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AutoNation Inc.'s adjusted net income from continuing operations soared on higher finance and insurance and new-vehicle gross profits, as the auto retail giant said it has a new chairman and has exited its holdings in online retailer Vroom Inc.

The nation's largest new-vehicle retailer said it has elected Rick Burdick, 69, a board member since 1991 and lead independent director since late 2018, as chairman of the board. The company said as part of its succession planning and previously announced strategy to separate the chairman and CEO roles that Burdick succeeds Jackson in the chairman role, effective Feb. 15. Jackson, 72, remains CEO of AutoNation and a board member.

AutoNation said last year that it plans to name a new CEO in early 2022, at which point Jackson would retire.

AutoNation, which in October 2018 had invested $50 million in Vroom, disclosed on Tuesday as part of its fourth-quarter earnings that during the quarter it sold 3.1 million share…

Ford Motor Co said Monday it has joined the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, which aims to promote use of third-party assessments of mining practices to protect human rights.

Ford said its planned investment in electric vehicles would increase the company's reliance on mined material, particularly related to production of EV batteries. As a part of the initiative, Ford would collaborate with brands across the industry to promote responsible mining.

IRMA provides third-party verification and certification of mining practices to protect human rights, communities and environment along the supply chain. Last year, German luxury automaker BMW joined the initiative.

AutoNation Inc. reported an 88 percent surge in quarterly adjusted profit on Tuesday as the largest U.S. auto dealership chain earned more per vehicle thanks to tight inventories and robust demand for SUVs, crossovers and trucks.

AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said on Tuesday the shortage in supplies of semiconductors "is significant, and manufacturers can't give us too much visibility" on how vehicle shipments will be affected. For now, Jackson said, "retailers are managing the situation through price."

Meanwhile, the company said Jackson gave up his 18-year role as chairman. AutoNation named Rick Burdick as chair to succeed Jackson, who remains CEO -- a job he’s held for much of the past 20 years. Burdick has been a director since 1991 and served as a partner for law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld until 2019.

Global auto sales have rebounded from the pandemic lows hit early last year as consumers increasingly prefer buying vehicles that pro…

TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. said it will suspend production at nine plants in Japan for several days this week because of supply disruptions from a weekend earthquake that rattled the country’s northeast.

The world’s biggest automaker said the interruption is caused by suppliers affected by the Saturday night quake. Toyota said it wouldn’t disclose which parts are affected or the suppliers.

But the parts are not semiconductors, spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said. That disclosure comes despite the fact that the global industry is facing a shortage of automotive microchips and the fact that a key semiconductor plant in Japan has reduced output due to the quake.

Toyota also declined to say how many units of output would be lost. The suspensions start as early as Feb. 17 at some plants and run through Saturday, February 20, at all the affected lines. Toyota is still considering when to resume operation after that.Toyota said the supply chain issues were not ex…

BorgWarner is expanding its electrification portfolio after signing an agreement to acquire Akasol, a maker of battery systems for commercial and off-road vehicles based in Darmstadt, Germany, at a value of 727 million euros ($880 million).

Under the terms of the agreement, a BorgWarner unit will initiate a voluntary public takeover of all outstanding shares of Akasol, at a price of 120 euros per share, a 23 percent premium to the three-month average price.

The transaction is expected to close toward the end of the second quarter, BorgWarner said in a statement on Monday.

BorgWarner shares rose 10 percent to $46.28 in premarket trading on Tuesday. Markets were closed during the holiday on Monday.

Akasol, initially set up in 1990, makes battery systems for buses, commercial and industrial vehicles as well as locomotives and ships. It buys lithium cells and adapts them to systems that are used by manufacturers such as Daimler and Volvo. Read more

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group says bad planning on the part of its suppliers has compounded a computer chip shortage blighting the global auto industry, claiming it gave ample notice that the coronavirus' hit to car production would be limited.

VW in December was the first automaker to warn of a chip supply crunch that has hit global automakers, forcing them to cut or halt production as the semiconductor industry struggles to keep up with a recovery in the car sector.

The company told its suppliers in April last year -- when much of global car production was idled due to the coronavirus pandemic --  that it expected a strong recovery in the second half of 2020, a VW executive, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

VW says it was made aware of the chip shortage by one of its suppliers at the end of November, but that that warning came too late.

"We have communicated our demand early on. We have passed on our forecasts which have confirmed …

Over the past 10 months, Apple has outfitted its latest iPad Pro and iPhone 12 with lidar sensors that enhance the camera capabilities in both devices. Even though the additions have nothing to do with the company's secretive self-driving vehicle program, the moves nonetheless elicited cheers from one Israeli auto-tech startup.

Opsys Tech has spent the past five years developing a particular kind of lidar for use in driver-assist and self-driving systems called VCSEL, which rhymes with 'pixel.' The company's founders are convinced Vertical Cavity Scanning Emitting Lasers offer advantages over conventional lidar, because they allow more emitters to be packaged on smaller chips and use less power overall.

When Apple started using the same type of lidar, Opsys Tech counted another key advantage — it can further compete on cost.

"By the time Apple finished saying to the world 'I need VCSELs for my phone,' everyone was building capacit…

TOKYO -- Renesas Electronics, a key supplier of automotive semiconductors, said it will restart production at its advanced chip plant in northeast Japan after an earthquake on Saturday cut power to the facility and shut it down.

A resumption of full output will, however, take a week, which could delay some shipments at a time when customers, particularly carmakers, are struggling with a global chip shortage.

"We will do what we can to ensure there is no disruption to supplies," a Renesas spokeswoman said.

The 7.3 magnitude tremor off Japan's northeast coast caused strong shaking at the Naka factory in Ibaraki Prefecture, which has the company's only cutting-edge 300-millimeter fabrication line.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned that aftershocks from the latest quake could last for several days.

In 2011, a deadly magnitude 9 quake shut the plant for three months. After that temblor, which killed 20,000 people and destroyed the …