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In response to concerns over servicing vehicles while maintaining social distancing, Hyundai is extending U.S. warranties that expire between March and June until June 30 in order to give customers time to get service work done at dealerships that remain open for maintenance and warranty work, the company said Friday.

In addition, Hyundai dealers have implemented a series of safety protocols for no-touch vehicle handoffs, such as electronic signature authorization and repair approval through digital messages, the automaker said in a statement. Some dealers also offer home pickup and drop-off, and have increased the level of vehicle cleaning prior to delivery.

"While most Hyundai dealers are open to provide service, we want our customers to feel comfortable visiting their dealerships for warranty work and any vehicle service," said Barry Ratzlaff, chief customer officer, Hyundai Motor America.

Across most of the U.S., vehicle maintenance has been deemed a…

A federal program to issue rebates to U.S. consumers toward the purchase of a new vehicle could provide a much-needed jolt to the auto industry that’s seen plants idled and showrooms emptied by the coronavirus, according to the Obama administration official who oversaw the program known as cash for clunkers.

Ray LaHood oversaw the program officially named Cars Allowance Rebate System as Transportation Secretary in 2009. In an interview, he backed a Ford Motor Co. executive’s suggestion that a sequel to the program could be helpful if the industry, lawmakers and the Trump administration agree that auto demand needs a boost once the virus begins to abate.

“It was a lifeline to the car dealers whose showrooms were looking pretty bleak without any customers, and I think if you talk to anybody in the automobile industry it was the beginning of the lifeline for the automobile industry from the Obama administration,” LaHood said Thursday. “If they can model something …

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.

NADA CEO Peter Welch says capital preservation is becoming a challenge for dealers as they cope with the financial stress of the outbreak. 

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BEIJING -- Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp.'s March sales in China, the world's biggest auto market, fell 16 percent to 101,800 compared with a year ago.

Separately, Honda said on Friday its China sales dropped 51 percent year-on-year to 60,441 last month.

The coronavirus epidemic, which has killed more than 3,300 people in China, caused overall auto sales in the country to drop 79 percent in February.

Assembly plants and dealerships across China continue to reopen and resume operations, though slowly, and government officials have moved to spur demand by relaxing taxes toward the purchase of electric vehicles and used cars and trucks.

DETROIT -- Jim Hackett's compensation in his second full year as CEO of Ford Motor Co. fell about 2 percent as the automaker failed to meet many financial targets.

Hackett, 64, earned $17.36 million in total compensation in 2019, according to the company's annual proxy statement, down from the $17.75 million he earned in 2018. He earned $16.7 million in 2017 after becoming CEO in May of that year.

His 2019 compensation included a $1.8 million base salary, unchanged from 2018; $13.2 million in stock awards, up nearly $500,000 from 2018; and $1.75 million in bonuses and incentives, down more than $800,000. Hackett's total compensation also includes $91,523 for personal use of aircraft, a perk Ford's CEO has long enjoyed.

Ford's top executives hit 54 percent of their business performance targets in 2019,including only 4 percent of company revenue targets and 28 percent of cash flow targets. The total number was helped by executives hitting 118 percent of th…

BEIJING -- General Motors' vehicle sales in China fell 43 percent in the first three months of 2020 compared with the same period last year, the company said on Friday, as the coronavirus pandemic reduced demand in the world's biggest auto market.

The pandemic has killed over 3,300 people in China, the world's second-biggest economy, and caused the government to lock down parts of the country to contain the spread. The travel restrictions contributed to a 79 percent drop in overall auto sales in February after a 19 percent drop in January.

GM, China's second-biggest foreign automaker, delivered 461,716 vehicles in the first quarter, the company said. The first quarter drop follows a second straight decline in annual sales in 2019.

GM has a joint venture in China with SAIC Motor Corp. which manufactures Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles. It also has another venture, SGMW, with SAIC and Guangxi Automobile Group, that produces no-fr…

BEIJING -- General Motors' vehicle sales in China fell 43 percent in the first three months of 2020 compared with the same period last year as the coronavirus pandemic reduced demand in the world's biggest auto market.

The pandemic has killed over 3,300 people in China, the world's second-biggest economy, and caused the government to lock down parts of the country to contain the spread. The travel restrictions contributed to a 79 percent drop in overall auto sales in February after a 19 percent drop in January.

GM, China's second-biggest foreign automaker, delivered 461,716 vehicles in the first quarter, the company said Friday. The first quarter drop follows a second straight decline in annual sales in 2019.

GM has a joint venture in China with SAIC Motor Corp which manufactures Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles. It also has another venture, SGMW, with SAIC and Guangxi Automobile Group, that produces no-frills minivans and has started to make highe…

Ford Motor extended the temporary suspension of vehicle and engine production at most of its European factories to May 4.

"Ford's production restart plans depend heavily on the pandemic situation in the weeks ahead, national restrictions in operation at the time, supplier constraints and the ability of our dealer network to operate," the company said in a statement on Friday.

Ford paused production at its plants in Europe last month, including sites in Cologne and Saarlouis in Germany, the Craiova facility in Romania and Valencia in Spain, along with engine plants in the UK.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story understated the pay cut for executive vice presidents.

AutoNation Inc. is laying off 7,000 workers, slashing executive pay and postponing capital spending after vehicle sales fell by half in late March because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

"Markets from which we derive approximately 95 percent of our total revenue are currently under extensive 'shelter in place' or 'stay at home' orders from federal, state and local governments, which significantly restrict our business operations, in particular our sales activities," the largest U.S. dealership group said in a regulatory filing. 

In addition to putting the 7,000 workers on unpaid leave, the retailer has:

Postponed more than $50 million of capital expenditures through the second quarter. Implemented a temporary 50 percent salary cut for Executive Chairman Mike Jackson and CEO Cheryl Miller. Executive vice presidents will get a 35 percent redu…

If the merger between PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to create the world’s fourth-largest automaker had a certain logic when it was announced last Oct. 31, the case for a tie-up is even stronger now, with the auto industry on the verge of recession from the coronavirus pandemic.

The idea is that increased economies of scale would reduce unit costs and better amortize huge investments in future technologies, ensuring profits for the merged entity in years to come. Now, such synergies are becoming a basic tool to survive a shock that many experts say will be deeper, if not longer, than the 2008-09 financial crisis.

One positive effect of the coronavirus crisis, if there is one, is that some future FCA products are being put on hold or delayed. This will not only preserve cash in the short term, but also offer the possibility after the merger of more quickly aligning two product cycles that were locked into a set cadence. The virus is zeroing the clock t…

MILAN -- Fiat aims to restart operations at three Italian sites as soon as the government lifts coronavirus restrictions on manufacturing, a union representative said.

Unions will monitor health precautions, said Gianluca Ficco, a representative of the UILM metal workers' union.

Despite Italy's lowest death toll from coronavirus in six days on Wednesday, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said a national lockdown in place since March 9, and due to expire on Friday, would be extended until at least April 13. The lockdown measures include a freeze on all non-essential economic activity, including car production.

Ficco said unions had started talks with the automaker to make sure all health and security requirements were met in factories, with a view to resuming operations after the lockdown.

"At the moment the date we are looking at is April 14," he said.

The sites are the Melfi operation in southern Italy that produces Jeep's Compass and new…