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Spitzer Management Inc., which does business as Spitzer Autoworld, on June 1 acquired two dealerships in northern Pennsylvania, according to the stores' seller Brian Wasko.

Spitzer of Elyria, Ohio, bought St. Marys Ford and St. Marys Chevrolet-GMC in St. Marys, Pa., from Wasko of St. Marys Auto Group.

St. Marys is northeast of Pittsburgh.

Wasko told Automotive News in an email that Spitzer also is slated to buy his St. Marys Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram-Fiat dealership.

The two dealerships were renamed Spitzer Ford St. Marys and Spitzer Chevrolet-GMC of St. Marys.

The acquisition follows growth last year for Spitzer, which in October bought Ford-Lincoln and Honda dealerships from Greg Murray in DuBois, Pa., also northeast of Pittsburgh. In January 2021, the group acquired Rick Case Hyundai-Genesis of Cleveland and Rick Case Honda in Euclid, Ohio, from Rick Case Automotive Group.

In fall 2020, Spizer acquired Chevy-Buick-GMC-Cadillac and…

Dodge says it's going to be an electric summer.

The Stellantis performance brand plans to preview future products in August during what it calls Speed Week.

It kicks off Aug. 12 with a press preview for the MotorTrend Presents Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge event that takes place the next day. Roadkill Nights spotlights muscle car culture with legal drag racing, vehicle displays and Hellcat thrill rides with professional drivers.

Dodge plans a series of product announcements from Aug. 15 to 17 in the lead-up to suburban Detroit's Aug. 20 Woodward Dream Cruise, where the brand will have a display for the first time since 2019.

Dodge says it will make "current muscle announcements" on Aug. 15. The next day will see "gateway muscle" updates before "future muscle" plans are unveiled on Aug. 17.

Dodge's electric muscle car concept is expected to be among the reveals. The brand is launching a battery-electric muscle car in 2024.

Dodge CE…

Toyota Motor Corp has cut its stake in Uber Technologies Inc by about half, after the ride-hailing company divested the autonomous driving unit at the center of their collaboration.

"The development of vehicles related to automated driving was one of the main objectives of Toyota's investment," Toyota spokesperson Shiori Hashimoto said in a statement, adding that the company still aims to maintain their alliance.

The world's largest car maker by volume held 5.13 million shares of Uber as of March 31, down from the 10.25 million shares it owned a year earlier, Toyota revealed in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The Japanese automaker valued its current stake in Uber at 22.4 billion yen ($165.51 million).

"Toyota continues to hold shares as part of our goal to maintain our collaboration and good relationship with Uber," Hashimoto said.

Toyota had invested $500 million in Uber in 2018 to jointly work on develo…

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. will recall 2,700 bZ4X crossovers, its first mass-produced electric vehicle, because of a danger that wheels could come loose.

The world's largest automaker by sales submitted the recall of the bZ4X models to Japan's transportation ministry.

Of the 2,700 vehicles, 2,200 were earmarked for Europe, 260 for the United States, 20 for Canada and 110 for Japan, Toyota said.

Subaru Corp. also said Thursday it was globally recalling about 2,600 units of the Solterra, its first all-electric vehicle jointly developed with Toyota, for the same reason.

Japan's safety regulator said sharp turns and sudden braking  in the cars could cause a hub bolt to loosen, raising the risk of a wheel coming off the vehicle. The regulator said it was not aware of any accidents being caused by the defect.

The safety regulator said it was advising drivers to stop using the vehicle until a more "permanent" repair measure was in place. Read more

Victory Automotive Group, fresh off sales of two Honda stores in separate May transactions, made its first acquisition since late 2021 with the purchase of two dealerships representing four total franchises.

Victory Automotive, of Canton, Mich., on June 6 bought Nassief Honda in Austinburg, Ohio, and Nassief Ford-Toyota-Hyundai in Jefferson, Ohio, from siblings Marybeth and Todd Nassief, owners of Nassief Auto Group.

Austinburg and Jefferson are northeast of Cleveland, near the Pennsylvania border.

Nassief Auto Group was started by the siblings' parents and had been in business for 67 years, according to the Star Beacon newspaper.

Victory Automotive renamed the dealerships Victory Honda and Victory Ford-Hyundai-Toyota, the latter three of which operate out of one building.

Rodger Olson, COO at Victory Automotive, told Automotive News in an email that the group is working "with manufacturers now to develop a plan to expand and separate the …

Ford Motor Co. has no plans to replace Focus production at its vehicle assembly plant in Saarlouis, Germany, in 2025. Instead, the U.S. company will seek "alternative opportunities" for the factory, including selling it to another automaker, Ford of Europe Chairman Stuart Rowley said.

Rowley, however, stopped short of saying the facility would close.

"We are seeking other alternative opportunities for vehicle production at Saarlouis, including other manufacturers," Rowley said in a conference call with journalists on Wednesday. "We do not have in our planning cycle an additional model that goes into Saarlouis."

Saarlouis lost to Ford's plant in Valencia, Spain, in its bid to produce vehicles on the company's next-generation electric vehicle architecture starting later this decade, Ford said in a statement.

Both Valencia and Saarlouis will experience "significant" job reductions as Ford pivots to an electric only future, Rowley warned. "The reality…

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats have scrapped a $4,500 bonus tax credit for electric vehicles made with domestic union labor that was opposed by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as they seek to wrap up negotiations on a spending deal.

“It’s gone,” Manchin said in an interview at the Capitol Tuesday.

The Build Back Better legislation passed last year in the House would have increased the $7,500 consumer tax credit to as much as $12,500, as part of a White House-backed effort to ensure that EVs are “manufactured by workers with good jobs.”

But the plan came under fire from Manchin, a swing vote in the evenly split Senate, as well as from non-unionized EV-maker Tesla Inc. and foreign-owned automakers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

West Virginia is home to a major Toyota engine and transmission parts plant. Manchin has been a strong supporter of the operation, which was built in 1995 near Charleston, W.Va.

“At this point, what we …

Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday cut its July global production plan by 50,000 vehicles as semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 parts supply disruptions continued to curb output.

The world's largest car maker by volume expects to make 800,000 vehicles next month, it said in a statement.

"As it remains difficult to look ahead due to the shortage of semiconductors and the spread of COVID-19, there is a possibility that the production plan may be lower," the Japanese company said.

Toyota and other car makers continue to struggle with supply-chain disruptions and component shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic including those resulting from recent lockdowns in China.

Automakers are also having to compete for limited semiconductor supplies with other manufacturers such as consumer electronics device makers.

Toyota stuck with its annual global production target of 9.7 million vehicles, although the company signa…