Trade News

SHANGHAI — Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio has invested in a startup company that is developing fusion technologies, according to a source with direct knowledge and a company filing, placing more bets in other areas of the energy sector.

The newly established company, Neo Fusion, will research and develop technologies that aim to bring controlled fusion for commercial uses globally in two decades, the source said.

With registration capital of 5 billion yuan ($723.37 million), Neo Fusion is 50 percent controlled by China's eastern province of Anhui government-owned energy companies and investment arms, according to the financial details in the company registration filing seen by Reuters.

Nio invested 995 million yuan for a 19.9 percent stake while Nio Capital, the investment arm founded by Nio CEO William Li, invested 505 million yuan for a 10.1 percent share, it showed.

"Staying true to the original aspiration of Blue Sky Coming, Nio aims to fa…

The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV work truck will have an EPA-estimated 450 miles of range. Toyota hopes to recapture a vice-like hold on the midsize truck market with the new Tacoma. Unifor unveils its top priorities for Detroit 3 talks this year. Plus, a look at what dealerships should be doing right now to prepare for the FTC's updated Safeguards Rule.

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Workers at a Webasto Roof Systems plant in suburban Detroit voted 99 to 79 to join the UAW Thursday. The plant produces convertible tops for the Ford Mustang, Ford Bronco, Jeep and Chevrolet Corvette.

Pay and schedule changes motivated workers to organize, employees said in a statement. The organizing drive began in November 2022.

Webasto announced plans for the plant west of Detroit in Plymouth, Mich., in 2019 after scoring new contracts with Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis.

The plant is just north of Van Buren, Mich., where 160 UAW members at a Constellium aluminum components plant began striking Wednesday over safety issues and pay.

Further south, UAW members at a Clarios battery plant in suburban Toledo began striking May 8.

Negotiations are ongoing at both plants.

Webasto, of Stockdorf, Germany, ranks No. 49 on Automotive News' list of the top 100 global parts suppliers, with estimated worldwide sales to automakers of $4.38 billio…

The design for Chrysler's first electric crossover arriving in 2025 will be completely different from the Airflow concept that's been shown publicly, a top executive told MotorTrend.

Chrysler brand CEO Chris Feuell "wanted a statement that had literally zero to do with anything that you have seen today, even the Airflow concept car," Ralph Gills,e the design chief for parent company Stellantis, told the publication. "It is evolving in a new direction."

The Airflow debuted during the CES expo in 2022 as a preview of what was to come from Chrysler, a brand that has been plodding along for years with only the 300 sedan and Pacifica minivian.

Gilles said the Chrysler EV crossover is now one of the designs he is most excited about. The concept for the new EV design was a hit during consumer clinics in Los Angeles earlier this year, with Gilles telling MotorTrend that it "blew the doors off."

The production Chrysler EV reportedly will be offered with b…

Wholesale used-vehicle prices are expected to gradually cool through the rest of the year after unseasonably appreciating to start 2023.

Improvement in new-vehicle inventory levels and an uptick in incentives offered — though both still far below their pre-pandemic levels — stand to somewhat undercut used-vehicle demand as the year progresses. Such pressure from the new-vehicle side could drive a decline in used-vehicle prices.

However, a used-vehicle inventory crunch expected to deepen through the year likely will keep used-vehicle prices from falling dramatically, said Alex Yurchenko, chief data science officer at Black Book. Franchised dealerships already grappling with tight used-vehicle supply will encounter more scarcity as fewer lease returns, lost in 2020 when COVID-19 closures stunted new-vehicle production, flow back into the market.

"By the end of this year, those leases that were not sold three years ago are not going …

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is offering more money in a bid to keep automaker Stellantis from pulling out of building an electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont.

Stellantis and LG Energy Solution announced last year that they were building the $5-billion plant, but have in recent days stopped construction and warned they were implementing contingency plans because the federal government hasn't lived up to an agreement.

The CEOs of the two companies wrote last month to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying Ottawa had confirmed in writing five times that it would match production incentives under the United States' Inflation Reduction Act, but has not delivered on those commitments.

But the federal government has been pressuring Ontario to pitch in as well, saying the province also has to pay its "fair share."

Ford has said he is disappointed with how the federal government …

WAIMEA, Hawaii — The Toyota Tacoma, the top-selling midsize pickup in the U.S., has been retooled from top to bottom for 2024. Journalists had a chance to look it over here late Thursday. Here are six key things that stand out on the fourth-generation Tacoma, due in dealerships late this year. Pricing for the 2024 Tacoma will be announced later.

1. A choice of powertrains: The redesigned Tacoma will come standard with a turbocharged 2.4-liter engine that produces up to 278 hp and 317 pound-feet of torque. Also available is an optional i-Force Max hybrid, similar to the hybrid setup in the Tundra full-size pickup, that adds a 48-hp electric motor integrated into the eight-speed automatic transmission and uses a 1.87-kilowatt-hour battery. The system boosts output to 326 hp and 465 pound-feet. Hybrid versions are expected to begin shipping to dealerships early next year, Toyota says.

2. A kitted-up, off-road ready trim: Toyota plans a Trailhunter …

WAIMEA, Hawaii — With the possible exception of the RAV4 compact crossover, no nameplate in Toyota's U.S. lineup is more important to the brand than the Tacoma midsize pickup — not just because of its sales, but also the way it continues to dominate the competition, albeit with less of a stranglehold than before.

With the redesigned 2024 Toyota Tacoma arriving at U.S. dealerships this year, the Japanese brand looks to brush back newly improved offerings from Detroit 3 rivals and reinforce its formerly vicelike hold on the important segment.

The Tacoma's segment share in the U.S. peaked in 2013 at a massive 65.1 percent as other automakers exited midsize pickups in favor of more profitable full-size pickups. However, their return a few years later began to bite into Toyota's dominance: By 2018, the Tacoma's share of the segment had fallen to 46.9 percent, and in 2022, it dropped to 39 percent, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

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Hyundai and Kia have agreed to pay more than $200 million to owners of as many as 9 million vehicles on the road that lack engine immobilizers as part of a class-action lawsuit.

The automakers did not include the crucial anti-theft device, which prevents the engine from starting without a key present, on base trims levels of certain 2011-2021 model year Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Owners claimed that runs afoul of a vehicle safety rule that requires that a car must not be able to start without the key.

Last summer TikTok users posted how-to videos that exposed a method to easily hot wire the vehicles. The social media posts triggered a spike in a vehicle theft across the U.S.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs called the settlement "comprehensive, welcome relief."

A large portion of the settlement, $145 million, will go toward out-of-pocket losses experienced by owners, including vehicles lost or stolen, vehicles that incurred damages, loss of perso…

Constellium and the UAW returned to the bargaining table Thursday, strike coordinator Michael Shumaker told Automotive News. About 160 members of UAW Local 174 began striking Wednesday at the Constellium plant in suburban Detroit that supplies aluminum components to Ford.

Workers are concerned about frequent oil spills and other safety issues in the plant as well as pay raises that have not kept up with the cost of living, Michael Murray, a 10-year employee, told Automotive News.

"There's a lot of safety concerns inside and we have outwardly brought it to their attention and they fail to fix it. We've had people falling and hurting themselves," Murray said.

The contract was originally set to expire May 13. The UAW extended it through May 16 before striking May 17. The UAW wanted to negotiate during that extension but were not able to schedule a meeting with the company, Shumaker said.

A spokeperson for Constellium did not respond to a request for…

Sony Pictures Entertainment is partnering with beleaguered Vietnamese EV upstart VinFast to launch an in-car streaming service. We now have two UAW strikes against auto suppliers in the U.S. And it looks like Kia might launch more EV production in North America.

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Melody Lee, a former marketing executive at Cadillac, is taking over as CMO at Mercedes-Benz USA.

Lee is one of three senior hires announced by Mercedes at the brand's annual dealer meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Thursday. The Atlanta company has seen executive churn in recent years, including in sales, finance and customer service. Mercedes-Benz USA is on its second CEO since 2019.

Lee, who will take on her new role July 1, joins from the design company MillerKnoll, where she led brand strategy for Herman Miller and Knoll brands.

Previously, Lee served in two executive roles at Cadillac, including brand marketing director over the course of her six-year tenure with the luxury brand.

One of GM's youngest-ever executives, Lee developed and oversaw the launch of Cadillac's "Dare Greatly" campaign and created and launched Book by Cadillac. She was appointed global director of the subscription service in November 2017, but eight months la…