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New vehicle sales in China fell 48 percent to 1.18 million in April, a 10-year low for the month, as the coronavirus outbreak negatively impacted production and shipments, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday.

Shanghai and some provinces have been under lockdown for weeks to contain COVID-19 outbreaks, measures that have broadly undermined consumer and business activity, including parts and vehicle assembly and dealership sales operations.

As a result, overall deliveries of new light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses skidded 43 percent to around 965,000 in April, according to the trade group. 

Minibus deliveries shrank 56 percent to some 18,000 while multi-purpose vehicle sales plunged 55 percent to about 39,000. 

Crossover and SUV volume slumped 46 percent to about 447,000. Sedan deliveries also slipped 39 percent to 461,000. 

April sales of commercia…

SAN FRANCISCO -- A court said that Elon Musk's 2018 tweets that funding was secured to take Tesla Inc. private was inaccurate and reckless, saying "there was nothing concrete" about financing from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund at that time.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of San Francisco is a major victory for investors alleging that Musk inflated stock prices by making false and misleading statements, causing billions of damages.

In 2018, Musk met with representatives of the Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and had a discussion about taking Tesla private, but evidence shows that "there was nothing concrete about funding coming from the PIF," the judge wrote.

"Rather, discussions between Tesla and the PIF were clearly at the preliminary stage.

"No reasonable jury could find that Mr. Musk did not act recklessly given his clear knowledge of the discussions," he said.

He said details such as the total amount of fu…

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. smashed earnings records across the board in the latest fiscal year, racking all-time highs for revenue, operating profit and net income even as it battled the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and global semiconductor shortage.

Operating profit climbed 36 percent to 3 trillion yen ($24.61 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, topping the previous high from the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. Toyota booked a robust operating profit margin of 9.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent the year before.

In announcing its earnings results on Wednesday, the world’s largest automaker said full fiscal year net income increased 27 percent to 2.85 trillion yen ($23.38 billion), while revenue grew 15 percent to 31.38 trillion yen ($257.42 billion). Both those totals chalked new records for Toyota as well.

Global sales advanced 7.6 percent to 8.23 million vehicles in the fiscal year. The consolidated sales figure covers deliveries for the Lexus a…

PARIS -- Stellantis has shuffled key leadership positions, naming Maxime Picat, currently head of its Enlarged Europe region, as head of purchasing and supply chain, replacing Michelle Wen, who has left the automaker.

Picat will be replaced in Europe by Uwe Hochgeschurtz, now head of the Opel/Vauxhall brand. His successor at Opel/Vauxhall will be Florian Huettl, head of sales and marketing at Opel.

Other changes include the appointment of Alison Jones, head of Stellantis UK, as senior vice president for the company's circular economy recylcing business.

Paul Willcox, the head of Vauxhall in the UK, will add Jones' Stellantis responsibilities in the UK to his portfolio.

"These appointments represent the bold ambitions of our strategic plan Dare Forward 2030," CEO Carlos Tavares said Wednesday in a release announcing the appointments. 

Picat, 48, had led the Enlarged Europe region since Stellantis started operations in January 2021 afte…

Shift Technologies said it cut positions last month equating to about 10 percent of its corporate team and is pausing its expansion into the Las Vegas market as the online used-vehicle retailer focuses on trimming costs and operating more efficiently.

San Francisco-based Shift said Tuesday in a shareholder letter disclosing its first-quarter financial results that 2022 "is going to be a year of balanced growth and profitability, with a keen focus on driving operational efficiencies, cost savings, and ultimately improving our liquidity position."

"While this has always been our plan for 2022," company leaders wrote, "the evolution of the macro environment over the first several months of the year has made these initiatives all the more important."

Shift CEO George Arison said Tuesday on the company's first-quarter earnings call that Shift "eliminated a number of corporate positions in April, about 10 percent of the corporate team, mostly through a normal…

Volkswagen Group plans to revive the long dormant Scout off-road nameplate to capture a greater share of the giant U.S. light-truck market, one of the industry's most loyal customer bases.

VW, one of the biggest global automakers, but with a relatively small U.S. sales footprint that has tilted toward an expanded light-truck lineup in recent years, plans to introduce a new Scout electric SUV and electric pickup, The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday.

VW's management board is expected to meet and approve the plan on Wednesday, the paper said, citing people familiar with the meeting. Scout will operate as a separate unit of VW Group in the U.S. alongside the company's other brands, the paper said.

A Volkswagen spokesperson in the U.S. confirmed the Scout program is on Wednesday's meeting agenda, Reuters reported.

VW is prepared to initially invest $1 billion in the Scout project, the Journal said, and would later seek other investors.

Vehicle listings company TrueCar is considering acquisitions that could boost its digital offerings, executives said Tuesday.

TrueCar CEO Mike Darrow said during the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company's first-quarter earnings call that "M&A has always been part of the consideration set" when it comes to its capital allocation strategy. He did not disclose specific details about acquisition talks or the types of technology that TrueCar could look to add but said company leaders are "out in the market actively looking" at potential deals.

"For us," Darrow said, "it's about smart, tuck-in opportunities with innovative technology and talented know-how and capabilities that accelerate the product road map for TrueCar+ as we look to bring world-class, digital e-commerce capabilities to our dealers and consumers and bring more and more of the car-buying and -selling experience online."

TrueCar+ is the company's new digital retailing tool that was introduced…

Bespoke luxury automaker Bentley has stretched the rear of its top-selling Bentayga crossover and significantly upgraded its seating and cabin to deliver a more opulent extended-wheelbase version that seems aimed squarely at the chauffeured market.

The 2023 Bentayga Extended Wheelbase adds more than seven inches to the two-row crossover — all of it behind the front row of seats — giving it what the brand says is the "best rear-cabin experience since the Mulsanne."

But it is not just about the additional space: The larger Bentayga will be outfitted with new 22-way adjustable seats that feature "postural adjustment technology" as well as defined modes for relaxing and business. In relax mode, for instance, the rear seat reclines up to 40 degrees, and a footrest emerges from the rear of the front passenger seat. The seats, Bentley says, "can apply 177 individual pressure changes across six fully independent pressure zones over a three-hour period…

KAR Global said Tuesday it has completed the sale of its ADESA U.S. auction unit to Carvana Co.

The deal will allow KAR to focus on its online dealer-to-dealer businesses and enable Carvana to gradually boost the number of cars and trucks it can get ready for sale each year.

Carvana purchased ADESA U.S. from KAR Global for $2.2 billion. KAR, a Carmel, Ind.-based wholesale auctions provider, agreed to sell the physical auction unit in late February.

The deal hands Carvana the keys to 56 ADESA sites across the U.S., totaling about 6.5 million square feet of buildings on more than 4,000 acres. It also gives Carvana all staff and operations at the 56 locations, plus sole use of the ADESA.com marketplace in the U.S.

"We aim to use this ADESA U.S. alignment to both improve the experiences of the ADESA U.S. physical auction customers and to focus on significant and sustainable efficiencies, and unit economic improvements, for Carvana to catapult back in…