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Ineos Group, the British chemical company bringing the rugged BMW-powered Grenadier SUV to North America in spring 2023, will open its order books on Thursday.

The company says 63,000 hand-raisers have expressed an interest in the boxy off-road vehicle globally, with 12,000 of those in North America. Now the company wants to see who's serious about buying a retro-looking utility vehicle that is aimed at fans of stripped-down, classic SUVs such as the original version of Land Rover Defender.

Those hand-raisers will be given a two-week opportunity to place a $450 deposit on a vehicle. After that, reservations will open to all customers, Ineos' North American Executive Vice President Greg Clark told Automotive News.

Speaking of the $450 deposit, Clark said: "We definitely want an expression of real interest, and we feel with small amounts you can get lots and lots of speculation."

Ineos is different from most other startups. Money is not a concern fo…

PHOENIX — Lucid Motors became the latest startup automaker to begin production of electric vehicles as the company's first sedans rolled off the assembly line Tuesday.

Lucid said the first customer-ready Air luxury electric sedans were completed at its assembly plant in Casa Grande, Ariz., about 47 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix. Deliveries to customers will begin in late October, the company said.

"Our technology will allow for increasingly lighter, more efficient, and less expensive EVs, and today represents a major step in our journey to expand the accessibility of more sustainable transportation," Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement.

The start of Lucid Air assembly comes just two weeks after fellow startup Rivian began production of its R1T electric pickup in Illinois. Lucid and Rivian enter an electric market that has long been dominated by Tesla, even as more traditional automakers come to market with EV offerings of their ow…

Ford Motor Co. will receive twice the amount of Michigan tax incentives for its Dearborn Truck Plant after announcing last month that it plans to double production of the F-150 Lightning pickup at the plant.

The automaker will receive just more than $6 million in State Essential Services Assessment, or SESA, exemption tax incentives for the $200 million expansion following approval from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. on Tuesday. The expansion is expected to create 300-400 manufacturing jobs. The average annual wage for the Ford plant jobs is $61,000.

Ford received $35 million in incentives in 2019 to support a $1.5 billion capital investment and creation of 3,000 jobs at its plants in Dearborn and Wayne, Crain's Detroit Business previously reported. Crain's is an affiliate of Automotive News.

At the time, it was approved for a SESA exemption valued at $3.2 million for the Dearborn project. Following its announcement of the plant expansion, the …

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co., in what it says is the largest single manufacturing investment in its 118-year history, on Monday said it would spend $7 billion and create nearly 11,000 jobs to build electric vehicles and batteries in Tennessee and Kentucky.

The investment, meant to vault Ford among the leaders in EV output, will include a 3,600-acre "mega campus" northeast of Memphis called Blue Oval City that will include Ford's first new vehicle assembly plant in more than 50 years. The site — three times the size of the automaker's sprawling Rouge Complex in Michigan — will hire about 6,000 people to assemble next-generation electric F-Series pickups and include battery cell production and a supplier park, Ford said. It's expected to open in 2025.

South of Louisville, Ford will build a 1,500-acre battery park under its BlueOvalSK joint venture with battery supplier SK Innovation. The site will comprise two battery plants making advanced lithium ion batteries, wi…

WASHINGTON -- A group of 21 state attorneys general, the District of Columbia, and several major U.S. cities has urged the Biden administration to finalize stricter vehicle emissions rules than it has proposed.

The Environmental Protection Agency in August called for reversing the Trump-era loosening of vehicle emissions rules with a new plan to boost efficiency 10 percent in the 2023 model year and aiming for a fleet average of 52 miles per gallon by 2026. But the states and cities want more stringent rules.

"There is no need to wait to require further deployment of these technologies or to delay the massive economic and public health benefits of reducing these emissions," wrote the state attorneys general, led by California. 

Canadian supplier Magna International Inc. and the University of Waterloo in Ontario announced Monday a $1.3 million ($1.6 million CAD) joint project designed to enhance the safety and cybersecurity of self-driving vehicles.

Jim Quesenberry, director of research and development at Magna, said the five-year collaboration will aim to tackle some of the big issues in the “increasingly complex” modern transportation industry.

“As we look at what Uber or Amazon Delivery has done for us in terms of convenience and efficiency — and hopefully affordability — there are things behind that that we have to ensure are done with the utmost safety and security,” he said.

Sebastian Fischmeister, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university, said the research will focus on keeping vehicles — along with the people in and around them — safe, even as automated systems take on more tasks typically relegated to drivers. The teams will also look at sa…

LOS ANGELES — Genesis Motor North America CEO Mark Del Rosso is leaving the automaker after a three-month absence for a personal matter.

Genesis informed Automotive News about Del Rosso's departure Monday in an emailed statement.

At the same time, Genesis is reviving the position of chief operating officer and has named Hyundai Motor Mexico CEO Claudia Marquez to the new post. Marquez will lead the strategy and execution of sales, after sales, marketing and growth strategies for Genesis, the company said in a separate statement.

Marquez will report to Hyundai Motor North America CEO Jose Muñoz, who has been interim Genesis CEO and will continue to hold that title.

The changes are effective Oct. 1, Genesis said.

"Claudia is a strong leader that has implemented effective strategies for growing automotive brands throughout her career," Muñoz said in the release. "As an ambitious brand with a bold vision, we are pleased to have Claudia on…

MILAN -- Ferrari and its parent company Exor, the holding vehicle of the Agnelli family, have entered a partnership with Jony Ive, the creative mind behind many of Apple's iconic products, and fellow designer Marc Newson.

The duo belong to the LoveFrom creative collective of designers, architects writers, engineers and artists based in London and California.

The partnership will explore projects in the luxury business, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

Ive had been mentioned in the Italian press among possible candidates to replace Louis Camilleri when he suddenly stepped down as Ferrari CEO last year. In the end Ferrari turned to technology industry veteran Benedetto Vigna to drive the luxury sports car maker known for its roaring, high-octane engines into a new era of silent, electric powertrains.

In a sign of its ambition to widen the appeal of its brand, Ferrari in June unveiled its first in-house fashion collection and inaugu…

General Motors' GMC brand announced a three-year partnership with the Marcus Graham Project to foster diverse leadership in advertising, media and marketing, and marks the organization's first contractual, multi-year commitment with a brand.

The financial commitment from GMC is earmarked to support the nonprofit’s annual iCR8 Boot Camp program, which trains aspiring marketers from non-traditional backgrounds.

The commitment will begin on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend in January of 2022, as the Marcus Graham Project reaches its 15th anniversary. Its previous brand sponsorships have included Apple, Fossil and Patron.

“As part of a larger GMC community partnership outreach, we are looking to build deeper relationships within diverse communities from high school students to young professionals, from a local and national level,” says Jamie Barbour, senior manager, GMC advertising and media. 

“Working on this initiative with our adverti…

U.S. light-vehicle sales volume this month will fall to its lowest September level since the Great Recession as the ongoing global microchip shortage continues to deplete inventory, according to a forecast by Cox Automotive.

Cox predicts that sales volume will drop to 1 million units in September, down 26 percent from a year earlier. The last time September volume fell below 1 million was in 2009. There have only been three months of below 1 million volume in the past decade, according to Cox.

Many U.S. automakers plan to report September and third-quarter light-vehicle sales on Friday, as they continue to idle plants intermittently to redirect chips. Ford Motor Co. reports on Monday, Oct. 4, and Daimler reports later next week.

AutoForecast Solutions estimates the global auto industry has lost 8.9 million vehicles from production plans because of the chip crisis, including 2.9 million in North America.

Cox expects the September sales pace, or t…