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Car shoppers want more finance information sooner in the process, confirming industry beliefs that placing more emphasis on finance and insurance in digital retailing is critical for some consumers, a recent CarGurus survey found.

Vehicle affordability is an ongoing concern in the automotive retail industry, with average transaction prices steadily increasing every month. Inventory constraints restricting new- and used-vehicle options for consumers is an additional hurdle for consumers pursuing a specific price point.

In the survey of 754 consumers conducted in November 2020, 93 percent of car shoppers agree that pre-qualifying for a loan prior to visiting the dealership would be useful. Just two in three respondents, however, even knew this was an option, CarGurus said.

All respondents either intended to buy a car within the next 12 months or had purchased one in the last two years, CarGurus said. Respondents also needed to have f…

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen requires about 300 gigawatt hours worth of battery cells a year by the end of the decade for its ambitious roll out of electric vehicles in Europe, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The supply chain update is part of the world's second-largest automaker's strategy to raise the share of fully electric vehicles in Europe to more than 70 percent by 2030 at its core brand, details of which were unveiled last week.

So far, Volkswagen, which sources batteries from LG Chem , Samsung SDI, SK Innovation and CATL, expects annual demand in Europe to be more than 150 gigawatt hours from 2025 and to be at a similar level in Asia.

CEO Herbert Diess and Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen's board member in charge of technology, will unveil details of its battery and charging infrastructure strategy during a Power Day scheduled for March 15, the people said.

Volkswagen declined to comment.

The fresh target comes as Volkswagen…

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HAMBURG -- Volkswagen Group strategy chief Michael Jost will quit after more than a decade with the automaker, he said on his website, adding he would now focus on building smart boats with his family.

"Since 1996 I have been leading a weekend marriage and family. Now corona has brought me home and we have realized that we can live together. I want to stay here. I thank you all and I do apologize if it was 'too much' sometimes," Jost said.

According to his LinkedIn profile Jost joined VW Group brand Skoda in 2010, where he served as head of product management and product strategy until becoming VW brand chief strategy officer in 2015.

He was promoted VW's head of group strategy product in 2018, driving the automaker's change to become a global leader in electric vehicles.

"What's next? After smart cars it's now smart boats, a nautical passion that I want to devote myself to with my family," he said.

The news comes less than a week before …

STOCKHOLM -- Swedish lithium ion battery maker Northvolt said Wednesday it had bought U.S. startup Cuberg to get access to technology that would boost the range of electric vehicles that can use its batteries.

Cuberg, spun out of Stanford University in 2015, has created battery cells that deliver increased range and capacity by 60 percent versus comparable lithium ion cells and counts aircraft maker Boeing among its customers.

The deal would help Northvolt improve both performance and safety while driving down cost for next-generation battery cells, the company said in a statement.

"This is critical for accelerating the shift to fully electric vehicles and responding to the needs of the leading automotive companies within a relevant time frame," Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson said.

Battery manufacturers across the world are scrambling to keep up with demand as automakers increasingly go electric.

Northvolt, which aims to take on major Asian p…

PARIS -- Renault Group will build two new "sister models" for alliance partner Mitsubishi Motors starting in 2023, as the Japanese automaker reverses a decision to wind down operations in Europe.

A model mix of the newly launched Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross plug-in hybrid utility vehicle and the Renault-developed sister models will enable Mitsubishi to be more competitive in the market, the automakers said in a news release Wednesday.

Mitsubishi and Renault provided few details on the new models, except to say that they would be "based on the same platforms but with differentiations, reflecting the Mitsubishi brand’s DNA." 

They will be sold in “selected major European markets," the automakers said. The UK will not be one of the target markets, a spokesman for Mitsubishi there said.

The vehicles will be versions of "best-sellers on the European market which already meet regulatory requirements," the release added. Renault's top t…

U.S. vehicle safety regulators have approved a request by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation to reopen the comment period on whether any test procedures related to NHTSA's federal vehicle safety standards should be replaced, repealed or modified.

NHTSA in December issued an advance notice of proposed rule-making that sought comment on amending its test procedures for any of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards "for reasons other than considerations relevant only to automated driving systems," according to an unpublished document.

The comment period ended Feb. 8 but, starting Wednesday, will reopen for 30 days.

The alliance — which represents most major automakers in the U.S. as well as some suppliers and tech companies — asked the agency in January for a 30-day extension of the comment period.

The association said the additional time was necessary for it "to conduct a comprehensive review of the extensive number of regulations" and auto …

Shift Technologies Inc. reported record revenue and vehicle sales in the fourth quarter as it continued to dig itself out of an inventory hole brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The online used-vehicle retailer was more selective in inventory acquisition at the onset of the outbreak last spring. It also furloughed some of its reconditioning staff, relying more heavily on third parties to get its vehicles sale-ready.

This led to an inventory gap when used-vehicle demand began to surge later in the spring and into the summer.

In the fourth quarter, Shift said, the company was able to "steadily and dramatically" reduce its use of third-party reconditioning, and by January, it was back at pre-COVID levels of having just 15 percent of its vehicles processed by outside parties.

In October, Shift was processing about 250 vehicles per week in-house, and it improved that number to more than 500 vehicles by the middle of the first quarter.

The c…

Chipmaker GlobalFoundries said on Tuesday it has partnered with automotive supplier Bosch to develop radar chips for self-driving features.

Under the deal, Santa Clara, California-based GlobalFoundries said it will make high-frequency radar chips for Bosch at the chipmaker's Fab 1 facility in Dresden, Germany. Radar chips are widely used in vehicles for driver-assistance features such as emergency braking, lane-keeping and parking assistance.

The radar chips are designed to operate at higher frequency than previous generations to help the radar detect objects farther away with greater accuracy than lower-frequency radar chips found on many current vehicles. They are not related to the chips currently in short supply that have caused manufacturing disruptions at automakers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors.

Rather than source the chips from a third-party company to put inside a radar module, Bosch is working directly with the chip contract ma…

Kia Motors America is recalling just less than 380,000 vehicles because of issues with electric circuitry that could lead to fires in engine compartments.

Vehicle owners will be told to park outside and away from structures until the recall repair is complete.

The recall includes Sportage and Cadenza vehicles from the 2017 to 2021 model years. The circuit in the vehicles' hydraulic electronic control units could short-circuit, upping the risk of fire.

No fires, accidents or injuries have been reported. Dealers will replace specific fuses in the models' electrical junction boxes. Vehicles equipped with an electronic parking brake will also get a software update.

The automaker will begin notifying dealers on April 15 and owners on April 30.