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DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. plans to build respirators, ventilators and face shields in partnership with its UAW work force, manufacturing company 3M and GE Healthcare to aid medical workers as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to overwhelm their supply.

The automaker on Tuesday said it will use fans from F-150 pickup seats, portable tool battery packs and 3D-printed parts to quickly assemble disposable air purifying respirators alongside 3M at its advanced manufacturing center near Detroit in Redford, Mich.

Ford said it initially would be able to make up to 1,000 respirators per month, helping 3M boost production of the respirators tenfold.

In addition, Ford plans to produce up to 100,000 face shields per week, also in Michigan. Roughly 75,000 of these shields are expected to be finished this week, and more than 100,000 face shields per week will be produced at Ford subsidiary Troy Design and Manufacturing's facilities in Plymouth…

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. and an outspoken skeptic of the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, donated more than 1,000 ventilators to officials in Los Angeles to meet demand as the pandemic becomes more severe.

The billionaire said in a tweet he helped acquire 1,255 of the machines from China last week and arranged for them to be air-shipped to Los Angeles. He thanked Tesla staff and customs officials in China and Los Angeles for assistance.

“Elon Musk: how about this? I told you a few days ago he was likely to have 1,000 ventilators this week,” California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters in a briefing Monday. “They arrived in Los Angeles and Elon Musk is already working with the hospital association and others to get those ventilators out in real time. It’s an heroic effort.”

Musk’s move comes after he tweeted dismissively about whether there will even be a ventilator shortage. The entrepreneur had also called the panic surrounding the out…

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a $2.5 trillion virus economic stimulus plan in a bid to shape negotiations on a Senate measure that stalled on Monday, triggering a sell-off in U.S. equities markets.

Pelosi’s 1,400-page bill would have broad implications for the financial sector. It would force lenders to grant a temporary reprieve from mortgage and car payments and credit card bills. It would order the Federal Reserve to provide loan servicers with liquidity to allow borrowers to stop paying their mortgages for up to 360 days. Public housing residents would get a temporary reprieve from paying rent, and student loan borrowers would have $10,000 of debt forgiven.

Negative consumer credit reporting would be halted. Foreclosures and evictions would be banned.

There are currently no plans for House members to return to Washington to vote on the bill, and the proposal appears to be a list of demands Democrats want to see included in th…

Canada's Ontario province has deemed new-vehicle dealerships “essential workplaces” as the province grapples with gaining control of the novel coronavirus outbreak  that is threatening to overwhelm the health-care system.

Premier Doug Ford on Monday afternoon ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses in the province in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

The order takes effect Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. ET and will last for 14 days.  A full list of businesses that are permitted to stay open was released Monday night, early than the province promised.

“Yes, dealerships can stay open,” Ford’s press secretary, Ivana Yelich, confirmed in an email to Automotive News Canada.

The list officially includes “motor vehicle, auto-supply, auto and motor-vehicle-repair, including bicycle repair, aircraft repair, heavy equipment repair, watercraft/marine craft repairs, car and truck dealerships and related facilities.”

While vehicle and component production has slowed to a trickle in Europe because of the coronavirus outbreak, Daimler, Volvo and suppliers say their factories in China are coming back online.

Daimler has reopened its factory in China, where demand for vehicles is recovering, CEO Ola Kallenius told a German newspaper.

"The vast majority of our dealerships have reopened, the customers are returning," Kallenius told Handelsblatt. "Every day more people come to the car dealerships. Demand is picking up, which makes us optimistic."

Earlier this month Volvo Cars reopened its four manufacturing plants in China after an extended closure period to cope with the virus outbreak.

The automaker said that current showroom traffic indicates a return to normal in China’s car market. Volvo makes vehicles in Chengdu, Luqiao and Daqing and builds engines in Zhangjiakou.

Another positive sign is that Volvo subsidiary Polestar started production Tuesday of its…

TOKYO -- Toyota and NTT, Japan's biggest automaker and the country's top telecom company, will form a capital tie-up to team on commercializing a smart city business that leverages the widespread integration of such next-generation technologies as big data, cloud services, robotics, automated mobility and artificial technology. The new systems will be deployed in real world test beds, such as the Woven City that Toyota is planning to build in Japan, and they will revolve around connected vehicles that are part of the social infrastructure, Toyota said on Tuesday in a statement. To cement the partnership, the companies said each will buy a 200 billion yen ($1.81 billion) stake in the other through the purchase of treasury shares in April. The investments amount to a 2.07 percent stake in NTT for Toyota and a 0.9 percent stake in the automaker for NTT. Toyota's announced its Woven City in January, describing it as a 175-acre futuristic community at the base of M…

TOKYO -- Mazda has become the latest Japanese automaker to suspend operations in Japan and overseas as it reacts to worldwide interruptions of demand and supply triggered by Covid-19.

The Hiroshima-based automaker said it would completely suspend operations at its two plants in Japan for 13 days and run them on day shifts only for eight days, between March 28 and April 30.

In announcing the move on Tuesday, Mazda said it hoped to make up the lost production in the July-September quarter. The company said it needed to dial back production to adjust to difficulties in sourcing parts, a sudden plunge in sales and uncertainty about the future.

Mazda also said it would shut down its Mexico assembly plant for 10 days from March 25 and suspend work at its Thailand factory for about 10 days starting March 30.

"Many countries have been quickly and extensively reinforcing their infection prevention measures including implementing curfews, retail business su…

A coalition of trade groups representing the nation's automobile dealers has asked President Donald Trump to clarify that certain sales and leasing activities at franchised dealerships are considered essential services during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter sent to the White House on Monday, the group — consisting of the National Automobile Dealers Association, American International Automobile Dealers, National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers and American Truck Dealers — expressed its appreciation for federal guidance on March 19 that listed vehicle manufacturing, supply manufacturing, maintenance and repair facilities as essential services.

However, "The guidance made no reference to vehicle sales and lease operations that are typically conducted by franchised new-car and -truck dealers in conjunction with their service and maintenance operations," the letter said. "As a result, some states and other jurisdictions have prohibited vehicle sal…

The current national emergency is not like those the country has managed through before.

The auto industry is rightfully proud of its role in World War II — and even in the wake of 9/11. But this is a different kind of battle against a different kind of enemy. The front lines are in hospitals and clinics, where nurses and doctors and other staffers bravely tend to those who are or may be infected with this deadly, flu-like virus. And many face a shortage of basic gear such as masks and gloves.

Just as it has in other calamities, the auto industry can and will help. General Motors, Ford and others are already preparing to aid in the manufacture of much-needed ventilators vital to keeping alive those suffering the harshest effects from coronavirus infection.

This "Arsenal of Health" response, as some have taken to calling it, harks back to the vital role the American auto industry played in helping the Allies to victory in World War II. Tooling up and spoo…

Amid coronavirus and contamination concerns in China, new-vehicle sales volume there dropped more than 80 percent in February. As the virus gains traction in the U.S., genuine concerns arise related to the potential disruption here and what this could mean for dealers.

Having faced some adversity early in my life, my personality type has always been to focus more on the potential opportunity of a given set of circumstances. Operating with a philosophy that "the calvary isn't coming" to save me has always provided me with greater clarity in confusing times.

Even before the rise of the coronavirus, one of the largest risks facing conventional auto dealers has been their ability — or should I say inability — to successfully engage and transact with customers online. The general inaccessibility to fully transact virtually by most dealers has paved the way for providers such as Carvana and Tesla to provide a refreshing alternative buying experience…

Hyundai and Kia say they have developed a predictive shift technology that uses information from navigation software, front-facing cameras and radar to change gears — or even shift into neutral — based on road and traffic conditions ahead of the vehicle, rather than just relying on speed and acceleration data. The result is better mileage and smoother driving.

The automakers are not yet revealing where the technology will appear first.

The company has 40 patent applications stemming from the new system, known as the Information and Communication Technology Connected Shift System. It uses three-dimensional navigation data to determine road elevation, gradient and curvature, along with traffic conditions. Radar information gives speed and distance between vehicles, while cameras provide forward lane information.

"When Hyundai and Kia tested a vehicle with an ICT Connected Shift System on a heavily curved road, the frequency of shift…