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Laura Schwab, who left her job as Aston Martin's president of the Americas in mid-November, has been named vice president of sales and marketing at Rivian, a new position at the company.

Schwab, 47, began Monday from Rivian's office in Irvine, Calif.

Her arrival comes at a crucial time as Rivian moves from a startup to a revenue-generating company. Rivian's order books are now open. Customers who placed deposits on the company's electric pickup and SUV, the R1T and R1S, can now configure their vehicles and finalize their purchases. Deliveries for the R1T are expected to begin in just over six months. The R1S is scheduled to arrive in August.

"Laura’s such an exciting addition to our Rivian team," the company said in a statement. "Her experience in deploying rich and truly personal sales and ownership experiences for customers is a key asset for Rivian as we prepare to deliver our vehicles next summer.”

Rivian's plant in Normal, Ill., is …

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation on Wednesday released a four-year action plan to guide federal policies and advance the testing and deployment of automated vehicles in the U.S.

The auto trade group's AV policy road map makes 14 recommendations under three pillars that "reform regulations to allow for AV deployment at scale, harmonize federal, state and international policies and lay the foundation to achieve longer term objectives."

Specifically, the alliance is recommending the U.S. Department of Transportation, Congress and state governments, where applicable:

Create a vehicle class within the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for AVs. Clarify the applicability of the "make inoperative" prohibition for vehicles that are equipped with selectable AV features. Establish a national pilot program for AV testing and deployment. Improve the exemption petition process by issuing guidance that specifies what data is required as part of the application.…

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.

Moran Price, CEO of electric powertrain supplier IRP Systems, discusses the pandemic's impact on micromobility solutions such as e-bikes and scooters. Plus, why micromobility is key to the mass adoption of EVs.

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The Hyundai Motor Group’s new EV platform promises ranges up to 310 miles, sports-car level acceleration and supreme design flexibility, starting next year.

The South Korean auto group’s so-called e-GMP, short for electric global modular platform, was unveiled on a video conference from Seoul on Tuesday, with executives and engineers rattling off a litany of specifications.

For starters, the system has been developed to achieve long-range, dynamic driving and low-energy consumption. Its rear-wheel and all-wheel drive layouts, with wheels pushed to the edges, accommodates a range of body types, from sedans and crossovers to performance cars.

The system, which gets an all-new battery and motor, can cover 0-100 kph (0-62mph) in less than 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 260 kph (161mph), Hyundai said. The new vehicles can drive up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) on a full battery, which can recharge to 80 percent in 18 minutes.

The new platform will be …

Lawyers for former Reynolds and Reynolds CEO Bob Brockman want a judge to move the federal tax evasion and wire fraud case against him to his home state of Texas, citing Brockman's declining health as a factor.

A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 15 to consider a motion Brockman's lawyers filed Monday formally requesting a change of venue from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where the government's 39-count indictment against Brockman was filed, to the Southern District of Texas. Brockman, 79, lives in Houston. A court hearing held Tuesday did not materially address Monday's transfer-of-venue motion but instead focused on a narrower request filed earlier.

Brockman stepped down last month from his post as chairman and CEO of Reynolds and Reynolds, a privately held dealership management system provider in Dayton, Ohio, following his indictment in October. Prosecutors allege he created an elaborate offshore scheme over two decades to ev…

Sonic Automotive Inc. CEO David Smith will plead not guilty to charges including felony assault by strangulation related to an alleged October incident with a 22-year-old woman in Charlotte, N.C., his lawyer told Automotive News.

Smith on Tuesday waived his probable-cause hearing in Mecklenburg County District Court in which Smith's lawyer, George Laughrun, appeared on Smith's behalf, Jessica Davis, public information officer in the Mecklenburg County trial court administrator's office, wrote in an email to Automotive News.

Defendants have rights to probable-cause hearings, which are used to determine if there is probable cause to believe a crime was committed and if the defendant is believed to be the one who committed the crime. The waiver of the hearing is often procedural and does not equate to any admission of guilt.

The case will move to Mecklenburg County Superior Court because one of the charges against Smith is a felony, Davis said. His next cou…

WASHINGTON -- A group representing major automakers on Tuesday vowed to work with President-elect Joe Biden on efforts to reduce vehicle emissions even as the industry remains split over an effort to bar California from setting rules.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing General Motors, Volkswagen Group, Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and most major automakers, said after a meeting Tuesday that it "looks forward to engaging with the incoming Biden administration ... to advance the shared goals of reducing emissions and realizing the benefits of an electric future."

“The long-term future of the auto industry is electric," Alliance CEO John Bozzella said in the statement. "We are investing hundreds of billions to develop the products that will drive this electric future, and we are committed to working collaboratively to realize the unprecedented change in infrastructure, consumer support, and grid resiliency that will be required to make our …

FRANKFURT -- Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that electricity consumption will double if the world's vehicle fleets are electrified, increasing the need to expand nuclear, solar, geothermal and wind energy generating sources.

Increasing the availability of sustainable energy is a major challenge as cars move from combustion engines to battery-driven electric motors, a shift that will take two decades, Musk said in a talk hosted by Berlin-based publisher Axel Springer.

"It will take another 20 years for cars to be fully electric. It is like with phones, you cannot replace them all at once," Musk said in a talk streamed on the Bild.de web site, adding that around 5 percent of vehicles are replaced every year.

Once EVs become the norm, electricity from intermittent generating energy sources such as wind and solar will need to be stored, probably through battery technology, he said.

"Together with large battery packs, both…

Audi of America has named a former Toyota executive who created a tech startup that sought to introduce the concept of trade-ins to the fashion industry as its new vice president for strategy and new business.

Sara Whiffen, 47, will begin immediately in the newly created role, reporting to Audi of America President Daniel Weissland, the brand said.

The strategy position was created under a management reorganization begun this year when Thiemo Rusch was named senior vice president of sales operations, and former COO Cian O'Brien moved to a different executive spot with Volkswagen Group in his native United Kingdom. In November, the brand named its chief communications officer, Tara Rush, as its new chief marketing officer. That move is effective Tuesday.

Whiffen, a former managing director with Toyota Motor North America, was the founder and CEO of Rohvi, a tech startup that sought to introduce the concept of strategic sustainability and trade-ins to fash…