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Toyota Motor North America has named three new members to its North American Diversity Advisory Board.

The automaker on Monday announced the appointments of Robert Davidson, former CEO and chairman of Surface Protection Industries; Domenika Lynch, executive director of the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program; and retired Army Maj. Gen. Tammy Smith.

The appointments were effective Aug. 1.

"These very fine leaders were selected to lend their expertise in the areas of diversity and inclusion that build on our existing members," said Sandra Phillips Rogers, Toyota North America's chief legal and diversity officer. "All three of them are such rich [diversity and inclusion] and executive leaders in their own right."

She added: "Tammy is a trailblazer. She has been an advocate for equal workplaces, and she's helped on policies that make the military more welcoming for the LGBTQ+ community. Robert has worked in community organizations to drive div…

Jaguar's metamorphosis into an ultraluxury brand is underway.

The change starts with creating a more upscale perception of the iconic British luxury brand in consumers' minds. The undertaking began Aug. 8 with a new marketing campaign that features ads and videos for upscale magazines.

The lifestyle ads aim to position Jaguar as the pinnacle of luxury, right up there with such exclusive European brands as Cartier jewelry and Hermes and Balenciaga fashions.

"We are actually part of that world, but we don't really communicate the brand in that way. We are quite rooted in automotive tradition," said Stuart Schorr, vice president of communications for Jaguar Land Rover North America. "And as we try and elevate and move into the future, sometimes you just need a strong break."

When Jaguar Land Rover CEO Thierry Bollore in 2021 rolled out his Reimagine plan that will see the current generation of Jaguars end production and be replaced by an array of ul…

Last week, I reported on a handful of major announcements from online used-vehicle retailer Shift Technologies. After facing market challenges, the company is getting a new CEO next month and cutting its work force by 60 percent through the rest of the year. Shift also plans to merge with CarLotz, a similarly troubled company in the used-vehicle consignment space.

Why is Shift taking these steps? Its executives said such a realignment is necessary to get the retailer on track to profitability. Current Shift CEO George Arison — who will be succeeded in that role by Shift President Jeff Clementz on Sept. 1 — said it has become clear that the retailer's former business plan would be hard to finance given the changes happening in the used-vehicle market environment at the moment.

So Shift updated that plan in part to focus most sales through its online checkout channel, which enables consumers to purchase a vehicle online, sight unseen, for pickup or delivery. Of n…

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday it is awarding $1.66 billion in grants to cities and states to buy 1,800 buses in a shift to cleaner, lower-emission travel.

The grants will fund 1,100 zero-emission buses, which will nearly double the existing 1,300 zero-emission transit buses, the White House said.

The funding for 150 bus fleets from the $1 trillion 2021 infrastructure law will help cities and states retire older polluting buses.

The funding will also buy 700 buses, which include hybrid-electric, natural gas and diesel models.

"These grants are going to be used in every corner of this country," White House infrastructure coordinator Mitch Landrieu told reporters.

Buses account for about half of the 10 billion U.S. transit trips Americans took in 2019. But there are still few green buses -- just 18 percent of the 72,000 U.S. transit buses were hybrid electric in 2020, according to the American Public Transpor…

Screening for sanctioned parties serves as the foundation for many compliance and security programs. The ability to evaluate trading partners is a fundamental component of an export management program and other compliance initiatives.

Failure to screen has resulted in sanctions or fines for many small and large companies across various industries. Demonstrating reasonable care is an important way for companies to mitigate their risk and exposure.

Organizations face a number of challenges when it comes to restricted party screening (RPS):

Accurate and current content: Companies frequently don’t know which lists to consult or when those lists change. Many do not have someone within the organization who monitors and manages the updates. Proper screening methods: If screening is done manually, it might be unclear as to how a compliance professional should compare names and addresses of transaction parties to entities on the lists. Problems also arise due to da…

DETROIT — Chevrolet is launching a special edition Silverado ZR2 Bison to boost the full-size pickup's off-roading power.

Chevy is collaborating on tooling and design with American Expedition Vehicles, an off-road aftermarket manufacturer, on the Bison. Chevy and AEV introduced the Bison on the Colorado midsize pickup in 2019.

"We're thrilled to team up again to bring customers Chevrolet's next chapter of off-road dominance, this time on Silverado," Scott Bell, Chevrolet vice president, said in a statement. "The 2023 Silverado ZR2 Bison unlocks the pinnacle of the nameplate's off-road capability."

Production is expected to begin in early 2023. It will start at $78,490 including shipping.

The Bison edition is expected to offer more off-roading capability than the 2022 Silverado ZR2, with sharper front approach and departure angles. Both the ZR2 and the ZR2 Bison are expected to have 11.2 inches of ground clearance.

The front and rear b…

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., run by billionaire Warren Buffett, has tripled its stake in auto lending giant Ally Financial Inc.

In the second quarter, Berkshire's Ally stake grew to 30 million shares from about 9 million.

Shares in Ally ramped up 3.45 percent to close at $36.90 on Tuesday.

In a Monday regulatory filing describing its U.S.-listed equity investments as of June 30, Berkshire also said it exited what was once an $8.3 billion investment in Verizon Communications Inc.

The filing does not specify whether Buffett or his portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler made specific purchases and sales, but investors often try to mimic what Berkshire does. Larger investments are normally Buffett's.

Berkshire slowed its stock buying spree in the second quarter as U.S. stock markets fell, purchasing $6.2 billion of stocks and selling $2.3 billion. It had bought $51.1 billion and sold $9.7 billion in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, B…

LMP Automotive Holdings Inc., founded in late 2017 as a vehicle subscription provider, went public in December 2019 and bought its first franchised dealerships in March 2021 before seeing its ambitious growth plans start to unravel.

When LMP started buying new-vehicle stores, it joined the ranks of just six other publicly traded new-vehicle retailers. A few publicly owned conglomerates also have dealership holdings.

LMP, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had plans to acquire 80 to 100 dealerships by the end of 2022. But after challenges obtaining financing and closing deals, that ambition has collapsed, and the company now appears headed toward dissolution.

Automotive News will continue to watch LMP and its financial status and update this timeline.

July 2020: LMP announces a plan to acquire 75 percent of a Toyota store in Georgia in what would be its first purchase of a franchised dealership. The deal fell through by December 2020.

September: LMP …

US Auto Trust, a fast-growing dealership group led by Edward Glazer, an owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has purchased four California stores in four separate transactions since December, including two in the third quarter.

US Auto Trust on Aug. 2 bought Jaguar-Land Rover Los Angeles from Triunity Automotive Group. US Auto Trust is keeping the dealership's name, according to Matt Kaiser, the group's president.

It marks the group's third Jaguar-Land Rover dealership, and US Auto Trust has doubled its store count over the past eight months.

Triunity had owned the store for a little over a year and a half, having bought it in January 2021 from Pendragon, a public dealership group in the United Kingdom. Pendragon completed a multiyear divestiture of its U.S. dealerships in 2021.

Triunity in May 2021 relocated the Jaguar-Land Rover dealership from nearby West Hollywood, Calif., to a 100,000-square-foot building in Los Angeles.

Presidio …

Vehicle scarcity continues to drive high prices and low discounting, leading J.D. Power to predict that 2022 would be the most profitable year for dealers. Overlooked is how missed sales from the last three years will impact service sales. One estimate puts the loss at $100,000 for the average dealership.

TEXT2DRIVE surveyed 1,000 U.S. vehicle owners to examine the potential influence new tech-driven conveniences might have on service retention. Download the report to learn:

Top 3 reasons vehicle owners choose dealer service departments over aftermarket shops. Top 3 tech-driven conveniences consumers say could help dealers retain their post-warranty service business. Top 5 reasons female millennials want the shopping cart-like service experience. Top 3 service communications vehicle owners prefer texting over email and phone calls. The one service communication in which email still trumps texting.

Luxury electric vehicle startups Rivian Automotive and Lucid Motors are rushing to help reservation holders qualify for the current $7,500 federal tax credit before the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act replaces it with a more restrictive incentive that includes price and income caps.

With President Joe Biden expected to sign the climate and tax bill into law this week, the EV startups are telling buyers with vehicle preorders that the new law could eliminate their eligibility for the EV credit unless they sign a binding sales contract in the coming days.

"Once signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act will add new restrictions to U.S. buyers' eligibility," Rivian said in a blog post. "Under these new restrictions, an electric pickup truck or SUV must be priced below $80,000 and the buyer must fall below certain income thresholds."

Tesla, the EV leader by sales, is no longer eligible for current EV credits, which began in 2010.

Before the…