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In an era of rapid technological innovation and growing consumer demand for more advanced vehicles, a robust work force prepared to meet the needs of this evolving market is critical to the success of the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry. New data shows that international automakers are rising to meet this moment, preparing their work forces while supporting a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing and creating thousands of good-paying careers nationwide.

Making up nearly half of our nation's automotive manufacturing production, international automakers are a critical part of the fabric of the U.S. auto industry. Findings from Autos Drive America and the American International Automobile Dealers Association's 2023 Economic Impact Report show that investments from international automakers reached $107 billion last year, up $6 billion from 2021, with total investment increasing by 49 percent over the past nine years. International automakers directly employ more than 15…

Ford Motor Co. on Monday reduced prices for its F-150 Lightning electric pickups by about $6,000 to $10,000, depending on trim, citing lower material costs and higher production capacity.

The price cuts could help the company maintain strong sales when most electric vehicle inventories are rising as production levels outstrip demand. They follow more price cuts by Tesla, which remains the leading EV seller despite increasing competition from Ford, General Motors and others.

Ford on Monday said the cheapest Lightning model, the commercial-focused Pro trim, now will start at $51,990 including shipping. That's still 25 percent more expensive than the truck was when it launched in April 2022.

The highest-priced trim, the extended-range Platinum model, now starts at $93,990 including shipping, down $6,079.

Ford had raised Lightning prices multiple times, most recently in March, before Monday's cuts undid some of those actions.

"Shortly af…

LANSING, Mich. — Chevrolet is loading the next-generation Traverse crossover with its first-ever off-road trim, more standard safety features and larger touchscreens.

The 2024 Traverse, scheduled to go on sale early next year, has an updated design and a new engine with more horsepower and torque, General Motors said Monday. The redesigned three-row crossover will come in four trims — LS, LT, RS and, for the first time, the off-road Z71.

GM did not disclose pricing while revealing the third-generation Traverse at the mid-Michigan plant that will assemble it, though executives said the crossover will be competitive in its segment. The 2023 Traverse starts at $35,915 with shipping.

"Our new Traverse is designed and engineered to act and look more like an SUV," Scott Bell, vice president of global Chevrolet, said in a statement. "Led by the all-new Z71, the 2024 Traverse builds on the success of its predecessor and will undoubtedly enable us to be in more…

FRANKFURT -- Germany's top union IG Metall called for Tesla to improve staffing conditions at its German gigafactory as it prepares to expand, with the carmaker due to publish its expansion plans for feedback from the community later this week.

Tesla's application to double the capacity of its Gruenheide site near Berlin to 1 million cars a year will be made accessible online and to local residents from July 19, according to the environment ministry of Brandenburg, the German state where the plant is based.

Citizens have until mid-September to file objections to the application.

The expansion plans will entail adding more jobs to the 12,000 planned for the first expansion phase of Tesla's first European product hub, of which roughly 11,000 have been hired so far.

"We welcome the creation of jobs in the automotive industry in Germany. Tesla's plans are a clear commitment to Brandenburg as a location," IG Metall's Dirk Schulze said.

"However,…

On her first day working at an auto dealership, Carol Kitts sold four cars.

“I was so excited, so pumped,” Kitts said. Then her general manager, who had recruited her for the job, pulled her aside.

“He took me to the back lot and said, ‘I want to let you know, these guys are going to try to crack you.’ I had to ask what he meant. He said because I’d sold four cars that day and the other salesmen didn’t sell any, that they were threatened. I was the first woman salesperson, and I was only 19. It was hard for me to understand that there would be people who would try to make me fail. And they did try to break me.”

But they did not succeed. This summer, after nearly two decades in the auto industry, Kitts was named general manager of the brand-new Volkswagen of Fairfield, Calif. The dealership is owned by Fairfield Automotive Partners, a partnership between Schomp Automotive Group and Third Set Partners.

Being elevated to a GM position is the latest succe…

Despite surging U.S. sales of electric vehicles, the market is cooling for some of the promising startups and legacy automakers that shot to the top of the EV charts last year, according to new registration data from Experian.

New EV registrations rose by a healthy 68 percent in the January-to-May period to a record 447,514 vehicles. But about half of the increase came from market leader Tesla, the data shows.

Hot EV brands from last year — including Ford, Kia and Lucid — are now cooling as Tesla continues to sell 6 of every 10 EVs in the U.S.

Additionally, those that entered the market with some fanfare, including Cadillac and Porsche, are near the bottom of the 25 brands appearing in the latest registration data.

Overall, EVs rose to a 7 percent share of the U.S. light-vehicle market in the first five months of the year from 4.6 percent a year earlier. But analysts see tougher days ahead as consumers balk at relatively high prices and interest…

Despite surging U.S. sales of electric vehicles, the market is cooling for some of the promising startups and legacy automakers that shot to the top of the EV charts last year, according to new registration data from Experian.

New EV registrations rose by a healthy 68 percent in the January-to-May period to a record 447,514 vehicles. But most of the volume came from market leader Tesla, the data shows.

Hot EV brands from last year — including Ford, Kia and Lucid — are now cooling as Tesla continues to sell 6 of every 10 EVs in the U.S.

Additionally, those that entered the market with some fanfare, including Cadillac and Porsche, are near the bottom of the 25 brands appearing in the latest registration data.

Overall, EVs rose to a 7 percent share of the U.S. light-vehicle market in the first five months of the year from 4.6 percent a year earlier. But analysts see tougher days ahead as consumers balk at relatively high prices and interest rates. Read more

Whether you're a rapidly growing retailer, well-established automaker or scrappy mobility startup, future-proofing your business is tough work. Competition is fierce, technological and regulatory hurdles are high and the market is the final arbiter of success.

This week's issue of Automotive News examines a variety of opportunities and challenges facing noteworthy players in this evolving industry.

Lithia Motors is not content with its recent ascension to the No. 1 dealership group in the U.S. We visited CEO Bryan DeBoer at the company's headquarters in Medford, Ore., to discuss how his company plans to achieve its ambitious goal of $50 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2025. DeBoer's strategy goes beyond acquiring more stores. Lithia is already dabbling in new business lines, and is looking at more verticals. And the company's decentralized business model gives local leaders the autonomy to make decisions that contribute to company growth.

Executi…

Almost four years after Elon Musk first unveiled Tesla Inc.’s debut pickup, the automaker has built its first Cybertruck at its plant in Austin, Texas.

Tesla shared the development Saturday on Musk-owned Twitter, posting a photo of workers in safety vests and helmets obscuring much of the vehicle. When Musk first showed a prototype of the wedge-shaped truck in November 2019, the plan was for production to start two years later.

Musk has tempered expectations for how quickly Tesla will ramp up production, telling shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in May that the Cybertruck’s radical design poses challenges. He’s said the body will be stainless steel, which can be expensive and difficult to shape and weld.

“It’s going to be hard to make the cost affordable because it is a new car, new manufacturing method,” Musk said. “In the grand scheme of things, relative to the production rate of all the other cars we make, it will be small. But it’s still…

The CEO of Qmerit highlights the challenges to recruiting and quickly training EV charger technicians, identifies charging differences in urban, suburban, and rural areas, and explains why some automakers likely felt like they had to add Tesla’s charging connectors.

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The U.S. new-vehicle inventory continued its steady climb in June as production recovers, according to data from Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center. The growing stockpile of unsold electric vehicles contributed to the overall rise.

Cox estimated unsold inventory at 1,953,512 vehicles, or a 53-day supply, up 75 percent from the same point a year ago, and up slightly from 1,928,619, where it stood a month earlier. Cox uses the sales rate from the preceding 30-day period to calculate days' supply.

There was a 103-day supply of EVs — making it the only segment other than ultraluxury and high-end luxury to top the century mark, according to Cox, though full-size cars were close, at 99 days. Stock levels of compact and midsize cars and crossovers had the tightest inventories. Cox also pointed out that inventory levels were densest among lower-priced vehicles, with stocks growing roughly as price increased. Toyota and Hon…