Trade News

Under normal circumstances, seven-year car loans at 0 percent interest would result in a boon in the new-vehicle market. But these aren't normal circumstances.

Because of the economic havoc being wreaked on the U.S. auto retail market by the coronavirus outbreak, industry analysts say the usually reliable incentives likely will fail to ignite sales this spring.

Not only are showrooms closed, with customers eyeing thinner wallets, vehicle values are on a slippery slope. Maryann Keller, automotive industry analyst and principal at Maryann Keller & Associates, said dropping used-car values put dealerships, auto lenders and customers in a bind. That means, on the new-car side, things are "going to get uglier before it gets better," she said.

Automakers using extended loan terms to rejuvenate a rapidly decaying market face many challenges, including convincing customers to enter the vehicle market at a perilous time and asking dea…

Companies seeking relief funding through the Small Business Administration's new loan program will receive their loans within the next week or so, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.

Lenders began processing loan applications for the Paycheck Protection Program on Friday, April 3. The $349 billion program within the $2.2 trillion stimulus package provides forgivable loans to small businesses that keep their workers on payroll. The forgivable loans are a top priority for dealers trying to keep their businesses afloat as showrooms are ordered to close throughout the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 17,500 loans valued at $5.4 billion were approved on the first day, according to Jovita Carranza, administrator for the small-business agency.

President Donald Trump said the Small Business Administration has processed more than $70 billion in guaranteed loans as of Tuesday, April 7. The White House has asked Congress to…

Self-driving startup Zoox has laid off its human safety drivers, at least for a while. With its test vehicles in California and Nevada idled by the coronavirus health crisis, the company sent an email Friday to contract workers, notifying them they would not be paid beyond Tuesday if they could not remotely work.

"The decision was not made lightly and is an unfortunate reflection of the difficult situation faced by many organizations in an uncertain economic climate," a Zoox spokesperson said.

The company did not say how many drivers are affected. Tech site The Verge, which first reported the developments, says approximately 120 contract workers are impacted.

Zoox has 58 autonomous vehicles registered to test on California roads, according to the state's DMV records. That's the fourth most of any company testing in California, behind Waymo, Cruise and Apple. The company expects its self-driving fleet will be grounded at least through May 3, by virtue of …

Editor's note: A previous version of this story included an incorrect plant schedule for BMW.

Auto workers at Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and BMW's U.S. assembly plants are finding themselves in an unfamiliar situation as their employers furlough thousands of them with no pay because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those and other nonunion automakers in North America have rarely resorted to layoffs in the past few decades, except during the 2007-09 economic crisis. To avoid sending workers home with no pay, international auto companies have relied on plant expansions, new-model additions and even make-work activities to keep work forces on the clock. Many also rely on pools of temp workers that can be increased or decreased as the market warrants, without cutting into regular employee rosters.

But the new health crisis is starkly different, as the industry halts operations worldwide.

A Nissan spokeswoman said about 10,000 workers at plants in Ten…

PARIS -- Renault and its alliance partner Nissan have the resources to weather the coronavirus crisis and will roll out strategic plans as scheduled in mid-May, the automakers’ top executives said.

Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the three-year strategic plans for the automakers and alliance member Mitsubishi were needed to restore investors’ confidence.

Renault and Nissan have seen their sales fall and profits evaporate in the 18 months since the November 2018 arrest of Carlos Ghosn, who had led the alliance as chairman and was also serving as chairman and CEO at Renault.

"If the plan is not well explained and understood, then the share price is not going to recover and people will not believe that Nissan can get back on its feet," Uchida said in the interview.

Since the beginning of the year, Renault's share price has fallen by 58 percent while Nissan's h…

Lexus previews the second-generation 2006 IS sport sedan, as well as a convertible version, with the introduction of the LF-C sports coupe concept April 8, 2004, at the New York auto show.

The concept was equipped with a retractable hard top and four-position glass roof, allowing the car to switch from coupe to convertible to targa or speedster.

The rear-wheel-drive LF-C — for Lexus Future-Coupe — was powered by a V-8 engine and featured a one-touch activation button, crystal LED taillamps, suede bucket seats, a 3D instrument panel, drive-by-wire and a translucent crystal center console with blue backlighting.

Retractable rear-view cameras replaced side mirrors on the doors and rear bumper.

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.

Automotive News reporter Lindsay VanHulle offers insights into her coverage on how dealerships across the U.S. are surviving during the pandemic and adapting to the rapidly changing digital landscape.

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Mazda plans special editions throughout its lineup to commemorate the company's 100th anniversary, although U.S. availability of the unique trim level will be announced later because of the coronavirus outbreak.

In Japan, Mazda is taking preorders now and will deliver the vehicles up until March 2021, the company said.

The special editions draw their inspiration from styling touches on Mazda's first passenger car, the R360 Coupe from 1960. The two-door micro-mini with a rear-mounted engine featured two-tone flourishes on higher trims on the roof and the interior, and the 100th-anniversary models echo some of those elements.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mazda's 100th birthday

The treatment is most fully realized on the MX-5 Miata convertible, which features white paint with a burgundy-red roof, like the comparable R360. Most other models come entirely in white on the outside with red leather seats and red carpet on the inside. Special edition logos — "100 YEAR…

The General Motors-Honda pact to co-develop two electric vehicles for the Japanese automaker — buried by an avalanche of coronavirus news last week — deserves a closer look. It's a rare, big deal.

Because Honda is a fiercely proud company — and doggedly protective of its sterling reputation for engineering and quality — the company doesn't often put its name on products that weren't designed in-house or that weren't designed with a partner it knows well.

Honda's name will appear, the two partners said Thursday, on two new global electric vehicles being developed by GM. Honda will design the interior and exterior of the vehicles. GM engineers are developing the vehicles' underpinnings and GM is providing the power.

The partnership will benefit from greater economies of scale, which will help with pricing and profitability.

This is the deepest collaboration Honda has had with a competitor since the 1980s, when Honda and…