News

Renault CEO Luca de Meo warned that a global shortage in semiconductors could result in more plant closures and dent the French carmaker’s production this year.

Securing enough chips is “a daily fight,” de Meo said Friday when presenting the company’s full-year results. The semiconductor bottleneck is expected to peak in the second quarter and could shave 100,000 cars off Renault’s output this year, the company said. Renault sold 2.95 million vehicles in 2020.

Renault is the latest automaker to warn of lasting effects from the supply-chain snarls that are reverberating throughout the industry, idling factories and adding to damage from the pandemic. The French company has already idled plants in Europe and northern Africa this year.

General Motors has predicted the shortage will shave $1.5 billion to $2 billion off its adjusted earnings in 2021. Ford Motor Co. said first-quarter production could be cut by as much as a fifth and reduce adjusted earnings b…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Franchised new-vehicle dealers will face challenges amid a decade of general stability. Industry consultant Glenn Mercer outlines key findings from the latest ''Dealership of Tomorrow'' report.

How do I subscribe?Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify"Daily…

Fourth-quarter net income at Canadian supplier Magna International Inc. surged 68 percent from a year earlier due in part to better-than-anticipated vehicle production.

The company reported net income of $738 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with $440 million during the same quarter in 2019. Revenue rose 12 percent from a year earlier to $10.57 billion.

Earnings and sales came in ahead of expectations, Magna said, thanks to vehicle production in the quarter being “better than anticipated,” as well as “higher than anticipated equity income” and “strong operating performance.” Global light-vehicle production rose 4 percent from the year-earlier quarter, according to the supplier.

The results reflect the relative resilience of new-vehicle demand in key markets, including North America, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the second straight quarter in which Magna reported hundreds of millions of dollars in net income, after posting a $647 mill…

Kia's minivan is getting a complete makeover with a new name. And Kia won't be calling the new Carnival a minivan, officially.

Billed as a multipurpose vehicle, the 2022 Carnival is a replacement for the Sedona.

The new name aligns the U.S. with the rest of the world, where Kia's minivan has been sold as the Carnival. In 2020, Kia's midsize sedan, the Optima, was rebranded the K5 to match the name marketed elsewhere.

The Carnival will be unveiled Feb. 23 and will be the first vehicle in the U.S. to feature Kia's new logo and badging.

Kia said the Carnival MPV will push "the boundaries of design and innovation to become a multifaceted and unexpected companion."

Based on a preview image released by Kia, it will offer three rows of seating, room for seven or eight passengers and "bold and boxy" styling that resembles the brand's latest utility vehicles such as the Telluride, Sorento and Seltos.

The changes are designed to rema…

Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius said the success of the latest Denza crossover will determine the future prospects of the Chinese electric-car brand with partner BYD Co., following years of lackluster sales.

“The cash investment is behind us” for the model, Kallenius told reporters Thursday. “Now we look how Denza develops and then we’ll make decisions.”

Tepid demand for Denza’s EVs has raised concerns as the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars works to lift returns. BYD declined to comment.

Daimler and BYD established the brand a decade ago to tap growth in the Chinese new-energy vehicle market. While sales have taken off, fierce competition in price-sensitive volume segments is posing a challenge with regard to profitability.

“We hold the view that only EVs geared toward the higher end of the market makes economic sense,” Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said in a note.

Kallenius has taken a number of steps to overhaul the world’s largest…

WASHINGTON -- Ford Motor Co is recalling 153,000 older trucks that may have had obsolete Takata airbag modules installed in collision and theft repairs after the Takata recall was completed, the automaker said Thursday.

Ford identified 144,340 Ford Ranger trucks from the 2004-06 model years in the U.S. and about 8,800 in Canada that could have obsolete Takata parts. Ford said it could not locate 45 inflators that could have been installed and was recalling all of the vehicles "at the request of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration."

Ford also said Thursday it was separately recalling a group of 1,100 vehicles from the 2004-11 model years that may also have had obsolete Takata service parts.

Last month, Ford said it would comply with an earlier NHTSA request to recall 3 million vehicles with potentially defective driver-side Takata airbags and would take a $610 million charge.

NHTSA rejected a formal petition from Ford to avoid a…

Volkswagen Group's potential listing of Porsche would be another signal that the ongoing upheaval of the auto industry is picking up pace.

The German industrial giant and other incumbents have navigated a global pandemic far better than initially feared, posting robust profits and ample amounts of cash flow. Even still, their valuations are stubbornly low compared with Tesla Inc.

No automotive CEO has lamented this as openly and frequently as VW's Herbert Diess, who routinely makes headlines by emphasizing the urgency with which VW must move to transform itself. Exploring a Porsche listing is a nod to that need and will be a litmus test of sorts for its future.

"There's a loss of power due to the low valuation, which Diess has complained about in the past, and that's a significant disadvantage," said Bankhaus Metzler analyst Juergen Pieper. "An IPO of Porsche would be the silver bullet."

Porsche's appeal is obvious to investors.

Bloomberg …

TOKYO -- Honda said CEO Takahiro Hachigo will step down and will be succeeded by Toshihiro Mibe, the head of the automaker's research and development arm, on April 1.

Hachigo will remain on the board, Honda said in a statement on Friday.

Mibe, 59, joined Honda in 1987, with stints in engine development and the drivetrain business. He became the president of Honda's R&D unit in 2019, working with Hachigo to push through structural reforms.

Mibe's appointment comes as Honda races to catch up in the field of all-electric cars and faces competition from new entrants and tech giants such as Tesla, Apple and Amazon.

Traditionally known for its fuel-efficient internal-combustion engines, Honda launched the Honda e, its first mass-produced all-battery vehicle, last August. It has said it wants new-energy vehicles such as plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell cars to make up two-thirds of its sales by 2030.

During his six years as CEO, Hachigo so…

PARIS -- Renault posted its biggest full-year loss on record as restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus decimated car sales in its key market of Europe.

The automaker reported a net loss of 8 billion euros ($9.7 billion) for 2020, worse than the 7.85 billion euro-deficit forecast by analysts. Much of the damage was done during the first half, when lockdowns crippled auto shipments.

"2021 is set to be difficult given the unknowns regarding the health crisis as well as electronic components supply shortages," CEO Luca de Meo said in a statement on Friday. "The priority is profitability and cash generation."

Renault said business improved significantly during the final six months of last year, when it generated an operating margin of 3.5 percent and positive automotive operational free cash flow.

De Meo took over in July after his predecessor was ousted as part of the fallout from the arrest of former leader Carlos Ghosn. He is now push…

NEW DELHI/DETROIT --  Ford Motor Co. has frozen all projects it was working on with Mahindra & Mahindra while it finalizes a new India strategy, three people familiar with the U.S. automaker's plans told Reuters, weeks after the two companies called off their planned joint venture.

"The options could include working out a new relationship with Mahindra or ending the relationship and related vehicles completely," one of the people said.

The two other people said they expect Ford to make a decision in about a month on whether to proceed with Mahindra in a different form or not, adding Ford CEO Jim Farley wants to see a path to greater profitability in India.

Ford and Mahindra had proposed a joint venture to develop at least three utility vehicles for India and emerging markets, as well as share suppliers, powertrains and technology. The $275 million deal, which would have ended most of Ford's independent operations in India, was called off in Dec…

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power, discusses the firm's latest U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study. He says the industry performed well overall, with a 10 percent reduction in problems reported from last year.

How do I subscribe?Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to sub…