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About $2,500 in Ford Motor Co. stock is among the ethical concerns prompting a Republican senator to call for an investigation of U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Granholm told the U.S. Senate's energy committee that she recently learned her husband owned the Ford shares, which he sold in May. She testified in an April budget hearing that she did not own any individual stocks.

In a June 9 letter to the committee's chairman, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Granholm said she also should have disclosed stock she owned in six companies that agency ethics officials had determined to be "nonconflicting assets."

"I should have said that I did not own any conflicting stocks," Granholm wrote.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., responded by asking the Department of Energy's inspector general to examine "multiple instances of questionable ethical conduct since the start of her tenure" in 2021.

Granholm championed Ford and other Michigan automotive compani…

Lithia Motors Inc. last week took a significant step toward reaching its expectation to add $4 billion in revenue in 2023 via acquisitions, with the purchase of 14 franchised dealerships from Dennis Ellmer of Priority Auto Group in Virginia.

The June 12 Priority Auto acquisition, which included domestic, import and luxury brands, is expected to add $1.2 billion in annual revenue, Lithia said. The auto retail giant said it has acquired dealerships representing $3.2 billion in annual revenue so far in 2023, most of which stems from its March purchase of Jardine Motors Group in the United Kingdom.

Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer told Automotive News this month that the auto retailer "should come in around $4 billion" of added revenue in 2023 and that its acquisitions under contract were all in the U.S.

That would mean Lithia has to acquire dealerships representing about $800 million more in revenue this year.

"This deal seems in line with management's stra…

This month, the Detroit auto show beat back whispers of its potential demise with a bold press release promising that September's event would have "double the number of brands participating."

While it was good to get confirmation of the Motor City's 2023 exhibition, the participation claim was dubious on the face of it. Upon further investigation, it's simply not true.

Last year, there were 14 in-market auto brands with corporate displays: Six from Stellantis, four from GM, Ford's two, plus Toyota and Subaru, both of which brought their B stands rather than their best-in-class A stands. For some reason, show organizers say they had 13 brands last year.

In either case, those numbers aren't doubling, not with actual brands that are sold in the United States through dealerships.

(While some car enthusiasts would enjoy seeing Tesla, Rivian and other direct-to-consumer electric vehicle brands, it isn't really in the inter…

While car dealerships often lean on their service and parts businesses to maintain profitability, the technicians who do the work can sometimes go unnoticed, overshadowed by a greater focus on vehicle sales.

Richmond Ford Auto Group in Virginia was looking to level out the imbalance by recognizing its nearly 60 technicians with individualized banners that hang over each service bay highlighting their expertise and accomplishments.

"In the technician world, they feel a little bit invisible because we celebrate sales all of the time," said Kayla Kody, vice president of business development at Richmond Ford Auto Group. "This definitely showed them, 'We are paying attention to you. Yes, you are important. You drive our business.' "

The group, which includes three stores, a collision center and a commercial truck center, sold 2,239 new and 1,847 used vehicles in 2022, and had more than 55,000 customer repair orders.

The ban…

California auto dealerships have quickly reacted to comply with a new state guaranteed asset protection crackdown by cutting the price of the coverage and selling it less frequently on vehicles with smaller loans, data from Informed.IQ shows.

Assembly Bill 2311 became law in September and took effect Jan. 1, according to Informed.IQ. The bill bans sales of the on California car loans financing less than 70 percent of a vehicle's value or more than the guaranteed asset protection, also known as GAP, would cover. It caps the price of the remaining permitted sales at 4 percent of the amount the borrower finances.

The average new-vehicle loan financed $41,445 during the fourth quarter of 2022, while the average used-vehicle loan involved $27,768, according to Experian.

Deals with loan- to-vehicle-value ratios above the loan-to-value ratio limit in the guaranteed asset protection policy would still be permitted if buyers are notified "in writing, acknowledg…

Striking workers at a Constellium aluminum parts plant near Detroit and a Clarios battery plant near Toledo both ratified new contract agreements Friday.

Union members at the Constellium plant in Van Buren Township, Mich., represented by UAW Local 174, ended the strike that began May 17. The plant supplies aluminum components to Ford.

Workers at the Clarios plant in Holland, Ohio, members of UAW Local 12, had been on strike since May 8. The plant supplies batteries to General Motors and Ford.

UAW President Shawn Fain called both strikes successes during a Facebook Live event Friday morning.

The Clarios rank-and-file voted on a tentative agreement Friday that the company and bargaining committee reached Tuesday after just one day of negotiations. It passed with 78 percent voting for and 22 percent against.

It was the third vote on an agreement. Members voted down the first proposed agreement at the end of April, before the strike began. Th…

Nikola Corp. said on Friday it would lay off a total of 270 employees, as the electric-truck maker looks to cut costs and sharpen its focus on the North American marketplace.

Of the 270 employees impacted, 150 were supporting Nikola's European operations and 120 were based at its sites in Phoenix and Coolidge, Ariz.

The decision would help Nikola reduce personnel-related cash spend by $50 million annually, the company said.

Annual cash usage for the company was expected to decrease to under $400 million by 2024, Nikola added.

Nikola's financial troubles are not unique among several EV startups.

Trust and familiarity remain barriers to car shoppers accepting autonomous driving technology, according to a spring 2023 S&P Global Mobility consumer survey.

A survey of 8,000 car shoppers worldwide showed "semi-autonomous driving features" are not yet trusted by consumers, while "automated safety features" are gaining traction.

Consumers displayed understanding and desire for advanced driver assistance systems features. Respondents expected ADAS to be standard in new luxury and mainstream vehicles, yet expressed hesitancy to the use of "autonomous driving systems."

Many automated safety features polled in the 80th percentile range, while 61 percent of 7,732 respondents expressed interest in "self-driving." The survey showed self-driving as the least desirable ADAS feature listed in the survey.

The five most-desired ADAS features improve safety, according to S&P. Blind spot warning is the most desired feature — wanted by 83 percent of c…

DETROIT — New Cadillac boss John Roth is preparing to hit the road to meet with dealers as he works to shape his vision for the future of General Motors' luxury brand.

Roth took over as vice president of global Cadillac on June 1, succeeding Rory Harvey, who was promoted to president of North America with the retirement of Steve Carlisle. Roth will lead the brand as it aims to electrify its lineup by 2030, led by the Lyriq midsize electric crossover that went on sale last year.

"I was with our national dealer council last week having a direct conversation: 'These are my initial observations; tell me where you think we are,' " he told Automotive News after a briefing Friday about the refreshed XT4 compact crossover.

"My message to them is, 'OK, we're here. Where do we go next if you want to keep climbing that hill and making sure that you raise the bar each and every day?' " Roth said. "We have a great dealer network that'll push you and help you do what…

Stellantis is no longer stocking gasoline-only vehicles in 14 states that follow emissions guidelines set by the California Air Resources Board. Ashwani Gupta is out as Nissan's COO. Plus, service director Damon Egan talks about how a company book club helped improve his service department's performance.

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KC Crain, left, Automotive News Group publisher, catches up with Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo at the Automotive News Europe Congress in Paris last week. De Meo outlined how he turned around the French automaker, which suffered an $8.6 billion loss in the first half of 2020 before his arrival in July that year.

The Automotive News Europe Rising Stars Class of 2023 accepted their awards during a gala event.

Automotive News Europe News Editor Peter Sigal, right, moderates a panel on New Distribution Models in Europe with, from left, Lars Himmer of Semler Gruppen, Mathais Holst of Lynk & Co and Steve Young of ICDP Limited.

Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc, left, moderates "The Road to Sustainable Battery Production, Assembly and Usage" panel, with, from second from left, PowerCo SE's Sebastian Wolf, Ascend Elements' Anna Sosnowik, Rio Tinto's Colin MacKey and Valeo's Pascale Herman.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi in convers…