished last week.

The plant is the source of transfer cases for the Ford F-150, Toyota's North America-made trucks, some Honda Motor Co. light trucks produced in Lincoln, Ala., and possibly other vehicle lines. BorgWarner declined to identify its customers or say how many models the Seneca, S.C., plant supplied.

The company also declined to comment on the condition of the plant or how long it might take to rebuild. But photos posted online by local employees and vendors show a large industrial center that appears to be significantly damaged and lacking a roof.

The plant's 970 employees make it the largest employer in rural Oconee County, in South Ca…

TOKYO — Mazda is tipping its hand about future plans for the brand's trademark rotary engine.

Mazda, in a press release celebrating the company's 100-year anniversary, says the rotary likely will return as a range extender in the new MX-30 electrified crossover.

That vehicle, slated for sale in Europe and Japan, debuted as an EV at last year's Tokyo Motor Show, featuring new design cues and front and rear doors that swing opposite each other.

Now, Mazda is hinting a hybrid version using a rotary engine may be down the road. In a media release highlighting Mazda's history of rotary-engine development, the carmaker noted a small Wankel engine was used as a range extender in a prototype Mazda 2 EV.

"A similar system could find its way onto the Mazda MX-30, a brand-new battery-electric crossover SUV arriving at dealerships this year," Mazda said.

The all-electric MX-30 for Europe and Japan uses a relatively small 35.5-kWh lithium ion battery an…

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles planned to roll out a digital retailing platform that allows the buying process to take place online late this summer.

But the coronavirus outbreak forced the automaker to hurriedly pull up the release date to the spring as millions of consumers suddenly became confined to their homes. A tool that was envisioned as a convenient perk before the pandemic suddenly became a necessity for shoppers who still need to buy vehicles during a disruptive crisis.

Even though FCA started running commercials on April 1 promoting "the ability to shop and buy from the safety of your home," only some of its dealers were ready for such a monumental shift.

Jeff Kommor, FCA's head of U.S. sales, told Automotive News on Tuesday, April 14, that almost 20 percent of dealers were on the platform and that he expects more than 30 percent to be by the end of the month.

Kommor, in an email, said FCA began a pi…

TOKYO — Japanese auto supplier Denso Corp. is joining the fight against COVID-19 by teaching medical researchers how to harness the powers of quantum computing.

The auto industry knows the Toyota Group parts maker for its air conditioners, inverters, sensors, electric electronic control units and myriad other components. But Denso is also a leader in the field of quantum computing -- a science being developed to crack a host of big data problems in the automotive field.

Because it can handle thousands of variables much more quickly than conventional computers, quantum computing is ideally suited to optimizing problems with a multitude of outcomes. Traditional computers code information as either a zero or a one in bits. But quantum computing increases the amount of data that can be processed by using a quantum bit, or qubit. A qubit can be coded as a zero, a one, or a zero and a one at the same time.

Leading Denso's efforts is one of the world's quantu…

Ford Motor Co. is warning of significant damage wreaked by a tornado in South Carolina this week that knocked out a BorgWarner Inc. auto parts plant supplying a key component for the automaker’s most profitable models.

The Seneca, S.C., parts factory makes transfer cases, an important component of four-wheel-drive systems that Ford uses in its F-150 pickup, its biggest moneymaker, as well profitable SUVs such as the Explorer and Lincoln Navigator, the automaker said Friday in a securities filing.

“We do not have sufficient information to estimate when the facility will be back online or whether, or the extent to which, this incident will impact our plans to resume production of four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles,” Ford said.

BorgWarner’s plant, one of its largest drivetrain manufacturing facilities, was struck by a tornado on April 13 and the company said it’s still assessing the extent of the damage. “Currently, the time to resume operations,…

Automotive sales are now considered an essential service during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to updated guidance released Friday by the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The new guidelines include "workers critical to the manufacturing, distribution, sales, rental, leasing, repair, and maintenance of vehicles and other transportation equipment, including electric vehicle charging stations, and the supply chains that enable these operations to facilitate continuity of travel-related operations for essential workers."

"Based on feedback we received, we released version 3.0 of the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers Guidance, which provides clarity around a range of positions needed to support the essential functions laid out in earlier versions," said Christopher Krebs, the agency's director. "As new or evolving challenges emerge, we are looking at what kind of access, personal protecti…