News

WASHINGTON — As the federal government moves forward with a plan to build a nationwide charging network for electric vehicles, it's "off to the races" for states looking to soothe consumer range anxiety.

"This is not going to be the federal government going and buying chargers and putting them in the ground," Michael Berube, a senior official at the U.S. Energy Department, said of the strategy to build 500,000 EV charging stations by 2030 with funding from the $1 trillion infrastructure law.

Instead, states will take charge.

"Any place where you can put a public charger along the highway corridors is fair game, so that will be operated by the states," said Berube, who is deputy assistant secretary for sustainable transportation in the department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The law — signed by President Joe Biden in November — includes $7.5 billion to help build out the charging network and $65 billion for upgrades to the …

Credit Acceptance Corp. has agreed, "in principle," to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit brought by shareholders.

The subprime auto lender announced the proposed settlement in the federal securities case — brought by various pension funds — Thursday morning in a regulatory filing, writing that "the parties have agreed to negotiate in good faith to execute a definitive stipulation of settlement to be filed with the court."

That process "may take several months," according to the 8-K filing.

The lawsuit was filed in October 2020 in federal court in Detroit and brought by a mix of pension funds invested in Credit Acceptance (NASDAQ: CACC), and named as defendants former CEO Brett Roberts and current CEO Ken Booth.

A Credit Acceptance spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for further comment Thursday morning.

The lawsuit brought by shareholders largely stemmed from a 2020 case brought by the attorney general in Massachusetts, …

The impact of the USMCA trade deal has been difficult to measure given the multiple economic disruptions that have occurred since it went into effect in 2020, but the deal remains a vital enforcement tool for the auto industry and beyond, according to a policy expert.

Kellie Meiman Hock, managing partner at international trade consultancy McLarty Associates, said Thursday that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement, has been effective in its early days at resolving some labor issues.

"USMCA is of a more enhanced importance right now from a trade perspective because it's one of the few functioning dispute mechanisms that's left," Meiman told an audience at the Automotive News Congress in Washington. "You can't go to the World Trade Organization right now because their dispute settlement system is not fully functioning. It puts a bit of a spotlight on us as North America and what we can continue to achie…

Blink Charging Co. has agreed to acquire North American EV charging infrastructure manufacturer SemaConnect Inc. for $200 million.

Blink, an electric vehicle charging station developer, said the acquisition will add nearly 13,000 chargers and 3,800 locations to its business.

Blink said it will update SemaConnect's charging stations to "a single state-of-the-art network" and expand Blink's geographic reach, according to a Tuesday statement.

Blink CEO Mike Farkas told Automotive News that the company, based in Miami, previously designed Level 2 chargers but hired a third-party contractor to manufacture them. With the acquisition, Blink will have control over the operation, development and manufacturing of charging stations, he said.

"We're the only EV charging infrastructure company in the United States that designs the hardware, manufactures the hardware in its own facilities, develops and maintains a network that operates the charging stations and…

Advanced technologies such as intersection-assistance may be relevant to 650,000 crashes per year and could prevent hundreds of thousands of accidents, new data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.

"Left turn assist and other, upcoming intersection-assistance technologies could deliver big safety benefits for drivers in their 70s and 80s," said Aimee Cox, IIHS research associate and author of the study.

With a growing number of older drivers in the U.S, according to the IIHS, new features will help keep drivers of all ages safe on the road.

"We know that older drivers can be at a greater risk for crashing and especially at a higher risk for being in a fatal crash," said Jessica Cicchino, IIHS vice president of research.

Front crash-prevention features could alert drivers through a warning chime or apply the brakes to avoid a collision. Though features such as Tesla's Autopilot have been unsuccessful — NHTSA opened a probe in May …

Chinese electric carmaker Nio Inc. unveiled a five-seater crossover as it seeks to close the sales gap with local rivals Xpeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. and other competitors.

Named ES7, the light truck will start at 468,000 yuan ($69,700) with a driving range of 485 kilometers (300 miles), the Shanghai-based automaker said during an online launch event Wednesday.

The ES7 will also feature the latest autonomous driving technologies in-house developed with several high-performance sensing units and four Nvidia Orin chips. Aside from competing with home-grown electric models, Tesla Inc. offers the Model Y at a more affordable 316,900 yuan in China.

The ES7, slated to go on sale in August, “might be our fastest delivery from unveiling,” Nio CEO William Li said at the event.

Nio has long labeled itself as a premium EV producer catering to middle class consumers. The latest model, with an optional electric tow bar, is one of the first certified passenger v…

Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. said it hired Goldman Sachs & Co. to help it analyze "potential alternatives for refinancing its capital structure," prompting a negative reaction from investors.

The automotive sealing and fluid delivery parts supplier saw its stock value plunge 20 percent to just over $4 per share as of Wednesday afternoon. That's less than a fifth of its price per share at the start of the year as financial struggles amid market volatility have led to a steady slide.

The company issued a statement on Wednesday to Crain's Detroit Business, an affiliate of Automotive News, offering more specificity on why the supplier tapped the New York City investment banker.

"Goldman Sachs has been retained as an adviser to assist us with refinancing portions of our debt to extend the maturity dates," Chris Andrews, senior director of communications, said in an email. "Goldman Sachs is a long-term banking partner for the company. Cooper-Standard con…

MARANELLO, Italy -- Ferrari told investors that full-electric and hybrid models will make up 80 percent of its sales by 2030, and vowed to produce "even more unique" cars as it makes the expensive shift to zero-emission models.

"We believe we can use the electric engine to enhance the performance of our cars," CEO Benedetto Vigna said on Thursday at Ferrari's capital markets day as he unveiled the company's long-awaited new business plan.

Vigna confirmed the Italian supercar maker's plans to launch its first full-electric vehicle in 2025, and Ferrari said it would launch 15 new models from 2023 to 2026.

"Everything we do will always focus on being distinctively Ferrari," Chairman John Elkann said in opening remarks. "The opportunity set of electrification and electronics will allow us to make even more unique cars."

Ferrari expects full-electric cars will make up 5 percent of sales in 2025 and 40 percent in 2030, Vigna said. Hybrid mode…

General Motors plans to return to Europe with battery-powered models starting with the Cadillac brand and is considering selling the hulking Hummer electric vehicle, according to people familiar with the matter.

The automaker might start importing the electric Cadillac Lyriq, already on sale in the U.S., the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations.

Broadening GM's offering would expand its presence in a market where the company currently only sells luxury vehicles and the Corvette sports car in small numbers.

A GM spokesman said no final decisions had been made.

The move would be a renewed push in the region after the company sold its mass-market Opel and Vauxhall brands in 2017 to what is now Stellantis, following two decades of losses.

GM has recently revived the dormant Hummer brand, starting production of the electric pickup in December.

The nameplate was controversial among environmentali…

TOKYO – Honda Motor Co. and Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. have inked an agreement to set up a “high-value-added” electric vehicle joint venture this year under the name Sony Honda Mobility Inc. that will deliver a “new generation of mobility and services.”

The move, announced in a statement Thursday, teams two iconic Japanese brands from two of the country’s most important business industries: automotive and high technology.

The 50-50 company will be established this year with the goal of starting EV sales and providing mobility services in 2025, the companies said. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Yasuhide Mizuno, currently a senior managing officer at Honda, will be CEO of the new company. Mizuno was formerly Honda’s chief officer for automobile operations before being tasked to head the Honda-Sony JV Prep Office, a change that took effect June 1.

Izumi Kawanishi, a Sony executive vice president, will be COO.

Sony Hon…

A top executive of American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. said Wednesday that "there is no process to sell the company," echoing its formal response to a recent report that it was exploring a sale.

Asked to address the Bloomberg report from last month, CFO and Vice President Christopher May said the Detroit-based automotive supplier is "focused on our standalone plan to create value for shareholders."

May's comments came during the livestreamed Deutsche Bank Global Auto Industry Conference. It marked the first time an American Axle executive publicly addressed the rumor of a sale, though the company did issue a written statement shorty after the report was published.

To the other major question looming over American Axle – is it prepared to survive the automotive industry's transition to electric vehicles? – May said, "Absolutely, yes."

Rooted in traditional gasoline engines, the company has made big moves to electrify its portfolio and convince…

DETROIT— General Motors plans to invest more than $81 million to build the Celestiq, Cadillac's flagship electric vehicle, at the automaker's Global Technical Center.

The Celestiq, expected to launch next year, will be the first vehicle built at the Warren, Mich., tech center, which has been GM's engineering and design hub since the 1950s. The Celestiq will be hand built in low volumes. AutoForecast Solutions expects volume of fewer than 200 vehicles per year.

GM will use the investment to purchase and reinstall equipment to hand build the Celestiq. Renovation at the Warren campus has already begun, GM said in a statement Wednesday.

The Celestiq "signifies a new, resurgent era for the brand," GM President Mark Reuss said in the statement. "Each one will be hand-built by an amazing team of craftspeople on our historic Technical Center campus, and today's investment announcement emphasizes our commitment to delivering a world-class Cadillac with nothing bu…