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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…

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…

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 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.

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 …

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…

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…

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…