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FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany — Holger Klein, CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen, said young automotive brands such as Tesla, Nio, Xpeng and Lucid are pushing the old German supplier in a different way than traditional automakers.

"They have a different expectation on speed," he said. "Speed is king."

The emerging brands want ZF's newest technologies as quickly as possible, even if some bugs haven't been eliminated in development.

"If your latest innovation feature doesn't work as reliably as you would expect from a German premium brand, it's somehow OK," he told Automotive News Europe during a recent roundtable discussion at the supplier's headquarters here. "This happens when the customer wants a particular car and a particular function and is willing to accept some deficiencies."

The privately held ZF is the world's No. 3 auto supplier globally, with estimated 2022 revenues of $42.1 billion, according to Automotive News' Top Suppli…

General Motors is still in the early days of its electric vehicle transition.

The rollout, which started with higher-end models such as the GMC Hummer EV pickup and the Cadillac Lyriq, is expected to gain speed in the next few years as the automaker introduces more EVs in more mainstream segments — and at lower prices — to appeal to a broader swath of consumers. This year alone, production has begun or is scheduled to begin on electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Equinox and Blazer crossovers.

"These products are so important because they're core and critical to our EV growth strategy through 2025," CEO Mary Barra said at GM's investor day in November. "And the buzz they are creating is already incredible."

That buzz, Barra said, is "building pent-up demand, which is further evidence that our multi-brand, multi-segment, multi-price-point EV strategy is right for the retail market."

GM has said it aim…

Like many of you, I've been struggling of late to wrap my head around this nation's EV market and where it's heading. The latest registration data from Experian hasn't made it any easier to ascertain.

But if I had to guess, I think what we are seeing is an unnatural market, instead of just an immature one.

The Experian data in a nutshell:

Registrations of new electric vehicles — a proxy for sales — are up. Demand is up. The inventory of EVs is up, and now is over 100 days' supply, according to Cox Automotive. Prices are up, except where they're down. Tesla's $18,000 slice off the Model Y starting price fueled a huge sales bump, while Ford cut the sticker price of its Mustang Mach-E by up to 7 percent in May and the F-150 Lightning by as much as $10,000 last week.

EVs as a percentage of light-vehicle registrations are up, now representing 7 percent of the market, compared with 4.6 percent just a year ago. New EV registrations rose…

Amazon. The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftereffects. Digital retailing. The microchip shortage. These things and more persuaded the management at Florida's Qvale Auto Group that it was time to reinvent its dealership business model.

The goal: Bring buying and servicing a car in line with the convenience that consumers are experiencing at other retail businesses.

"The level of expectations has changed across every single type of vertical, so it's not just automotive that needed to change," said Geno Walsh, Qvale's dealership operations manager.

"The guy who cuts your hair needs to change the way you can set an appointment online and the ease which you can come in and out. Having instant information readily available for the consumer, I think, doesn't matter what the vertical is," he added.

What emerged at Qvale's three stores is a new system of handling customers' transactions that is built around three pillars: trans…

The first new MG roadster since the 1995 MGF made its public driving debut July 14 at England's Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The Cyberster, expected to go on sale in Europe next summer, is powered by two electric motors generating more than 500 hp. The curb weight, at a hefty 4,079 pounds, sets a record for an MG sports car, but the top speed is reported to be 124 mph. At Goodwood, the car blasted up the hill.

The Cyberster, slightly larger than the BMW Z4 compact sports car, has scissor doors, a Kamm-style rear end and — for an MG — a swanky interior. Although China's SAIC Motor now owns the MG brand, the Cyberster was mostly designed in England at the company's London design studios. The car will be built in China.

The MG brand is on a tear globally and is on track to sell 1 million vehicles next year. Officially, MG says the U.S. is not in the company's plans. However, MG has returned to North America successfully in Mexico.

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Barring any surprises, used-vehicle market analysts don't expect to see steeper wholesale price declines in the second half of 2023.

Price softening will continue to a degree in July following a second-quarter slump in wholesale used-vehicle prices that "erased" strong first-quarter gains in values, Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said during a quarterly call July 10.

But Smoke said he sees factors converging midyear that could fortify prices and the overall market. One factor is a supply crunch of younger, lower-mileage used vehicles that likely will keep a floor under prices, he said.

"I do think the worst of the used-vehicle market is upon us," Smoke told Automotive News last month. "I am optimistic that every month later this year will actually create strength in the used-vehicle market."

Wholesale used-vehicle prices fell 4.2 percent in June from May, according to Cox Automotive's Manheim Used Vehicle Value I…

Online used-vehicle retailer Carvana announced better-than-expected second- quarter results and a new debt restructuring deal on Wednesday, July 19.

Analysts lauded the improved results and the flexibility afforded by the deal. But those same analysts and others noted that the debt relief is temporary and the company still reported a significant, if much narrower, loss. Carvana needs to demonstrate its business model can consistently deliver results, they said.

The debt restructuring could buy Carvana some temporary relief. However, the high payment-in-kind coupons for the first two years "will likely put the company back in nearly the same position it was previously absent a meaningful improvement in the business or a redemption of some or all of the new notes," J.P. Morgan analysts wrote.

S&P Global Mobility took a harsher stance, calling the proposed restructuring "distressed and tantamount to default."

While…

acura's MDX midsize crossover, RDX compact crossover and TLX midsize sedan could move to Honda's e:Architecture platform for their next generations, ending each nameplate's run as a gasoline-powered vehicle.

The MDX's transition could happen as part of a 2027 redesign.

An electric compact crossover built on the e:Architecture platform is expected in late 2025, timing that coincides with a possible RDX redesign, suggesting the change.

The TLX is expected to be redesigned in 2026, but a similarly sized electric sedan slated for that year could wear the TLX badge.

Grace Rochelle has joined Automotive News as a data researcher in Detroit. Rochelle, 24, previously worked at Escalent, a market research firm, as an associate researcher in health care and automotive insurance. She focused on using data analytics to drive strategic decision-making; creating, implementing and analyzing surveys; and working with community panels.

Rochelle holds a bachelor's degree in marketing and a master's degree in marketing research, both from Michigan State University, where she was on the executive board of the Women in Business Students Association.

At its annual ceremony in Detroit, the Hall of Fame enshrined GM CEO Mary Barra, Gentex co-founder Fred Bauer, racer Juan Manuel Fangio, Honda co-founder Takeo Fujisawa, Ford designer McKinley Thompson Jr. and Hot Wheels designer Larry Wood.

Industry members and observers filled the Fillmore Detroit theater last week during the Automotive Hall of Fame ceremony.

During the event's afterglow, tables were stacked with hundreds of Hot Wheels vehicles that attendees could take home as a keepsake. The variety spanned from vintage cars to modern EVs to airplanes.

GM CEO Mary Barra, center, said her award "reflects the outstanding work and determination" of every member of the company.

Hot Wheels designer Larry Wood dedicated his award to an English teacher who told him, "You'll never get anywhere drawing cars."

The family of McKinley Thompson Jr., the first Black designer at Ford Motor Co., accepts his award. Said his siste…

A federal appeals court on Friday said it will reconsider its recent decision that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk violated federal labor law by tweeting that employees would lose stock options if they joined a union.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said it will review the case en banc, meaning all active judges will take part.

A three-judge panel of the same court had in March upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision that Musk's tweet was an unlawful threat that could discourage unionization, and must be deleted.

Musk issued the tweet as the United Auto Workers was seeking to organize employees at Tesla's plant in Fremont, California.

"Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted," he wrote. "But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?"

The appeals court panel found "substantial evidence" that the tweet was "an implied threat to end stock …

With projections putting the need for new service technicians at more than 10,000 over the next five years, the automaker is availing itself of a skilled labor pool of veterans retiring from the U.S. military.

Greg Silvestri, vice president of service and aftersale operations at Kia Motors America, said a high number of baby boomer technicians are now approaching retirement age.

"For Kia, with our sales successes and our huge growth of units in operation, the situation is even more pronounced as far as needing techs," he said. "Not only do we need to replace those who are leaving, we need to grow our universe of technicians."

To further this effort, the automaker has launched its Veterans Technician Apprenticeship Program to assist dealerships in finding new technicians. Kia partnered with Educational Resource Systems to find interested veterans in all branches of the military.

Veterans undergo a background check and an automotive technical apti…