Trade News

General Motors donated the first-off-the-line 2020 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray to an auction benefiting the Detroit Children's Fund that netted $3 million.

GM's auction of the red sports car took place Saturday at the 49th annual Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in Arizona. Rick Hendrick, founder of Charlotte, N.C.-based Hendrick Automotive Group and self-avowed Corvette junkie, was the winning bidder.

The black-on-black 3LT Corvette, powered by the Z51 performance package, was auctioned off weeks before the 2020 Corvette starts shipping to Chevrolet dealers, according to a news release from General Motors.

Last week the eighth-generation Corvette won the 2020 North American Car of the Year award in Detroit. 

"Reaction to the midengine Corvette has been extraordinary," GM CEO Mary Barra said in the release. "It's both humbling and exciting to harness that success and provide the proceeds to the Detroit Children's Fund."

The Detroit-b…

GAC Motor Co. confirmed it is considering an investment in electric vehicle startup Nio, but said the amount would not exceed $150 million, much lower than the amount speculated on in media. 

It has held preliminary talks with Nio about a potential investment, but no binding agreement has been signed, GAC said Thursday in a statement. 

Even if it makes an investment, the amount would be no more than $150 million, the state-owned automaker noted. 

Media reports about a potential $1 billion investment are untrue, it added. 

Earlier last week, an internet blog originated in China said GAC planned to invest some $1 billion in Nio. The blog was picked up by international media such as Bloomberg, triggering a surge in Nio’s stock price on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. 

GAC and Nio run an EV joint venture in the south China city of Guangzhou where GAC is based. The partnership unveiled its first product, a compact…

London Electric Vehicle Co., a venerable U.K. maker of black taxis, rolled out a plug-in hybrid variant of its TX taxi in Tokyo as part of a global expansion under its Chinese owner, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. 

The plug-in hybrid TX will be imported and distributed in Japan by Fleetway and Service Co., a company based in the Japanese city of Yokohama, Geely said. 

Order books for the vehicle will open in February with customer deliveries set to begin in the second quarter. 

The plug-in hybrid, London Electric Vehicle’s first electrified model, can carry six passengers and drive up to 130 kilometers (81 miles) on lithium batteries only.

An onboard 1.5-liter gasoline engine can charge the battery to extend the plug-in hybrid cab’s range to 600 km (372 miles). 

Geely acquired London Electric Vehicle Co., previously known as London Taxi Corp., in 2013. 

To date, the Chinese automaker has invested more than £50…

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Jeep brand will introduce plug-in hybrid versions of three models sold in China to comply with local rules requiring automakers to expand output of electrified vehicles, according to a Chinese media report. 

The automaker will market plug-in hybrid variants of the Renegade, Compass and Wrangler in the near future, Beijing-based car website Cheshi reported, citing information obtained from FCA Group’s joint venture with GAC Motor Co.

While the plug-in hybrid Renegade and Compass will be built at the joint venture, alongside gasoline-powered models, the plug-in Wrangler will be imported from the U.S., the website said. 

The move will increase the number of Jeep’s plug-in hybrid offerings to four in China following the locally produced plug-in variant of the Grand Commander, which went on sale in November. 

In addition to the gasoline and plug-in hybrid Grand Commander, Jeep assembles the gasoline models of …

China is stepping up efforts to facilitate initiatives that allow swapping electric-vehicle batteries on-the-go, seeking to further spur the adoption of EVs in the world’s biggest car market.

The government is working to establish common industry standards for the procedure, which allows drivers to pull in and quickly swap out their electric vehicle’s battery rather than having to plug it in to recharge, a procedure that can take hours, people familiar with the matter said.

The goal is to enable drivers to change batteries at any facility, no matter what EV they have, they said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter.

The efforts highlight the advantages that China, where about half of the world’s EVs are sold, has over other nations in promoting new technologies, given the government has the clout to push changes affecting entire industries. Demand for EVs has been sputtering in China since it lowered subsidies for buyers last July, yet…

TOKYO -- Subaru, long a laggard in electrification, plans to go greener with a target to get at least 40 percent of its global sales from full-electric or hybrid vehicles by 2030. Then, in the first half of the 2030s, the Japanese automaker plans to electrify every vehicle in its global lineup, the automaker said in a statement. In announcing the new campaign, Subaru also unveiled the first design study for the full-electric crossover it is co-developing with Toyota for sale before 2025. The full-sized EV mockup, shown during a technology briefing at Subaru's global headquarters here on Monday, is a low-slung ride with a raked rear window, elongated cabin, digital sideview mirrors and short front and rear overhangs. The front fascia is aggressively creased, while the wheel wells get heavy black cladding that lends the tires a rugged, oversized look. Subaru will achieve the electrification targets by introducing the EV along with a range of what it calls "stron…

In this month's now-famous press conference from Beirut, fugitive former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was exasperated over the sudden reversal of his reputation in Japan.

"They discover I'm a dictator in 2018? For 17 years I am the CEO of the company, I had 20 books," he said, referring to the attention and respect he had garnered in guiding Nissan. "I had so many cases in Harvard, Stanford … all of the professors analyzing this."

To be sure, there's something fishy in Japanese prosecutors' case against Ghosn, which now looks like it will never be tried. And there's no doubt that Ghosn saved the automaker after he was dispatched by Renault to Japan in 1999.

But if anyone is analyzing Nissan's record in the United States over the past decade, chances are it won't be for a case study on how to manage a business.

Early in 2011, after an earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan, Ghosn went on the attack.

The natural disasters had waylaid Honda and Toyot…

TOKYO — How does a Detroit automaker sell American vehicles in Japan's notoriously fickle, hyper-competitive and supposedly closed market? Actually, if you're Jeep, you do it quite well.

Jeep posted a 16 percent sales surge in Japan last year, making it one of the fastest-growing brands in the world's No. 3 auto market. In posting its sixth year of back-to-back growth since 2013, Jeep also bucked a trend of slumping overall sales in Japan and falling demand for imports.

Granted, Jeep's volume is still pretty paltry. It sold just 13,360 vehicles here in 2019.

But its success in a market that has been a nonstarter for U.S. automakers and a perennial flashpoint of U.S.-Japanese trade tensions offers a convincing counternarrative to the oft-repeated refrain that the Japanese just won't buy American.

Indeed, the next-best Detroit contender, Chevrolet, saw sales tumble 33 percent to just 585 vehicles in 2019 — fewer than Lamborghini. And Ford Motor Co.…

For a pioneer in the fledgling automotive subscription arena, 2020 is shaping up to be a promising year.

Clutch Technologies, the Atlanta company owned by Cox Automotive that develops software for vehicle subscription service providers, now works with 18 automaker brands — compared with just four a year ago, President Vince Zappa said during a presentation in Detroit last week.

What began as a premium-brand service — Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and BMW — has expanded to the mass market. Subaru, for example, quietly launched its Clutch-affiliated subscription service, Just Drive, in three U.S. markets: Highland Park, Ill.; Aurora, Colo.; and Salt Lake City.

"From our perspective, 2019 is the year in which we see a lot of foundational bets being made," he said during the presentation. "In fact, I was very surprised by the fact that OEM activity surged so much during the year. I actually didn't expect it to grow as fast as it did. And, …

BERLIN -- Around 250 Germans on Saturday protested in the outskirts of Berlin where U.S. electric automaker Tesla Inc. is planning to build a gigafactory, saying its construction will endanger water supply and wildlife in the area.

Tesla announced plans last November to build its first European car factory in Gruenheide, in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

Politicians, unions and industry groups have welcomed the move, saying it will bring jobs to the region, but environmental concerns drove hundreds of locals to the streets on Saturday.

"We are here, we are loud, because Tesla is stealing our water," protesters called.

Saturday's protest came after a Brandenburg water association on Thursday warned against "extensive and serious problems with the drinking water supply and wastewater disposal" for the proposed factory.

Anne Bach, a 27-year-old environmental activist, said Tesla's plans published earlier this month showed it would need more…