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SHANGHAI -- Geely plans to use a platform developed with input from Volvo to build new models in Malaysia for its partly owned Proton brand, a strategy that shows how it aims to accelerate a push to become China's first global auto giant.

The yet-to-be-finalized plans for Proton are just one strand of a Geely project to revamp factories at home and abroad using joint platforms it has been perfecting with Volvo since 2013. Geely bought the Swedish brand 10 years ago for $1.8 billion -- a deal that raised its international profile and sent shock waves through the global auto industry.

Senior Geely officials and engineers told Reuters that a project dubbed Compact Modular Architecture will allow them to develop, design and build different types of compact cars with similar mechanical layout faster than before -- and at lower cost.

They said CMA, along with a platform for smaller cars known as B-segment Modular Architecture that Geely plans to roll out for …

NHTSA has opened a preliminary evaluation to assess the cause of interior fires in model-year 2014 Chrysler Town & Country minivans.

The agency's Office of Defects Investigation received three reports in which complainants allege "a fire started at the charge hub mounted in the trim panel located on the driver's side of the vehicle between the second- and third-row seating," according to a document filed by NHTSA on Thursday, Aug. 6.

One injury was reported. An estimated 150,000 vehicles could be affected.

"FCA is providing full cooperation to NHTSA," Eric Mayne, spokesman for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, said Monday in a statement to Automotive News. "Customers with concerns may contact their dealers."

The charge hub is an electrical device that can be used with certain smart devices. NHTSA said the charge hub was "the likely origin or starting point of the fire," but the cause has not yet been identified.

The federal office will evaluat…

Chinese electric-car startup Xpeng Motors has filed for a U.S. initial public offering, right behind rival Li Auto Inc., which raised $1.1 billion last month.

Filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday as XPeng Inc., the company listed the size of the offering as $100 million, a placeholder that will likely change.

EV makers have been enjoying a surge in investor interest after strong share price gains this year in Tesla Inc. and Nio Inc. Li Auto, which increased the size of its IPO, has since climbed 61 percent, more than tripling its valuation prior to the listing.

Guangzhou-based XPeng recently closed its latest funding round for a total of $900 million, according to its filing. The Qatar Investment Authority put in $100 million while Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala invested another $100 million, the company said in the prospectus. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. also contributed $215 million, boosting its investment in Xpeng.

China is t…

From mid-March through May, the dealership buy-sell market came essentially to a standstill. Over the past few weeks, we have seen an ever-increasing pace of transactions, whether these were picking up where things left off in March or were simply buyers exploring new deals. While most of us are trying to restore as much pre-COVID-19 normalcy to our lives as possible, I would exercise caution as it relates to valuations of dealerships.

There are plenty of influencing factors that are working to compel us to believe that the economic outlook of dealerships today is the same as it was in February, before the pandemic. We do not have to look further than the stock markets to see this school of thought play out. This also includes dealership brokers who are working hard to hold the line on the optimistic recovery of the economy and the perceived scarcity of available dealerships while justifying high valuations.

Individuals are pointing to stronger-than-expected …

DETROIT — Jim Farley's gambit at the outset of the Great Recession to leave a flourishing career at Toyota Motor Corp. to help save a foundering Ford Motor Co. has paid off: In less than eight weeks, he'll become CEO.

While Ford is nowhere near the precarious position it was in when Farley moved from Southern California to Michigan at the end of 2007, the 58-year-old will enter the chief executive's office Oct. 1 with much to fix.

He inherits a company that remains out of favor on Wall Street with a balance sheet weighed down by legacy warranty costs and the effects of an $11 billion global restructuring begun by his predecessor. After Ford botched the rollout of the Explorer in 2019, Farley will have to execute flawless launches of four of the automaker's most highly anticipated vehicles in recent memory.

He'll also have to continue navigating a changing industry and fend off new rivals aiming to dethrone Ford's most profitable vehicle line — F-Series …

Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Automotive News “Future Product Pipeline” series.

BMW plans to keep its foot on the product-development accelerator over the next few years as the performance automaker looks to maintain its sales lead over rival Mercedes-Benz.

BMW is launching 12 products this year, including a new 2 Series Gran Coupe, a redesigned 4 Series and updated plug-in hybrids.

The automaker believes it has the correct mix of cars and crossovers and is out to gain market share.

Next year will be a big year for BMW's transition to EVs. The automaker will begin production of the iNext crossover and i4 battery-electric sedan as part of a global effort to have 25 electrified models (half of which will be full electric) on the road by 2023. In the future, the X1 crossover and the 5 Series and 7 Series sedans are expected to get all-electric powertrains.

Consumer expectations and technology limitations, however, are headwi…

DETROIT — Redesigned Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans are making their way to dealerships just as General Motors could use a boost to its bottom line and many of its retailers have run low on inventory during the pandemic.

"Next to the pickup trucks, [large SUVs] generate the highest profits for General Motors, which it desperately needs right now as we hopefully come out of the pandemic and to provide money to invest in future products and future technologies," said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Autotrader.

Production of the redesigned 2021 Tahoe and Suburban started in June, shortly after GM's eight-week shutdown of North American production. GM retooled the Arlington, Texas, plant that builds its large SUVs during the closure. The company began shipping Tahoes to dealerships in June and Suburbans in late July.

The Tahoe and Suburban are two of GM's most lucrative and oldest nameplates. The profits they generate are helping fund GM's investment …

Editor’s note: This story is part of the annual Automotive News “Future Product Pipeline” series.

Audi's expansion of its battery-electric lineup will begin next year and will continue for at least the next four years as the German luxury brand adds battery-powered, all-wheel-drive sport sedans, crossovers and perhaps even supercars.

Over that period, however, Audi intends to add mild hybrids to many of its existing turbocharged models, boosting power and fuel efficiency. The brand also promises that future BEVs will have a more competitive range than its first offering, the E-tron, which debuted last year.

To do so, Audi is developing vehicles from Volkswagen and Porsche electric architectures for its future offerings.

A3/S3/RS 3: The redesigned 2021 A3 sedan's U.S. arrival was delayed by the COVID-19 outbreak and related production shutdowns. The sedan and its derivatives debuted this summer in Europe but won't be in North America until the se…