News

U.S. light-vehicle sales rose again in August at Hyundai and Kia, helped by the highest industry inventory levels in two years and increasing incentives that helped offset higher interest rates for consumers.

It was the 13th consecutive month of U.S. sales gains for the two Korean brands, and is expected to lead off a strong sales report Friday for an industry that was severely inventory constrained a year ago.

“The supply recovery continues to improve across the country, and this is leading to the market’s sales gains this year," said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive, who noted that with improved supplies, sales incentives had also worked their way back into the mix.

Hyundai Motor America said U.S. sales during the month improved 1.1 percent to 65,046 vehicles while Kia America reported a gain of 9.2 percent to 72,147 vehicles.

Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis said sales during August surged 27 percent to 6,453 vehicles.

…

The IAA Mobility, Europe’s and Germany’s largest auto show, is making its second Munich appearance this week and next.The event was held for many years in Frankfurt before Munich became its home in 2021.Most debuts will be of vehicles intended for the European market, but some models destined for the U.S. will get premier treatment. Mini, VW and Mercedes-Benz all will unveil new vehicles this year, and there’s a good chance BMW and Fisker will have something new to show.Stay with Automotive News for the latest from the Munich show.

Tesla Inc. presented a freshened version of its entry-level Model 3 that adds premium features including ventilated seats, ambient lighting and a rear-seat infotainment screen.

The upgraded Model 3 will be displayed at the 2023 Munich auto show.

The EV leader also announced surprise price cuts for other models late Thursday as CEO Elon Musk seeks 50 percent sales growth this year globally, even at the expense of profits.

"More sophisticated materials, ventilated seats and customizable ambient lighting," Tesla Europe said of the Model 3 on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "More refined and relaxed ride quality, thanks to a combination of stiffer body and updated suspension tuning." Musk is the majority owner of X.

A check of Tesla's global websites showed that orders for the freshened Model 3 went live on Thursday for selected countries, but not the U.S. The Model 3 has not been significantly freshened since its launch in 2017.

T…

MUNICH — Mini seeks to revive its flagging fortunes and shed its quirky status in the U.S. by giving Americans more of what they want. The BMW-owned compact car brand will up-size its largest model — the Countryman — and electrify it.

The redesigned crossover, available in combustion engine and battery-powered versions, shares a platform with the subcompact BMW X1 Series. The electric 2025 Mini Countryman SE ALL4 arrives in U.S. stores in September 2024.

Pricing was not disclosed.

The electric Countryman is the second volume EV from the Mini brand, which has seen U.S. sales tumble 32 percent since 2018. The British marque plans to go all-electric by 2030.

"We're at the start of what is the most significant evolution of our product portfolio since we launched (in the U.S.) in 2002," Michael Peyton, vice president of Mini of the Americas, told Automotive News.

Mini has announced it is also planning a subcompact crossover and a Cooper SE rep…

Europe's most important auto show will provide insight into how successfully the region's established automakers can fight off a growing threat from Chinese rivals such as BYD and U.S. upstart Tesla.

The battleground is clear: electromobility, autonomous driving, fast-charging batteries with long ranges and user-friendly software features.

These will be the key themes of the IAA Mobility auto show in Munich (formerly held in Frankfurt), which has its press day on Monday, Sept. 4 and is open to the public from Sept. 5-10.

There will be nearly twice as many Chinese brands at the show this year as there were in 2021 when coronavirus travel restrictions kept away many exhibitors and visitors.

BYD and SAIC-owned MG Motor are seen by industry insiders as the main threat to European brands. BYD and MG are expanding step-by-step into Europe, targeting key markets and building up retail networks. Both companies are also looking to open factories in Europ…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ ‘Worst of all worlds’ for EV charging companies

Electric vehicle charging network companies know that this is crunch time.

Low utilization rates and high operating costs are hamstringing profits. Money is tight. Charging satisfaction is at an all-time low. And after waiting years for networks to get it together, automakers are joining with Tesla Inc. in an unexpected alliance.

Two of the largest publicly held charging networks in the U.S., ChargePoint and Blink Charging, have less than a year of cash left, according to their most recent quarterly filings.

They both said their business models, reliant on charger equipment sales more than owning and operating networks themselves, were not as sensitive to cash burn. But company leaders and industry analysts agree that this is a decisive moment for the networks.

"It's kind of a perfect storm" for charging network companies, said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at Guidehous…

Stellantis has launched a new aftermarket replacement parts brand to complement Mopar, its accessories and original equipment parts unit.

The brand, called bproauto, has 30 parts categories in North America for most vehicle makes and models. Available parts include air filters, batteries, brake pads, brake rotors, hub bearings, oil, oil filters and tire pressure monitoring systems. In the future, bproauto will offer water pumps, wiper blades, spark plugs, radiators and an array of other parts.

The bproauto parts brand in North America is a descendant of the successful Eurorepar brand that celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022.

"We're starting with high-traffic, fast-moving parts to start with, and then will phase in more overtime," said Mike Koval, head of Mopar North America.

Initially, Koval said the bproauto parts will be available exclusively through Stellantis dealers and preferred wholesale partners across North America.

A marketi…

What automakers are learning about electric vehicles, veterans of Weight Watchers already know: It's hard to keep the pounds off once you've lost them.

EVs are posting eye-popping curb weights, wiping out the lightweighting progress automakers have made in the past decade. The heavy batteries required to provide hundreds of miles of range are the culprit. The battery pack in the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV weighs 2,818 pounds — just 52 fewer pounds than the entire curb weight of the Chevrolet Cruze, the compact sedan that ended production in 2019.

No better example of the vehicle diet yo-yo can be found than the former king of lightweighting, the aluminum-bodied Ford F-150.

The 2012 steel-bodied F-150 SuperCrew 4x4 pickup sported a curb weight of 5,586 pounds. An aluminum version replaced it in 2015, shaving roughly 700 pounds. Yet today's electric F-150 Lightning SuperCrew ranges from 6,015 to 6,893 pounds depending on the battery pack — as much as 1…

Buyers plying the online forums for Rivian's electric pickup and SUV frequently mention a common complaint — the tires wear out too quickly.

One Colorado Rivian driver loaded his truck with two motorcycles and hit the road. About 6,000 miles later, nearly a tenth of an inch of rubber had worn off his front tires. That rubber is out there somewhere in the form of microscopic particles. Other electric vehicle buyers are experiencing the same result.

EVs may have eliminated tailpipe emissions, but their hefty curb weights are exacerbating another type of pollution that is raising concern among scientists and environmentalists.

It's long been known that tires emit pollution. As they roll across pavement, abrasion causes particles of rubber and other substances to separate. Eventually these particles — some as small as a human cell — end up in air, water and in living beings. Scientists in Washington state linked a chemical called 6PPD, used in all tires to …

Automakers are trying to appeal to Americans who love large vehicles as they launch their electric lineups. But boosting the number of heavyweights on the road will put others at risk, experts say.

With EVs significantly outweighing gasoline cars, inevitable crashes threaten more severe injuries and fatalities for other road users.

"From a physics perspective, we think it's an unavoidable problem when you're adding that much weight to vehicles without dramatically changing their designs," said Michael Brooks, executive director at the Center for Auto Safety.

Speed, driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to buckle seat belts are the primary causes of traffic fatalities, according to NHTSA, but safety groups say heavier vehicles make crashes more severe.

Crash data for electric pickups and SUVs is limited so far. The only available pickups — the Rivian R1T, the GMC Hummer EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning — began deliveries to customers …

WASHINGTON — Kia America is recalling more than 319,000 cars in the U.S. because the trunk latch might become damaged, preventing the trunk from being opened from the inside.

The recall covers the 2016-17 Rio subcompact car, 2016-18 Optima and 2017-18 Optima hybrid and plug-in hybrid midsize sedans.

"A crack can develop in the pawl of the trunk latch base subassembly, which can intermittently cause the trunk's interior emergency release lever to be inoperative," according to a recall report submitted Aug. 24 to NHTSA.

As a result, those vehicles fail to comply with federal safety regulations for "internal trunk release," the report said.

A person inside the trunk compartment could become trapped, increasing the risk of injury, NHTSA said.

Kia told NHTSA it was aware of 32 incidents describing the inability to open the trunk from the emergency release lever. There have been no injuries or crashes, the automaker said.

Korean auto sup…

Three of the nation's largest privately owned dealership groups expanded their holdings with second- and third-quarter acquisitions.

Each transaction involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Here's a look at the deals involving import and luxury brand stores in Pennsylvania, Texas and Montana.

#1 Cochran Automotive continued its 2023 acquisition spree with a third-quarter purchase of a Honda dealership.

The auto retailer on Aug. 23 bought South Hills Honda in McMurray, Pa., from Greg Norton, #1 Cochran confirmed.

The store was renamed #1 Cochran Honda South Hills. McMurray is south of Pittsburgh.

"The acquisition expands our relationship with Honda, bringing a second store into our stable — and notably, our first in the Pittsburgh Metro," #1 Cochran Automotive CEO Rob Cochran said in a statement.

In June, the growing auto retailer bought two dealerships in separate transacti…