Trade News

Nissan North America is offering a bottom-line boost to its financially embattled U.S. retailers as showroom traffic slows in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

For the month of March, dealers will be guaranteed a $375 bonus per vehicle sold.

Earlier this year, Nissan increased the dealer volume bonus from $250 per vehicle sold to $550 per vehicle for meeting sales goals during the February-to-September period.

It now intends to pay $375 per vehicle regardless of the dealer's sales goal.

Additionally, finance captive Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. is lowering its dealer floorplan rates. Qualifying dealers also will be able to apply for the cash-flow assistance program, which allows six months of interest-only payments on existing mortgages and capital loans.

"We continue to monitor how the situation is affecting traffic to your showrooms," David Kershaw, Nissan division vice president of sales and regional operations, said in a letter to …

Ford Motor Co. launches sales of the compact Comet on March 17, 1960, through Lincoln-Mercury stores.

The Comet, a stretched version of the Ford Falcon, was created to serve as an entry-level, compact alternative to the Edsel, which Ford had just scrapped. The team that developed the Comet previously worked on the Edsel.

It was introduced with four body styles — two- and four-door sedans and wagons.

The Comet shared many mechanical parts with the Falcon, mostly in the station wagon, and was powered by a lightweight, 90-hp straight six-cylinder engine. The standard transmission was a three-speed manual gearbox. A Ford-O-Matic transmission was optional.

The Comet carried more uplevel interior trim and more carpet compared with the Falcon and cost almost $100 more than the Ford.

Hemmings called it "an economical choice for buyers who wanted a little more pizazz than what the Falcon offered."

The…

Ford Motor Co. is pulling all national ads promoting its vehicles and will replace them with a new campaign describing how it is responding to the coronavirus, including giving Ford Credit customers some payment relief.

The effort includes two new spots, “Built to Lend a Hand” and “Built for Right Now,” from ad agency Wieden+Kennedy New York, which play off the automaker’s regular tagline, “Built Ford Proud.” 

The spots were rapidly produced starting late last week as Ford execs realized their normal marketing plans would no longer cut it as the coronavirus pandemic overtakes nearly every facet of American life.

“Thursday morning of last week, it became clear we were at a tipping point where we expect typical messaging in the marketplace isn’t going to work the same way,” says Matt VanDyke, director of U.S. marketing for Ford Motor. “It’s important to be reassuring right now and not trying to say to people 'Rush into your car dealership for a sales…

A dealership in California has closed its doors for two weeks out of precaution amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, and stores in other states may be forced to follow suit as municipalities and governors across the U.S. take broader action.

Capistrano Toyota, in San Juan Capistrano, says on its website and in a recorded phone message that it has closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which over the past week in the U.S. and abroad has caused unprecedented event cancellations, school closures and business disruptions.

"We care about the health and safety of our employees and customers!" the dealership says on its website. "Due to the COVID-19 virus, Capistrano Toyota will be closed for two weeks for the safety and protection for all. God bless and stay safe."

Several municipalities and states have begun to order shutdowns of restaurants, bars, casinos and other nonessential businesses as a way to try to control the spread of the virus.

The …

LONDON -- Britain has asked manufacturers including Ford Motor, Jaguar Land Rover and Honda to help make health equipment including ventilators to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

Jaguar Land Rover confirmed it had been approached for help with the production of ventilators as part of ongoing discussions with government.

"As a British company, naturally, we will do whatever we can to support our communities during these unprecedented times," a spokesperson told Automotive News Europe.

Ford said it was assessing the situation. The U.S. automaker operates two engine factories in Britain, which made just under 1.1 million engines in 2019. One of the two sites, in Bridgend in Wales, is due to close this year.

Honda, which built just under 110,000 cars at its facility in Swindon in England last year, said it had been asked by the government to explore the feasibility of making ventilators.

PSA's Vauxhall unit has also been asked to help.

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 Europe Editor Luca Ciferri describes what life is like under coronavirus quarantine in Italy.

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Trade groups representing automakers and parts manufacturers are "gravely concerned" by reports that the Trump administration is considering an entry-into-force date of June 1 for all sections of the USMCA, including automotive rules of origin, as the industry struggles to mitigate ongoing disruption caused by the novel coronavirus.

Canadian lawmakers ratified the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on March 13 before leaving for a weekslong break to halt the spread of COVID-19. Canada was the last of the three countries to sign off on the new North American trade deal replacing NAFTA.

The groups, which include the American International Automobile Dealers Association and the National Automobile Dealers Association, said in a statement issued Friday after the ratification that the three countries "have yet to issue, even in draft form, the uniform automotive rules-of-origin regulations," requiring that 75 percent of auto content be made in North Amer…

DETROIT — Angst over the novel coronavirus continues to spread at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plants.

FCA said 17 workers in the Warren Truck Assembly Plant's paint shop stopped working over coronavirus concerns. A spokesman confirmed that paint shop operations at the plant have resumed and that production was not affected.

The site in suburban Detroit produces the Ram 1500 Classic pickup and soon will build the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer crossovers. A spokeswoman didn't know how long the paint shop was down.

FCA said there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the plant. The UAW didn't immediately have a comment on the situation.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation carefully and are taking all necessary precautions to safeguard the health and welfare of our work force," the company said in a statement.

The Warren episode follows last week's news that a worker at FCA's transmission plant in Kokomo, Ind., tested positive for the …

PARIS — Renault said it would shut down its industrial sites in France from Monday evening "until further notice."

The automaker said it was suspending production to protect employees from the coronavirus outbreak and "in compliance with the measures taken by the French government."

Renault said 12 sites and 18,000 employees would be affected.

The situation at other plants in Europe would depend on conditions in each country, the automaker said.

Renault Group, with 1.65 million vehicle sales in 2019, is the third-biggest automaker in Europe, following Volkswagen Group and PSA Group.

Earlier, PSA Group said it was closing all factories in Europe, joining other automakers including Fiat Chrysler Automobiles that have announced full or partial shutdowns.

Renault earlier on Monday closed factories at Palencia and Valladolid, Spain, for several days due to supply shortages.

The plant at Flins, near Paris, which makes the …

Tesla Inc. delivered almost one-third of all electric vehicles in China last month, an industry group said, signaling the Model 3 maker has been relatively unscathed by the coronavirus outbreak that’s paralyzed much of the country.

The company delivered 3,958 EVs in February -- or about 30 percent of all new-energy vehicles in the country -- said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, in an online briefing on Monday about the country’s overall industry figures. That’s a “pretty good performance,” he said.

Comparative Tesla figures weren’t immediately available as the association doesn’t usually break out the company’s sales in its monthly briefings. And it’s unclear how many of those vehicles were sold to customers because the figures represent wholesale deliveries to dealerships. Still, Tesla’s performance came during a month when Chinese auto sales tumbled about 80 percent as the coronavirus kept consumers away from showrooms.<…

Beijing Hyundai, Hyundai Motor Co.’s joint venture with BAIC Motor Co., said output has resumed at three production sites and suppliers despite the lingering coronavirus outbreak in China.

The joint venture’s assembly plants in Beijing, the north China city of Cangzhou and the southwest China municipality of Chongqing have successively reopened, the company announced Saturday. 

None of the 10,000-plus employees at the plants have been infected by the virus, allowing full production to resume at the three sites, it said. 

Meanwhile, the joint venture’s 300-plus Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers have restarted production and nearly 90 percent of its franchised dealerships across China have reopened, it added. 

Beijing Hyundai hasn’t disclosed sales results this year. 

According to the China Passenger Car Association, a Shanghai-based consultancy, the company delivered 7,313 vehicles in February, a drop of 79 percent from a year …

Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan province, is joining three other major cities and subsidizing new-vehicle sales produced locally to help spur demand and minimize the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The city will offer subsidies of up to 3,000 yuan ($429) to buyers of new vehicles built locally by five automakers from March 11 to June 30, the Changsha city government said Friday. 

The automakers include Volkswagen Group, Fiat Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors and two domestic companies – BYD Co. and Leopard Motors. 

Changsha is the second city in Hunan province to subsidize sales of locally produced vehicles, following Xiangtan. 

On March 2, Xiangtan said it would provide a 3,000 yuan subsidy to the first 3,500 customers purchasing new cars assembled locally by Geely Automobile Holdings. 

Since last month, Foshan and Guangzhou – two cities in the south China province of Guangdong – have also rolled out subsid…