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Volkswagen Group plans to roll out its first fleet of self-driving test cars in Hefei, an eastern Chinese city that’s emerging as a hot spot for the nation’s electric vehicle ambitions.

Ten Audi E-trons, VW’s premium electric crossover model, will be deployed in the city’s Haiheng district in a community that’s home to about 400,000 people and about 50 miles of roads with intelligent vehicle-friendly infrastructure. Residents will be able to hail one of the Audis using a VW app.

“This is our first-ever pilot project in China” that seeks to link the automotive, electrical and digital worlds to the benefit of consumers, Volkswagen China Executive Vice President Weiming Soh said. The trial, dubbed Project Tiger, may be replicated in other cities although there isn’t any specific timetable, he said.

The venerable German group is doubling down on a market that’s struggling to revive from a coronavirus-induced slump. Electric vehicle sales in Europe exceeded C…

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.

Virginia Automobile Dealers Association CEO Don Hall says dealers need to embrace digital retailing, learn from disruptors, adopt new technologies and better meet customer demands to survive in the rapidly changing auto retail sector.

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Consumer accounts in forbearance declined across credit products for the first time during the monthslong coronavirus pandemic, credit bureau TransUnion said last week, an indication auto borrowers rolling out of financial hardship are landing on their feet.

Government stimulus programs and lender accommodation programs are largely responsible for the market's health, though Matt Komos, vice president of research and consulting at TransUnion, said economic stability remains tenuous as the pandemic rages on.

"It's a reassuring sign that delinquency levels have remained relatively low — especially as the percentage of consumers in financial hardship status has started to decline," Komos said in a statement.

The total percentage of auto accounts in financial hardship status — defined by factors such as a deferred payment, forbearance program, frozen account or frozen past-due payment — slid from 7.2 percent in June to 6.2 percent in J…

Porsche will freshen the Panamera with engine upgrades and a new hybrid variant.

The 2021 Porsche Panamera is expected to arrive in U.S. stores in spring 2021. Pricing was not disclosed.

The Panamera, which popularized the four-door coupe, takes on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Audi A8. Panamera sales totaled 2,055 through June, a 45 percent drop from the first six months of 2019.

The updated standard Panamera features a 2.9-liter twin-turbo engine that delivers 325 hp, replacing the previous 3.0-liter single-turbo engine.

The sporty Panamera GTS variant is powered by a twin-turbo V-8 that delivers 473 hp — a 20-hp increase from the current model.

Meanwhile, the top-of-the-line Panamera Turbo S has a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 that delivers 620 hp, up from the 550 hp cranked out by the current model. The 2021 model sprints from 0 to 60 mph, using Launch Control, in 2.9 seconds.

New variant

Porsche will introduce a new plug-in h…

Canadian auto supplier Magna International manufacturers some of the best seats in the industry, according to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Seat Quality and Satisfaction Study.

Magna finished an industry-leading first in three of seven categories, and second in a fourth. Lear Corporation and Bridgewater Interiors each won a pair of categories.

Magna earned top spot in the mass-market compact SUV segment for its seats in the Ontario-made Chevrolet Equinox; finished first in the luxury car division for seating in the BMW Z4; and topped the luxury SUV category with its seats in the BMW X6. It’s seating in the Ford Edge, also built in Ontario, finished second behind Bridgewater’s Honda Pilot seats in the mass-market midsize/large SUV category.

“Our secret to making sophisticated seating systems, like the optional one on the X6 with its 20-way power-adjustable multi-contour and massaging front seats? It’s all about designing with manufacturing in mind,” …

Automotive retailers along the northern Gulf Coast in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were preparing their dealerships for severe weather Monday. While Tropical Storm Marco has weakened, all eyes remain on Laura, which was upgraded to a hurricane Tuesday.

Dealer associations in the affected states said that several members opted to close their doors Monday.

Mississippi dealer Bobby Dalgo closed his Crown Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram-Fiat store Monday afternoon to allow his employees to prepare their homes for the storms.

Marty Milstead, president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association, said it was important for his members to "forget the cars and turn to the human element."

To the west, Louisiana dealers are "hoping for the best but expecting the worst," Will Green, president of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, told Automotive News.

"It's one of the realities of southern Louisiana — you have to be good at hurri…

NEW YORK -- Honda Motor Co. has agreed to pay $85 million to settle an investigation by 46 U.S. states into its use of defective Takata airbag inflators in its vehicles, according to a consent order made public on Tuesday.

The state probes are connected with the ongoing recalls of tens of millions of vehicles equipped with potentially defective Takata inflators that were sold by Honda and other major auto manufacturers over the past 20 years.

To date, more than 40 million U.S. vehicles equipped with 60 million defective Takata airbags have been recalled because the inflators can explode when deployed, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. At least 25 deaths around the world and nearly 300 injuries have been linked to faulty Takata inflators.

Worldwide, the Takata recalls cover about 100 million inflators among 19 major automakers, including Honda.

In January, Honda said it would recall an additional 2.7 million older U.S…

General Motors has temporarily enlisted salaried volunteers to build midsize pickups at its plant in Wentzville, Mo., until absenteeism improves or enough temporary workers and transfers arrive.

But the UAW strongly objects to GM's move, claiming that appointing salaried employees, rather than hourly UAW members, breaches the GM-UAW labor contract.

"We have strenuously objected to this violation of the contract," said UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg. "The local union has started the grievance process."

GM spokesman Jim Cain said the number of salaried workers on the line in Wentzville varies by week. Some weeks the total has exceeded two dozen, he said.

Coronavirus cases continue to climb in Missouri. The state has reported 35,563 new cases in the last month, according to Johns Hopkins.

Unless absenteeism improves, Cain said GM likely will need the volunteers until UAW workers can transfer to Wentzville from other plants and GM can hire more…

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.

Former megadealer Bernie Moreno says ''seismic changes'' have occurred in the dealership space within the past six months that have influenced his decision to get back into the car business.

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“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"…

I've noticed two things recently while browsing for a newer Jeep to replace my 2011 Liberty.

First: Used-vehicle inventory pressure seemingly has reached my local market. Two months ago, I could filter searches to a smaller radius around my home and yield eight or 10 vehicles matching my preferred model year and trim level. Now, the results turn up one or two. I have to expand my search by 20 or 25 miles to get a broader selection — which gives me more choices, yes, but doesn't fulfill my interest in finding a local dealership with which to build a service and sales relationship.

Second: The algorithms have found me. My browser knows I'm looking at cars. I don't know that I would call myself "in market" yet, but ads are popping up in multiple places. On news stories I read. On Hulu commercial breaks during reruns of NBC's "This Is Us." Even on the Yahtzee game I play on my smartphone. (That last one really caught my attention. It wasn't a national brand but rat…

After the historic sale of most of its stores and brand name to Asbury Automotive Group, Texas retailer Park Place Dealerships is now Avondale Group. Asbury finalized the purchase of Park Place on Monday, which will add an expected $1.7 billion in annual revenue for the public group.

Avondale is comprised of the remaining dealerships that Park Place founder Ken Schnitzer kept in the deal with Asbury, executives said Monday, as well as one store, Aston Martin Dallas, that was acquired before finalizing the new deal.

"We are thankful to both the Asbury and Park Place employees who have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to complete this transaction," Asbury CEO David Hult said in a statement. "The talent in both organizations and the resilience of the dealer model have put us in a position to become a stronger and more diversified company."

Pandemic conditions and issues with the public group's financing arrangements led Asbury to terminate in Marc…