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WASHINGTON -- More than a dozen business groups representing automakers, medical device makers and manufacturers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday calling on him to work with U.S. lawmakers to provide federal funding for the construction of new chip factories.

The groups, which include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as well as industry-specific associations representing General Motors, Caterpillar Inc. and Medtronic PLC, among others, sent the letter as a shortage of semiconductors continues to disrupt U.S. automobile factories and threatens to lower the automakers' profits by billions of dollars.

A group of chipmakers last week sent a similar letter. Congress authorized programs last year to provide subsides for chip research and factory construction, but U.S. lawmakers still need to provide specific funding for the program.

"To be competitive and strengthen the resilience of critical supply chains, we believe the U.S. needs to incentivize …

Toyota Motor North America said it will invest $210 million into its engine and transmission plant in Buffalo, W.Va., to expand production of I-4 engines there, adding 100 jobs and a third shift at the plant.

The additional production capacity is expected to begin in the second half of 2022, and the added jobs will bring employment at the plant near Charleston, W.Va., to more than 2,000, the automaker said in a Thursday statement.

The investment will be used to upgrade the plant's current six-cylinder production line with additional equipment and machinery to make it more flexible, the automaker said. The additional jobs will allow the plant to boost engine production for the RAV4 by 5,900 engines per month.

The 25-year-old plant was originally championed by former U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., through his longtime friendship with the Toyoda family.

The plant annually produces nearly 1 million engines and transmissions for vehicles assembled…

BEIJING -- Search engine giant Baidu and automaker Geely hired Mobike co-founder and former chief technology officer Xia Yiping as CEO of their new electric vehicle venture, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Baidu last month announced it would set up a company with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to leverage its intelligent driving capabilities and Geely's car manufacturing expertise.

On Thursday, Baidu CEO Robin Li said they had appointed a CEO for the venture, without disclosing the name. He also said they had decided on a brand and would try to launch a new EV model in around three years.

The sources declined to be named as the information was not yet public. Baidu declined to provide immediate comment while a Geely spokesman said he was not familiar with the appointment. Xia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xia served as Mobike's chief technology officer until the company was acquired by food delivery gian…

Volkswagen Group is considering a separate listing of its Porsche sports car brand in a deal that could boost its valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.

VW is speaking with advisers to study the merits of a potential initial public offering or spinoff of Porsche, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.

VW could use any proceeds from a listing for acquisitions or technological investments, according to the people.

A listing of Porsche could take place next year, though no firm timetable has been decided, the people said.

VW plans to keep a majority stake if it pursues an IPO of the business, according the people.

Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said. VW declined to comment.

Citing company insiders, Manager Magazin reported earlier Thursday that VW is weighing a listing of Porsche in a move that could raise 20 bil…

PARIS -- Nissan will lift recent investments in its British plant to more than 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in the next few years as it rolls out greener technology such as its e-Power full hybrid drivetrain, the company said as it showcased its latest Qashqai car on Thursday.

The automaker decided in 2016 to build the vehicle in Britain at its Sunderland factory in what was seen as a key vote of confidence just months after the Brexit referendum raised uncertainty over its trading relationship with the European Union.

On Christmas Eve last year London and Brussels struck an agreement that allows for tariff-free trade as long as local content thresholds are met.

Nissan said in January it would source more batteries in Britain as a result, and on Thursday its Europe boss Gianlucca de Fichy told reporters it planned further investment.

"We've invested over 400 million pounds so far in our English factory, and we are planning over the coming years…

BERLIN -- Robert Bosch will work with Microsoft on a software platform for vehicles, the German supplier said Thursday.

By using cloud technology, the software platform will ensure that vehicles' control units and computers can get software throughout their lifetime, Bosch said in a statement.

The technology is based on Microsoft Azure and includes software modules from Bosch, the supplier said, adding that they plan to use the software platform in vehicle prototypes by the end of 2021.

"We are thus creating the conditions for wireless updates to work just as smoothly and conveniently on vehicles as they do on smartphones," said Bosch Managing Director Markus Heyn.

The companies will also cooperate to adapt existing software tools to let automakers and suppliers simplify and accelerate their own software updates.

Last week Volkswagen Group announced a similar cooperation with Microsoft to use its cloud computing services to help it streamli…

The American International Automobile Dealers Association has named Richmond, Ky.-based auto dealer Steve Gates as its 2021 chairman.

Gates, 69, was appointed to the position during the association's annual meeting Wednesday — held virtually this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. He succeeds Jason Courter, who is CEO of Honda Auto Center of Bellevue and Honda of Kirkland in Washington.

Gates is a third-generation dealer who owns Gates Auto Family, which operates dealerships in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. The dealer group sells Audi, Ford, Lincoln, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Nissan and Toyota vehicles.

"Becoming chairman of AIADA is by far the biggest honor I've ever received," Gates said in a statement. "I can promise you that day in and day out I will do everything I can for this industry and AIADA. I'm excited and ready to go."

As chairman, Gates said he plans to focus on getting dealers more involved in AIADA — the main trade asso…

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.

Damon Lester, president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers, talks about the organization's efforts to increase the number of minority-owned dealerships across the states. He explains the challenges of keeping the ethnic dealer count up and the role automakers play in advancing racial diversity.

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Sonic Automotive Inc.'s record revenue, coupled with record finance and insurance gross profits, strong new-vehicle gross profits and more used-vehicle sales through its used-only EchoPark stores, helped boost its fourth-quarter earnings.

Revenue for the nation's sixth-largest new-vehicle retailer rose 1.8 percent to an all-time quarterly record $2.8 billion. Net income rose 24 percent to $57.34 million.

Net income from continuing operations also rose 24 percent to $57.5 million.

"Our fourth quarter and full year 2020 results reflect the continued strength and resilience of both our EchoPark and franchised dealership segments, a significant rebound in customer activity and increasing demand for both new and used vehicles during the second half of the year, as well as fundamental improvements in our operating cost structure," Sonic President Jeff Dyke said Wednesday in a statement. "These trends have continued into early 2021."

Sonic's EchoPark use…

In the 1967 film The Graduate, recent college grad Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, is famously given a one-word description of the future: plastics.

North Carolina auto dealer John Hiester has a similar one-word suggestion for his peers as they prepare for a battery-electric vehicle future: rubber.

"I've done a lot of research on what this shop facility looks like 10 years from now," Hiester said of his fixed ops department. "So, tires. Tires aren't going to change. Cars are still going to be on rubber, and they're still going to use them like crazy.

"So if you're a dealer, you need to be in the tire business sooner rather than later."

Hiester, who was recently profiled in Automotive News for his idea to buy 19 classic cars in need of repair to keep his techs busy during the early days of the pandemic, said he realizes BEVs will not need as much maintenance as traditional gasoline vehicles. In fact, a recent McKinsey & Co. study …