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LOS ANGELES — After a stumble out of the gates with its first-in-a-series 2023 bZ4X, Toyota is introducing a smaller concept with a similar shape likely to one day slide beneath the back-on-sale bZ4X in an expanded battery-electric lineup for the Japanese automaker.

The Toyota bZ Compact SUV Concept shown late Wednesday before the start of the Los Angeles Auto Show is roughly comparable in size to the Toyota Corolla Cross subcompact crossover, smaller than the RAV4-sized bZ4X. An earlier version of the concept was one of 16 EVs displayed behind Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda late last year when he laid out the automaker's battery-electric future. If a production version comes to the U.S., it would likely be sold as the bZ3X.

"We've only just begun to scratch the surface of the Beyond Zero moniker," Toyota brand head David Christ said in a statement. "With an aerodynamic design coupled with intuitive tech features never before seen in a Toyota model, the bZ Concept sh…

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada has a closer connection than most to the Prius.

Twenty-five years ago, Uchiyamada was chief engineer of the first generation of the stubby car that stunned the industry in 1997 as the world's first mass-produced gasoline-electric hybrid.

In doing so, he helped Toyota leapfrog into an era of better fuel efficiency and helped pave the way for the full-electric vehicles that are currently wowing the market.

But even now, as the Prius turns 25 with a redesigned fifth generation, Uchiyamada has his hand in the nameplate's development. And in an interview with Automotive News this month, he said he expected the flagship hybrid to be around for many more overhauls, even in the EV age.

Uchiyamada, now 76, was charged in the mid-1990s with developing a car for the 21st century. The road to what eventually became the Prius, however, was filled with potholes.

When his team assembled the first pro…

Redwood Materials will provide cathode material, a key component of the lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles, for a giant factory Panasonic Energy Co. is building in Kansas.

The deal represents the first time the material will be made at gigafactory scale in the U.S.

Redwood Materials said it plans to produce 100 gigawatt-hours of cathode for 1 million EVs from recycled battery cell material by 2025 at its $3.5 billion battery materials factory under construction near Reno, Nev. The plant is near Redwood's headquarters in Carson City, Nev.

Panasonic will use Redwood's cathode material for battery cell production at a $4 billion lithium ion battery factory it is starting to build in De Soto, Kan. The factory is expected to open in 2025 and create up to 4,000 jobs, Panasonic said this month.

With the agreement, Redwood also hopes to make a sustainable closed-loop supply chain for producing cathode material and batteries in the U.S. In …

Two women were awarded $1.8 million Friday after claiming they faced discrimination while working at Mercedes-Benz of St. Louis, a dealership in St. Louis.

Denise Ligon and Dorothy Robinson were salespeople at the dealership, and said they worked in an unfair work environment that benefited male employees. Ligon began working at the dealership in 2000, and Robinson in 2015, court documents said.

Claims from the two women include sexist remarks, being held back from sales and being required to unfairly split commissions with male employees.

Robinson, who is Black, argued that in addition to sexism, she experienced racism after the company passed her over for promotion in favor of a white man.

Tri-Star Imports Inc., the owner of Mercedes-Benz of St. Louis, denied the allegations in court documents and said the women didn't take advantage of the "preventive or corrective opportunities provided by Tri-Star to avoid harm."

The women reported the…

Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar crouches on the starting line of a growth sprint that will see it launch three models and sell 290,000 vehicles by mid-decade.

It's an ambitious goal in the best of times. These are anything but for the auto industry, which grapples with supply chain bottlenecks, surging raw material costs and softening demand.

Now, Polestar is getting a $1.6 billion shot of new capital to cushion it against market turbulence.

Five-year-old Polestar's affiliate and shareholder Volvo Cars will provide an 18-month $800 million loan. The other major shareholder, PSD Investment Ltd., controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, is committing an equal amount through direct and indirect financing and liquidity support.

The financing "allows Polestar to focus on delivering more cars to more customers," CEO Thomas Ingenlath told analysts on a quarterly earnings call Friday. "We are on track developing the company, our product portfo…

State environmental regulators issued an air quality violation notice to Stellantis NV for exceeding its emission limit at Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit.

The plant, which makes Jeep and Dodge vehicles, was cited for an emissions rate of 5.01 pounds of volatile organic compounds per job in September, exceeding the limit of 4.8 pounds per job, according to a Monday report from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

Stellantis said the violation stems from a retooling of the plant earlier this year for the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The plant was operating at reduced volumes due to the ongoing microchip shortage.

"The reduced production volume means that total VOC emissions from the facility are actually well below our permitted allowable emission rate; however, emissions per vehicle have increased because we are making fewer vehicles," Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in an email.

Tinson said the plant's painting pro…

Lauren Morrison says that as a young girl growing up in a small Alabama town, “I never could have imagined working at an OEM.” Instead, she says she wanted to be a school principal.

“But I was lucky, because in college I was at places that were intentional about inviting us to presentations for so many companies and industries,” she says. While a business student at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Morrison attended a presentation about the future of vehicles and technology by a Ford representative. She was intrigued, and after consulting with a cousin who worked in the auto industry, applied for—and obtained—a summer internship, then a full-time position, at Ford.

In 2018, after five years at Ford, Morrison joined FCA/Stellantis, where she now serves as a multicultural marketing manager.

“I fell into the auto industry, but I really liked it,” she says. “I found I didn’t need to love cars or the technology. I found that having a love of co…

TOKYO – Toyota is flipping the script for the next-generation Prius hybrid.

The gas-sipping nameplate, a byword for eco-friendly driving since its 1997 debut, won't be a whole lot greener with the redesigned fifth generation. But it will sure be a whole lot meaner.

On tap is a new range of more powerful drivetrains with significantly more oomph and a zero to 62 mph sprint time as quick as 6.7 seconds. Total output, for the plug-in at least, should top 200 hp.

In a Prius.

What's more, it's all wrapped in head-turning, sports-car-inspired sheet metal that rides on a new platform that is lower and wider for spunkier handling. The Prius family's familiar and polarizing wedge shape has actually morphed into something sexy.

Toyota Motor Corp. executives unveiled the radical redesign here Wednesday with a bold Prius promise: a ton more power and pleasure but with all the same miserly fuel economy.

Toyota Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, the so…

Capital One has laid off a small number of its 3,300 auto finance employees.

The layoffs occurred last week in response to the company's decision to cut back on writing new loans, according to a spokesperson for the lender.

"We continually assess our business to ensure we are well-positioned to offer innovative and competitive products and services to all of our customers," the spokesperson wrote in an email. "Rising interest rates, used vehicle prices and moves by competitors have created unique headwinds and compressed margins in the auto lending industry. Based on our assessment of the environment and our auto business, we pulled back on originations. To better align teams to match our current originations volume and ensure our organization remains strong and resilient, we announced changes that impacted some associates in our auto business."

Capital One took on $8.29 billion worth of new auto loans in the third quarter, down 28 …

SAN DIEGO — Used-vehicle prices are unlikely to crater in the coming months partly because of the strength of lingering new-vehicle demand, a J.D. Power expert said.

Approaching a "cliff edge" in used-vehicle prices likely won't happen because pent-up consumer demand on the new-vehicle side equates to probable sales of more than 4 million vehicles, said Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, who spoke Monday at the Used Car Week conference in San Diego.

If automakers could produce vehicles at 2018 levels, they would "clear this [backlog of sales] quite quickly" and "be back to a more moderate price environment," Jominy said.

Used-car market trackers report that wholesale prices peaked in November and December 2021, Jominy said. In the lead-up to that, prices for the average used vehicle went from hovering around $15,000 all the way to $28,000, he said. Since then, prices have trended about $3,000 lower, Jominy said.

But …

Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley said insourcing work from suppliers will be crucial to keeping jobs at the automaker as the industry shifts to electric vehicles composed of far fewer parts.

As Ford undergoes "the biggest change to our industrial system since the '20s there are also some storm clouds," Farley said Tuesday at the Rainbow PUSH Global Automotive Summit in Detroit.

"It takes 40 percent less labor to make an electric car. So as a family company, we have to insource so that everyone has a role. We have a whole new supply chain to fill out, and diversity has to play an even greater role in that than we've had."

Jobs, minority inclusion and union representation were among the key points in a discussion between Farley and the Rev. Jesse Jackson at the event.

The transition to EVs is especially important for Black-owned businesses whose primary role in the industry is to supply automakers, event Chairman John Graves said.

With EVs made …

Auto dealerships have another six months to beef up their consumer information security following a Federal Trade Commission Safeguards Rule extension announced Tuesday.

The last-minute reprieve moves the date for dealerships and other financial institutions to comply with the revamped Safeguards Rule, from Dec. 9, 2022, to June 9, 2023. The Safeguards Rule is part of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act regulating business customer information practices.

FTC commissioners voted 4-0 in favor of the extension. FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson on Monday issued a separate statement noting that she still opposes the FTC's 2021 decision to change the rule in the first place.

The agency cited reports — including from the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy — of a lack of qualified personnel to oversee the changes and businesses having difficulty sourcing necessary technology.

"These difficulties were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic," the FTC wr…