News

A new center for electric vehicle teaching, training and development is in the works at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor campus.

The Michigan Electric Vehicle Center is expected to be built in collaboration with the state and university, according to UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald.

"The creation of the Michigan Electric Vehicle Center will allow the state to leverage the existing resources at U-M and the state's other educational institutions to focus on the future of electric vehicle technology and workforce development," Fitzgerald said in an email to Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News. "It will be designed to leverage the existing facilities within or near the College of Engineering on North Campus."

The project's existence came to light Friday following Michigan lawmakers' approval of a $77 billion budget that included $1 billion in earmarks. The largest appropriation – $130 million – was made for the new EV training cent…

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. light-vehicle sales rose 1.8 percent in the second quarter behind improving inventories and continued strong demand for the company's newest products.

The automaker's quarterly gains were largely driven by its performance in June, when sales jumped 32 percent over year-ago levels thanks to strong results for its largest, most profitable vehicles. Truck sales rose 26 percent in June while SUV sales jumped 36 percent.

U.S. sales jumped 31 percent at the Ford division and 41 percent at Lincoln in June. Ford division volume had dropped year over year for four straight months, and Lincoln ended a streak of 12 consecutive monthly declines year over year.

Ford said sales of its three electric nameplates totaled 4,353 in June, which puts it behind only Tesla in U.S. EV volume. The automaker has said it plans to be the clear No. 2 behind Tesla by the end of next year before challenging it for the top sales spot.

For the quarter, Ford …

Group 1 Automotive Inc. has completed the sale of its Brazilian operations.

The Houston-based dealership group said Tuesday that its subsidiary GPI SA LLC closed on the share purchase agreement transaction with Original Holdings S.A. of Brazil.

Group 1 said Original Holdings bought equity interests of UAB from Group 1 for 510 million in Brazilian reals, or about $94.5 million. UAB had operated 16 dealerships at the end of 2021 that represented BMW, Honda, Land Rover and Toyota and produced about 1.7 billion Brazilian reals, or about $315.1 million, in annual revenue.

Group 1 CEO Earl Hesterberg has said that the public auto retailer faced difficulties in growing the Brazil operations.

"As announced last year, our strategic decision to exit the Brazilian market and redeploy capital to other growth opportunities is in the best interest of our shareholders," Hesterberg said in a statement Tuesday. "We look to continue growth via acquisitions in both …

HONG KONG -- China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group said on Tuesday it would start taking pre-orders for its first model, a key milestone for the unit of embattled property developer China Evergrande group.

The start of preorders for the crossover comes after Evergrande Chairmen Hui Ka Yan vowed within 10 years to shift the group's primary business from real estate to the automobile venture, which has itself struggled for capital.

The all-electric model is the Hengchi 5. Preorders, which are not binding, will begin on Wednesday.

Mass production of the Hengchi 5 has been delayed to the third quarter from June, according to company executives' recent statements. Evergrande has been reeling under more than $300 billion worth of liabilities.

Evergrande New Energy Vehicle says it aims to make 1 million vehicles a year by 2025.

Evergrande is working on a debt restructuring plan. Its EV arm has struggled to secure external investments and has n…

In the wake of the Federal Trade Commission's proposal of new, sweeping regulations on car dealership price advertising and F&I product disclosure, a client of Hudson Cook partner Jean Noonan asked her, "Wasn't all of this already illegal?"

Yes and no, said Noonan and other compliance experts who explored the rationale and timing of the draft regulations in interviews with Automotive News.

The FTC already can take action if dealerships violate the federal prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices, according to Shannon Robertson, executive director of the Association of Finance and Insurance Professionals. But this entails the agency going to court and proving the behavior was indeed unfair or deceptive, he said.

"There's an entire process there," Robertson said.

But if a particular behavior is specifically defined as illegal by itself in a regulation, it's easier for the government to make its case, according to Robertson.

…

The styling fared far better in private clinics with consumers than most General Motors vehicles that came before it, according to Cadillac officials.

It is one of the most aerodynamic utility vehicles ever designed and engineered by GM.

And among all the knobs, switchgear, sun visors, cupholders, seating and other parts that can be seen and touched by driver and passenger alike, not a single one is shared with another GM vehicle, say the engineers and designers who have turned a 2020 concept into Cadillac's newest production vehicle.

That the 2023 Lyriq, Cadillac's first all-electric vehicle, is unique and exclusive is all by design. It was created specifically to draw new and younger customers with a penchant for the cutting edge to Cadillac, a 120-year old brand facing a key battle of its lifetime as Tesla, Lucid, Polestar and other EV startups carve up the luxury market.

The Lyriq is also the lead vehicle for the lead brand as GM introduces a…

American Honda saw second-quarter U.S. sales slide 51 percent to 239,789 as the automaker continued to battle supply issues, which it called especially "severe" during the period.

Combined Honda and Acura sales fell 54 percent to 71,048 in June. Through the first six months of the year, the brands logged combined deliveries of 506,207 sales, a decrease of 39 percent.

As both brands juggle inventory challenges, they are rolling out a plethora of new and redesigned models.

Mamadou Diallo, vice president of sales for American Honda, said in a statement that production and sales associates were working "tirelessly" to meet consumer demand with such a large number of updated products coming online.

Honda's redesigned, second-generation HR-V subcompact crossover arrived on dealership lots in June and racked up 6,000 customer pre-orders. The new Acura Integra was a highlight last month, becoming the brand's top-selling car. Read more

Volvo Cars has warned COVID-19 lockdowns in China could hamper its delivery of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the third quarter.

The Swedish carmaker pointed to a shortage of components as a reason for sales in June falling 27 percent compared to the same month last year.

However, the automaker is starting “to see a marked improvement in its manufacturing situation, with the number of cars produced in June being the highest in the year,” according to a statement.

The development marks the latest supply-chain issue to grip the global auto industry.

Last week saw Tesla cite factory shutdowns in Shanghai as a reason for disappointing car deliveries while General Motors issued a profit warning amid a backlog of 95,000 vehicles that can’t be sold until semiconductors arrive to finish assembly.

Volvo said its half-year global sales fell 24 percent to 291,301 cars.

The company, which wants half of its sales to come from full-elec…

At least for now, General Motors has reclaimed the U.S. sales crown it held for nine decades before losing it to Toyota Motor North America last year. The fluid, unpredictable nature of the global microchip shortage and other supply chain disruptions continue to put all automakers on edge.

"It feels a little bit more like treading water," Jeff Schuster, president of global forecasting at LMC Automotive, told Automotive News. Production is "flowing in and flowing out as soon as it comes in, so we're not seeing any accumulation of inventory at this point."

GM outsold Toyota by more than 47,000 vehicles in the second quarter, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center. GM delivered 578,507 vehicles, while Toyota sold 531,105.

"Whatever we are wholesaling, [dealers] are retailing," said Jack Hollis, the new executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America. "Right now, we are not seeing any softening."

Software developer Bryan Levenson worked for more than 20 years in Silicon Valley before setting his sights on Detroit and the auto industry.

In meetings with manufacturers, he learned how work stalled when dealership service department technicians had to put down their tools to find a computer to research vehicle parts or repair information.

Levenson saw an opportunity to supply both experienced technicians and a new generation of digital-savvy ones with a tool that would give them comprehensive information to fix vehicles.

"We discovered the great inefficiencies that happen when a tech puts down his or her tools and moves away from the vehicle," he said. "There may be one computer workstation in the shop, the printer may be out of paper, or there were typing mistakes when entering VIN information. We felt that if we could enable techs with accurate information that would not result in their moving away from the vehicle, we could increase repair and se…

Lithia Motors Inc. continued its expansion last week, buying nine dealerships in southern Florida and one in Nevada, all of which are expected to add nearly $1 billion in annual revenue to the growing auto retailer.

Lithia, the nation's No. 2 dealership group, has been on an acquisition spree and wants to grow to $50 billion in annual revenue by 2025 from $22.8 billion last year. The company is closing in on the annual revenue of AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest new-vehicle retailer, with $25.8 billion in revenue last year.

The 10 dealerships Lithia purchased last week are expected to generate $950 million in annual revenue — part of $2.1 billion in annual revenue from dealerships it has acquired so far this year.

Other potential acquisitions are in play. In April, Lithia had dealerships under contract worth $1.9 billion in annual revenue.

Tom Dobry, vice president of marketing for Lithia, said he couldn't commen…