Trade News

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tesla Inc. shares plunged after CEO Elon Musk said the electric-car maker’s stock is too high in a stream of tweets reminiscent of the posts that securities regulators sued over in 2018.

The billionaire said in a separate post that he’s selling “almost all” of his physical possessions and won’t own a house. He also renewed his call for reopening the economy and then recited parts of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

Tesla shares plunged as much as 13 percent as of noon Friday in New York trading. The stock is still up about 65 percent for the year, an advance that’s put him in position to meet the final performance threshold needed to be awarded stock options that would yield him a windfall of about $730 million.

Musk, 48, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking further comment. He joked about Tesla’s stock being “so high” in December, and has said in the past the company has a higher market capitalization than it deserves.

Mu…

The already-reeling used-vehicle market is hanging in the balance as Hertz Global Holdings Inc. negotiates with its creditors, a Benchmark Co. analyst said.

The rental-car company has been seeking leniency from lenders and U.S. government support to avoid a bankruptcy filing, CEO Kathryn Marinello said in an interview Wednesday. Hertz has missed lease payments related to the vehicles it rents out and has until May 4 to either make them or convince lenders to waive a potential default.

“The risk for the auto sector occurs if the creditors of the debt using the rental vehicles as security decide to liquidate the fleet to repay the bonds,” Benchmark analyst Michael Ward wrote in a report Friday. “A fire sale of a significant portion of the Hertz fleet could add to the price volatility in the used vehicle market.”

Used-car prices at auction have plunged since much of the U.S. economy began to shut down in mid-March. Values are expected to remain depress…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt says the outbreak will most likely put the supercar maker about two years behind schedule to achieve its ambitious goals.

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DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. said Friday that Alexandra Ford English, daughter of Executive Chairman Bill Ford, will join Rivian's board of directors, filling a vacancy left by the abrupt retirement this year of former President of Automotive Joe Hinrichs.

English, director of corporate strategy, will add the board role effective immediately, Ford said in a release.

"Alexandra and I share a deep passion for mobility and electrification, and her connection to Ford's long family role in transportation is something special. I am looking forward to working closely with her and the perspective that she will bring to the Board," Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement.

The move comes days after the two companies said they would cancel joint development of an electric vehicle for the Lincoln brand. Both sides said their partnership remained strong.

"Our strategic partnership with Rivian plays an important role in the future of fully networked battery ele…

The government of Canadian province Ontario has issued the province’s auto sales and manufacturing safety guidelines intended to keep workers healthy as the North American economy gradually reopens. 

The sectors were two of several that were issued guidelines Thursday. The sector-specific guidelines contain recommendations and tips for employers on how to keep workers safe on the job. 

Some of the suggestions the Canadian province makes for auto retailers include:

Having all employees and visitors wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water, or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, before entering the workplace, after contact with others, or with surfaces others have touched; Including hand washing before breaks and at shift changes; Sanitizing the workplace thoroughly and often, especially frequently touched surfaces; Identifying all activities where people may come into contact with others, and employing ways to minimize contact and maintai…

BEIJING -- Tesla Inc. has cut the starting price for China-made Model 3 sedans by 10 percent to qualify for subsidies in the world's biggest auto market.

Tesla, which started delivering cars from a $2 billion Shanghai assembly plant in December, said in a statement Friday it has cut the starting price for Standard Range Plus Model 3 sedans to 271,550 yuan ($38,463.17), after receiving 20,250 yuan per car as EV subsidies.

China announced plans in 2015 to end subsidies for EVs this year, but said in March it would extend them. However, it said the subsidies will apply only to passenger cars costing less than 300,000 yuan.

MILAN -- The heirs of the late Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne received shares in the automaker worth at least 21.6 million euros ($23.5 million) in 2019, according to FCA's annual report.

FCA’s current CEO, Mike Manley, received compensation totaling 13.28 million euros ($14.45 million).

The sum received by the heirs also was more than the compensation package of General Motors CEO Mary Barra, who received $21.6 million last year.

FCA said the 1,951,457 shares were delivered as part of its employment agreement with Marchionne, who died at age 66 on July 24, 2018, in Switzerland after being hospitalized a few weeks earlier. Prior to his death, Marchionne was also CEO and chairman of Ferrari.

The shares were awarded "as a result of overachievement of performance objectives for the 2014-2018 performance period," said FCA's annual report, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 25.

Th…

The length of almost two football fields, the cargo ship Jupiter Spirit arrived in Los Angeles’ harbor on April 24 after an almost three-week journey from Japan, ready to unload its cargo of about 2,000 Nissan Armada SUVs, Rogue crossovers and Infiniti sedans in a quick, half-day operation.

But when the ship, operated by Nissan Motor Co.’s freight arm, got about a mile offshore, its captain was ordered to drop anchor. And there the ship remained for almost a week -- a floating symbol of an unprecedented logjam as nearby storage lots covering hundreds of acres overflowed with vehicles that Americans suddenly have little desire to purchase.

There are gluts of all shapes and kinds forming in the U.S. nowadays, a testament to the scope of the economic pain the coronavirus is inflicting. Slaughterhouses are killing and tossing out thousands of pigs a day, dairy farmers are pouring away milk, oil sellers were paying buyers to take barrels off their hands last week, …

Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai posted sharply lower U.S. sales in April, previewing what is expected to be a low point for automakers as the market reels from closed showrooms and government restrictions on household and business activity because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Volume dropped 54 percent at Toyota Motor, with demand down the same amount at the Toyota division and Lexus. Overall, the automaker's truck deliveries slid 50 percent and car sales dropped 61 percent -- even as the company's average new-vehicle incentive rose 24 percent to $2,551 last month. (See chart below.)

The Toyota division's top-selling vehicles all posted declines of 30 percent or more: Camry, down 62 percent; Corolla, off 53 percent; RAV4, down 56 percent; Tacoma, off 30 percent and Highlander, down 64 percent.

U.S. sales fell 39 percent at Hyundai, one of the hotter brands in recent quarters because of an expanded crossover lineup, with light-truck deliveries off 13 percent t…

Consumers are continuing to prioritize auto expenses ahead of other payments, a credit bureau study finds, despite record job losses and shelter-in-place orders preventing many consumers from driving beyond trips to the grocery store or to seek medical care.

Those financially affected by COVID-19 closures were about twice as likely to default on a mortgage than an auto payment, maintaining historical trends of ranking transportation needs above other credit products, according to the survey of nearly 3,000 U.S. consumers conducted by TransUnion.

Charlie Wise, head of global research and consulting at TransUnion, said U.S. consumers who have lost jobs or hours during the pandemic are not willing to turn over their keys just yet.

"The recognition many consumers have is, this isn't going to be forever," Wise said. "At some point, we will be let out of our homes. When that call comes, I don't want to be without a car."

About 61 percent of respondent…

Delivery's time to shine?

Coronavirus has wrought significant changes across the transportation landscape. Among them: a renewed focus on using autonomous-driving technology for delivery services.

On April 7, self-driving startup Nuro received a permit to test its driverless delivery vehicles on certain California roads.

Now comes the Yandex Rover.

On Wednesday, Russian tech titan Yandex launched a commercial rollout of its Rover delivery robot. The company deployed the six-wheeled sidewalk vehicle that's about as big as a cooler, in Skolkovo, a tech-minded suburb of Moscow. It's the first deployment of the Rover, which began road testing in November, outside the company's private campuses.

Employees of city offices will be the first to use the app-based delivery service, and the Rovers will travel "several kilometers" between buildings on public sidewalks. Along these trips, the Rover will meet pedestrians, cross streets and encoun…

LONDON -- Nissan will resume vehicle production at its U.K. plant in early June, the automaker said in a statement.

The plant is the largest car factory in the U.K. and Nissan's largest in Europe. The Qashqai and Juke crossovers, and the Leaf electric car, are built at the facility in Sunderland, northeast England. Production fell 22 percent to 346,535 units last year.

Vehicle production at the plant was halted March 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak. About 150 employees returned to work last week to begin engine production, Nissan said.

Nissan is waiting to see how car sales recover before ramping up the factory to full production.

"Our goal is to navigate through this crisis while maintaining activities critical for business continuity and to make sure we are prepared for the time when business resumes in Europe," the company said.

Nissan will reopen its other European assembly plant in Barcelona, Spain, on May 4, it said last week.

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