Trade News

CLEVELAND -- The federal government has prevailed in a complex arbitration case related to Atlanta-based Novelis Inc.'s proposed $2.6 billion acquisition of Beachwood-based Aleris Corp. — a decision that clears the way for the deal to take place, but will require Novelis to sell Aleris's entire aluminum auto body sheet operations in North America.

Novelis is a major supplier to the auto industry and Ford Motor Co. is its second-largest overall customer, generating about 10 percent of its annual revenue, according to its 2019 annual report. The supplier generated $12.3 billion in revenue during its 2019 fiscal year -- nearly $3 billion from automotive customers. 

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement issued Monday, March 9, that the required divestiture "will fully preserve competition in this important industry."

"Today's decision is a victory for automakers and American consumers and taxpayers and will preserve competition in the marke…

TURIN – The Italian automotive industry is bracing for potential fallout from a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 500 people in the country.

Italy’s prime minister has called the outbreak the country’s “darkest hour,” inviting comparisons to the U.K. during World War II. The effects, both psychological and economic, could be devastating as the government struggles to contain the damage.

“We need to change our habits right now,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at an unscheduled news conference Monday evening. He ordered the of nation of more than 60 million people to “stay at home” as he explained that “we are forced to impose sacrifices.”

Despite the dire warnings automakers and suppliers continued to operate on Tuesday.

"So far there is no change in the measures we have taken,” a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles spokesman told Automotive News Europe. “We are evaluating whether further measures will be neces…

Manheim has converted its Flint, Mich., and Houston auction locations to all-digital formats, the Cox Automotive unit said Tuesday.

The two sites join Manheim Tucson, where digital-only auctions have been running since May.

Like at the Arizona site, vehicles in the Manheim Flint and Manheim Houston auctions will remain parked in designated spots as a live, digital auction is conducted on large monitors with bar code price scanning capability and condition report information.

Manheim Flint has been running two all-digital lanes since January. It has since seen a rise in both buyer attendance and sales conversion, the company said.

Manheim has been adopting digital lanes at other locations throughout the country while keeping portions of the auction sites for vehicles physically running through lanes. Last year, Manheim grew its digital lane count to 150 and sold more than 2.3 million vehicles to digital buyers, or almost half of the company's total…

TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co. is likely to pull out from a venture capital fund it runs with alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, as part of the Japanese automaker's drive to cut costs and conserve cash, two sources said.

Nissan will formally make a decision on whether to leave the fund, Alliance Ventures, by the end of this month, the two Nissan insiders told Reuters, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public.

The likely move comes after Nissan's junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., told an alliance meeting last week that it would no longer continue to inject money into the fund, one of the people said.

The decision to leave the Amsterdam-based fund was all but a done deal, the other person said, adding: "Of course we're out. The house is on fire."

A Nissan spokeswoman said it was speculation and declined to comment. A Mitsubishi spokesman said no decision had been made.

The move come…

BEIJING -- China's industry ministry said on Tuesday it has urged Tesla Inc. to keep its China-made vehicles consistent after some customers complained the electric vehicle maker put less advanced computer chips in their cars.

Tesla started delivering China-made Model 3 electric sedans from its $2 billion Shanghai factory in December, but some buyers said on Chinese social media that the control units in their cars run on HW2.5 chips, which are less advanced than the HW3.0 chips listed on their specification sheets.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology urged Tesla on Tuesday to ensure product consistency, quality and safety, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

HW3.0 chips are necessary for the full self-driving mode in Tesla's driver assistance system, a feature that is optional when customers order Tesla cars.

In a post on its Weibo account last week, Tesla said the swap was due to a lack of supply of the HW3.0 chip…

BEIJING -- Tesla Inc. plans to increase its production capacity for certain car parts at its $2 billion factory in China, according to a government document seen by Reuters, as it pushes to localize its supply chain in the world's biggest auto market.

The automaker, which started delivering Model 3 electric sedans from its Shanghai factory in December, plans to add lines to make more battery packs, electric motors, and motor controllers, according to the document submitted by Tesla to Shanghai government.

Tesla, which as of end-December used about 70 percent imported parts for the cars it made in China, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

But according to the document, Tesla wants to almost double its annual building capacity for cooling pipes, a key part in a car's heat management system, to 260,000 sets a year from 150,000. It did not provide capacity details for other parts.

The planned production line will not in…

The arrival of the all-electric future that General Motors CEO Mary Barra touted last week will have to wait because of the new coronavirus.

The automaker on Monday called off the early-April unveiling of the Cadillac Lyriq crossover, the first of several battery-powered models Barra has said will debut in the next few years. Worse yet, the boost GM shares got when she made the case the company can compete with Tesla Inc. was short-lived. The stock was hit hard by Monday's virus-related market rout, falling the most since the carmaker’s November 2010 initial public offering.

Cadillac is reevaluating plans for rolling out the Lyriq now that it won’t be introduced at the canceled April 2 event in Los Angeles, according to a spokesman. The vehicle is the first GM will build using the new battery and electric-drive system the automaker showed off to investors and media last week.

The battery packs and modular architecture GM is calling Ultium will serve…

The Toyota of Kirkland dealership, which closed late last week for deep cleaning and disinfecting after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, has reopened.

The suburban Seattle dealership closed Thursday following a sales-side employee notifying store management Tuesday evening that he had tested positive for the coronavirus.

An employee answering the phone early Monday just after 7 a.m. local time, confirmed the dealership was open.

Toyota of Kirkland and O'Brien Auto Group management could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kirkland, a city of about 90,000, is in King County, Wash., where the majority of U.S. coronavirus deaths have been reported. The King County Health Department on Sunday reported 17 COVID-19 deaths in the county and 12 new cases of the virus, bringing its total cases to 83. Sixteen of the 17 deaths are tied to a nursing home in Kirkland, according to the health department.

T…

Deliveries at General Motors' two joint ventures in China plummeted 90 percent to 19,412 last month as the Lunar New Year and coronavirus outbreak left plants idled and showrooms empty of buyers. 

February sales at SAIC-GM, GM’s passenger vehicle partnership with SAIC Motor Corp., nosedived 92 percent to 7,612, according to SAIC, a Shanghai-listed company. 

Deliveries at SAIC-GM-Wuling, a light-vehicle joint venture between GM and SAIC, plunged 88 percent to 11,800.

In the first two months, sales slumped 52 percent to 133,076 at SAIC-GM and 65 percent to 90,040 at SAIC-GM-Wuling.

As a result, total sales at the two partnerships slumped 58 percent to 223,116 in the two-month period. 

SAIC-GM builds and distributes cars and light trucks for GM’s Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands, while SAIC-GM-Wuling produces and markets Baojun-badged cars and Wuling-brand microvans.

Because of the viral epidemic which spread from the…

Editor's note: An earlier version of this report incorrectly characterized Honda Canada's production facilities. It has two assembly lines.

Honda has turned to Dave Gardner, CEO of its Canadian unit, to run the automobile division of American Honda Motor Co. in the U.S. after last month's abrupt exit of Henio Arcangeli Jr. in a dispute over his future role at the automaker.

Gardner's appointment is effective May 1, and his formal title will be executive vice president and business unit head of automotive sales. He will also be executive vice president of the parts, service and technical business unit, Honda said in a press release Monday.

"Dave is a strong Honda leader who brings years of broad-based experience to this key position in our U.S. operations," said American Honda CEO Shinji Aoyama. "He has extensive knowledge of the auto industry and is highly respected by our Honda and Acura dealers in Canada and by the leadership of our North American oper…

The Volkswagen brand has snared stars from two of cable TV’s hottest dramas to star in a three-part ad series for its new Atlas Cross Sport crossover.

Paul Giamatti, who plays New York attorney general Chuck Rhoades in Showtime’s “Billions,” appears as a penny-pinching accountant in the campaign, which comes from ad agency Johannes Leonardo. His client is played by Kieran Culkin, known for his portrayal of Roman Roy, the spoiled, immature youngest son of media mogul Logan Roy in HBO’s “Succession.” 

Click here to view the ad

Shades of the cable TV characters are present in the ads, which portray Giamatti as a “celebrity accountant” counseling clients against outlandish purchases like “solid-gold jet ski." He looms over Culkin’s every move, trying to reign in his spending, but is relieved to find out that his client bought a VW, which is positioned as a sensible move.

The campaign’s tagline, “Excessive Where it Matters,” is meant to portray th…

The coronavirus has hurt many companies in China and around the world. Neolix, a driverless delivery business based in Beijing, isn’t among them -- in fact, it’s seen a jump in demand.

The startup, which has attracted customers including Alibaba Group Holding, Meituan Dianping and JD.Com Inc., has booked orders for more than 200 vehicles in the past two months; before then, it had only produced 125 units since manufacturing began last May, founder Yu Enyuan said in an interview.

Amid the virus anxiety that has disrupted businesses and supply chains, China’s push into autonomous transport and the future of delivery is getting an unexpected boost. Neolix’s small vans help customers reduce physical contact and address labor shortages caused by lingering quarantines and travel restrictions.

Neolix’s inventories have been depleted during the epidemic with its vehicles being used to deliver medical supplies in hospitals, including in Wuhan, at the outbreak’s e…