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CATL, China’s largest electric vehicle battery maker, warned first-quarter profits will fall sharply because of a drop in EV production across the country. 

Net profit for the period is estimated to range from 733 million yuan ($104 million) to 838 million yuan, CATL said last week in a filing on the Shenzhen stock exchange, where it is listed. 

The forecast represents a drop of 20 to 30 percent from the same period last year. 

CATL blamed the slump on the severe contraction in domestic EV output during the first quarter. 

EV production, disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, tumbled 62 percent to about 77,000 in the period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. 

The company plans to cut manufacturing costs and operating expenses to mitigate the downturn’s impact on its financials, CATL said. 

In 2019, the company’s net profit rose 29 percent to approach 4.4 billion yuan while r…

Mercedes-Benz outperformed its main German rival BMW in the Chinese market in the first quarter.

Light-vehicle sales at Mercedes-Benz dropped 20 percent to 139,960 in the first three months, Daimler AG said last week. 

“In China and South Korea, our dealerships are fully open and we see a significant increase in demand there,” Britta Seeger, Daimler’s management board member responsible for marketing and sales, said last week of the two markets where the coronavirus outbreak has been brought under control.

China deliveries for the BMW and Mini brands combined fell 31 percent to 116,452 in the period, BMW Group said, without divulging separate sales for the two brands. 

Daimler and BMW no longer release monthly sales results. Another major German luxury brand, Audi, hasn’t disclosed sales for the latest period.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi maintained growth in China last year despite the ongoing contraction in the overall new-vehicl…

China’s used-vehicle market has yet to recover from the lingering impact of the coronavirus outbreak that started in late January. 

Used-vehicle sales across the country slipped 24 percent to roughly 950,000 in March, with year-to-date volume slumping 38 percent to some 2 million, according to the China Automobile Dealers Association. 

With the epidemic largely brought under control in early March, more than 97 percent of used-vehicle dealerships had resumed operations by the end of the month, up from 44 percent at the beginning of March, the dealers association said. 

To stimulate consumer demand, Beijing announced this month it will slash the value-added tax on used vehicles to 0.5 percent from 2 percent on May 1. The tax cut will remain in effect until the end of 2023. 

Used-vehicle sales across China have grown steadily over the past two decades. Last year, volume rose 8 percent to top 14.9 million, following an 11 percent …

The average backlog at new-vehicle dealerships dropped to an 80-day supply last month from a record high of 444 days in February, with most dealerships reopened and showroom traffic steadily recovering. 

Average March stockpiles at stores marketing luxury brands and imported foreign brands declined to a 76-day supply, from 389 days a month earlier, according to the China Automobiles Dealers Association. 

Inventories at dealerships stocking Chinese brands fell to a 78-day supply from 401 days the previous month. 

The average backlog at stores marketing domestically built, foreign mass-market brands also slipped to an 83-day supply from 486 days in February.

To slow the spread of the coronavirus epidemic that broke out in the central China city of Wuhan, Beijing extended the Chinese New Year holiday by an extra week to Feb. 9. 

Most car dealerships remained closed for the rest of the month as consumers avoided shopping for…

A contract worker died at a BorgWarner plant in Seneca, S.C., early Monday after a tornado hit the area.

A local news report, quoting the county coroner, said a 77-year-old security guard was killed. Four employees also were at the plant at the time the tornado hit, around 3:35 a.m., but they suffered only minor injuries, a BorgWarner spokeswoman told Automotive News.

The plant sustained severe damage from the tornado, as first reported by local news station WYFF News 4.

"Local authorities in Seneca responded quickly and are working with us to ensure that what remains of the building has been secured so we can complete an assessment," the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman said that its Seneca location produces transfer cases, components that are used on four-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles. BorgWarner did not release information about which customers the plant supplies.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also confirmed the da…

Standing in a lengthy line at a grocery store or sitting in a crowd at a sporting event once seemed like the most ordinary of activities. Amid the coronavirus outbreak, they're unfathomable.

For the world to reopen, governments and businesses must find ways to ensure gatherings of people don't threaten the health of workers or consumers. Adasky, an Israeli auto-tech startup, thinks it has found a way to accelerate a return to something resembling a normal way of life.

In regular times, Adasky develops thermal-imaging camera technology for use in driver-assist systems and autonomous vehicles. But two weeks ago, company leaders and software engineers met for a brainstorming session on how they could help thwart COVID-19.

Within a matter of days, they cobbled together prototypes that relied on their camera technology's ability to measure heat. Instead of detecting objects on a road, that capability can now be used to measure the pr…

Pennsylvania dealer Scott Brewer has lost vehicle sales to Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia — nearby states where sales are continuing during the coronavirus outbreak.Brewer, president of Brewer Airport Toyota in Moon Township, near Pittsburgh, isn't allowed to sell any vehicles — even online — under Gov. Tom Wolf's public safety orders.Brewer's store is a half-hour drive from the Ohio state line and 40 minutes from West Virginia. And dealerships in those states are advertising to Pennsylvanians, Brewer said."Forcing somebody to either drive out of state or have a car delivered to them — how that's safer for another state to do it than a Pennsylvania dealership is beyond me," Brewer said.

Dealers across the country, already feeling the huge falloff in vehicle sales in the coronavirus outbreak, say they are disheartened to have their customers drive into neighboring states to buy or lease a vehicle. And many like Brewer are frustrated.

Dealers…

Unless the North American auto industry begins now to plan and coordinate the restart of factory production in the weeks or months ahead, it could find broken supply lines and a frustrating series of shortages.

The real-world worries now being expressed by some executives and consultants include suppliers with too little cash to pay for manufacturing restarts, a tussle over limited raw materials, the absence of smaller Tier 2 and Tier 3 companies because of insolvencies and even the disappearance of myriad regional trucking companies relied on to keep industry manufacturing chains linked together.

"You're talking about starting up 50 or so major auto plants at the same time," said Dietmar Ostermann, U.S. automotive advisory leader at PwC, who is working with auto companies across the continent. "Going from zero back to 100 [percent], all at once. That's never been done.

"Consider what happens just in the normal course of a model launc…

The coronavirus is doing strange things in the car world.

Ford, General Motors, McLaren, and Tesla have turned factories into outposts to produce medical equipment; Bentley is holding cocktail hours for journalists, via Zoom; and Audi, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz have released printable sketches of iconic models so enthusiasts can color them at home. 

Now Porsche is auctioning off what could be one of the last non-turbocharged 911s ever made. The automaker will sell the final, seventh-generation 911, a Speedster, in an online auction with RM Sotheby’s on April 15.

It was the last 911 to roll off the production line as part of the wildly successful generation known internally as “991,” which Porsche started in 2011 and ended on Dec. 20, 2019. The car is offered at no reserve. 

All proceeds from the sale will benefit the United Way Worldwide fund for COVID-19 pandemic relief.  

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TOKYO — Toyota was quick to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. with plans to make medical face shields. Now that the Japanese government has declared a state of emergency in its home market, Toyota is rallying resources to fight the spread here.

Toyota's plan for Japan — similar to what automakers are doing in the U.S. — includes making face masks, producing face shields, building hospital beds, fabricating emergency partition walls and churning out other medical supplies.

To do that, the company is marshaling the full force of the Toyota Group constellation of partner companies and suppliers. It draws on the manufacturing firepower of Aisin Seiki Co., Denso Corp. and Toyota Boshoku Corp.

Toyota outlined the strategy last week as Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared a state of emergency in major metropolitan areas as coronavirus infections rise. Some experts fear Japan is on the edge of a massive outbreak.

The government's decree st…

DETROIT — For the second time in 11 years, Livonia Chrysler-Jeep has been forced to close its showroom through no fault of its own.

The suburban Detroit dealership reopened in 2015 after President Colleen McDonald prevailed in her six-year battle over its termination as part of Chrysler's bankruptcy reorganization. Business had been on a steady climb since then, until the store had to suspend sales last month under Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"It's rather surreal, being in a position like this again, knowing what we've done," McDonald said.

But the dealership's doors have not been completely shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused layoffs, school closures and stay-at-home orders throughout the U.S. Its showroom has become a makeshift site for much-needed blood donations as health care facilities become overwhelmed with patients fighting COVID-19. Read more

The coronavirus outbreak will delay by nearly two months the start of production for Ford Motor Co.'s Bronco Sport crossover, suppliers have been told.

The Escape-size off-roader will start rolling off assembly lines at Ford's Hermosillo, Mexico, plant on Sept. 7, nearly 60 days after the original July 13 target, according to supplier information obtained by Automotive News.

Ford declined to comment, saying it doesn't discuss future products.

The coronavirus outbreak has shuttered Ford assembly plants and supplier parts factories across North America, delaying pilot production of the Bronco Sport, as well. Parts used for Bronco Sport pilot production were originally scheduled to be shipped this month, according to suppliers. 

The Bronco Sport, which sits on the same front-wheel-drive platform as the redesigned Escape, has a stance similar to that of the Jeep Renegade, based on photos leaked in March. It's expected to go on sale this fall ahea…