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SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor swung to a 336 billion won ($297 million) net loss for the July-September quarter, as costs related to engine quality issues and recalls smashed what would otherwise have been strong earnings.

The automaker said it booked 2.1 trillion ($1.9 billion) won to cover charges related to engine defects that increased the risk of stalling and fire.

"Third-quarter results reflect engine-related provision expenses as the company took preemptive measures to ensure customer safety and cover any possible future increase in quality-related expenses," Hyundai said in a statement on Monday.

"We sincerely apologize to our shareholders and investors for having repeated quality cost issues over three quarters since 2018," an executive told an earnings briefing.

The years-long quality problems have cost Hyundai and its affiliate, Kia, nearly $5 billion and left the pair subject to a probe by U.S. authorities over the manner of their recalls. Read more

Even a pandemic can't stop the Wienermobile.

Oscar Mayer briefly sidelined its 300-hp frankfurters in the spring, but the company "decided that being a source of frivolity during trying times is part of its DNA," The New York Times reported last week. So all six Wienermobiles, most of which ride on a Chevrolet chassis with a 6-liter Vortec V-8 under the bun, are back on the road. Now they have masks, plenty of hand sanitizer and less harried schedules.

Hotdoggers, as the drivers are called, have begun spending about two weeks at each destination to reduce the likelihood of spreading the coronavirus along their route. They allow fewer fans to ride in the cab, but they still hand out wiener whistles and other promotional swag.

"As you can imagine, how can you not smile when you see a giant hot dog on wheels rolling down the road, even if it's just playing music and waving out the window? That brightens people's day," Ed Roland, senior …

When COVID-19 made in-person recruiting events impossible, Tom Masano Auto Group in Reading, Pa., got creative.

The group organized a career night this summer to seek out new employees. And it had plenty of positions to fill.

The group, 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia, consists of four operations: a Ford-Lincoln store, a Mercedes-Benz store, a BMW store and a used-vehicle supercenter. Despite the turmoil of the pandemic, the stores needed to recruit a business development center representative, sales specialist, service adviser, vehicle delivery specialist, commercial vehicle sales specialist and vehicle product specialist.

But Tom Masano formatted its June event differently from its usual semiannual recruiting events, which are typically chock-full of meet-and-greets, networking and refreshments. Instead, the gathering took place over Zoom, Kevin Pitts, general manager of BMW of Reading, told Automotive News.

The group advertised the event o…

<!--*/ */ /*-->*/ Somebody’s putting Kia on a fast track

Here's a statistic worth note: Since Kia began selling cars in the U.S. 27 years ago, in 1993, the brand has posted only three annual U.S. sales declines.

It even managed to avoid a drop in the Great Recession year of 2009. And while it will be down for this pandemic year, it's the only brand among the top 10 to limit its slip through September to single digits.

Kia does what it does quietly. Most of you reading this would be hard-pressed to name any U.S. employee. (Here are two: The CEO is Sean Yoon; sales VP is William Peffer.)

But there's one name you should know: Ho Sung Song.

The 58-year-old took over as president of the South Korean parent in April. But he began preparing for the job two years before.

Last week, in his first interview with Western media as president, Song talked with Automotive News about where he's taking Kia globally. He's on a five-yea…

Giovanni Circella, director of the 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program at UC Davis, discusses the institute’s studies of electrification, automation, and shared mobility, the role it plays in training mobility experts, and how the pandemic is changing the landscape.

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SHANGHAI — With the coronavirus outbreak largely contained since March in China, the local market for new passenger vehicles and light trucks has sustained growth for five straight months.

But there has been little to celebrate for American brands here. Except for Tesla, demand for U.S.-brand vehicles remains subdued, leaving many of their dealers struggling in the red.

The worst performer among them is Jeep. While China's overall market has returned to growth mode, Jeep sales are stuck in a downward spiral that began in 2018.

FCA Group now produces vehicles for only the Jeep brand in China. It assembles the gasoline and plug-in hybrid variants of the Grand Commander as well as the gasoline models of the Renegade, Compass and Cherokee at its joint venture with GAC Motor Co.

In September, Jeep sales fell 36 percent from a year earlier to 3,862, with year-to-date volume plummeting 47 percent to 27,675, according to GAC…

The GMC Hummer EV, unveiled last week to fanfare and memories of the original gas guzzlers with the same badge, is more than an expensive showpiece. It's a crucial element of General Motors' plan to scale electric vehicle production.

The pickup is "going to lead to all the learnings from a battery standpoint, from a volume standpoint, from a build standpoint," GM President Mark Reuss told investors last week. "All of those lessons as we roll out this truck will be taken into every one of the old GM platforms."

Hummer also sets the tone for bringing EVs to fruition quickly. GM has said it will launch 20 EVs by 2023. It unveiled the Hummer pickup just 18 months after development work began, and that timetable will become the standard for GM vehicles, Hummer chief engineer Al Oppenheiser said.

"Our leadership has challenged us to bring the Hummer EV to market fast, using our analytical tools, our computer-aided engineering and less phy…

Volvo Car USA's newest crossover signals the next chapter of the Swedish automaker's evolution.

The 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge P8, arriving in U.S. stores early next year, is the awkwardly named vanguard of a portfolio of emissions-free models.

"Electrification by far is the highest priority in the company," Volvo Car USA CEO Anders Gustafsson told Automotive News last week.

Volvo's bet on electrification is bold: Make battery-powered vehicles account for half of its global sales by 2025, with the rest being hybrids. To get there, Volvo is adopting a two-step strategy: Push plug-in hybrids in the near term as the EV lineup — and customer adoption — evolves.

"We have decided to go in very strong with our PHEVs," Gustafsson said, noting Volvo commands a 23 percent share of plug-in hybrid sales in the U.S. luxury segment.

Volvo discontinued California sales of its T6 twin-turbocharged four-cylinder engine for the XC90 large crossover. Volvo now…

The streets of Miami and South Beach are filled with luxury and exotic vehicles. But few are Alfa Romeos. 

Breaking into the chic market has been an uphill slog for dealers since the Italian brand's U.S. return in 2014, and a group of Alfa Romeo dealers in the area have been working for more than a year on a Tier 2 advertising strategy to build awareness.

Their efforts contributed to a double-digit gain in Alfa's U.S. third-quarter sales and have created a blueprint that soon could be adopted by other stores in critical markets around the country.

The dealers' collaboration on a campaign that has received matching dollars from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has "gotten a lot of attention from the other markets," Scott Ritter, part owner of Planet Alfa Romeo in Miami, told Automotive News. "There's been other dealers that have looked and seen the growth down in our area in Miami and have asked people they know at the brand what's going on. I think that …

Automakers and tech companies have sought to cultivate the trust of consumers as they've developed and launched driver-assist systems that many consider a prelude to self-driving vehicles. Those efforts may be misguided.

Consumers often are confused by the performance capabilities and limitations of driver-assist systems, which can control some steering, acceleration and braking tasks. Motorists who place too much trust in these features may find themselves in potentially dangerous or deadly situations.

Instead of seeking trust, automakers should emphasize the collaborative nature of driver-assist features, says Matthew Young, director of research at Thatcham Research, an automotive safety agency based in the United Kingdom that develops repair methods and conducts crash tests.

"Automakers will ask me, 'Are you asking us to make these systems so the driver doesn't trust it?' and to some degree the answer is yes," he tells Automotive News. "You don't wan…

Used-vehicle values are cooling off, but prices as of mid-October still hovered nearly 10 percent above year-end 2019 levels.

For the week ended Oct. 17, wholesale vehicle prices at Manheim auctions were 9.7 percent higher than at the start of the year, and retail prices were 9 percent higher, according to Cox Automotive. But prices slipped for that week compared with the week before — down 0.6 percent for 2017 models at Manheim and down 0.2 percent at retail.

"Weekly price data continued to show used-vehicle prices falling," Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said last week.

The year took an abrupt turn from normalcy in March as the coronavirus spread rapidly in the U.S. and state and local governments issued stay-at-home orders. Many businesses had to close, even if temporarily, and automakers stopped vehicle production.

Vehicle auctions went all-digital or halted sales altogether. By the second week of Apr…