News

Our 2022 All-Stars rose to the challenge

Every year, the editorial staff of Automotive News convenes to select our annual All-Stars, an exercise that often involves vigorous debate and occasionally tough decisions.

Our goal is to recognize leaders who have steered their companies through extraordinary challenges, led their organizations to new heights and innovated in ways that will transform the automotive landscape.

The prevailing theme among the 2020 and 2021 All-Stars was how they managed the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and global microchip shortage that severely hampered vehicle production and constricted the flow of inventory to dealers' lots. In 2022, neither problem went away, but there are signs that both are abating, at least somewhat.

While that dual threat is not quite as pronounced this year as it was during the previous two, the industry continued to face production challenges and inventory shortages. If those issues weren't en…

Every year, the editorial staff of Automotive News convenes to select our annual All-Stars, an exercise that often involves vigorous debate and occasionally tough decisions.

Our goal is to recognize leaders who have steered their companies through extraordinary challenges, led their organizations to new heights and innovated in ways that will transform the automotive landscape.

Take Leoni CEO Aldo Kamper, our 2022 Industry Leader of the Year, whose employees make wiring harnesses in Ukraine and were thrust into an awful war. If given a choice, I'm sure Kamper, his workers and Leoni's customers would much rather have never had to deal with Russia's aggression than received an award. But the reality is that they have persevered through grim circumstances, and we commend Leoni as well as pray for its workers' safety and the end of this conflict.

We intend for the All-Stars listing to have a celebratory overtone. After all, we invite th…

The prevailing theme among the 2020 and 2021 Automotive News All-Stars was how they managed the dual shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and global microchip shortage that severely hampered vehicle production and constricted the flow of inventory to dealers' lots. In 2022, neither problem went away, but there are signs that both are abating, at least somewhat. Still, the industry continued to face production challenges and inventory shortages. Our All-Stars persevered, delivering excellent products and services to their customers, introducing innovations that are key to the future of mobility, and making other significant contributions to the industry in myriad ways.

Industry Newsmakerof the Year

JoeManchin

U.S. Senator

D-W.Va.

U.S. Executive,Global Automaker

JeremiePapin

Nissan Americas

Chairperson

Operati…

The Redwood Materials founder and CEO details a breakthrough battery materials deal with Panasonic, explains how recycling bolsters a domestic electric vehicle supply chain and reflects on his tenure as Tesla’s chief technology officer.

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Any notion from a year ago that manufacturers would have their microchip supply problems sorted out by the end of 2022 is proving painfully optimistic.

AutoForecast Solutions estimates that North American auto plants will have to trim more than 10,000 additional vehicles out of their schedules this week, while plants in Asia outside of China will have to eliminate 32,000 planned vehicles.

Industrywide efforts to steer out of the global microchip shortage have helped automakers avoid the depth of production problems it experienced last year. 

But 2022 is still going to end with nearly 4.5 million cars and trucks knocked out of factory schedules because of the chip shortage, according to a new projection from AutoForecast Solutions.

That is far below the 10.5 million vehicles that had to be cut from automakers’ plans last year. But schedules continue to be pared back because of the shortage. 

According to AutoForecast Solutions, th…

The surge of saltwater that pummeled Florida's Gulf Coast during Hurricane Ian caused at least eight electric vehicles to catch fire, according to state officials.

Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis called the situation "a real-world experiment ... with saltwater and EVs." He said officials received unconfirmed reports of fires happening outside the state as well, highlighting the threat that compromised EVs can pose if they are resold unscrupulously.

The Florida fire marshal's office and motor vehicle department determined that 9,700 EVs were registered in the three counties hit hardest Sept. 28, when Ian made landfall packing 150- mph winds. More than 7,000 of those EVs were Teslas and about 3,400 of those Teslas were registered within the 50-meter impact zone that experienced the highest storm surge.

While eight fires represents a tiny percentage of the EVs in the affected area, Patronis noted they are "uniquely dangerous" events. The fire marshal's office sa…

As electric vehicles grow in popularity, issues surrounding charging are a stumbling block for consistent uptake.

Limited availability of chargers and slow charging speeds caused 1 in 5 EV drivers in California to switch back to gasoline vehicles in 2021. These are also pain points for fleet operators — which have larger vehicles with larger batteries such as buses, trucks and delivery vans, and time constraints on charging opportunities. It's no surprise that the advent of ultrarapid charging — which can fully charge a commercial EV the fastest, with power levels far exceeding 150 kilowatts — has been welcomed by fleet operators and governments. This solution, however, may be a problem in disguise. Major drawbacks include increased costs and emissions, faster battery degradation and additional pressures on an already overworked electric grid.

For fleet operators, ultrarapid charging may finally offer the solution they have been looking for …

CHARLESTON, S.C. — German supplier Robert Bosch is in the midst of transforming a portion of its factory to build electric motors and other components for electrification as part of a $260 million investment.

The project will require Bosch to build flexible lines that can support e-motor configurations that vary from customer to customer. Doing that requires the use of artificial intelligence — along with a healthy dose of good, old-fashioned trust between Bosch and the automakers it sells to, said Li Jiang, Bosch's head of engineering for eMotor & eAxle, North America.

Jiang, 40, a 2015 Automotive News Rising Star, spoke with Staff Reporter John Irwin at the Bosch Charleston plant in late October about the company's thinking. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: How is Bosch using AI in the e-motor design and production process?

A: We have a design approach where we aren't defining exactly what the product is. But we are defining the fundamental te…

If there's one place where Volkswagen lags — pun intended — it's speed to market. And nobody knows that better than VW's U.S. dealers.

Need a proof point? Walking through the VW display on the press day of this month's Los Angeles Auto Show, I was struck by how many people were climbing all over VW's ID Buzz minivan, a vehicle that was first shown in concept form in January 2017, hasn't changed much and still isn't available here. Pandemic or not, that's the automotive definition of slooooowwww.

My point is not to bemoan the Buzz but to say VW's failure over the last decade to put a pickup — any pickup — onto U.S. dealership lots is an almost Shakespearean-level tragedy and an indictment of the German automaker's lack of market agility, at least in Wolfsburg.

Let me be clear: I've covered VW of America under three different CEOs: Hinrich Woebcken, Scott Keogh and now Pablo Di Si. Each one knew VW dealers needed a pickup to at least give them a shot to c…