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Capital One has decided to terminate its auto dealer services business offering floorplan lending.

"We will be winding down that work this year," a Capital One spokesperson told Automotive News in a written statement. "This has no impact on the CapitalOne Auto Finance business. Our auto business remains well-positioned to support our dealer partners and customers through these market cycles, as we have throughout our bank's history."

Capital One on its website said the dealer services business was dedicated to new franchised car dealers with floorplan needs of $5 million to more than $100 million. The bank has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry and lists floorplan monitoring and tracking software among its dealer services products.

In a follow up phone call, a Capital One spokesperson said floorplan lending comprised about 1 percent of its commercial bank business and was "not core to the long-term priorities of our commerci…

WASHINGTON - A major transport union on Tuesday opposed a request filed by Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo and autonomous driving technology company Aurora for an exemption from rules on warning devices for large semi-trucks, citing safety issues.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) said last month it received a joint application from Waymo and Aurora seeking a five-year exemption from rules that require drivers to place reflective triangles or a flare around a stopped truck to alert other drivers and help prevent a crash.

Aurora and Waymo instead want to use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab to avoid the need for human drivers.

The Transport Workers Union of America said the petition is "inappropriate, represents an overreach and a misuse of the waiver and exemption process, and would significantly diminish the safety of our roads. It should be rejected in the strongest possible terms."

It urged the safety board to e…

A look at the near death and resurgence of MG as the iconic brand turns 100. CarMax net income and sales drop in Q1. And BMW sees EV sales double in the first three months of the year.

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Wholesale new-vehicle shipments in China topped 2.45 million in March, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday, representing a 9.7 percent rebound from a year earlier when Chengdu and Changchun, two major auto production centers, were locked down amid resurging coronavirus cases.

Last month, shipments of new cars and light trucks such as sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multi-purpose vehicles and minibuses increased 8.2 percent to approach 2.02 million. 

Shipments of new commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks surged 34 percent to 434,000. 

In the first quarter, new-vehicle shipments industrywide dropped 6.7 percent from a year earlier to below 6.1 million, dragged down by weak sales in the first two months.

Light-vehicle sales declined 7.3 percent to 5.14 million while commercial-vehicle demand dipped 2.9 percent to 938,000 in the latest quarter.

Electrified vehicles continue to gain ground in the new-vehic…

Act 2 of Hummer's revival as an EV brand is an SUV variant of the hulking pickup that GMC has been selling for more than a year.

The 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV is launching with the fully loaded Edition 1. Lower trim levels will continue to roll out through spring 2024.

The latest Hummer light trucks are designed, engineered and produced on General Motors' modular Ultium platform. But because the Hummer SUV's wheelbase is 9 inches shorter, it has four fewer battery modules; 20 vs. 24 in the pickup. With the SUV, GMC is targeting a 300-mile range, slightly below the Hummer pickup's estimated 329 miles.

That shorter wheelbase allows for greater maneuverability. GMC expects best-in-class off-road proportions and a turning circle of only 35.4 feet with available 4-wheel steering; that's smaller than a Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Chevy Bolt EUV's 38.3-foot radius.

The GMC Hummer EV SUV Edition 1 will have a limited run of about…

DETROIT — Three top North American purchasing executives and two top supplier CEOs are scheduled to speak during a June 12 roundtable discussion as part of a longtime charity golf outing in suburban Detroit.

The Executive Supply Chain Roundtable is set to begin at 9 a.m. at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Orion Township, Mich. The event precedes the 2023 Automotive Golf Classic, now in its 43rd year of raising funds for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan. Automotive News is the media sponsor for the event.

Speakers for the roundtable are:

• Jeff Morrison, vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, General Motors

• Robert Young, group vice president of purchasing supplier development, Toyota Motor North America

• Marlo Vitous, senior vice president, purchasing and supply chain management, Stellantis North America

• David C. Dauch, CEO, American Axle & Manufacturing Inc.

• Ray Scott, CEO, Le…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Department is proposing an update to a decades-old calculation that determines the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy of electric vehicles for NHTSA's fuel economy standards.

The proposed rule-making is in response to a 2021 petition submitted by two environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club, which argued the calculation is outdated and resulted in "significantly inflated" EV fuel economy values.

"Excessively high imputed fuel economy values for EVs means that a relatively small number of EVs will mathematically guarantee compliance without meaningful improvements in the real-world average fuel economy of automakers' overall fleets," the petition said.

For example, applying the current calculation to a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup results in a rating equivalent of about 238 mpg. Under the proposed rule-making — which lowers the petroleum-equivalency factor fo…

General Motors' venture capital arm will lead a $50 million Series B funding round into Energy Exploration Technologies Inc., known as EnergyX, a startup that specializes in lithium extraction technology, the companies said Tuesday.

GM Ventures will lead the round and also reached a strategic agreement with EnergyX to develop the company's lithium extraction and refinery technology, the companies said.

EnergyX is the latest in a series of investments and supply agreements between GM and companies that specialize in battery raw materials, processing, cell production and recycling as the automaker transitions to a fully electric vehicle lineup. In January, for instance, GM said it will take a $650 million equity position in Lithium Americas Corp. and work with the company to jointly develop Nevada's Thacker Pass lithium mine.

"We are committed to securing EV critical minerals that are sustainable and cost competitive to maintain our le…

Chinese car parts makers are facing growing pressure from overseas customers to set up factories outside the country as mounting trade tensions and three years of COVID lockdowns make them wary of relying too heavily on China.

Carmakers from Europe and elsewhere are making direct overtures to manufacturers of everything from cooling components to brake systems and auto charging parts, pressing them to establish plants in places like Vietnam and Indonesia so they can still benefit from their expertise and long-held relationships but avoid the risks China poses right now, according to a number of suppliers interviewed by Bloomberg News.

While some international names like Airbus SE and Tesla Inc. are doubling down on Asia’s biggest economy, the shift is an increasing threat to China’s status as the world’s factory and its bid to regain the trust of global business amid the unpredictability of President Xi Jinping’s rule.

For one manager at a Jiangsu-based…

Jamie Butters talks with Hyundai Global COO Jose Muñoz about the automaker's growing sales numbers and new model debuts at the New York auto show. Tesla plans a new Shanghai battery plant. And there are new warnings against selling cars over sticker price.

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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. 

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BEIJING -- The growth in sales of China's passenger vehicles was flat in March from a year earlier, industry data showed on Monday, as more price cuts by auto brands and the rollout of incentives by local governments helped to support demand.

March sales tallied 1.61 million, the China Passenger Car Association said. In the first three months, sales fell 13 percent to 4.33 million, it added.

Sales of new energy vehicles, which include pure battery electric cars and light trucks and plug-in hybrids, rose 22 percent in March and accounted for 34 percent of the month's delivieres, data showed.

BYD led the segment with market share of 35.5 percent, while Tesla accounted for 14 percent.

There is no doubt that April will see a strong recovery in sales growth, Cui Dongshu, the association's secretary general, told reporters, citing a low base in the corresponding period last year.

China imposed strict COVID-19 lockdowns in major cities, such as i…

The advent of electric vehicles portends many changes ahead for dealership service departments in the coming decades. Service managers and directors will have to be agile, resilient and forward-thinking as they prepare for this disruptive technology that will likely decrease customers’ service and maintenance needs compared to internal-combustion engine vehicles. How will dealers be affected and how can they stay ahead of the curve as this new business landscape unfolds? And what new opportunities might emerge to replace slowly fading revenue streams? For insights and perspectives, Automotive News spoke with Piermichele Robazza, Global Practice Director of Aftersales at Urban Science, a global retail consulting firm.

Q: What are dealers and their partners doing now to prepare their parts and service offerings for the future? 

Piermichele Robazza: Two important trends are driving how dealers are currently preparing for the future: The growth of EV sales and the …