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Richard Parry-Jones, the Welsh product development boss who helped transform Ford Motor Co.'s European lineup in the 1990s and early 2000s, died Friday. He was 69.

Parry-Jones was involved in an accident on his farm in Wales, according to British media reports.

In his 38-year career with Ford, he was instrumental in the engineering of the Ford Mondeo sedan, the Puma subcompact and the first-generation Focus.

He would rack up countless miles on the rural roads around his home in England, focusing on the tiny details of ride, handling, steering, noise, vibration and feel. Some referred to him as the CEO of driving dynamics.

In 1999, he delivered a lecture -- "Engineering for Corporate Success in the New Millennium" -- at London's Royal Academy of Engineering.

Parry-Jones retired from Ford in 2007 as the company's chief technical officer but continued to serve on corporate boards and consult. He joined the board of Aston Martin last year.…

Key Auto Group has acquired a General Motors store in New Hampshire, its latest in a string of dealership purchases.

The Portsmouth, N.H., group bought Newport Chevrolet-Buick-GMC on Tuesday from Autosaver Group, according to Nancy Phillips Associates, a dealership buy-sell firm in Exeter, N.H., that handled the transaction.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but the store has been renamed Key Chevrolet-Buick-GMC of Newport.

Key Auto has been on a buying spree. Last year, it bought Port City Chrysler-Dodge-Ram in Portsmouth, N.H., and another Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram store in Rochester, N.H.

It has about 20 locations in New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Florida including new-car dealerships, used-car superstores and a heavy-truck dealership.

Detroit lender Ally Financial Inc. said Friday it swung to a first-quarter net profit driven by strong consumer auto demand and a favorable comparison to the year-earlier period that was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Ally, one of the largest U.S. auto lenders, reported net income of $796 million compared with a loss of $319 million in last year's first quarter. Net income more than doubled compared with $374 million in the first quarter of 2019.

Ally originated $10.2 billion in auto loans and leases in the first quarter, its highest volume in five years.

Ongoing inventory constraints are driving up transaction prices as dealership partners mitigate ravenous consumer demand amid limited supply, Ally Financial CEO Jeffrey Brown said on an investor call.

"Overall demand for new and used vehicles was robust during the quarter, while competition remained balanced but intense," he said. "Industry inventory levels reached multidecade lows as sale…

Taking a page from Ford Motor Co. — one of its key investors — Rivian will offer usage-based insurance that can be purchased at the same time as a Rivian R1T pickup or R1S utility vehicle.

Like Ford, Rivian's underwriter is Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.

Rivian also is offering customers the ability to bundle their homeowner's insurance and policies for other non-Rivian vehicles, as well as coverage for its off-road accessories.

The company promises a quote within minutes to customers who order their vehicle online.

The insurance offering is the latest enticement dangled by Rivian to customers to differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive EV landscape, as it develops a network of collision and service facilities and trains in-house product experts to provide personalized assistance on demand.

Initially, the insurance policies are available in 40 states, but they are expected to be available in 48 whe…

Editors note: A previous version of this story included an incorrrect location for CarSaver.

Technical innovations from 27 suppliers around the world have been named finalists in the 2021 Automotive News PACE Awards.

The 31 individual technologies range from new sensors that can distinguish between vehicle passengers to an advancement in how an auto retailer transacts a remote sale.

At the same time, 23 finalists from 20 companies have been named for the Automotive News PACEpilot award.

The Automotive News PACEpilot award, now in its second year, recognizes pre-commercial, post-pilot innovations in the automotive or future mobility space, including products, processes, software and IT systems.

The Automotive News PACE Award, now in its 27th year, is given to suppliers in recognition of a technological innovation in product or processes that has reached commercial application.

PACE judges will review the innovations for the award, to…

Stellantis will idle its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, until the end of April, due to the global microchip shortage.

Production is scheduled to resume May 3, the automaker said.

The Chrysler Pacifica, Voyager, Grand Caravan and Pacifica Hybrid minivans are all built at the Windsor Assembly Plant.

“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” the automaker said in a statement.

The Brampton, Ontario, Assembly Plant -- where the Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger  and Dodge Charger are assembled -- resumes production April 19.

Both plants have been down for two weeks.

The automaker also said Friday that the chip shortage forced it to idle its assembly plants in Belvidere, Ill., and Toluca, Mexico, through the rest of April and its Warren, Mich., truck plant through the end of May.

The company said the upscal…

The coronavirus outbreak in Michigan, which has emerged as the worst U.S. hotspot, is surging in a critical factory for Stellantis NV’s Ram pickup truck with an estimated 10 percent of production employees out for COVID-related reasons.

About 630 production workers were absent on Tuesday because they’d either tested positive for COVID-19 or were in quarantine, according to three people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified. That’s up by roughly 200 workers from a week ago, one of the people said, and represents roughly a tenth of production workers at SHAP, as the plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., is known.

The uptick in COVID cases and subsequent quarantine requirements is one of several factors slowing production for one of Stellantis’ most profitable vehicles. The Ram plant fell short of its daily build number by between 200 and 300 vehicles this week, according to one of the people.

The challenges underscore the lingering …

Washington state lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday setting a target to stop sales of gasoline-fueled vehicles there beginning in 2030, five years sooner than California.

The target is not a firm mandate and is contingent on the state adopting a tax on vehicle miles traveled, a measure to help pay for new transportation infrastructure, according to the text of the bill.

The move by the Pacific Northwest state comes as efforts to boost adoption of electric vehicles are accelerating over concerns about fossil fuels' contribution to climate change.

Transport is the top source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States ahead of the power sector, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

California's governor issued an executive order last year requiring all new cars and trucks sold in the top U.S. auto market to be zero-emissions by 2035, and the Canadian province of Quebec has set a similar mandate.

Automaker General Motors has …

Subaru has issued a pair of recalls affecting more than 800,000 late-model vehicles in the U.S. to repair problems relating to engine control modules and rear stabilizer brackets.

The first recall involves the 2017-19 Impreza and 2018-19 Crosstrek to check and potentially update the programming of the vehicles' engine control modules and replace their ignition coils, which could degrade over time, the automaker said. The recall involves an estimated 466,205 vehicles, Subaru of America said.

Subaru is also recalling approximately 405,000 2019 Forester and Crosstrek models to examine and re-torque the bolts on those vehicles' rear stabilizer bar, which can become loose over time, the automaker said.

In both instances, Subaru said it has received no reports of accidents or injuries.

The automaker will mail notifications to vehicle owners within 60 days, the company said.

The armada of battery electric vehicles starting to fill up dealerhip showrooms won't make a significant impact on sales of internal combustion engine vehicles until 2025, an expert told a panel at SAE International's WCX Digital Summit.

"If we define the tipping point to be the time when we see ICE vehicles go down and that [decline] be taken up by EV, in 2025 is when that transition will start to happen globally and in the U.S. EV sales will remain relatively flat until that time," said Kiran Govindswamy, vice president of drivetrain, vehicle engineering and NVH at FEV North America, said Wednesday.

While electric motors, power electronics and other EV-specific technologies are ready for mass production, the price of EVs will have to be commensurate with internal combustion engine vehicles and consumers will need to be confident in their ability to charge the vehicle away from home, several panelists said, before EVs start threatening the gasoline engine…

SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said on Thursday it plans to launch electric vehicles in China every year starting in 2022 to enhance its presence in the world's biggest market.

The South Korean auto group said it plans to unveil 21 EV models from Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp. by 2030, including hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.

The group said it also plans to cut the number of gasoline vehicles marketed in China to 14 from the current 21 by 2025.

Toyota Motor North America is recalling 279,040 older Venza crossovers because the supplemental restraint system wirings in some of them may become damaged with regular use of the driver-side door.

Damaged wires could cause the airbag sensor to become inoperable, preventing the deployment of the side and curtain airbags on the driver side and increasing the risk of injury during a crash, according to a defect information notice filed with NHTSA.

According to Toyota, only vehicles equipped with a wire harness assembly of a certain design, manufactured by supplier Yazaki North America Inc., are susceptible.

The recall will cover certain 2009-2015 model year vehicles.

The automaker said it does not have information on if any injuries, accidents or fatalities occurred in relation to the issue.

Other Toyota or Lexus vehicles sold in the U.S. don't have these specific wire harnesses, the automaker said.

The company also noted that it has r…