Trade News

TOKYO -- Greg Kelly, a former Nissan colleague of Carlos Ghosn and a U.S. citizen who is facing charges in Japan, stands a very high chance of being acquitted, as would Ghosn had he remained in Japan to face trial, a former prosecutor said.

Lawyer Nobuo Gohara, a vocal critic of what he describes as Japan's "hostage" justice system, met Ghosn in Japan on a number of occasions late last year before the former Nissan chairman's dramatic escape to Lebanon last month.

Ghosn, whose escape to his childhood homeland breached his strict bail terms, has criticized the Japanese justice system and vowed to clear his name following the downfall one of the world's most powerful automobile industry executives.

Both Ghosn and former Nissan director Kelly face charges of financial misconduct over allegedly failing to report more than $109 million in salary, while Ghosn has also been charged with aggravated breach of trust for using company funds for perso…

SAN FRANCISCO -- Cruise, General Motors' self-driving vehicle unit, revealed its first vehicle that can drive without an operator as well as plans for a new service to compete in the ride-hailing space.

The Cruise Origin, developed with Honda Motor Co., is designed with more space for passengers, and the driverless taxi will give ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft another rival, Cruise CEO Dan Ammann said late Tuesday during the vehicle's introduction.

GM is also an investor in Lyft.

The third-generation Cruise vehicle will be used first to launch the ride-hailing service, but Ammann would not provide details on timing of the rollout.

Since GM acquired Cruise, the company has worked on integrating self-driving technology into self-driving vehicles it plans to use for initial deployment.

And since Honda became an investor in October 2018, Cruise has moved more quickly to develop a self-driving, EV platform, spokesman Ray Wert said.

Am…

WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp. will recall 3.4 million vehicles worldwide because of an electronic glitch that can result in airbags not deploying in crashes.

The recall, which includes 2.9 million U.S. vehicles, covers 2011-19 Corolla, 2011-13 Matrix, 2012-18 Avalon and 2013-18 Avalon Hybrid vehicles.

The vehicles may have an electronic control unit that does not have adequate protection against electrical noise that can occur in crashes, which could lead to incomplete or non-deployment of the airbags. It could also impede the operation of seat-belt pretensioners.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in April expanded a probe into 12.3 million potentially defective airbags covering a number of automakers, including the vehicles Toyota is recalling.

NHTSA said in April it had identified two frontal crash events, including one fatal crash "involving Toyota products where (electrical overstress) is suspected as the likely cause" of a…

WASHINGTON -- Honda Motor Co. is recalling 2.7 million older U.S. vehicles in North America for potentially defective airbag inflators.

The defect involves a different type of Takata inflator than those that have prompted the largest-ever auto safety recalls worldwide covering more than 42 million U.S. vehicles by 19 automakers with Takata airbag inflators.

The new recall covers Honda and Acura automobiles from the 1996 through 2003 model years. Honda said it is aware of one field rupture of a inflator in the new recall campaign - a 2012 crash in Texas that resulted in an injury - and two in junkyards in Japan.

The campaign covers 2.4 million U.S. vehicles and 300,000 in Canada, Honda said, adding that it has not determined recall numbers for other countries.

Takata issued a new defect notice in November for inflators from four automakers, including Honda.

Honda said all three vehicles "potentially were exposed to unusually high amounts of …

Volvo Car USA promised to give away $1 million in cars to randomly selected contestants if a safety occurs during the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.

Participants will design their own Volvo vehicle to win, Jim Nichols, product and technology communications manager at Volvo Car USA, told Automotive News.

"The value is dependent on what people configure," Nichols said. "People need to go on the website and configure the car they would hope to win and then submit that configuration as their entry."

"If a safety occurs, we'll start picking random configurations from people and try to find the car that's as close as possible to that configuration," he said.

Participants must enter to win at VolvoSafetySunday.com, where they will be prompted to design their own Volvo vehicle and submit a "configuration code" before kickoff of the Feb. 2 Super Bowl, according to a press release. They can choose one of any 2020 Volvo models currently …

Tesla Inc. said on Monday there was no unintended acceleration in its vehicles, as it responded to a petition to a U.S. safety regulator to investigate and recall around 500,000 of the company's electric cars over the alleged defect.

On Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it would review the petition and released a redacted version that said "Tesla vehicles experience unintended acceleration at rates far exceeding other cars on the roads."

The petition urged the agency to recall all Tesla vehicles, the Model S, Model X and Model 3, produced beginning in 2013. It cited media reports of crashes attributed to unintended acceleration and complaints filed with NHTSA.

Tesla said the petition was "completely false" and was brought forward by a short-seller.

Brian Sparks, who is currently shorting Tesla stock, according to CNBC, submitted the petition in September.

"Over the past several years, we discussed with …

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…