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General Motors said it will offer buyouts to most of its U.S. salaried employees as it works to cut $2 billion in costs over the next two years.

Voluntary severance packages will be offered to U.S. employees who have been with the company for at least five years and global executives with at least two years of service, CEO Mary Barra said in a memo to employees Thursday.

The buyouts are "designed to accelerate attrition in the U.S.," Barra said in the memo, which was obtained by Automotive News and confirmed by GM.

"This voluntary program offers eligible employees an opportunity to make a career change or retire earlier. We are offering three packages based on level and service to the company. Employees are strongly encouraged to consider the program," GM spokesperson Maria Raynal said in an emailed statement. "By permanently bringing down structured costs, we can improve vehicle profitability and remain nimble in an increasingly competitive market." Read more

BEIJING -- BYD Co., the world's leading seller of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, on Thursday announced discounts on some models, intensifying competition in the biggest auto market.

The discounts will be for buyers who place orders for the Song Plus and Seal models between March 10 and March 31, the company said on its social media account.

In return for an 88 yuan ($12.64) deposit, Seal EV buyers can get 8,888 yuan deducted from the price, while for Song Plus models, the discount is 6,888 yuan.

BYD, with its Dynasty and Ocean series of electrified models, was China's best-selling passenger vehicle brand in February, outselling Volkswagen for the second time in four months, retail sales data from China Merchants Bank International show.

BYD sold 34,621 Song Plus crossovers and 14,372 Seal sedans in the first two months, according to China Passenger Car Association.

The company's new discounts follow price cuts announced by T…

The most profit-rich, two-year-long blowout party in automotive retail history may finally be winding down.

So grab some aspirin, because here comes the inevitable hangover.

Bloomberg noted this month that an increasing number of consumers are showing up at dealerships carrying boatloads of negative equity and rolling it into longer and longer-term loans.

That trend, of course, isn't novel. It predates the COVID-19 breakout, though the number of U.S. customers with negative equity dipped temporarily because of rising values of supply-constrained used vehicles, plus many received government-issued stimulus checks while spending less money overall during the pandemic. But what is more concerning is what's coming.

At roughly this point in 2019, the average new-vehicle list price in the United States was $36,513, according to Cox Automotive. Now, it is $47,673, a difference of $11,160.

And then there's the int…

Honda Motor Co., which plans to launch a new U.S.-made fuel cell vehicle next year, now intends to use the technology on a second front: powering business offices and factories.

The Japanese automaker began operating a fuel cell backup power station last week for the data center at its U.S. corporate headquarters in Torrance, Calif., to demonstrate how the technology can serve as a cleaner alternative to diesel generators.

Honda said the California power station is a proof of concept that will help carve its path to zero emissions. The automaker wants to achieve carbon neutrality for all its products and corporate activities by 2050.

The use of fuel cell technology at the data center also represents Honda's expansion of its fuel cell business beyond passenger cars to embrace commercial vehicles, construction machinery and other stationary power systems, company officials said.

"We believe there is a potentially large market for this technology," …

A white hat hacker reported another cybersecurity vulnerability at Toyota Motor Corp., this time via its customer information operation in Mexico.

Eaton Zveare, a hobbyist white hat hacker in Sarasota, Fla., broke into the C360 customer relationship management web application used by the Japanese automaker to manage its Mexican customers' information. He penetrated the system in October and notified the automaker. Toyota closed the security breach. Zveare reported it publicly this week.

White hat hackers look for cybersecurity vulnerabilities at companies, notify them of the problem and hope to get a reward. The auto industry paid out more than $400,000 in hacking bounties last year, according to HackerOne, a San Francisco company that manages Toyota's "bug bounty" program.

Zveare accessed customers' names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and tax IDs as well as vehicle, service and ownership history for an unknown number of Toyota customers i…

Automakers are so worried about vehicle and software security gaps that they are paying hackers to uncover vulnerabilities.

These bug bounty programs reward friendly digital invaders, known as white hat hackers, who look for breaches and notify automakers and suppliers of the problems — although the auto industry pays them considerably less for their efforts than some other sectors do.

Cybersecurity has become a major issue for the industry as cars increasingly rely on software, sensors and computers for operation, infotainment, automated driving and safety systems. Moreover, automakers are loading connectivity and subscription features that add to the digital vulnerabilities.The number of publicly reported auto cyberattacks jumped 239 percent in 2022 compared with 2018, according to Israeli cybersecurity firm Upstream.

Automakers want to find problems before hostile hackers uncover vulnerabilities they can exploit, which could allow them to gain acces…

Ellie Harris, senior director of sales at Ally Financial, shares tips that can help dealerships evolve their F&I practices and exceed changing customer expectations.

Advertisement: It's time to take your dealership from 0 to 100. From dedicated underwriter and account executive teams to comprehensive training courses, Ally has the resources needed to help you take your business to the next level. Contact your local account executive today.

Emma Hancock, Automotive News: Hi everyone. Welcome back to the All Ears podcast. I'm Emma Hancock, host and strategist at Automotive News. This podcast is sponsored by Ally Financial and produced by the Automotive News Content Studio. In each episode, we explore topics that are important to leaders in automotive retailing. Our guests include experts in their field from Ally, plus dealers from around the country, and we cover tips and explore insights that can help dealerships successfully navigate the transformational ch…

WASHINGTON — The nation's top auto safety regulator opened an investigation this month into more than 120,000 Tesla Model Y crossovers from the 2023 model year after reports of steering wheels detaching while driving.

In a document made public Wednesday, NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said it was aware of two reports of "complete detachment of the steering wheel from the steering column while driving."

Both vehicles were delivered to the owners with a missing retaining bolt that attaches the steering wheel to the steering column, the agency said in the document.

The steering wheels on both vehicles were removed and reinstalled.

"A friction fit maintained the connection between the steering wheel and the column splines during operation until separation," NHTSA said. "Sudden separation occurred when the force exerted on the steering wheel overcame the resistance of the friction fit while the vehicles were in motion. Both known incidents oc…