Trade News

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. lost almost $1.7 billion in the fourth quarter after taking a big accounting hit from employee pension liabilities and retirement benefits, but the automaker eked out a modest profit for the year.

Ford on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter earnings before interest and taxes in the quarter plummeted 67 percent to $485 million, while automotive EBIT dropped 81 percent to $215 million. Ford's North American earnings fell 64 percent to $700 million, mostly due to UAW contract costs, warranty expenses and problems with the launch of the redesigned Explorer and Aviator crossovers.

Ford shares tumbled more than 9 percent to $8.29 in after-hours trading after it announced results. 

Ford last month warned that its fourth-quarter results would include a $2.2 billion charge related to its pension plans. The company has now reported two consecutive fourth quarter losses, after losing $116 million in the final period of 2018.

DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' new ad campaign for the 2020 Chrysler Pacifica and Pacifica Hybrid minivans, featuring actress Kathryn Hahn, launches on TV Feb. 17.

The ads will also appear on digital and social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and can be viewed on the Chrysler brand's YouTube channel.

The campaign, "No Matter How You Parent: Pacifica," was created in collaboration with Hahn and her husband, actor and screenwriter Ethan Sandler. In the spots, Hahn portrays different "mom personas" to highlight various styles of parenting. Hahn starred in the movies Bad Moms and We're the Millers and the TV shows "Crossing Jordan" and "Transparent."

"The Chrysler brand recognizes there are many different ways to parent, and a style that works for some may not work for others," Marissa Hunter, head of marketing at FCA North America, said in a release Tuesday.

"As one of television and film's most multifaceted actresses and a fr…

If the incredible rally in Tesla Inc. shares is making you dizzy, hold on to your chair.

Tesla has a slew of catalysts coming up in the next few months that could give investors a reason to pause, or propel the stock even higher. It all depends on how the company does in its tests ahead.

After rising 86 percent just this year through Monday, shares of the electric-vehicle continued to surge on Tuesday, leaving analysts and investors scratching their heads about what is behind this latest acceleration in the stock. The shares at one point touched a new record high of $940.13.

The gap between the valuation of Tesla and other traditional carmakers “suggests investors are increasingly viewing Tesla as a tech company,” Loup Ventures’ Gene Munster wrote in a note. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, on the other hand, wondered if Tesla’s parabolic surge was heralding the end of traditional cars with internal combustion engines.

Whatever the reason…

If you want to find Renault design chief Laurens van den Acker at an auto show, the best thing to do is to look at everyone's shoes. For nearly 10 years, van den Acker has been matching custom-made sneakers to the color of Renault's latest concept or production model, often with the model name printed on the shoe.

That has resulted in more than 20 pairings of cars and sneakers.

For the EZ-GO concept in 2018, he wore a pair of gray Adidas Superstars with turquoise stripes and laces and a gold heel piece. Last year, he ordered up orange-and-black Le Coq Sportifs to complement the "Atacama Orange" of the new generation Captur small SUV.

Now, van den Acker, a tall Dutchman who favors sleek suits, is formalizing a partnership with Le Coq Sportif, a French brand that uses the unofficial national bird, the rooster, as its logo.

In addition to the Captur orange sneakers, there will be a blue Twingo model. There is no word on whether they will be available…

Five years after Hyundai introduced a concept version of its first pickup, the Santa Cruz, a camouflaged model has been spotted undergoing tests on a frozen lake in the Lapland region of Finland.

The crew-cab truck appears to be larger than the concept. However, it appears to retain many elements of the concept's funky design, including the front fascia and rounded bodywork.

In November, the Korean automaker said it would invest $410 million to expand its Alabama assembly plant to build the Santa Cruz, with output starting in 2021. 

Hyundai has yet to reveal the production version of the Santa Cruz, first shown in concept form at the 2015 Detroit auto show. The "lifestyle vehicle" will target city-dwelling millennials who can't fit full-size pickups into tighter parking spots.

In December, a single photo of what appears to be a disguised Santa Cruz was posted to Korean site autospy.net.

General Motors officials have never publicly said why they decided not to invest in Rivian, the Plymouth, Mich., startup brand that plans to market the stylish electric R1T pickup and R1S SUV this year.

Could it be that while GM and Rivian were talking last spring about how the two companies might work together, GM officials realized they already had a brand that would be perfect for high-performance EVs?

Less than a year later, GM made it official that the Hummer name is returning on an electric super-truck packing 1,000 hp and 11,500 pound-feet of torque. During Sunday's Super Bowl, GM aired three teaser spots showing a futuristic new version of the Hummer's trademark slotted grille.

Although the business case for an electric pickup is shaky at best — and I have been a vocal critic of electric trucks — using the Hummer name not only makes perfect sense, it's a very smart and shrewd move that has many interesting angles.

Read more

Nissan became the first Japanese automaker to win the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race, on Feb. 2, 1992.

Endurance racing at Florida's Daytona International Speedway began shortly after the track opened in April 1959, starting with a six-hour sports car race.

Following a series of expansions to the race, the first 24 Hours of Daytona was staged in 1966 and was won by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby behind a Ford GT40 Mk II.

The race would go on to be dominated by American and European cars. By 1992, when the race had became known as the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a recession and tight economic times had whittled the field to 49 cars.

Nissan had used British racing chassis until 1990 and its own engines, but the prototype R91CP used at Daytona was 100 percent Japan-built, with a full-carbon composite body.

Kunihiko Kakimoto led planning and engineering for the race.

Nissan Motorsports International, kn…

LONDON -- The U.K. government’s decision to bring forward a ban on sale of internal combustion engine cars to 2035 has been sharply criticized by the country’s automakers association, the SMMT.

Britain will ban the sale of new gasoline, diesel and hybrid cars five years earlier than planned, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said as he announced details of a U.N. climate summit called  COP26 due to take place in Glasgow in November.

"We have to deal with our CO2 emissions," Johnson said at a launch event for COP26 at London's Science Museum on Tuesday. "As a country and as a society, as a planet, as a species, we must now act."

The ban, which had been slated for 2040, will include plug-in hybrids, the BBC reported.

The SMMT expressed anger that the government is announcing the change without including additional government support to help the U.K.’s auto industry, which is still reeling from the effects of more than three years of uncertainty foll…

Joining the electric vehicle field this year is the Mini Cooper SE. The EV has a 32.6-kWh battery that delivers an EPA-estimated range of about 110 miles. The SE's electric motor delivers 181 hp and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds. The Cooper SE will start at $30,750, including shipping, when it lands in March. State and federal EV tax credits would knock the price down to as low as $18,750, depending on where the vehicle is sold. We've rounded up and highlighted some Cooper SE reviews from the automotive media.

"Steer the Cooper SE onto an on-ramp, and it hangs on ferociously. It wouldn't be a surprise if, in terms of sheer grip, this is the most capable Mini. The small, 12-module battery means that its quoted curb weight stays at a reasonably svelte 3,153 pounds, and the T-shaped pack's mounting position (between the front seats and under the rear seats) works wonders for both its center of gravity and weight balance."

— Ezra Dyer, Car and Dri…

Jeep’s nostalgic commercial for its Gladiator pickup truck won USA Today’s Super Bowl Ad Meter, which asks the public to rate ads online with a score from 1 to 10.

In the automaker’s 60-second “Groundhog Day” spot, Bill Murray reprises his role as meteorologist Phil Connors from the 1993 comedy classic of the same name. Stephen Tobolowsky also makes a cameo as insurance salesman Ned Ryerson, and Brian Doyle-Murray appears as the top hat-wearing Groundhog Day master of ceremonies.  

The Fiat Chrysler brand shot the ad, which was created by Chicago-based agency Highdive, in Woodstock, Ill., last week -- the same town outside Chicago where the movie was filmed -- making Jeep one of the last advertisers to announce a Super Bowl appearance this year. (Not to be lost on the audience is the fact that Super Bowl Sunday and Groundhog Day both fell on Feb. 2 this year).

Scoring a 7.01 out of 10, the fourth-quarter commercial marks Jeep’s first Ad Meter w…

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…