News

Ally Financial's first-quarter net income fell 51 percent from a year earlier as it collected less revenue from financing and set aside a higher amount to cover potential losses on loans, the Detroit bank said Wednesday. However, its $319 million in net income was an improvement over the fourth quarter of 2022.

Ally's auto lending business — the bank's primary source of income — also recorded a significant decline from a year earlier. Pretax auto finance income fell 39 percent to $442 million during the first quarter. Ally said its historically low net auto losses a year ago made for the steep year-over-year decline. Ally's pretax auto finance income rose 1.1 percent compared with the fourth quarter.

"Ally's operating results amid this dynamic macro environment highlight the continued strength of our franchises," Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown said in a statement. "Despite the heightened volatility in markets, the team remained focused on what we can co…

Chrysler is recalling 131,700 2021 Ram 1500 vehicles in North America equipped with 5.7L eTorque engines for an engine stall risk.

The powertrain control module software may create an incorrect fuel mixture in the engine, which can stall the engine.

An engine shut down can cause a vehicle to crash without warning, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

It's estimated that 100% of these vehicles have the defect, NHTSA said.

An investigation was opened Jan. 20. As of March 30, one accident and no injuries were reported in relation to the defect.

Owners will be notified by mail beginning June 2, 2023. Dealers will update the PCM calibration software without charge.

A Stellantis spokesperson was not available for comment.

Flow Automotive Cos. further added to its presence in Charlottesville, Va., with the Monday purchase of five auto stores representing eight brands, in one of the largest dealership acquisitions of the year, as tracked by Automotive News.

Flow Automotive bought Mercedes-Benz of Charlottesville, Umansky Toyota of Charlottesville, Umansky Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Charlottesville, Umansky Honda of Charlottesville and Umansky Subaru of Charlottesville from Umansky Automotive Group, according to George Karolis. He's president of Presidio Group, an investment banking and dealership advisory company in Denver and Atlanta. Presidio Group represented Flow Automotive in the transaction.

The name of the Mercedes-Benz dealership stays the same, while the others were renamed Flow Toyota of Charlottesville, Flow Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Charlottesville, Flow Honda of Charlottesville and Flow Subaru of Charlottesville.

Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis are new brands fo…

Consumer Reports' Mike Quincy talks about the lessons he has learned buying 140-plus test cars for Consumer Reports, and how things have changed in the past three years. After price cuts, Tesla’s profits will be a hot topic for Q1 earnings. And the U.S. Supreme Court turns away GM’s bid to revive its lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler.

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

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it had reached a settlement with General Motors to resolve the department's determination that the American automaker discriminated against non-U.S. citizens.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will pay $365,000 in civil penalties to the United States, the Justice Department said in a statement. GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

A Justice Department investigation determined that until at least September 2021, GM's export compliance assessments unnecessarily required lawful permanent residents to provide an unexpired foreign passport as a condition of employment, imposing a discriminatory barrier on them in the hiring process, the department said.

WASHINGTON — An independent group composed of auto safety experts and consumer advocates issued recommendations Tuesday to the U.S. Transportation Department as it develops a safety standard to prevent impaired driving.

A provision in the infrastructure law passed in 2021 orders NHTSA to issue a final rule by November 2024 requiring new vehicles to be equipped with an advanced impaired-driving prevention technology.

Once the rule is issued, automakers would have between two and three years to implement the technology as standard equipment in all new light-duty cars and trucks.

The technical working group's guidance comes after months of research and aims to help NHTSA meet the statutory deadline for completing the rule-making.

Among its recommendations, the group suggests first incorporating a system into vehicles that can detect blood alcohol content and later expanding those systems to eventually detect driver impairment caused by drugs, drowsin…

The southeastern used-vehicle dealership chain U.S. Auto Sales has closed its 39 locations indefinitely, the company's website stated Tuesday.

"We have temporarily closed our dealerships and are working on a solution to re-open them as soon as possible," a pop-up on usautosales.info said late Tuesday morning. "But don't worry, we aren't going anywhere!"

The group, which works with car buyers regardless of credit history, told customers its consumer auto loan servicing company USASF Servicing remained open for business and car payments.

A phone call to U.S. Auto Sales was met with a similar recorded message: "Unfortunately, we have had to temporarily close our dealerships," it began.

A U.S. Auto Sales customer service representative reached by Automotive News said no one was available to talk.

Financing for cars has become harder to come by as lenders tightened their underwriting standards for consumers who have burned through much of their …

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., is seeking more information from Ford Motor Co. about the automaker's deal with China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. to use its technology at a planned $3.5 billion battery plant in Michigan.

In a letter sent Monday to Ford CEO Jim Farley, Smith raised concerns over whether the arrangement leans on a "loophole" in the electric vehicle tax credit's battery component sourcing requirements and goes against the law's intent of U.S. energy security and reducing dependence on foreign adversaries such as China for battery materials and manufacturing.

"This arrangement appears to leverage a loophole in the [Inflation Reduction Act] rules regarding battery components manufactured or assembled by a 'foreign entity of concern,' " wrote Smith, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee. "I am alarmed about how Ford has structured this project in the context of the IRA's clean vehicle credits and am concerned that o…

Electric-vehicle company Lordstown Motors Corp. said on Tuesday production and deliveries of its Endurance electric pick-up truck resumed this month after a pause in February to address quality issues.

EV startups have been struggling with dwindling cash balances and production challenges as access to capital tightens amid rising U.S. interest rates to tame inflation.

Ohio-based Lordstown, whose shares were trading 1 percent higher premarket, also said it has struck a deal with Amerit Fleet Solutions for service and maintenance for its fleet customers.

The company said in February that it had made only 31 units for sale, and recalled 19 vehicles from those delivered to customers, and those being used internally.

In January, the EV company forecast production would slow through its first quarter due to supply-chain constraints, particularly with respect to the availability of hub motor components.

Tesla Inc. has been cutting prices this year to bolster sales of its aging EVs, but that has also likely reduced its industry-leading profit margins. That volume-over-profit approach will be the major focus of its first-quarter earnings report Wednesday.

The EV maker likely sold 161,630 vehicles in the U.S. in the January-March period, according to Cox Automotive, which represents a 25 percent increase compared with a year earlier but far below CEO Elon Musk's 50 percent global growth target.

Tesla doesn't break out U.S. sales but reported global deliveries of 422,875 for the first quarter, a 4.3 percent increase compared with the previous quarter. That increase suggests that price cuts were necessary to maintain growth amid rising EV competition.

At the same time, Tesla is expected to report auto gross margin of 23 percent after the market close Wednesday, according to a Visible Alpha survey of market analysts. A year earlier, Tesla reported a 33 perce…

Hyundai is accelerating the rollout of a software upgrade for vehicles not equipped with engine immobilizers as part of its response to the nationwide hotwiring frenzy spurred by social media posts showing how to easily steal models lacking the anti-theft device.

At the same time, AAA is stepping in to help Hyundai secure insurance coverage for owners of affected vehicles, following State Farm and Progressive's decision to stop writing new policies for models without immobilizers.

AAA will provide support for owners having "difficulty securing and sustaining auto insurance as a result of the increased criminal activity targeting Hyundai vehicles," Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker said in a statement.

AAA insurers will issue new and renewal policies for eligible affected Hyundai customers in all states except Alaska, Massachusetts and Washington, where it does not offer insurance.

The initial Hyundai upgrade, announced in February, covered m…

Hesai Group said it will "vigorously defend itself" against allegations of patent infringement by Ouster, a rival company.

The Shanghai lidar maker is facing a patent-infringement lawsuit and a U.S. International Trade Commission complaint by Ouster, a San Francisco lidar maker. Ouster says Hesai stole information from five of its lidar patents, while Hesai's response claims its designs and technology are original.

"We believe Ouster's complaints are deeply flawed and lack merit," said Yifan David Li, Hesai's CEO, in a statement released Monday. "We invest heavily in proprietary research and development. We have more than 700 staff working in our R&D and manufacturing teams."

Ouster asked the International Trade Commission to investigate imports of Hesai lidar sensors that the company says infringe on its patents, and is seeking a cease-and-desist order to bar the import of those products to the U.S. Ouster also sued for patent infringement in U.S. D…