Trade News

Nissan will reduce its U.S. workforce and further cut expenses as the automaker grapples with a sales and financial crisis in its biggest market.

Nissan North America said late Tuesday it will offer voluntary buyouts to Nissan and Infiniti hourly and salaried employees 52 years or older in the U.S. Nissan also will shrink its regional sales operation to reflect declining sales and market share.

Nissan North America has more than 20,000 hourly and salaried employees.

Nissan spokesman Chris Keeffe declined to say how many employees the company expects will accept the voluntary separation program. He also declined to say whether layoffs will take place if there are not enough volunteers for the buyout program.

Nissan North America's U.S. sales tumbled 9.9 percent to 1.35 million vehicles last year, in an overall market that fell 1.2 percent. The automaker's U.S. market share, meanwhile, dropped to 7.9 percent last year, from 8.6 percent the prior ye…

WASHINGTON -- Electric vehicle startup Lordstown Motors is pursuing a $200 million loan from a U.S. Energy Department program to retool a former General Motors factory in northeast Ohio, CEO Steve Burns told Reuters.

Burns met with Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette on Monday for about an hour and the company was holding additional talks with officials on Tuesday from the Energy Department's Loan Program Office.

"We think we are worthy of government help. We don't want a handout -- we want a loan," Burns told Reuters in an interview. "It's just going to be more jobs faster if we get it. We are viable without it."

Burns disclosed the company plans to unveil a drivable version of its electric truck at the Detroit auto show in June. It hopes to begin production by year-end.

The Energy Department declined comment.

Burns said the company hopes to receive funding from the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program t…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. has agreed to an updated settlement affecting nearly 2 million customers in a years-old class-action lawsuit over faulty Focus and Fiesta transmissions.

The automaker has agreed to a minimum $30 million in cash reimbursement and has simplified the compensation and vehicle-buyback process, according to a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Ford has spent more than $47 million buying back vehicles from thousands of customers.

The amount each customer would receive depends on how many claims are submitted. The new deal includes $20 payments to customers who say a dealership refused to repair their car's transmission when they reported issues with it.

The automaker in 2017 initially proposed a settlement that, in part, would have awarded $35 million in cash reimbursement, but it was challenged on the grounds that not enough owners would be compensated.

The proposed settlement is up for …

Volvo wants a quarter of its vehicle sales in Europe this year to be plug-in hybrids to help the automaker avoid fines if it misses the European Union's latest CO2 emissions reduction goals.

The increase would represent a huge jump from 2019 when Volvo said it sold 46,000 plug-ins in Europe, representing around 10 percent of its volume.

The stakes are high for Volvo's electric strategy because conventional SUVs made up more than half of sales last year and are largely behind the automaker's success since the takeover by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group a decade ago. 

PA Consulting Group puts Volvo's potential fines from the EU for this year at a quarter of its annual operating profit.

CEO Hakan Samuelsson said Volvo will achieve its EU target this year through increased sales of plug-in hybrids.

"We don’t plan to pay any fees or penalties. We want to use our money for product development, not paying Brussels,” Samuelsson said at a…

It would be difficult to quantify just how many federal government or affiliated agencies regulate Elon Musk's massive business empire — most notably Tesla Inc.

As a publicly traded auto manufacturer, Tesla must answer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the IRS, the EPA and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk's SpaceX is intertwined with NASA, too. I'm sure there's plenty more.

So last week, during one of his running rants with journalists, President Donald Trump started talking about the "genius" Elon Musk. He credited Tesla's remarkable stock surge, putting its value north of $100 billion — more than Ford Motor Co. and General Motors combined. Incredible, right? Especially after some of the tumultuous controversies that have enveloped Musk and Tesla in recent years.

"I was worried about him, becau…

MILAN -- Maserati will use the Beijing auto show as a launchpad for an electrification push with the unveiling of its first hybrid model.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' exotic sporty brand will introduce a hybrid version of the Ghibli sedan at the show on April 21, a source familiar with Maserati's plans said.

The Ghibli is expected to get a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, although Maserati has not disclosed details of the car's hybrid system.

The Ghibli hybrid could boost Maserati sales in the key China market because the Chinese government is promoting electrification. It also will help the brand in Europe where tougher CO2 rules are forcing automakers to add fuel-efficient, low-emissions plug-in hybrids.

Chinese buyers of a Ghibli plug-in hybrid would be eligible for 10,000-yuan subsidies ($1,440) from the Chinese government. The incentives are offered for plug-ins but no other types of hybrids.

Maserati's vehicle sales in China fell 27 percent t…

Honda Motor Co. plans to roll out the first two electrified models – an electric vehicle and a plug-in hybrid -- under the Honda brand in China later this year. 

The EV will be unveiled at the Beijing auto show in April. The other electrified vehicle will be the plug-in hybrid variant of the CR-V crossover, Honda Motor Co.’s China office said on its website. 

The Japanese carmaker didn’t disclose additional details about the two electrified vehicles. 

Honda’s joint ventures with Dongfeng Motor Group and GAC Motor Co. each launched sales last year of a battery-powered crossover under respective proprietary brands in China. 

In 2020, Honda also plans to introduce a seventh hybrid product -- the hybrid version of the Crider sedan. It sells six hybrids in China – variants of the Accord and Inspire sedans, the CR-V and Breeze crossovers, and the Odyssey and Elysion multi-purpose vehicles.  

Earlier this month, Toyota Mot…

SHANGHAI -- Most automakers closed assembly plants in China for the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday but the viral outbreak that has spread across the country, killing 81 people, has prompted many of them to take further steps and precautions to help contain the epidemic.

Ford Motor Co. called back some employees at its truck joint venture, Jiangling Motors Corp., to refit 600 Ford Transit vans into special ambulances for transporting infected patients, according to internet blogs run by Ford’s China unit.

Two state-owned Chinese automakers, SAIC Motor Corp. and Beiqi Foton Motor Co., are also assembling vans to help transfer victims, according to their internet blogs.

The vans will be shipped to central China’s Hubei province and its provincial capital of Wuhan – the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

To contain the new coronavirus, Chinese authorities have banned or limited travel and locked down 17 cities with more than 50 million people.

…

DETROIT -- General Motors will start making the Cruise Origin autonomous shuttle shortly after it starts making an all-electric pickup at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant late next year.

The company announced the production plan Monday morning as part of its planned $2.2 billion investment in the factory, which had been slated for closure prior to last year’s negotiations with the UAW. 

Cruise, based in San Francisco, showed the Origin for the first time last week. But the company’s first autonomous ride-hailing offerings will use the Chevrolet Bolt-based third-generation autonomous vehicle, which still has a steering wheel and brake pedals.

Cruise Origin production will start in late 2022, AutoForecast Solutions told Automotive News on Friday.

The investment will create more than 2,200 jobs. Today, 900 workers are employed on one shift at the plant. Production of an all-electric pickup will begin in late 2021, GM said. GM will also …

Hyundai released an early peek at its Super Bowl ad, which takes a very Boston-centric look at one of the tech features on the new-generation 2020 Sonata sedan.

The feature is technically known as Remote Smart Parking Assist, but that's before a group of Boston-area celebrities put it though the local accent and shortened it to "Smaht Pahk."

In a spot that will run in the first quarter, Chris Evans, of Marvel Comics movie fame, and former "Saturday Night Live" regular Rachel Dratch watch as John Krasinski, from "The Office," prepares to fit his new Sonata into a tight parking spot. Evans says there's no way the sedan will fit in the space in front of a coffee shop.

Krasinski tells Evans to stop being a "smahty pants" because the Sonata has a new trick. "Look who's got 'smaht pahk,'" Krasinski says, exiting the vehicle. "Just hit the clicker — 'cah pahks' itself." The Sonata then slowly steers itself between two poorly parked cars. Read more