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On a stage below the twin spires of Churchill Downs racetrack, Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley choked up while addressing hundreds of local factory workers for the reveal of the automaker's redesigned heavy-duty pickup line.

"Kentucky matters," he said Sept. 27. "All of you matter. And the Super Duty matters."

The next 12 months could prove the sincerity of Farley's emotional statement.

There's no doubt the Bluegrass State is key to Ford's future. The automaker is investing $700 million in its Kentucky Truck Plant to build the next-generation Super Duty, which is among its most profitable vehicles. And it's spending $5.8 billion with a partner on two new battery plants in central Kentucky that are slated to open mid-decade.

But what's less clear is how much Ford's other assembly plant in the state matters to the company.

Louisville Assembly, about a half-hour drive southwest of Kentucky Truck, produces the Ford Escape — the automaker's thir…

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc., the Detroit-based maker of drivetrain components with longtime roots to General Motors, is attracting preliminary interest from suitors including Melrose Industries Plc, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

London-listed Melrose is weighing a combination of its GKN Automotive unit with American Axle, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. A deal could help GKN Automotive build scale in the car-parts industry and gain a public listing in New York.

Shares of American Axle gained as much as 23 percent in New York trading Thursday, the biggest intraday gain in more than two years. They were up 16 percent to  $10.57 in afternoon trading, giving the company a market value of about $1.19 billion.

American Axle has also had contact with other industry peers including BorgWarner Inc. and Dana Inc. to gauge their interest in potential tie-ups or a…

The latest report from Assurant® outlines EV market trends and the opportunities they’re opening for your dealership’s F&I team.

Factors driving EV demand:

Lower costs of production due to advances in technology Massive investment by government and industry Mass market interest due to proliferation of models Rising oil prices and increased consumer environmental awareness Opportunities opened for your teams: Tailored F&I products that cover EV batteries Sales team training designed to turn increased EV inventories into sales A digital retailing strategy that supports your overarching approach

Connected and autonomous vehicles will transform the world of transportation as we know it. Although autonomous and self-driving vehicles are still years away from widespread usage, 5G networks deploying today will provide the broad coverage, speed, and low latency needed as a foundation for anticipated advances in transportation.

The decision by Tesla Inc. directors to authorize a $55 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk in 2018 was marred with conflicts of interest and improper disclosures about the performance benchmarks he’d be held to, a disgruntled investor argued in a court filing.

Musk, the world’s richest person and Tesla’s largest shareholder, must face a Delaware judge at a Nov. 14 trial over the claim by investor Richard Tornetta, who claims the billionaire engineered the windfall pay deal by pushing it through a “supine board.”

Musk dictated the “framework and financial terms, which remained fundamentally unchanged” throughout the board’s approval process, Tornetta’s lawyers said in a Delaware Chancery Court brief unsealed Wednesday.

Legal experts say the case will spotlight the role of courts in regulating executive compensation, and shine a light on the Musk’s peripatetic management of Tesla and other companies he owns. Last month, the entrepreneur closed his $44 …

Lyft Inc. said Thursday it would lay off 13 percent of its workforce, or about 683 employees, in the ride-hailing firm's latest cost-cutting step to cope with a weakening economy.

As decades-high inflation hits consumer spending and drives up costs for businesses, companies across sectors are cutting jobs and downsizing their operations to preserve profits.

Lyft's latest move is expected to result in a charge of between $27 million and $32 million in the fourth quarter. It follows 60 job cuts earlier this year and a hiring freeze in September.

The company, which is slated to report third-quarter results on Monday, said the layoffs would not impact its previously issued forecast for the period. It expects revenue of $1.04 billion to $1.06 billion and adjusted core profit of $55 million to $65 million.

The San Francisco, Calif.-based company's shares were down 1 percent.

"The announced reduction in force is a proactive step as part of the c…

Dealership technology company Cars.com Inc. swung to a net loss in the third quarter, citing higher valuations of earnout payments for its acquisitions of automotive financial technology company CreditIQ and Accu-Trade, a provider of vehicle appraisal and valuation data and logistics technology.

Cars.com, of Chicago, said Thursday that it posted a net loss of $2.9 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with net income of $2.4 million a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue rose 5.1 percent to $164.6 million, with dealership revenue up 4.4 percent, the company said. It saw growth in its Dealer Inspire digital business, which offers websites and digital retailing tools, and in Accu-Trade. Dealership customers grew to 19,585 as of Sept. 30, up 556 from a year earlier and up 68 from June 30. Monthly average revenue per dealership was stable at $2,334, compared with $2,332 a year earlier.

"We're particularly pleased with our steady and sustained performanc…

General Motors has named a new head of its OnStar in-vehicle safety, security and connectivity business, replacing Jeff Massimilla after a little more than a year.

Mike Devereux, a top GM sales and marketing executive in China, took over as vice president, OnStar safety and security, as of Nov. 1, a GM spokeswoman told Automotive News.

Devereux succeeds Massimilla, who had overseen OnStar since September 2021. GM did not comment on Massimilla's departure.

Devereux began working for GM in 1984 and has had multiple leadership roles, most recently as vice president for vehicle sales, service and marketing for GM China and SAIC-GM, a joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp., according to the automaker.

Massimilla did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday. In July, he introduced a new brand identity and logo for OnStar aimed at increasing the reach of its services.

His previous roles at GM included vice president for global c…

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Before BMW can begin cranking out electric vehicles at its sprawling U.S. factory near Spartanburg, S.C., the German luxury marque must develop a complex EV supplier network in the region.

Overseeing that critical development is the job of Joachim Post, a 20-year company veteran and BMW Group's head of procurement and supply chain.

Post helps ensure that 30 million parts reach the company's worldwide production hubs daily. As BMW switches factories to building EVs, Post is rethinking how new technologies and raw materials are sourced. The bottom line: Building EVs means suppliers must step up and manufacture the new parts for them.

"The industrialization of all the assembly, of all the components, is sophisticated and high tech and needs time," Post told Automotive News at a media event in Palm Springs, Calif., this week. "We are focused on that, but it will be tough."

Last month BMW announced a $1.7 billion investment to …

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve officials delivered their fourth straight 75 basis-point interest rate increase while also signaling their aggressive campaign to curb inflation could be approaching its final phase.

The Fed said that “ongoing increases” will likely be needed to bring rates to a level that is “sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time,” according to the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement released in Washington Wednesday following a two-day meeting.

In a new sentence in the statement, the Fed also said: “In determining the pace of future increases in the target range, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments.”

The fresh language comes amid still-strong readings on inflation and jobs, even as sectors like housing and manufacturing have slowed substantiall…

Germany has called for a pause in the developing deep-sea mining industry, saying not enough is known about the likely impacts of mining the seabed for battery metals.

The world's fourth-biggest economy joins countries including New Zealand and France in calling for seabed mining exploration to stop until further research is done on environmental effects.

German automakers Volkswagen and BMW have previously said they would not buy metals mined from the seabed.

The move by Germany is likely to change the dynamic of negotiations at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) over deep-sea mining regulations, Deep Sea Conservation Coalition co-founder Matthew Gianni, who is observing the talks in Jamaica, said.

"It is indicative of states saying, 'we need to take control of this process,'" he said, adding some states represented at the ISA, a UN body in charge of drawing up rules governing seabed mining, had become more vocal about environmental conce…

Garrett Motion Inc., a key supplier of automotive turbochargers and other equipment, is exploring strategic options including a sale, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The Rolle, Switzerland-based company is working with an adviser on a possible sale, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. Garrett is expected to attract interest from companies looking to enhance their EV operations, one of the people said. Nothing is imminent, the people added.

Garrett shares rose 7.5 percent in New York trading Wednesday afternoon, giving the company a market value of about $491 million. It also has about $1.2 billion of debt, for an enterprise value of about $1.5 billion. 

A representative for Garrett declined to comment.

Garrett, originally known as Honeywell Transportation Systems, was spun off in 2018. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2020 after struggling with lo…