News

A dip in lease income contributed to GM Financial's drop in first-quarter earnings, which fell 39 percent to $584 million, the company reported Tuesday. The captive lender in the same quarter of 2022 earned $962 million.

The lender's first-quarter earnings before taxes were $771 million, down from $1.3 billion the same time last year.

General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson in an earnings call attributed the drop to a decrease in net lease vehicle income, which was expected. That was driven by "lower lease sales mix as a result of reduced new-vehicle production since Q3 2021 and lower net gains on lease terminations."

Higher cost of funds also impacted results vs. 2022, but that was partially offset by higher effective yields on new originations and growth in the loan portfolio, he added.

The lender said in its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings call in January that it expected earnings to normalize in 2023 after strong credit performance and historica…

Asbury Automotive Group Inc.'s net income dropped 24 percent to $181.4 million and its revenue fell 8.4 percent to $3.58 billion during the first quarter as the national auto retailer operated with fewer stores than a year earlier.

"I am pleased with our performance coming off of a record year," Asbury CEO David Hult said in a statement Tuesday. "We were, and will continue to be, opportunistic while navigating the changing auto market and macro conditions, and we believe our strong operational model and guest-centric approach will continue to power our profitability."

Following its December 2021 purchases of Larry H. Miller Dealerships and Stevinson Automotive, Asbury sold four locations in the first quarter of 2022 and three more in the second quarter to comply with Toyota and Lexus regional store count limits. Asbury then sold nine dealerships during the fourth quarter, a transaction Hult has said represented "an opportunity" and involved a "fair price" but a…

One scribe calls it a buffet of excess. For one analyst, it's a transition, a bridge between BMW's performance roots and an electrified future.

For BMW, the all-new XM showcases the company's newly developed M Hybrid drive system that blends high-octane power with a low carbon footprint.

The XM, the first standalone model from BMW's storied M performance brand since the M1 debuted decades ago, is an unapologetic play for the extreme SUV fan looking for a little green cred.

The XM gets its bona fides from a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 engine that produces 483 hp and 479 pound-feet of torque. A single electric motor slotted between the engine and the eight-speed automatic transmission independently generates as much as 194 hp and 207 pound-feet of torque.

The 29.5-kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack provides roughly 30 miles of all-electric range at speeds of up to 87 mph.

The XM's total peak output …

The National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers is looking for a new leader.

Hugene Fields, who was introduced as president during NAMAD's October convention in Miami, left the organization March 31 after only five months.

Damon Lester, NAMAD's vice chairman, has returned to his previous role as president on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is found.

NAMAD's board of directors announced Fields' departure in an April 13 letter, without giving a reason, and said it expected to announce a new leader "in the upcoming weeks."

Lester declined to comment on why Fields left. He said the organization is revisiting its list of finalists who were in the running for the position before Fields was hired.

Fields came to NAMAD as an outsider to automotive retailing but with 15 years of experience in nonprofit organizations. During eight years as an auditor, he traveled to 35 countries to perform vari…

Mercedes-Benz's workhorse E-Class sedan, redesigned for 2024, teases the German luxury automaker's bespoke and in-house-developed operating system.

The midsize sedan arrives in the U.S. in late 2023 with new styling and the latest version of the MBUX infotainment system. Pricing was not disclosed.

Mercedes will ditch the coupe and convertible body styles with the new generation. AMG variants could arrive in the future.

The E-Class is a pivotal piece of Mercedes' global business. With more than 16 million delivered since 1946, it is the brand's bestselling model series, according to Mercedes.

Despite being in the final year of its product life cycle, the E-Class, along with the CLS, was Mercedes' second-bestselling sedan in the U.S. last year. Mercedes combines the two vehicles in its sales reports. The nameplates accounted for 18,818 sales.

The new-gen E-Class is in production in Sindelfingen, Germany. Output should peak at more than 140,0…

Toyota North America is moving forward with repurposing technology from its Mirai fuel cell passenger sedan to create a hydrogen power kit for heavy-duty trucks.

The automaker said Monday the California Air Resources Board granted a Zero Emission Powertrain Executive Order for the heavy-duty truck fuel cell electric powertrain. The order certifies a powertrain complies with emissions standards required for sale in California.

Toyota started experimenting with building a hydrogen fuel cell Class 8 truck in 2017. It used two fuel cell stacks from a Mirai sedan and a cab and chassis built by Kenworth to create a prototype truck.

Kenworth and Toyota jointly pushed the technology forward, building 10 trucks to run drayage routes from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to inland Southern California destinations. The tests served as a proof of concept, and Toyota now plans to begin assembling new, more efficient fuel cell modules for hydrogen-powered, hea…

TOKYO — Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will take a one-time hit of 10.5 billion yen ($78.31 million) related to slowing sales at its China unit, it said on Tuesday, as mounting competition in the world's largest auto market hits foreign automakers.

Mitsubishi made no changes to its full-year results forecast as the impact from the extraordinary loss had already been incorporated into a previously announced outlook "to a certain extent".

Competition in China has increased and the warning by Mitsubishi, a minor player in the country, is the latest sign of how overseas automakers selling combustion-engine cars are facing a wake-up as China's electric vehicle drive leaves them behind.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Tuesday said the company plannd "aggressive measure" to cut costs throughout its China oprations, where first-quarter sales slumped 23 percent and profits slid.

GM and other western automakers face strong competition and pricing pressures…

Lithia is the new leader on Automotive News' list of top used car dealership groups. Tesla comes out victorious in a bellwether lawsuit over an Autopilot crash. Transport tech startup funding plunges. Plus, ev.energy North America chief Joseph Vellone talks about how smart charging can help reduce strain on the electrical grid.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad

Android

Spotify

Bring your questions to a LinkedIn Live talk at noon Eastern on April 26 on the new EV tax credits and eligible vehicles.

Executive Editor Jamie Butters will be joined by Automotive News Washington, D.C., reporter Audrey LaForest, Anne Blair, director of EV policy at the Electrification Coalition, and Robert Simmons, general manager at LaFontaine Automotive Group.

They'll talk about which vehicles are eligible and what this means for dealers. They'll also take your questions.

Join the conversation.

Southern used-car dealership chain U.S. Auto Sales will keep its retail and supply chain locations closed "for the foreseeable future" and furlough those and other employees without pay, according to a company memo reported by an Atlanta, Ga., TV station.

"Although we have been diligently working for some time, including over this weekend, with our private equity owner and lenders, we were unable to reach an agreement that will allow our retail and supply chain locations to remain open," the Sunday message from U.S. Auto Sales CEO Bob Anderson stated, according to the NBC affiliate WXIA. The memo said business development center staff and the underwriting and marketing teams also would be furloughed.

Automotive News was unable to obtain a copy of the memo. However, U.S. Auto Sales employee profiles on LinkedIn featured posts Monday reporting furloughs and launching job hunts.

"As a result of our entire sales organization being furloughed last night, I a…

Elon Musk is years behind on his ambition to render Tesla Inc.’s cars fully autonomous. He’s now saying in no uncertain terms that he’s willing to bet the company’s profit margins on making it happen.

Musk said on a conference call last week that Tesla has the wherewithal to sell cars at “zero profit” and then earn immense sums later off driverless software.

The trouble with that for investors? His predictions since at least 2019 that autonomous Teslas are just around the corner haven’t panned out.

“We’re the only ones making cars that technically we could sell for zero profit for now, and then yield actually tremendous economics in the future through autonomy,” Musk said April 19. “I’m not sure how many of you will appreciate the profundity of what I’ve just said, but it is extremely significant.”

The challenge Musk has had turning driverless visions into reality isn’t stopping him from going forward with markdowns that threaten to set off a pri…

WASHINGTON — U.S. traffic deaths declined slightly in 2022, reversing a two-year trend of increases during the COVID-19 pandemic but continuing to remain a crisis, NHTSA said last week.

The agency estimated 42,795 people died in vehicle crashes on U.S. roads last year, down about 0.3 percent from the 42,939 fatalities reported for 2021.

NHTSA also projected that traffic deaths declined in the fourth quarter of 2022, marking the third straight quarterly decline in fatalities after seven consecutive quarters of increases that started in the third quarter of 2020.

The agency estimated 27 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were projected to have decreases in fatalities in 2022 compared with 2021, while 23 states were projected to have increases.

For 2022, the estimated fatality rate fell slightly to 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled compared with 1.37 in 2021.

The small decline comes as Americans are driving more …