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LOS ANGELES — Mazda is promoting several executives following the retirement of North American operations chief Jim Lievois, effective April 1.

Ryuichi Umeshita has been appointed executive vice president and assistant to the president, overseeing U.S. operations, Mazda told Automotive News in a statement Friday.

Umeshita is currently executive officer of brand enhancement, global marketing, sales and customer service at Mazda Motor Corp. in Japan. He will report to Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North American Operations, the company said.

Tom Donnelly, senior vice president of retail operations, will have expanded responsibilities that include the oversight of regional operations, aftersales, technical service and vehicle distribution, Mazda said. He will report to Umeshita.

Brian Nash will move from managing director of eastern U.S. to vice president of regional operations, responsible for leading all regional teams, Mazda said.

"We hav…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Friday issued a recall for fewer than 75 Mustang Mach-E crossovers with defective subframe bolts, adding another hiccup for the launch of one of its newest, high-profile vehicles.

The automaker said Friday that it was not aware of any accidents or injuries, but was calling back the electric crossovers because a supplier didn't properly tighten some bolts. Ford said roughly 94 percent of the 1,258 total affected vehicles in the U.S. and all 90 in Canada will be fixed before they reach customers. The automaker declined to give a specific number being recalled.

The news comes days after Ford promised to compensate roughly 4,500 Mach-E owners for delivery delays as some vehicles are held up by additional quality checks.

Ford said it planned to cover the first month's payment up to $1,000 and add 250 kilowatt-hours of free charging for 150 owners who have experienced multiple delivery delays. An additional 4,350 owners would receiv…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. told dealers this week that it would not lower their product allocations in response to a shortage of microchips used in vehicles and that there would be "no negative impact" to their retail business.

Andrew Frick, Ford's vice president of sales in the U.S. and Canada, said in a letter obtained by Automotive News that the automaker has faced a "very challenging" few months because of the chip shortage and recent severe winter weather that has resulted in multiple production disruptions for some of its most profitable vehicles. Frick said Ford expects the shortage to continue until at least midyear.

"The impact has been particularly significant on selected product lines, primarily F-150, Escape, Edge and EcoSport," he wrote. "While these vehicle lines represent most of our chip-related losses, there have been minor disruption on other lines."

Despite the unexpected downtime at plants around the globe, Frick said Ford planned …

General Motors kept its status as the top manufacturer for customer loyalty for the sixth-straight year in IHS Markit's Automotive Loyalty Awards program, while Ford Motor Co. again won major honors for loyalty to a specific make.

The awards are based on 12.4 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. in 2020.

GM's defense of the top spot stemmed from a 69 percent customer retention rate and the popularity of its utility and pickup lineups: Ninety-three percent of returning owners bought another GM utility vehicle or pickup in 2020, IHS Markit said.

Ford won its 11th consecutive award in the Overall Loyalty to Make category. The Ford brand's leadership in pickups helped foster a loyalty rate of 63 percent. IHS Markit noted customers were particularly loyal to the brand's F-Series trucks.

IHS Markit added a category this year that recognizes the ability to retain owners of hybrid or electric vehicles and convince them to purchase alternat…

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Daniel Weisman, chief innovation officer at Motion Auto Insurance, says car-sharing, ride-hailing services and enhanced driver-assist systems are changing the way vehicles are insured.

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Peugeot North America CEO Larry Dominique, who has been leading the French brand's planned return to the U.S. after a 30-year absence, has been named the North America head of Alfa Romeo.

The move, announced Friday, is part of a global reorganization of the Italian brand. Alfa and Peugeot are now part of Stellantis, the company created by the January merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group.

Dominique has been leading Peugeot's planned U.S. return for four years. Part of his charge has been to create a distribution channel that would shun expensive stores and emphasize the use of technology to offload some consumer-facing services such as scheduling vehicle delivery and pickup.

It's unclear what the appointment means for Peugeot's U.S. comeback.

That return was complicated by PSA's December 2019 agreement to merge with FCA. And just before the completion of the merger two months ago, Carlos Tavares -- the former PSA chief who no…

A group of unsecured lenders to Hertz Global Holdings Inc. are proposing an alternative reorganization of the rental car company that would take it public, a move that counters a plan to sell the company to two investment funds for as much as $4.2 billion.

The lenders want to convert their holdings in the bankrupt company into shares of the reorganized company, which could be traded publicly, the people said. If Hertz’s board were to accept that plan, it would supersede a bid from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management to buy the company.

The group believes the Knighthead bid, which values Hertz at $4.85 billion, is too low, according to the people. Its members think Hertz has an enterprise value of $5 billion and would fetch more under their plan, one of the people said. The lenders have not submitted a formal proposal to Hertz and terms are still in flux, the people said.

In one scenario being discussed, Hertz’s shares would become publi…

A plunge in the stocks of EV makers and suppliers is lashing investors who plowed billions into the sector this year in a bid to surf one of Wall Street's hottest trends.

Tesla Inc. led this week’s drop in the auto sector that’s battered the holdings of funds focused on this part of the market. That’s  painful for traders who poured almost $2 billion into electric car and battery-focused exchange-traded funds in 2021, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Exchange traded fund assets in the segment had swelled to a record $4.6 billion before the selloff.

“Clearly electric vehicles are here to stay, but it’s less clear who the winners are going to be,” said Chris Grisanti, chief equity strategist at MAI Capital Management. “The market has been treating all these companies as if they are going to be winners, whereas we know that’s probably not going to be the case.”

A higher gear

Investors have been jumping in following the election of President …

WASHINGTON/SEOUL -- The U.S. International Trade Commission on Thursday criticized Ford Motor Co. for pursuing battery contracts with SK Innovation after evidence had emerged the South Korean electric vehicle battery maker misappropriated trade secrets from crosstown rival LG Chem.

The ITC last month sided with LG Chem in its trade secrets claims, issuing a limited 10-year exclusion order prohibiting imports into the U.S. of lithium-ion batteries by SK Innovation. It permitted SK to import components for domestic production of batteries for Ford's EV F-150 program for four years, and for Volkswagen of America’s MEB electric vehicle line for North America for two years.

In a redacted version of its full 96-page opinion Thursday, the ITC questioned why the second largest U.S. automaker had continued to pursue battery contracts with SK Innovation "after SK's misconduct in this investigation had come to light."

It said Ford had sought business with SK even a…

FRANKFURT -- The Volkswagen brand plans to more than double the share full-electric vehicles will have in its European sales by 2030, in a bid to accelerate the automaker's shift toward battery-powered cars.

Full-electric vehicles are expected to account for more than 70 percent of the brand's European vehicle sales by 2030, compared with a previous target of 35 percent, VW said on Friday as it unveiled its 'Accelerate' strategy.

"With Accelerate we are increasing the speed on our path to a digital future," said Ralf Brandstaetter, who heads the VW brand and also sits on VW Group's management board.

In the U.S. and China, the brand is targeting a market share of over 50 percent for full-electric vehicles by 2030, VW said, taking aim at rivals including Tesla Inc. to become the world's leader in electric vehicle production.

"Of all the major manufacturers, Volkswagen has the best chance of winning the race. While competitors are still in the middle…

MILAN -- Stellantis on Thursday announced distribution of the stake it still holds in supplier Faurecia to its shareholders.

Stellantis shareholders will decide on the distribution of the shares and up to 308 million euros ($368.46 million) raised from a previous equity sale in Faurecia, in a meeting on March 8, the group said in a statement.

The stake in Faurecia was previously held by the former PSA Group, which merged with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles earlier this year to create Stellantis.

The stake distribution was part of the deal between the two companies.

PSA initially held a 46 percent stake in Faurecia, but last year it said it sold a 7 percent stake, keeping the 308 million euros cash it raised for distribution to Stellantis shareholders after the merger completion.

Porsche's Taycan Cross Turismo full-electric station wagon is another step toward expanding the automaker's lineup, CEO Oliver Blume said.

"By 2025, half of all the new vehicles we will deliver will have an electrified drive, either fully electric or plug-in hybrid," Blume said in a statement announcing the launch of the Taycan Cross Turismo.

One in three of all vehicles Porsche delivered in Europe had an electric powertrain, Blume said. "With the Taycan Cross Turismo, we are taking another major step in this direction," he said.

The Taycan Cross Turismo is a more spacious version of the Taycan sedan that will broaden the Taycan line's appeal and help parent Volkswagen Group catch up with Tesla.

The wagon is 20mm taller than the Taycan sedan, or 30mm with the optional off-road package. It has adaptive air suspension as standard that can raise and lower the car to clear obstacles.

The extended roofline gives more headroom for rear-seat pass…