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Ford Motor Co. on Saturday said it will offer COVID-19 tests to hourly and salaried employees with suspected symptoms in four key states as thousands of workers prepare to return to the job on Monday.

The automaker said it's partnering with local health systems in southeast Michigan and metro areas around Louisville, Ky., Chicago, and Kansas City, Mo. It said test results should be available within a day.

"Fast and accurate testing is a key tool in the effort to help stop the spread of COVID-19," Dr. Walter Talamonti, Ford's medical director, said in a statement. "These contracts will allow us to test employees with suspected symptoms and have results back within 24 hours. If they test positive, we can quickly identify close contact employees who may have been exposed and ask them to self-quarantine for 14 days."

Ford said it's utilizing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, which identifies if someone is actively infected. The PCR tests detect the pr…

The next-generation Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan has apparently been revealed in spy shots that capture the car's high-tech new interior.

The pictures, which have not been verified, were posted on a Spanish Instagram page and show the car's exterior and interior, with only a light disguise.

German press reports say the upper premium sedan will be available to order in Europe from September with deliveries starting in November.

Mercedes has said that the launch of both the S-Class and the related all-electric EQS sedan are on track despite the coronavirus pandemic that forced the automaker to introduce remote working and temporarily close factories.

The EQS is expected to go on sale next year as a Tesla Model S rival.

The S-Class exterior appears to be evolution of Mercedes' current design, with a wider grille up front and rear lights that now extend into the trunk lid, in a similar fashion to those seen on the current CLS coupe-styled seda…

BEIJING -- Wuhan is rolling out consumer subsidies to support local auto and home appliance companies as the city in which the coronavirus first emerged tries to revive its economy after months of heavy lockdowns.

Wuhan authorities will offer 10,000 yuan ($1,415) subsidies to residents who buy locally made electric vehicles, according to a text message sent by city government to citizens on Saturday. A gasoline car would come with a subsidy of up to 5,000 yuan.

Customers who purchase Wuhan-made air-conditioners, water heaters or refrigerators will also receive subsidies. The subsidies are valid until the end of this year, the message, which was seen by Reuters, said.

Reuters reported on Monday Wuhan was considering supporting local automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp.

Wuhan produced 1.5 million vehicles last year and the city is also home to plants owned by Dongfeng Motor Group's joint ventures with Honda Motor and Peugeot SA, and General Motors' partne…

In normal times, Garrett Guest would be somewhere watching a baseball game right about now.

Spring usually is a hectic season when Guest, an assistant scouting director for the Chicago White Sox, crisscrosses the nation to evaluate prospects coming up the ranks.

But with baseball diamonds empty, his life as a scout is largely limited to watching videos of prospects online or conducting Zoom meetings with fellow scouts and with players the club wants to learn more about.

While one of his passions is on ice for now, another ----the auto retailing business ---- is rolling through the crisis.

Guest also is vice president of South Oak Jeep-Dodge-Chrysler-Ram, the dealership in suburban Chicago that he runs with his father, Dennis. Guest is adjusting to life as a grounded scout while his store makes adjustments of its own by transitioning to selling cars and trucks digitally.

Guest's scouting responsibilities…

DALLAS — Toyota Motor North America's new CEO, Ted Ogawa, spent the past several years under the direct tutelage of the man he succeeded: longtime CEO Jim Lentz, who retired April 1. Ogawa, who cut his teeth in the U.S. as a purchasing coordinator at the joint Toyota-General Motors NUMMI assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., sees calm, confident leadership as the key to getting Toyota's North American operations through the COVID-19 pandemic, a belief he shared with Lentz.

Ogawa, 60, had never granted an interview to a news organization before, but he spoke for an hour with Publisher Jason Stein and Staff Reporter Larry P. Vellequette on March 9 at his office in Plano, Texas, just weeks before the Japanese automaker suspended production. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Tell us your feelings about being in the CEO position and your vision for the role.

A: Firstly, I want to continue the legacy that Jim Lentz started, with bringing our teams all together as To…

New data is shedding light on just how much the coronavirus pandemic has kept people from traveling.

In the U.S., the disruption hit a peak in early April, when people reduced their total miles traveled by half across all surface modes of transportation, according to Arity, a mobility and data analytics company.

Since then, the company has seen a gradual uptick in travel. Total miles traveled had returned to 62 percent of previous norms on May 9.

But the broad picture masks considerable differences; the pandemic's impact on travel has varied from state to state.

Some saw a drop in overall miles traveled as precipitous as 70 percent while others declined as little as 23 percent from previous levels.

Gary Hallgren, president of Arity, says what constitutes a recovery looks different from one region to another.

Wyoming's traffic has recovered to near pre-pandemic norms, while Washington, D.C., remains 70 percent below its norms.

…

Volvo Car USA's vehicle subscription program violates several California franchise and consumer protection laws, according to a six-month investigation by the state's Department of Motor Vehicles.

In a letter dated April 28, the department warned Volvo that future violations might lead to "enforcement actions" but stopped short of taking any punitive steps now.

The California DMV probe escalates a two-year battle between Volvo and its California dealers over the subscription service and questions the future of a key Volvo retail program in the Swedish automaker's largest U.S. market.

Volvo views the subscription program as another channel for dealers to move inventory. Just as with traditional new-vehicle leases and sales, dealers receive a margin on subscription volume.

Care by Volvo, launched in 2017, is a two-year subscription service. The program bundles the use of a vehicle, insurance and maintenance costs into …

Tesla Inc. has chosen to locate its second U.S. auto factory in Texas, the blog Electrek reported, citing an unnamed source.

The EV maker will construct the plant in or near Austin, the typically pro-Tesla blog said.

The Associated Press and CNBC later reported that Austin and Tulsa, Okla., are finalists for the facility but that no final decision has been made.

Elon Musk said in March that Tesla was scouting for sites where it will build both the in-development Cybertruck and the Model Y crossover for customers on the East Coast. The CEO last week threatened to move the company’s headquarters and future programs to Texas or Nevada after a California county blocked the carmaker from reopening its factory in the San Francisco Bay area.

Within days, the company defied county health officials and restarted production.

Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck in November, with Musk pitching it as a radically different option from the highly lucrative pick…

Daimler AG is suspending production at a Mercedes-Benz SUV plant – one of the first car factories in the U.S. to reopen -- due to a shortage of parts supplied from Mexico.

The Vance, Ala., operation won’t build vehicles next week, according to an internal notice viewed by Bloomberg. Workers are being given the option to use vacation time or go without pay and file for state and federal unemployment benefits.

The Mercedes plant reopened late last month after idling for five weeks as much of the U.S. manufacturing base shut down to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Now, as U.S. carmakers plan to restart their operations beginning next week, Mexico’s government has sent mixed messages as to how soon it will allow auto companies to reopen.

After sending several conflicting messages over the past three days, Mexico said Friday that plants can reopen before June 1 if they follow various safety protocols. Numerous automakers and suppliers are confident that the…

Canadian supplier Linamar Corp. is cranking its factories back into production as the industry attempts to restart operations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are very much focused on recovery at this point,” Linda Hasenfratz said on BNN Bloomberg TV Friday. “I feel we’ve really come through the toughest point.”

Some plants are now running in North America and Europe. “Next week, the rest of the North America plants will be coming back online,” Hasenfratz said.

The comments may help soften the blow from U.S. factory production data today which showed an almost 72 percent slump for motor vehicles and parts as car plants shuttered to slow the spread of the virus.

The Guelph, Ontario-based company has established safety protocols based on screening, making sure workers get the protection they need, including masks, establishing physical barriers to keep people apart, cleaning and hygiene and contact tracing, she said. 

China factories…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. says engineers have been able to boost the upcoming Mustang Mach-E electric crossover's fast-charging capabilities on the rear-wheel-drive version by up to 30 percent ahead of its launch this year.

Ford says the electric vehicle's rwd variant with an extended-range battery will gain 61 miles after 10 minutes plugged into a DC fast charger, up from initial estimates of 47 miles over that period. The all-wheel-drive model with an extended-range battery will gain 52 miles after 10 minutes.

Rwd variants with a standard-range battery will gain 46 miles over that period, while awd models with standard-range batteries will get 42 miles.

"We've made it a priority to make it faster to recharge [the] Mustang Mach-E, and we're continuing to work with providers to ensure even more charge points are available through FordPass to make it easier to recharge," Mark Kaufman, Ford global director, electrification, said in a statement.

FordP…