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BERLIN -- Several production lines at Volkswagen and FAW's plant in Chengdu are operating with staff on 11-hour shifts, up from eight usually, to compensate for time lost due to a closure in November, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Production at the plant was stopped on Nov. 21 for two weeks because of a lack of parts as suppliers struggled with rising coronavirus cases following China's loosening of its zero-COVID policy.

The carmaker has brought in extra staff at the plant from within its wider workforce to raise the number of hours worked in order to make up for production shortfalls from that timeand allow for more breaks, a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson denied an earlier report by Bloomberg that staff at Volkswagen's plant in Foshan were working 11-hour shifts because other workers were calling in sick with coronavirus.

The Foshan plant was operating as normal, the spokesperson said, adding hygiene measures were in place similar to tho…

Hackers have stolen Nio Inc. user and car-sales data and are now blackmailing the Chinese electric-vehicle maker.

Nio received an email this month in which the sender demanded $2.25 million in Bitcoin in return for not releasing the data, the automaker said Tuesday. An internal investigation revealed that part of Nio’s user and vehicle sales information prior to August 2021 had been compromised.

“The company strongly condemns such unlawful acts and will not bow down to cyber crimes,” Nio said in a statement, adding that it had reported the incident to regulators. It pledged to take responsibility for any potential damages to customers.

Data security issues have become a concern for auto manufacturers and their suppliers. Hackers stole around 40 terabytes of data from German auto-parts maker Continental during a cyberattack in August. The loot may include information connected to customers Volkswagen Group, Mercedes-Benz and BMW Group, Germany’s Handel…

Automotive News reporter Michael Martinez talks about the year Ford had in 2022. Plus, U.S. Treasury delays EV tax credit guidance until March. And Magna agrees to buy Veoneer Active Safety for $1.53 billion.

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Declined service follow-ups are a great opportunity to increase revenue, customer retention, and customer experience in your Service Department. While it is a tricky concept to work through, once mastered, it can be your strongest tool and competitive advantage. By not taking advantage of declined service requests, you are leaving money on the table. Download this FREE guide to ensure your team is mastering declined service follow-ups by leveraging five proven phone handling strategies and taking advantage of the correlating word tracks.

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Hyundai's Kona subcompact crossover is getting a bigger footprint and adding a gasoline-electric hybrid to the lineup.

The second-generation, 2024 Kona will feature larger dimensions, including a 5.9-inch increase in length and nearly 1 more inch of width. The wheelbase grows by 2.4 inches. The new Kona is still billed as an urban runabout but Hyundai says the bigger size will give it more living space and a bolder presence.

Hyundai said the redesign started with the EV, an unusual move for vehicles with multiple powertrains. The styling is more EV-leaning, with a lightbar that stretches across each model's front end.

The Kona EV sports the pixelated design cues found on Hyundai's electric Ioniq 5 and upcoming Ioniq 6 stablemates. The gasoline and hybrid variants have a more rugged bumper that incorporates a skid plate design as well as chunkier black wheel arch cladding. The N-Line, also gas-powered, sits lower to the ground and i…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday said it will issue proposed guidance for the critical mineral and battery component requirements in March, effectively delaying those eligibility restrictions in the $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles.

Under the recently signed Inflation Reduction Act, the department was required to issue proposed guidance by Dec. 31 that will further define how to meet the revamped EV tax credit's eligibility rules, which are designed to incentivize domestic EV production, reduce reliance on foreign supply chains and prevent wealthy buyers from getting a discount.

Instead, Treasury said it will release information before the end of the year that will outline the "anticipated direction" of the critical mineral and battery component requirements that new EVs must meet to qualify. The information also will help automakers "prepare to be able to identify vehicles eligible for the tax credit when the new requirements go i…

Kia will return to the Super Bowl for the second straight year. A brand representative last week confirmed the buy for an ad that will be handled by agency-of-record David & Goliath.

For last season’s game, Kia used a cute robotic dog in an ad that plugged its electric EV6, part of a wave of auto brands that used the 2022 game to tout their electric vehicle ambitions, including BMW, General Motors, Nissan and Polestar.

Kia sat out the 2021 game after appearing in 11 straight Bowls prior to that. The Korean brand is the first automaker to confirm its Super Bowl ad buy for 2023.

A Quebec lithium mine poised to become the only Canadian site actively producing the key battery metal has received the final government permit required to start up operations, according to developer Sayona Mining Ltd.

The regulatory nod from Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans clears the way for the open pit mine near Val-d’Or in northwestern Quebec to begin producing lithium-rich spodumene concentrate in the first half of 2023, the Australia-based miner said Dec. 13.

“With this major advance, Sayona will become the only producer of lithium concentrate in Quebec and in Canada. This is a very promising position for our region, which puts us at the forefront of the emerging energy transition,” Annie Blier, vice-president of environment at Sayona Québec, said in a statement.

Sayona said its North American Lithium project has received more than 130 permits from provincial and federal regulators as the company steers the site back toward production. …

A look at the year General Motors had in 2022. The cooling economy chills investment in EVs and mobility. A new report shows EVs cost about as much as ICE vehicles to own. And Tesla investors try to keep up with CEO Elon Musk's activity on Twitter.

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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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Growing Cavender Auto Family expanded its presence in Oklahoma, which it entered this year, with its latest acquisition.

Cavender Auto Family, of San Antonio, on Dec. 12 bought Hudiburg Chevrolet and Hudiburg Buick-GMC, both in Midwest City, and Hudiburg Subaru in Norman, from Hudiburg Auto Group, Cavender Auto Family CEO Stephen Cavender confirmed to Automotive News in an email.

Midwest City is east of Oklahoma City, the state's capital, while Norman, home to the University of Oklahoma, is south of Oklahoma City.

The stores were renamed Confidence Chevrolet, Confidence Buick-GMC and Cavender Subaru of Norman, Stephen Cavender said.

"The Hudiburg family has a 65-year tradition of automotive excellence and customer service in Oklahoma," Stephen Cavender said in a statement. "David Hudiburg and his family have been top-performing auto dealers for many years."

Stephen Cavender noted that Hudiburg Auto Group still owns a Ford dealership in Wel…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. auto safety regulators confirmed a fifth Takata airbag inflator crash death in 2022 and reiterated urgent calls for owners to get repairs.

Stellantis and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said they had confirmed a third Takata airbag inflator death.

Over the last decade, more than 67 million Takata airbag inflators have been recalled in the United States and more than 100 million worldwide, in the biggest auto safety callback in history.

In November, Stellantis urged owners of 276,000 older U.S. vehicles to immediately stop driving after the crash death reports, but just 2,000 owners have gotten repairs since then.

More than 30 deaths worldwide -- including 24 U.S. deaths -- and hundreds of injuries in various automakers' vehicles since 2009 are linked to Takata airbag inflators that can explode, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks.

The latest death was in a 2010 Chrysler 300, one of three St…

DETROIT — Electric vehicles nearly match internal combustion vehicles in cost of ownership and the ownership experience, according to a new J.D. Power index gauging the industry's shift to EVs.

But wide gaps in four of the six categories measured — including charging infrastructure and consumer interest in EVs — show there is still a long way to go before the two forms of propulsion are on equal footing.

The J.D. Power EV Index, which launches Jan. 17, underscores a dichotomy in the transition to fully electric powertrains, even as global automakers plow billions of dollars into the rollout.

On one hand, U.S. customers who buy EVs rarely go back to internal combustion engine vehicles, and most find today's battery-powered cars affordable when considering the cost to drive and maintain them as well as their resale value.

On the flip side, rising EV adoption ironically creates bigger infrastructure headaches. That's bec…