Trade News

Two former vice presidents of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ford Motor Co. are joining automotive consulting company Motormindz Inc.

Steve Beahm, former senior vice president and head of Maserati, passenger-car brands and Mopar at FCA, and Joe Bakaj, Ford's former global powertrain vice president, joined Motormindz effective Feb. 1, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Beahm, 56, worked at FCA for 32 years, beginning his career in regional offices before finding leadership roles in service, parts, sales and marketing. He was promoted to vice president of sales for all FCA brands in 2009 and in 2014 became senior vice president of the supply chain. Beahm also ran Maserati North America.

He retired from the automaker in May 2019.

"I'm humbled to be working with respected leaders like John Felice, Don Johnson and Jim O'Sullivan, just to name a few of the members on the Motormindz bench," Beahm said in the release.

Bakaj, 57, worked at Fo…

MILAN -- Kia will add a plug-in hybrid drivetrain to the Sorento lineup with the fourth generation of its largest crossover.

The Sorento is Kia's first vehicle to use a new-generation midsize platform. It will debut at the Geneva auto show on March 3.

Kia said the crossover will offer space on a par with larger vehicles. Other innovations include new advanced driver-assistance systems, and new connectivity and infotainment features, Kia said in a news release.

The next Sorento receives a pronounced “Tiger Nose” grille that’s more angular and three-dimensional than the current model, based on images released by Kia.

Kia already offers plug-in hybrid versions of the XCeed and  Niro crossovers and Optima sedan.

Automakers are adding low-emission hybrid options to their lineups to meet tougher CO2 emissions targets. Plug-in hybrids generally have CO2 emissions under 50 grams per km and are eligible for so-called "supercredits" so they are…

Satisfied with the ability to verify legitimate customers, lenders are investing in targeted marketing to entice more consumers. Those consumers, however, aren't confident in the way lenders authenticate them online, and are less open to receiving those marketing messages as a result.

Auto lenders, particularly those that offer multiple consumer credit products, should prioritize a refined and secure digital experience over their marketing messaging, a new report from Experian says.

A disconnect between lender and consumer expectations is among the findings of Experian's latest global fraud report, an annual study that surveys 6,500 consumers and more than 650 businesses across 13 countries globally.

The report found that 96 percent of U.S. businesses that responded are confident in their ability to identify and verify customers digitally, while 45 percent of consumers responded that they didn't feel recognized by businesses. Chri…

Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 200,000 vehicles in the United States, Canada and Mexico because of a problem that can cause a rear toe link fracture while driving and may increase the risk of a crash.

The recall covers 2013-18 Ford Flex, Ford Taurus Police Interceptor, Ford Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKT vehicles. This affects 211,207 vehicles in the U.S. and federal territories, 15,281 in Canada and about 1,400 in Mexico.

Globally, Ford said it is recalling about 230 vehicles in Europe, four in Asia Pacific, one in South America and almost 14,000 in emerging markets.

The automaker said it has filed a notice with NHTSA.

"Affected vehicles that are exposed to frequent full rear-suspension articulation (jounce and rebound) may experience a fractured rear suspension toe link," Ford said in a statement Wednesday.

This can result in "unusual vehicle handling or difficulty controlling the vehicle," Ford spokeswoman Monique Brentley told Automo…

GM Financial's loan originations plunged 35 percent in the fourth quarter as a new incentive program offered by General Motors got off to a slower start than anticipated. Despite the decline, lease originations and net income rose, and revenue inched up slightly.

In the fourth quarter, loan originations at GM's captive finance company fell to $5.5 billion, while lease originations rose 3 percent to $5.4 billion, the company said in a statement last week.

The rollout of the new GM incentive program drove much of the dip in loan originations, GM Financial CEO Dan Berce said. The traditional incentive offerings, such as down payment assistance, were successful in the first half of the year.  

But the automaker launched new incentive programs in the fourth quarter: promotional rate programs designed to retain GM customers and drive business to the captive. The programs lagged as the company worked on dealer training and customer acceptance, but it has …

The recent news from Bosch was colored in doom and gloom for the auto industry. 

The world’s largest auto supplier just announced a 44 percent plunge in annual operating profits. Over the past year, it laid off 6,800 workers. And it isn’t expecting any sunshine soon. Bosch predicts that 2020 will mark the third straight year of global production declines, down 10 million units from 2017. 

"It could well be that we have passed the peak of automotive production," warned CEO Volkmar Denner.

And although we may hear other negative news during this earnings season’s announcements, one company’s misfortunes rarely speak for an industry at large. Nor do short-term trends make for solid forecasts for ongoing health. Drill deeper into the numbers, and you won’t just find an industry on a steady, 20-year ascent. You’ll find conditions that welcome prosperity for the next decade and beyond. 

Begin with the unique factors behind Bosch’s t…

Honda North America is recalling 241,000 Odyssey vehicles in the U.S. over a wiring problem that could cause an electrical short circuit.

The recall includes Honda Odyssey EX-L, Touring and Elite minivans from the 2018-2020 model years.

The global number of affected vehicles is just over 272,000, Chris Martin, a spokesman for Honda told Automotive News in an email.

The wire harness for the third-row seat accessory power outlet can get pinched between the unibody and rear trim panel, NHTSA documents said. Damage to wires could cause an electrical short, overheat the wire harness and increase the risk of a fire.

Honda will inspect, reroute and wrap insulating tape on the wire harness or replace the harness if it is damaged, it said in a statement Tuesday.

"Honda is aware of three fires related to this issue with no reported injuries," the statement said.

The automaker will start notifying customers by mail March 16, NHTSA documents said.

Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. broadened its future transportation portfolio with an agreement to jointly develop electric vehicles with California startup Canoo, the companies said on Tuesday.

It was the second such deal announced in recent weeks by Hyundai and sister company Kia Motors Corp., which in mid-January said they would invest $110 million in UK startup Arrival and jointly develop electric commercial vehicles.

In Seoul, a Hyundai spokesperson said the automaker's partnership with two-year-old Canoo would focus on smaller electric passenger vehicles about the size of its Accent compact.

Like Arrival, Canoo has developed a "skateboard" -- a low-rise platform that bundles batteries and electric motors with such chassis components as steering, brakes, wheels and tires -- on which a variety of body types can be built.

Canoo last fall revealed its own "post-SUV" model, based on its electric-vehicle skateboard and intended to be marketed t…

Jeremiah Farrell, the retired president of Chrysler Financial Corp. who played a key role in the survival of Chrysler dealers during Lee Iacocca's late 1970s and early 1980s turnaround plan for the troubled automaker, died on Feb. 7 following an illness. He was 82.

Chrysler, bleeding cash and facing a weak U.S. auto market, secured an historic government-backed rescue signed by President Jimmy Carter as part of a sweeping package of concessions from unions, lenders and other creditors to stay afloat. The Small Business Administration provided hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed loans to car dealers to weather the downturn.

“If it wasn’t for Chrysler Financial, I think most of the dealers would have gone out of business during that critical period,” Ken Meade, founder of The Meade Group of auto dealerships in the Detroit area, said in Farrell's obituary. “Jerry Farrell’s leadership was the life force that we needed at that time on the dealer level.” Read more