Trade News

BERLIN -- Germany will consider relaxing restrictions next week on shops introduced last month to slow the spread of the coronavirus while keeping social distancing rules in place until May 3, according to a government proposal seen by Reuters.

Chancellor Angela Merkel began discussing the draft during talks with the governors of Germany's 16 states from 2 p.m. on Wednesday to agree whether and how to loosen some of the restrictions given an improvement in the situation.

The proposals include reopening schools gradually starting May 4 with priority given to primary and secondary pupils in final years, while day-care centers will remain shut. Schools must prepare a hygiene plan before they reopen their doors.

Religious gatherings will remain banned and restaurants, bars, cafes, cinemas and music venues will remain shut.

But some retailers as well hairdressers, zoos, and public libraries will be allowed to open next week under strict social distanci…

Aggressive incentives didn't prevent new-vehicle demand from falling by double digits in March, but J.D. Power believes they allowed the Detroit 3 to take their largest slice of new-vehicle sales since 2006.

Since launching a wave of incentives that includes 0 percent interest rates on seven-year loans, the Detroit 3 captives have seen their share of financed new vehicles skyrocket 60 percent.

Ford Motor Credit Co., GM Financial and Santander Consumer USA's Chrysler Capital business originated 31.8 percent of new-vehicle financing from mid-March to April 8, according to J.D. Power, up from 19.9 percent in the weeks prior. All other captives, which include banks' captivelike relationships, comprised 38.4 percent of the market.

Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, said origination shares for the Detroit 3 may have been even higher had the automakers not offered to extend leases.

"Lease buyers are staying out of the marke…

AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest new-vehicle retailer, is offering 25 percent off service work to all customers through April, hoping to help people financially impacted during the coronavirus outbreak.

The retailer, which on April 1 launched the deal that includes parts and labor, shared a video of the promotion on Twitter on Monday. The company also has information about the offer on its website.

"For everyone that has to be on the road @AutoNation says #ThankYou & brings you some relief," the company tweeted.

Auto retailers from the largest companies to smaller dealerships are rolling out promotions aimed at helping customers — and their businesses — during the coronavirus pandemic. With service driving a significant portion of dealership revenue and profits, some stores are offering service discounts to essential workers or deferrals on service work for a certain time period.

"We have had many thank us for helping to keep them on the…

General Motors said on Tuesday it has started mass production of ventilators needed to treat severely sick coronavirus patients and would deliver the first batch of the medical equipment to the U.S. government this month.

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded GM a contract worth $489.4 million to make 30,000 ventilators by the end of August.

GM, which is working with ventilator firm Ventec Life Systems to produce the medical equipment, said it will ship more than 600 ventilators in April.

It added that it expects to fill nearly half the order by the end of June and the full order by August-end.

The news drew praise from the Trump administration weeks after the president accused the automaker of dragging its feet.

While Trump criticized GM CEO Mary Barra in March for taking too long to start building the medical devices, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg at the time the company and Ventec were waiting on…

The Porsche Taycan won two of the five categories in the 2020 World Car Awards, as did the Kia brand, including Car of the Year for the Telluride SUV.

The battery-powered Taycan sports sedan was named Luxury Car of the Year, ahead of the Porsche 911 and Mercedes EQC. The Taycan was also named Performance Car of the Year in a Porsche-only contest, beating the 718 Spyder and the 911.

The winners were selected by 86 international jurors, including Automotive News Europe. The awards were to be handed out at the New York auto show on Wednesday, but the show was postponed due to the coronavirus crisis. The winners were announced on a video available on YouTube.

PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares was named Person of the Year, an honor announced in March. 

The Telluride, a model not sold in Europe, won Car of the Year over the Mazda CX-30 compact crossover and the Mazda 3 small hatchback. Kia’s other award-winner was the Soul EV, which was named Urban Car…

A small Missouri city is trying to lure Tesla Inc. with big bucks.

The city of Joplin, near Missouri’s borders with Oklahoma and Kansas, is seeking to tempt the electric-car maker with $1 billion in incentives and savings to build a new factory for its futuristic Cybertruck.

Joplin is offering Tesla a 1,042 acre site at a 50 percent discount, according to a website it’s built to court the company led by billionaire Elon Musk. It’s also coaxing the carmaker with a 100 percent tax abatement for 12 years and various other tax breaks and incentives.

The city, which is home to a pair of industrial-battery production facilities, has taken its campaign directly to Musk, with Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce President Toby Teeter appealing to the CEO Monday on Twitter. Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment on Joplin’s proposal.

Musk, 48, said in a March 10 tweet that Tesla was scouting locations to build the Cybertruck somewhere in the …

Volkswagen Group's Audi unit is among automakers gradually reopening factories in Europe, even as coronavirus lockdowns drag on across much of the region.

Some 100 workers at Audi’s Gyoer, Hungary site, one of the world’s largest engine plants, restarted output on an assembly line in a single-shift system, the company said Tuesday. A second line is set to follow at the end of this week.

Manufacturers are facing a crushing economic blow after governments across Europe placed restrictions on public life to combat the pandemic, which has claimed some 120,000 lives worldwide. The slump may mean 3 million lost vehicle sales this year in Europe, or 60 billion euros ($66 billion) in lower revenue, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean.

After weeks of restrictions, governments and corporations are sketching out exit strategies. Still, efforts to get the economy back on track are likely to be gradual and may encounter setbacks if the …

Mazda prepares to enter the U.S. market, with the first batch of R100 imports departing Hiroshima, Japan, on April 14, 1970. The shipment was scheduled to arrive at the Port of Seattle.

The U.S. was Mazda's second North American market after Canada sales were launched in 1968.

The company initially shipped 60 R100 coupes to the U.S. in 1970, and it introduced the rotary-powered RX-3 here in 1972.

Mazda first showed the R100 at the 1967 Tokyo auto show along with the new Cosmo.

The subcompact R100 was priced at $2,495 and featured a rotary engine.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mazda's first 100 years

No automaker had perfected the engineering and manufacturing of the rotary engine, which spins a rotor in a circle rather than pistons going up and down. The engine provides strong power and smooth operation in a compact package. With the rotary engine, the R100 weighed about 1,775 pounds and averaged 23 mpg.

To promote one of its first vehicles…