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Shift to EVs would reduce public health costs by billions, lung association says

The traffic ceased. The skies cleared.

Even with all the tumult wrought by the coronavirus, one of the ancillary effects of the crisis was its contribution to improved air quality in major cities across the world. As commuters stayed home, their vehicles stopped spewing pollutants.

In March, Los Angeles, for example, experienced its longest stretch of “good” air days in at least four decades, per data maintained by the EPA. Not engulfed in a brown haze, residents could see for miles.

In many cities, the opportunity to experience life with cleaner air brought greater scrutiny of the costs of living with smog and pollution and of transportation's contribution to the problem.

A first-of-its-kind report issued this week by the American Lung Association details those societal ramifications, and importantly, says $72 billion in public-health benefits can be achieve…

Now it's official: The 2021 Mazda CX-30 crossover arriving late this year will add an optional turbocharged engine that delivers a significant bump in power over the 2020 model. Mazda says all-wheel drive will be standard with the turbo engine, a 2.5-liter 16-valve double-overhead-cam four-cylinder.

When fueled with premium gasoline, the turbocharged engine is rated at 250 hp; on regular, horsepower drops to 227. The 2020 CX-30, powered by a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder, is rated at 186 hp.

Other upgrades include Smart City Brake Reverse Support, which automatically applies the brakes at low speeds when the driver is reversing and sensors detect an object in the way. Traffic Jam Assist uses the steering system to help the driver stay within lane markers at speeds slower than 40 mph.

No word yet on trim levels, pricing or fuel economy. The all-wheel-drive 2020 CX-30 has a base price of $24,400, which includes a $1,100 …

Volkswagen has confirmed that its new subcompact crossover will be called the Taos in the U.S. and says it will reveal the vehicle Oct. 13.

Automotive News reported the name Monday in a story on the brand's future product plans. A spokesman for the brand said the subcompact crossover — which will slot below the Tiguan in price — will carry the Taos name in markets across the Western Hemisphere.

"It was important to choose a name that really embodied the nature of the car and the town of Taos, New Mexico was a perfect fit. It's a small city that offers big things — from outdoor adventure to arts and design and great cuisine," Hein Schafer, senior vice president for product marketing and strategy for Volkswagen of America, said in a written statement Thursday.

Taos is a town of 6,000 residents with a world-class ski resort, and it is home to the Rio Grande Gorge and a 1,000-year-old Native American community.

The Taos (pronounced tous), which is bel…

Editor's note: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated the number of U.S. Audi dealers. 

Silvercar — the wholly owned Audi subsidiary that has been the German premium brand's platform to experiment with mobility solutions — is expanding a partnership with Audi dealerships in several U.S. metros that will make on-site Audi rentals available.

So far, nine of Audi's 302 U.S. dealers have opted into the program, which began in July, said Stephan Zeh, head of Audi Mobility Services. He said he expects the number of participating dealers to more than double by the end of this year. Most are in locations where Silvercar had an existing presence operating its subscription or rental programs, including Dallas; Seattle; Denver; Henderson, Nev.; Charlotte, N.C.; Costa Mesa, Calif.; and three cities in Florida. However, Zeh said the rental program would be available across Audi's dealer network over time and that dealers could be up and running in as litt…

Retailers in Alabama and Florida were facing power outages and 80 mph winds after Hurricane Sally made landfall early Wednesday.

One dealer in Pensacola, Fla., was able to move inventory but experienced winds of more than 100 mph during the storm, said Ted Smith, president of the Florida Automobile Dealers Association.

In Alabama, two dealers were unable to assess damage to their stores because of fallen trees blocking their route.

"They think they are going to be OK," said Tom Dart, president of the Automobile Dealers Association of Alabama. He said the storm hit farther east than anticipated, which spared dealerships in the Mobile Bay area.

Dealerships in Pascagoula, Miss., in the eastern part of the state toward the Alabama line, were reporting little to no cleanup in the area.

"We pretty much dodged a bullet on this," said Marty Milstead, president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association.

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ChargePoint Inc., one of the world's oldest and largest electric vehicle charging networks, is nearing a deal to go public through a reverse merger with Switchback Energy Acquisition Corp, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The deal for ChargePoint could value the company at more than $2 billion and be announced as early as next week, the people said, cautioning that talks could still collapse and terms may still change.

The people requested anonymity as the matter is private. ChargePoint declined to comment. Switchback did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Campbell, Calif.,-based ChargePoint, founded in 2007, last month closed on a $127 million funding round which valued the company at $1.37 billion, according to PitchBook data.

ChargePoint has attracted funding from both private venture investors and large strategic investors, including German automakers Daimler and BMW and the venture arm of oil company Chevron Co…

DETROIT — Cadillac on Wednesday told its 880 U.S. dealers that they will need to invest at least $200,000 each on electric vehicle chargers, tooling and training to continue selling the brand's vehicles beyond 2022.

The brand plans to launch its first EV, the Lyriq crossover, in late 2022, and have a fully electric lineup by the end of the decade.

"Now's really the time to start engaging with our dealers in preparation for that," Rory Harvey, vice president of Cadillac sales, service and marketing, told Automotive News. "There's a lot of planning that has to be put in place to make sure they're absolutely ready."

Harvey communicated the required investment to dealers in a video Wednesday morning. Brand officials have been discussing the company's product plan and implications of an all-EV lineup with dealers during regional events and at this year's National Automobile Dealers Association convention.

Cadillac worked closely with its dealer council…

For the past several months, I have devoted a lot of this space to the coronavirus — how it has affected service departments and what fixed ops folks have done to persevere.

Now, I want to tell you about how the pandemic has affected our efforts to bring you the third annual Fixed Ops Journal Forum and how we have shifted gears. Plans were underway to host the event in October in Nashville when the pandemic changed things. We now feel the safest and most effective way to provide insights is to present them virtually.

Beginning at 2 p.m. Eastern time Oct. 8 and continuing each Thursday for the following four weeks, we will bring you presentations and discussions on innovations and the latest thinking. Our theme is "Moving Forward in the Year of the Pandemic," and much of the discussion will center on how dealership fixed operations can lessen the impact the virus has had on business by sharing best practices from industry leaders.

Our series kicks off wit…

Many auto dealerships drastically cut back their overall ad spending during the springtime COVID-19 lockdowns as a way to preserve as much of their bottom line as possible. After all, the annual pace of sales fell sharply to 8.47 million in April, down from the 17.05 million level it was pacing just a few months earlier.

However, dealerships were one of the earliest segments of business to embrace a message of widespread cleanliness and contactless business operations, and this helped them see quick recoveries by late spring.

This swift response helped dealerships gain the confidence and trust of many people who needed to service their vehicles even during the height of the stay-at-home executive orders in many parts of the country.

This strategy has paid off considerably, especially as the focus of dealership business has turned to maintaining existing vehicles and the sale of used cars and trucks that require ongoing and regular i…

A new player is entering the vehicle-listings market, with plans to send no-cost customer leads to dealerships and help car shoppers understand vehicles' resale values.

CarEdge, which formally launched this year, intends to offer consumers data about vehicle depreciation, including rankings and model comparisons, Scott Baker, the company's president, told Automotive News. The site will combine its vehicle research with active listings, and Baker said CarEdge will send customer leads generated from those listings to dealerships for free. Those leads are being distributed beginning this week.

CarEdge grew out of a previous vehicle-research website, UsedFirst.com, started in 2017 by Baker's business partner and CarEdge co-founder, Jeremy Hepler. The pair plan to add more information to CarEdge about cost of ownership, including maintenance, repair and insurance, Baker said.

CarEdge has received capital investment from high-wealth indivi…

As vehicle sales fell sharply in the second quarter amid coronavirus pandemic conditions, the amount of subprime consumers originating auto loans slipped to its lowest recorded level, credit bureau Experian said this month.

Melinda Zabritski, senior director at Experian Automotive, said subprime market shares have contracted for years after peaking in 2013. COVID-19 conditions likely expedited the pullback, particularly in the new-vehicle market.

"Second quarter being what it was ... the impact of quite a few people with lower credit scores being impacted a little bit more with unemployment rates, and just simply not being able to even shop in the current conditions," Zabritski said.

New light-vehicle sales across the U.S. declined 33 percent during the second quarter, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Subprime customers made up 22.2 percent of auto loans, new and used, originated in the second quarter for …