Trade News

Toyota Motor North America's electrification strategy in the U.S. isn't sexy or even that complicated — but it does appear to be working.

The Japanese automaker's massive bet on hybrids — it plans to offer electrified versions of all the vehicles in its U.S. lineup by 2025, while other automakers have concentrated on battery-electric vehicles — has translated into a big boost in hybrid sales across much of its lineup, top Toyota Motor North America executives said. The boost comes even as Toyota marked its fourth consecutive year of declining sales in 2019, when Toyota brand sales were down 2 percent and Lexus sales slipped 0.1 percent.

Hybrid sales, including the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, across the Toyota brand rose 26 percent in 2019 to 230,889, while Lexus' hybrid sales jumped 43 percent to 43,661 last year.

Toyota believes more consumers will be willing to choose more-expensive optional hybrid powertrains in coming years, …

BEIRUT — As he seethed over his arrest, his ouster from power and his portrayal as a greedy dictator, Carlos Ghosn admitted last week being seized by other emotions.

One of the most successful auto CEOs of the past generation is haunted by regret, blown opportunities and the road not taken. Indeed, more than one road not taken.

At a world media press conference last week in the Lebanese capital, the former chairman of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi ticked off a short list of alternative endings that he let pass, he says, in his drive to advance the global auto alliance he created.

Ghosn bemoaned his decision in 2018 to extend his contract as head of Renault, explaining that he did so under a requirement to further integrate the French automaker with Nissan. Ghosn also now regrets rejecting what he says was an offer in 2009 to head General Motors and spearhead its reorganization during the Great Recession.

Had he take…

BEIJING -- China will not make significant cuts to subsidies for new energy vehicles this year, signaling that government policy will remain relatively stable, state media quoted the country's industry ministry as saying on Saturday.

Earlier, Miao Wei, China's minister for industry and information technology, told a forum that the country would not cut subsidies for new energy vehicles again in July, an approach which was cheered by automakers.

The government-backed Beijing News said an MIIT representative, in response to Miao's statement, said that "this year's NEV subsidy policy will remain relatively stable and there will not be significant cuts."

Beijing has been slowly rolling back a generous 5-year incentive program for NEVs, which began in 2016, saying it plans to phase out subsidies after 2020, amid criticism that some companies have become overly reliant on the funds.

Sales of electric vehicles, hybrids and other green vehicles dropped fo…

General Motors is shifting "significant" dollars to advertising on connected TV, said Chief Marketing Officer Deborah Wahl.

"We think there is enormous potential," Wahl said during an interview last week at CES. "Just this year, our [connected TV] budgets have increased by 66 percent. It represents a significant portion of our overall media investments."

Connected TV — which refers to platforms such as Hulu and Roku — is expected to lure more than $10 billion in advertising by 2021, according to an eMarketer forecast. Of course, that is still just a fraction of the $70 billion TV ad marketplace.

But an uptick in investments from a giant spender such as GM could move the connected TV needle significantly, especially if other big automakers follow suit.

The automaker ranks as the nation's fifth-largest ad spender at $3.14 billion in 2018, according to the latest figures from the Ad Age Datacenter. Of that total ad spe…

As the Carlos Ghosn scandal unfolds with Hollywood-level kinds of drama and intrigue, it's refreshing to see the Japanese government launch its resources to rein in this fugitive from justice with all the righteous indignation of a nation that truly values international business ethics.

It's quite an about-face for a business culture that allowed the Takata exploding-airbag scandal that has claimed at least 24 lives, injured some 300 people and generated the largest safety recall in the history of the global auto industry. Another 10 million airbags were recalled in the U.S. last week, in fact.

But even more enlightening is how the prosecution and post-escape pursuit of Ghosn runs contrary to the Japanese practice of protecting its own business fugitives from justice, particularly when they stand accused by other countries of crimes that might not be considered serious in Japan.

In the Takata scandal, the company in January 2017…

DETROIT — In his first two months as president of the UAW, Rory Gamble swiftly enacted common-sense reforms aimed at ending the corruption and malfeasance that has plagued the union for years.

It still might not be enough for the union to avoid its worst-case scenario: government oversight.

The years-long federal investigation that as of last week had produced charges against 13 individuals and netted 11 guilty pleas is far from over, intensifying as new tips emerged after prosecutors asked the public for leads. One of those tips alleges that Gamble and former UAW-Ford Vice President Jimmy Settles accepted kickbacks from a vendor, The Detroit News reported, although all parties have vehemently denied the allegations.

Still, the uptick in tips indicates that investigators have more to look into — and they could be getting additional information from former Region 5 Director Vance Pearson, who appears ready to plead guilty Feb. 4.

Pearson, who resi…

The 1968 Ford Mustang GT that Steve McQueen drove in the classic car chase in the movie Bullitt, one of the most famed cars from American cinema, sold for $3.4 million at auction in Florida on Friday, Mecum Auctions said.

It was the highest price ever paid for a Ford Mustang at auction, according to David Morton, marketing manager for the auction house in Kissimmee, near Orlando. The buyer has not been publicly identified.

"The hammer dropped at $3.4 million, but with buyers' fees, the total cost is $3.74 million," he said, adding that it shattered the auction house's previous record set last year of $2.2 million.

Mecum auctioneer Matt Moravec started the bidding on the fastback at $3,500, but the price jumped to $1 million almost instantly and then jumped to $2 million within a minute.

The unusually low starting price for such a well-known car was requested by the car’s owner, Sean Kiernan, who told the auction room before the…

The Four Rings won't stand alone in Manhattan — at least not this year.

Audi of America will be bypassing the 2020 New York auto show in April, joining fellow German luxury brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz on the sidelines of one of the largest and most prestigious auto shows in the United States.

In a statement to Automotive News on Friday from Tara Rush, Audi of America's chief communications officer, the German luxury brand confirmed that it would not participate in the 2020 show. In the statement, Rush said it is "important to review the way we bring the Audi experience to life and introduce our new products and innovations to media and consumers."

Rush said Audi would "continue to evaluate auto shows on a case-by-case basis moving forward to determine if they are the best platform for U.S. and world premieres of our upcoming models."

The New York auto show has traditionally drawn more than a million visitors annually to the Javits Convention Cent…

General Motors Co. will revive the Hummer name to sell a new family of electric pickups and SUVs and will tout the return with a Super Bowl ad featuring NBA star LeBron James, two people briefed on the matter said on Friday.

The vehicles will be sold under the GMC nameplate.

Reuters reported in October that GM planned to build a new family of premium electric pickups at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant beginning in late 2021 and was considering reviving the Hummer name, citing several people familiar with the plans.

The Wall Street Journal reported GM's decision to move forward earlier on Friday. GM declined to comment.

GM is considering selling the battery-powered truck in existing dealerships under the marketing name “Hummer by GMC,” Bloomberg reported Friday.

GM also has a large SUV in the works for Hummer. It will be produced soon after the pickup truck if the brand relaunch proves successful, Bloomberg reported.

If the company follow…

The world’s most important interest rate may disappear in as early as two years’ time, at the end of 2021. The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), is one of the most recognizable and dominant rates in the world, underpinning tens of millions of financial contracts worth more than $400 trillion dollars worldwide.1 But LIBOR, as it exists today, is no longer reflective of actual transactions in the market. Regulators have identified significant structural risks with LIBOR and have called on the market to transition away from LIBOR to alternative reference rates. This article explains what LIBOR is; the reason LIBOR is coming to an end; the alternative reference rate that likely will replace LIBOR; and the steps the market, and Wells Fargo, are taking to prepare for this transition. 

LIBOR emerged as a benchmark interest rate in the 1980s, representing the cost of borrowing between banks. Its adoption spread quickly as market participants saw the value in …

Asbury Automotive Group Inc.'s outgoing operations head will walk away with more than $822,000 in compensation for 2020, according to a regulatory filing.

John Hartman, who led operations at Asbury for two years, left the public dealership group last week on the heels of the company striking its largest-ever store acquisition deal. Hartman's departure came three weeks after Asbury announced it would buy 10 dealerships in Texas from Park Place Dealerships.

Asbury said in the filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Hartman, as part of a Jan. 3 separation agreement, will receive his 2019 base salary of $600,000 as severance payable over a year and an undisclosed "lump sum bonus" for the year.

Hartman also will receive a $222,182.63 bonus, paid over a year, "as consideration for his continued cooperation and assistance to the company," the filing said, and he is entitled to health and dental insurance for the next 12 months.

More …