Ellen Villafuerte has joined Automotive News as a copy editor.
Villafuerte, 29, previously worked at ALM as a copy editor for the Daily Business Review, which covers daily legal and real estate news. She also copy edited stories for Texas Lawyer, a leading source for legal news in Texas. Before that, she was a freelance copy editor and web producer at the Miami Herald.Villafuerte earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida.
Stellantis has activated retired New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter for a campaign promoting Jeep's new Grand Wagoneer SUV, with the leadoff spot debuting during Friday night's World Series Game 1 between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros.
The multiyear campaign, dubbed "Eyes Wide Open," will begin with a one-minute commercial featuring images of Jeter, his wife, Hannah, and child actors playing their three daughters. It was shot in various settings in and around New York using a 2023 Jeep Grand Wagoneer L, an extended-wheelbase version of the large SUV — and the most expensive production Jeep ever.
Jeter — a first-ballot Baseball Hall of Fame inductee and 14-time All-Star with five World Series championships during his 20-year career with the Yankees — is an experienced pitchman who has appeared in a number of advertising campaigns during and after his career, including for Stellantis rival Ford Motor Co.
Stellantis marketing chief Olivie…
General Motors said late Friday it had temporarily halted paid advertising on Twitter after Elon Musk completed his takeover of the social media company.
The largest U.S. automaker said it was "engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising."
Musk is also chief executive of GM rival Tesla.
GM said its "customer care interactions on Twitter will continue."
Argo AI Inc. will lay off 173 employees in Michigan after its main backers Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen decided to pull the plug on the autonomous vehicle technology startup.
The Pittsburgh-based company will make the job cuts in waves starting Tuesday, according to a notice to the state. Operations will cease by the end of the year.
An unspecified number of employees "may be offered employment with a new company," the WARN notice said.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said Wednesday during a call with investors that the automaker plans to hire "a couple hundred" employees from Argo AI. VW said previously it working with Argo AI to find opportunities for its employees.
Ford declined to provide more information Friday.
Employees expected to be transferred to a different company will have the option to remain on Argo's payroll until Dec. 31, the notice said. Another group will also assist in winding down operations.
"Many of the employees will r…
The EU reaches a deal to ban new internal combustion cars in 2035. Ford CEO Jim Farley talks up the benefits of new EV tax incentive. GM and Stellantis say they can’t comply with Massachusetts’ right-to-repair law. Plus, KPA’s Robert Ebin shares tips on how procrastinating dealers can comply with the updated Safeguards Rule before the December deadline.
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A company extended into the next generation Aug. 1 when Mike Shannon sold Holiday Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wis., to his son, Michael Shannon Jr., according to Scott Mackie of buy-sell firm National Business Brokers.
The younger Michael Shannon bought three franchised dealerships: Holiday Chevrolet-Buick-GMC-Cadillac, Holiday Mazda and Holiday Ford. A used-car store and collision shop were included in the deal.
Fond du Lac is on the south end of Lake Winnebago, the state's largest inland lake, and is northwest of Milwaukee.
Mackie, senior vice president of the Midwest for National Business Brokers of Irvine, Calif., brokered the transaction. Mackie said the businesses are in a great location and the Shannon family "knocks it out of the park."
Shannon Jr. is dealer principal of the stores and Thor Gilbertson is CEO. As part of the transaction, Shannon Jr.'s three sisters also received an increase in their minority shares of the business, Mackie to…
Mining companies are going to great lengths to source the raw materials needed for electric vehicle batteries, even miles below the ocean's surface.
They are racing to tap into these seabed stockpiles, striking deals, developing mining processes and equipment and striving to be eco-friendly.
Meanwhile, environmental groups want to slow the rush until more is known about the impact on this largely untouched area of the Earth. Several automakers have joined a moratorium on sourcing metals from seabed mining.
Vast fields of rocks containing high concentrations of nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese needed for EV batteries cover what's known as the abyssal plains. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the area makes up 70 percent of the ocean floor and is located at depths of over 10,000 feet. It is the largest habitat on Earth.
The pebble- to potato-size rocks coating the seabed, called polym…
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. posted a third-quarter loss of $827 million that it largely blames on newly revealed plans to shut down Argo AI, a self-driving vehicle development company the automaker had invested in heavily.
CEO Jim Farley said the company now believes mass deployment of fully self-driving vehicles is "a long way off," while CFO John Lawler added it could be "five-plus years away." Ford originally had planned to begin commercializing Level 4 vehicles in 2021 before pushing back that timeline due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"But things have changed, and there's a huge opportunity right now for Ford to give time — the most valuable commodity in modern life — back to millions of customers while they're in their vehicles," Farley said in a statement. "We're optimistic about a future for L4 ADAS, but profitable, fully autonomous vehicles at scale are …
CHICAGO — After a robust couple of years when retailers of all sizes and their frenzied dealership acquisitions helped create a seller's market, what's to come? A few industry experts shared their thoughts on why and more during the Let's Make a Deal panel at the Automotive News Retail Forum: Chicago last week.
A shift may already have begun, according to Jeff Rosen, CEO of Rosen Automotive Group. Rosen Automotive in April expanded to five stores with its purchase of the former Francois Ford in Belleville, Wis.
Rosen said the cost of capital may nudge dealers who have held off on selling during times of big profits.
"I think they're probably gonna come off the sidelines, and get off that fence, and make the decision to sell," Rosen said.
Mark LaNeve, chairman of Franchise Equity Partners, agreed, saying as business normalizes, more sellers will enter the market. Profits in 2021 and 2022 gave dealers a pause on selling…
The coronavirus pandemic forced a reexamination of workplace culture both broadly and within automotive retailing, and many dealerships — particularly those honored through the 2022 Best Dealerships To Work For program — are still exploring ways to improve their work environments for the long term.
Stores up and down the Best Dealerships To Work For list have kept in place at least some of the strategies they added or strengthened in the last two and a half years to accommodate the work-life challenges employees were facing. Some dealership leaders stressed to Automotive News the importance of continuing to offer flexible schedules, improved pay and benefits and hybrid or remote work options. Others reported that efforts to create more inclusive environments for women and minorities, including placement in key store operating roles, have boosted their retention rates and their dealership groups' desirability among would-be hires.
Several dealer…
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Last year, Asbury Automotive Group was mindful of that rule when it purchased Larry H. Miller Dealerships for $3.2 billion.
Following the acquisition, Asbury left Rick Trinkl — general manager of Larry H. Miller Hyundai Peoria in Arizona — in charge of his fast-growing dealership.
Which comes as no surprise. In 2021, the suburban Phoenix dealership sold a record 2,779 new vehicles, up from 2,005 the previous year. Last year, it also sold 993 used vehicles, up from 874 in 2020.
And now the store has topped Automotive News' annual list of the 100 Best Dealerships To Work For.
This is the third-straight year that the dealership has been recognized as the nation's best large dealership — a category that covers stores with more than 100 employees — and the first time it has been honored as the overall winner.
Trinkl is sticking with the personnel practices that have made his store such a success. Sales associat…
DCH Millburn Audi is part of Lithia Motors' growing empire, but it has the feel of a family-run business.
The Maplewood, N.J., dealership has had barbecues for staff, rewarded workers with Audi swag, held quarterly social gatherings and hired relatives of employees.
It's a well-honed recipe for DCH Millburn Audi, the top medium-sized store — a category of dealerships with 50 to 99 employees — on Automotive News' Best Dealerships To Work For list.
The luxury dealership was the overall winner in 2020, and it has been on the list every year since the Best Dealerships program began in 2012.
Employees seem to appreciate the attention. In 2021, staff turnover was 25 percent, less than the industry average of 34 percent that year.
Last year, the store sold 1,105 new and 855 used vehicles. New-vehicle volume declined slightly from 2020 amid a top-to-bottom renovation and the industry's supply chain woes. This year, DCH Millburn Audi's new-vehicle…