Trade News

A prolonged outbreak of the coronavirus that has forced automakers to extend plant shutdowns could reduce first-quarter light-vehicle output in China by 1.7 million, or 32 percent, IHS Markit said.

If the outbreak forces automakers to idle plants through mid-March, the potential impact of the virus on output would be on top of a 10 percent decline in first-quarter production IHS predicted before the crisis, the consultancy noted. 

The forecast was made after Chinese provinces and municipalities extended the country’s Lunar New Year holiday by a week to help contain the spread of the virus. 

As of Friday, 11 of 31 Chinese provinces and many municipalities, most of which are in coastal and central China, had decided to prolong the holiday by an extra week, to Sunday, Feb. 9. 

The 11 provinces and municipalities account for more than two-thirds of vehicle production in China, according to IHS Markit.

The country’s remaining 20 p…

Chinese supplier Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems Co. inked a deal to purchase U.S. auto seat maker Adient’s 30 percent stake in their interiors joint venture.  The $379 million (2.7 billion yuan) deal will allow Yanfeng to turn the joint venture into a wholly-owned subsidiary while unprofitable Adient receives much-needed cash. 

The two companies also agreed to extend the terms of their 50-50 seat partnership through the end of 2038, Yanfeng said on Sunday. 

In addition, the seat joint venture, as part of global expansion plans, will spend $20 million to purchase Adient’s intellectual property rights for mechanical business patents such as tracks, recliners, locks and adjusters. 

The transactions are expected to be completed this year. 

Adient said it will use proceeds from the transactions to reduce debt and meet general corporate expenses. 

In the quarter ended Dec. 31, Adient’s adjusted earnings before …

Jiangling Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co.’s truck partnership, is experiencing a spike in orders for ambulances based on the Ford Transit van as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. 

The joint venture obtained orders for more than 1,900 ambulances adapted from the van through Saturday, up from some 1,300 orders as of Monday last week, according to Ford Motor Co. and Jiangling Motors. 

To help the central China city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, Jiangling Motors on Saturday shipped two of 10 Transit vans it will donate to hospitals in Wuhan. 

Ford builds the Transit, as well as the Everest SUV, the Tourneo multipurpose vehicle and the Territory crossover, at Jiangling Motors. The U.S. company also assembles sedans and crossovers at its car joint venture with Changan Automobile Co.

Two state-owned Chinese automakers, Shanghai-headquartered SAIC Motor Corp. and Beijing-based Beiqi Foton Motor Co., said last week that they have…

SHANGHAI -- China's top electric vehicle battery maker signed an agreement to supply Tesla Inc. with EV batteries starting in July.

Tesla will determine the number of batteries to be supplied between July 2020 and June 2022, CATL said in a stock exchange filing, adding the agreement does not impose restrictions on Tesla orders.

Tesla, which has a long-standing battery supply agreement with Japan's Panasonic Corp., said during a fourth-quarter earnings call last week that its pact with LG Chem and CATL was at a smaller scale.

Tesla is building the Model 3 at a new $2 billion Shanghai factory, which started delivering cars last year, and has said it would diversify battery supplies for the plant. 

When will BEVs reach the tipping point and overtake the internal combustion engine as the power source of choice? This is already agreed by most as the defining question of the modern Automotive era.

Some industry analysts claim that retail price parity will mark such a tipping point. However, this is just one factor required for there to be a mass change in consumer behavior in favor of BEVs. 

Perhaps the question we should be asking is: 'When will the four key elements that make up the entire market framework achieve parity, driving consumers to choose BEVs over ICEs?' Each of the four key driving forces is affected by a number of variables, often highly regionalized, and a complex matrix in which vehicle price is only one part of the equation. Charging infrastructure and regulatory frameworks will have to align. Total cost of ownership, reliability, and convenience models will have to improve along with regulatory and legislative change, before any tip…

SHANGHAI/PARIS -- Renault will extend a shutdown at its factory in China's Wuhan until Feb. 13, in line with the Chinese government's guidance over the coronavirus for workers in the city, a company spokeswoman said.

Renault's plant employs about 2,000 people. It had been due to re-open on Feb. 10.

Honda plans to extend the closure period for its three car plants in Wuhan with Dongfeng Group until Feb. 13, a company representative told Reuters on Monday.

Other automakers in the area, including French rival PSA Group, which makes Peugeot cars, have taken similar measures.

Toyota, General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen Group China's two joint ventures, have halted production until at least Feb. 9. Ford also has ceased all China-related business travel into and out of the country.

Tesla expects a delay of up to a week and a half in the middle of its planned ramp-up of production at its new Shanghai plant -- its first outside the U.S.  

Toyota Motor Corp.’s luxury Lexus brand posted a double-digit sales gain last year, taking its 30th anniversary in stride as strength in China and Europe offset stalled demand in North America.

Sales at the brand, which debuted in 1989, grew 10 percent to 765,330 worldwide last year, Toyota said in a statement Monday, powered by strong sales of its UX subcompact crossover and best-selling RX sports utility vehicle.

China sales soared 25 percent to 202,000 vehicles in 2019 and deliveries in Europe climbed 14 percent to 87,000 vehicles. But in North America, the brand’s largest market, sales came to 325,000 vehicles — which Toyota said were “level with prior year.“

Lexus’ shift toward smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrid gas-electric motors has proved popular in China and Europe, but an aging product lineup in the U.S. — where larger vehicles rule the road — has cost it market share and momentum.

Toyota has long sought to mak…

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Panasonic Corp. have agreed to set up a joint venture that will begin developing electric vehicle batteries starting in April, as the Japanese companies gear up for an expected surge in demand.

The new company, called Prime Planet Energy and Solutions, will develop prismatic - or square-shaped - batteries that will be available to any automaker, the two companies said in a statement on Monday.

It will begin operations on April 1 with more than 5,000 employees, with Toyota owning 51 percent and Panasonic holding the remainder, the companies said.

The venture, first announced in January 2019, reflects the aim of the Japanese companies to become bigger global players in the automotive battery industry, which is vital for the development of affordable EVs. Stricter environmental regulations worldwide are accelerating a shift toward environmentally friendlier cars.

"Batteries - as solutions for providing energy for autom…

TOKYO -- Toyota will roll out a new safety system that counters misapplication of the accelerator pedal as part of an upgrade of its Safety Sense package of anti-crash technologies. The recently developed system will be offered as an option on new vehicles in Japan from this summer, and the automaker expects to introduce it to other markets thereafter. The debut comes as Toyota and other Japanese automakers try to address a surge in accidents among elderly drivers in Japan, which is experiencing a rapidly aging population. The number of fatal accidents involving drivers 75 or older in Japan doubled from 381 in 2007 to 791 in 2019, Toyota said. Mistaking the accelerator for the brake is a leading cause. "We thought something needed to be done," Seigo Kuzumaki, Toyota fellow for advanced r&d and engineering, said on Monday. "We believe this will have a big impact." Toyota's countermeasure uses software to suppress acceleration when the onboard com…

Porsche doesn't want the Taycan, the brand's first battery electric vehicle, to be an outsider that's disconnected from the manufacturer's storied heritage.

So Porsche's first Super Bowl ad since 1997 had to do double duty. In addition to serving as an energetic declaration of the brand's foray into all-electric power, the ad sought to link the Taycan to Porsche's family tree.

This motivation turned "The Heist" into an up-tempo exhibit of Porsche performance through the years that shows the Taycan tearing up German roads with its cousins. Museum security guards in the spot have to track down a "stolen" Taycan while driving an array of Porsche models.

The Taycan gets plenty of time to display what 750 hp can do, but the ad also pays homage to its past with appearances by the 1971 917 K race car as well as the 1973 911 RSR and 1988 911 Turbo. The Taycan shares the road with its modern relatives, too, including the 2020 718 Cayman GT4 and the 2015 918 Spyd…

The Super Bowl won't be light on metal this year.

After a relatively dull showing in 2019, automakers are returning to the field with a slate of key products to pitch that break new ground for several companies — including spots from brands that are either new to the Super Bowl stage or haven't been there often.

So far for the 2020 broadcast, there are eight auto brands running spots, compared with five last year.

Porsche is coming back to the game's roster of advertisers after 23 years to showcase its first battery electric car, the Taycan, hoping to connect the EV with the brand's performance heritage. Audi, a Super Bowl staple, is continuing its electric evolution by pushing the e-tron Sportback crossover.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with its legacy of iconic celebrities used in its Super Bowl ads, this year is expected to turn to Bill Murray in a re-creation of the movie Groundhog Day, as the game this year takes place on Groundhog Day. Film c…

With the Detroit auto show's move from January to June, Chicago now has the distinction of being North America's first major auto show of the year, kicking off the stream of new-vehicle premieres.

While several automakers have decided to unveil vehicles independently at private, non-auto show events over the past couple of months, Chicago will have its share of public debuts of new vehicles this week.

Ford Performance will use the show to unveil what it calls the "newest combination of Le Mans-winning design and materials" related to the GT supercar.

Chicago will mark the first auto show appearance for GM's redesigned full-size SUVs — Chevrolet's Tahoe and Suburban and GMC's Yukon and Yukon XL.

Fresh off its global unveiling in South Korea last month, Genesis' first crossover, the GV80, will make its auto show debut in Chicago. The GV80, with an optional third row, will be available with two turbocharged gasoline engines in the U.S.

Af…