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WASHINGTON - A U.S. judge on Wednesday granted final approval to a class-action settlement worth at least $80 million to resolve claims Volkswagen Group and its Porsche unit skewed emissions and fuel economy data on 500,000 Porsche vehicles in the United States.

The settlement, first reported by Reuters in June, covers 2005 through 2020 model year Porsches. Owners accused the automaker of physically altering test vehicles that affected emissions and fuel economy results.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer also approved $24.5 million in attorneys' fees and costs.

Owners of eligible vehicles will receive payments of $250 to $1,109 per vehicle.

Porsche said on Wednesday that it has "been working to develop a solution and to ensure customers are appropriately compensated."

"We are committed to providing our customers with transparent fuel economy and emissions data, and the agreement ensures that customers are fairly reimbursed for any fuel eco…

Demand remains strong for Rivian Automotive Inc.'s R1T pickup and R1S SUV, CEO RJ Scaringe said after the automaker posted a $1.7  billion third-quarter net loss and pushed back the launch of a smaller R2 platform to 2026.

"We continue to see strong demand for our product," Scaringe said on the company's earnings call Wednesday.

Rivian said it had preorders for 114,000 vehicles on its current R1 platform, up from 98,000 that it reported at the end of the second quarter. Those preorders are separate from an Amazon order for delivery vans.

The EV startup recently started a second shift at its Normal, Ill., factory to meet demand for its vehicles, but continues to struggle with supply-chain issues, executives said.

"The second shift is now up and running," Scaringe said. "We're going through the ramp now and it's going well."

The expansion of production comes just over a year after Rivian launched the R1T into the market.

Rivian C…

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unloads almost 20 million shares after buying Twitter. Nissan profits soar on better pricing. Lucid posts a net loss of $670 million in Q3. Plus, the CEO of insurance tech company Humn.ai talks about how mapping risk through a vehicle’s journey can help address insurance issues for fleets.

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Legacy automakers and their dealer networks face some serious decisions as electric vehicles grow in popularity and internal combustion vehicles lose some of their luster under tightening emission regulations.

But few of those decisions are as fundamental as this: Will automakers work with dealers to make the transition to EVs a reality, or will they view the transition as an opportunity to pressure their "trusted business partners?"

This is the struggle playing out right now across Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. dealer network as the automaker implements an Orwellian "Model e" playbook that would treat all dealers equally — as it must under existing franchise laws — while effectively making some more equal than others.

That is wrongheaded, and state dealer associations as well as Ford dealers are right to pressure the automaker to amend some aspects of its strategy.

Ford's requirement that its dealers invest up to $1.2 million in their businesses to pre…

Georgia dealer Jimmy Ellis, CEO of Jim Ellis Automotive Group, died Saturday at a hospital in Roswell, Ga.

He was 67. No cause of death was shared.

All Jim Ellis Automotive locations in metro Atlanta closed Wednesday for funeral services, a black banner atop the company's website read.

Ellis, born Aug. 26, 1955, became CEO of the family business in 2015 after serving as vice president and COO for 18 years.

Loren Roberts, associate director of marketing for Jim Ellis Automotive Advertising Agency, who has worked for the company nine years, described Ellis as a visionary leader.

"His passion and drive instilled confidence and motivation in those that worked for him," Roberts told Automotive News. "But above that, he was a man that cared deeply about his employees and family and took every opportunity to make sure people felt valued and appreciated."

Ellis' parents, Jim and Billie Ellis, poured their life savings into their first dealer…

BERLIN -- The German government on Wednesday blocked prospective Chinese investment in two domestic semiconductor producers after the moves raised concerns over national security and the flow of sensitive technological know-how to Beijing.

The government said it had vetoed the takeover of the chip factory of the Dortmund-based company Elmos by Silex, a Swedish company that is a subsidiary of Chinese group Sai Microelectronics.

Berlin also blocked investment in ERS Electronic, which is based in Bavaria, government sources told Reuters.

A spokesperson for ERS Electronic said there were no plans to sell the company but it had been exploring the option of getting investment from a Chinese private equity firm.

The decisions came at a time of heightened sensitivity around relations between Berlin and Beijing.

The government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited China last week, is trying to balance a push for access to the Chinese market for Eur…

SHANGHAI -- Tesla Inc. said it raised insurance incentives for EV orders in China placed before Nov. 30, but reduced them for orders made next month, a move to urge consumers to place orders earlier.

The U.S. automaker previously offered an insurance incentive of 7,000 yuan ($970) for orders between Oct. 1 and Dec. 30. But on Tuesday Tesla said the incentive for November was raised to 8,000 yuan and reduced for December orders to 4,000 yuan.

"As long as you like it enough, pick up Tesla immediately!" Tesla said in its official Weibo account when announcing the policy change.

The insurance incentive is a cash rebate offered to buyers to buy insurance from Tesla's partner insurers.

Tesla delivered 71,704 China-made electric vehicles in October, down 14 percent from a record high in September, according to the China Passenger Car Association last week.

Tesla also slashed starter prices in China on the Model 3 and Model Y and closed what had be…

SHANGHAI -- BYD said on Tuesday it would launch a new premium brand in the first quarter of 2023 under the name Yangwang, with the first model slated to be an off-road vehicle.

Vehicles produced under the new brand will be priced at between 800,000 and 1.5 million yuan, BYD added.

BYD, which ditched gasoline vehicles from its product mix this year, has been able to capitalize on a range of incentives for electric vehicles offered by the Chinese central government and local governments.

The automaker, which produces both pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars, has topped electric vehicle sales in the world's biggest auto market, with sales more than tripling in the first 10 months of this year to 1.4 million, company filings show.

Lucid Group Inc. reported a third-quarter net loss of $670 million but reiterated its production goal of 6,000 to 7,000 units of its Air electric sedan this year after dealing with supply chain issues and growing pains as an EV startup.

The company's stock price fell 13 percent to $11.79 in after-market trading after Lucid posted the results.

The automaker reported revenue of $196 million in the quarter, compared with just $232,000 a year earlier, the company said. Lucid launched the Air sedan in the fourth quarter of 2021 from its factory in Arizona but has repeatedly cut its production goals.

Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said on Tuesday’s earnings call that the automaker continues to struggle with supply-chain issues but expects to meet its 2022 production guidance despite the challenges.

“In fact,” Rawlinson said, “even now we are experiencing a challenge with one particular item that will lead to a very temporary timeout for the…

The Maguire Family of Dealerships of Ithaca, N.Y., expanded into the greater Buffalo, N.Y., market with its Oct. 26 purchase of three dealerships in Grand Island, N.Y., from Billy Fuccillo Jr. of Fuccillo Automotive Group, McGuire President Phil Maguire confirmed to Automotive News.

Formerly known as Fuccillo Chevrolet of Grand Island, Fuccillo Toyota of Grand Island and Fuccillo Hyundai of Grand Island, the stores all sit within 100 acres of each other off a highway, Maguire said.

"It's a great opportunity and the scenery is very beautiful on Grand Island," Maguire said.

Grand Island, surrounded by the Niagara River that flows between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, is north of Buffalo and south of Niagara Falls.

The stores were renamed Maguire Chevrolet of Grand Island, Maguire Toyota of Grand Island and Maguire Hyundai of Grand Island.

These are the latest store sales for Fuccillo Automotive, which at one time had more than 20 dealerships.…