CDK completes sale to investment firm Brookfield Business Partners

CDK Global Inc. has completed its sale to investment firm Brookfield Business Partners, the companies confirmed.

The dealership technology company, of Hoffman Estates, Ill., said in a regulatory filing that Brookfield's acquisition of CDK was completed Wednesday, with a price tag of roughly $8.7 billion "without giving effect to related transaction fees and expenses."

CDK in April said it agreed to be acquired by Brookfield Business Partners — a unit of global alternative asset management firm Brookfield Asset Management's private equity group — with CDK shareholders receiving $54.87 per share in cash. That price would reflect a 30 percent premium to CDK's closing share price on Feb. 18, which the company said was the last full day of trading before market speculation began about a possible sale.

CDK's stock no longer will be publicly traded. The company said in its regulatory filing that it notified the Nasdaq exchange of the transaction and requested t…

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Lexus suspends LX, NX orders in Japan as wait stretches up to 4 years

TOKYO — Is a new Lexus LX worth a four-year wait?

Plenty of customers in Japan apparently think so.

With delivery delays stretching that long in the home market, Toyota Motor Corp.'s premium brand suspended new orders for the flagship large SUV this month. Otherwise, the company is concerned vehicles ordered today won't even arrive before the next model update is planned.

Lexus has also pulled the plug on new orders for the NX compact crossover in Japan for the same reason. The wait has grown beyond one year, parent company Toyota said.

The redesigned LX went on sale in Japan only in January, and the NX landed here last November.

"LX is very popular not only in Japan but also around the world, and we have received orders that greatly exceed our production capacity," Lexus said in an apology on its Japanese website.

In the U.S., Lexus is still taking orders for both nameplates, but availability is limited by crimped output. The LX is …

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Chip shortage? Some industries have too many

It's getting complicated for investors in semiconductor stocks, with last year's big chip shortage morphing into an inventory glut for some companies, and others getting caught up in geopolitics.

The Covid-19 pandemic spurred an unprecedented supply crunch, shutting down semiconductor factories while also fueling demand for consumer electronics. Now, some chipmakers are warning of cooling demand for parts used in PCs and smartphones, while automakers continue wrestling with a shortfall.

Another fly in the ointment is renewed tensions between the U.S. and China over the Asian nation's burgeoning semiconductor industry, with equipment giant ASML Holding NV caught in the middle.

"Supply constraints are not being felt equally," said Angelo Zino, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research. "The biggest customers are getting priority (Apple, data center players) while more fragmented industries that are not as relevant to the chip industry (industrials, autos) are…

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Cruise self-driving crash in San Francisco resulted in injuries

One day after California regulators awarded Cruise a milestone permit in its efforts to commercialize autonomous-driving technology, one of the company's vehicles was involved in a crash that resulted in multiple injuries.

The crash occurred in San Francisco on the night of June 3, when a Cruise vehicle operating in autonomous mode made a left turn in front of an oncoming Toyota Prius at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Spruce Street.

Occupants of both vehicles were injured, according to a report Cruise filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Todd Brugger, Cruise's vice president of global markets, wrote in the report that police and emergency medical services treated the occupants for "allegedly minor injuries."

General Motors-backed Cruise said its self-driving vehicle came to a stop in the roadway before completing its left turn, and was stationary when struck.

The company provided further statements about its interpreta…

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Elon Musk grieved with crash victim’s dad. Now Tesla faces him in court

In 2018, Elon Musk shared the agony of having his infant son die in his arms while consoling a father who lost his teenager to a fiery crash in a Tesla Model S.

Now, Tesla Inc. is trying to undermine James Riley’s claim that it played a role in his son’s death, as the world’s most-valuable automaker faces off in court against a family once known to employees as “VIP customers.”

A week-long jury trial set to begin Wednesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the first for the company over a fatal accident involving one of its electric cars.

The case doesn’t feature any claim that Tesla’s technology was defective -- unlike other suits blaming the carmaker’s Autopilot driver-assistance feature for fatal wrecks -- and the outcome of the trial probably won’t damage the company’s reputation, said Michael Brooks, acting executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer advocacy group.

Still, the showdown highlights the company’s “ag…

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What past and current 40 Under 40 honorees are looking for in their careers

Many of Automotive News' 40 Under 40 honorees spanning the past decade are still employed at auto dealerships, and many have been promoted to positions with greater responsibility since receiving the recognition.

And while a vast majority of past and current award recipients who responded to a recent Automotive News survey said they have a clearly defined career path and are progressing in their careers, a smaller majority said they have unlimited opportunity to advance — with some noting that they have already reached the highest levels of management at their stores and it's unclear where they can go next.

The dealership leaders honored since the 40 Under 40 program began in 2012 say they value mentoring and professional development opportunities and generally believe their employers support their career growth. Respondents said they consider pay, work-life balance, opportunity for advancement, caring leadership and being challenged as the top factors influenc…

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National survey finds 83% of consumers are cutting back on personal spending, travel due to inflation

ISELIN, N.J., June 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Provident Bank, a leading New Jersey-based financial institution, has released the results of its recent consumer inflation survey of 600 adults, aged 18+ that shows how people are adjusting their routine spending and travel habits due to inflation.

According to the survey results, more than 10% (10.5%) reported eliminating all non-essential purchases and more than 70% (71.67%) said they have made at least some changes to personal travel habits.

While some consumers have cut back on some non-essential spending, like dining out and unnecessary travel, others reported much more drastic changes such as skipping meals, conserving water, and eliminating meat from their diets. People are feeling an immense amount of financial pressure right now. Unfortunately, this is not surprising after the Labor Department reported earlier this month that the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit a 40-year high in May.

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Car insurance quote vendor Polly sees potential in Driven Data analytics, rising interest rates

Polly's acquisition of marketing and analytics firm Driven Data Technology will let it find the optimal time for it and dealerships to pitch auto insurance to a customer shopping for a car, the company's COO said this month.

"You can actually be more targeted," Polly's Wayne Pastore told Automotive News.

Different segments of shoppers might respond to an insurance offer at different times, he said.

Polly, formerly known as DealerPolicy, allows dealerships and customers to shop multiple auto insurance quotes to see if the consumer can save money by switching to one of them. It makes agents available to lock in final quotes.

Both the dealership and salesperson can earn money for facilitating the transaction; the savings realized by the customer could free budgetary capacity for the car purchase itself.

"Our overall strategy is to really embed insurance everywhere in the buying cycle," Pastore said.

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Rivian ramps up deliveries to 4,467 EVs in Q2

Rivian Automotive Inc. said on Wednesday it delivered 4,467 vehicles in the second quarter, a sequential rise of nearly four times, as a ramp-up in production and red-hot demand helped the startup electric-vehicle maker.

The company also said on Wednesday it was on track to meet its annual production target of 25,000 units after output jumped 72% sequentially to 4,401 vehicles in the quarter.

Shares of the company rose 11 percent to $29.82 in morning trading on Wednesday, providing some relief to a stock that has lost almost three-fourths of its value in this year's equities selloff.

"The most important thing for the stock right now is to provide investors confidence on its 2022 forecast," said Redburn analyst Charles Coldicott.

While a broader shift to EVs and surging fuel prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war have fed demand for Rivian's products, the company has struggled to boost output in the face of industry-wide supply chain shortages.

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Tesla sold an estimated 78,000 China-made EVs in June

SHANGHAI -- Tesla Inc. sold around 78,000 China-made vehicles in June, preliminary estimates published by the China Passenger Car Association showed on Wednesday, representing an increase of 142 percent from May, when Tesla sold 32,165 China-made vehicles, and up 135 percent a year ago.

Tesla's factory in Shanghai, China's economic hub, was negatively impacted in the second quarter by a lockdown which forced the site to halt production for 22 days beginning in late March.

The plant, which manufactures Model 3s and Model Ys, reopened on April 19 and resumed exports on May 11, but had struggled to get production back to pre-lockdown levels.

The difficulties in China were viewed as a key factor that led Tesla to report an 18 percent drop in second-quarter deliveries from the previous quarter, ending a nearly two-year run of record quarterly deliveries.

Last month, Reuters cited an internal production memo that disclosed Tesla was aiming to make more …

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New Automotive Hall of Fame exhibit to recognize African American contributions to industry

The Automotive Hall of Fame is developing a new, permanent exhibit and educational program that will highlight the contributions of African Americans in the automotive industry.

Founded in 1939 at The World's Fair, the Automotive Hall of Fame has honored nearly 800 individuals from around the world who have impacted and influenced the automotive and mobility industries.

There have been some African American people recognized, "however we realize that there are Black people that have contributed to the automotive industry in the past that we have not recognized and that they are under-represented," Executive Director Sarah Cook said.

"We plan to highlight several key aspects of Black contributions that created the industry, including the labor, invention, design, engineering, and leadership that created the modern automotive manufacturing industry," Cook said.

The exhibit and educational program will explore how mobility, vehicle ownership and roa…

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VW, Skoda ending output at Russian plant, union says

MOSCOW – Volkswagen Group will stop output in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, where VW and Skoda cars were being assembled under contract with GAZ Group, a trade union said, citing the company's message to the plant's staff.

VW announced in March that production at its Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod sites would be suspended until further notice amid Western sanctions, and vehicle exports to Russia would be stopped with immediate effect.

Citing VW’s announcement to the staff made on Tuesday, the Workers' Association trade union told Reuters that the German company would end its operations in Nizhny Novgorod, about 430 km northeast of Moscow.

The reason for the move was a "lack of EU-produced parts, critically important components from Ukraine and lack of domestically made equivalents, disruption of logistics chains and inability to predict the terms and conditions of resumption of work," chairman of the trade union Dmitry Trudovoy said, citing VW's statement to its…

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