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CREWE, England — As Bentley Motors enters the world of electric vehicles, its CEO wants to make sure that any Bentley EV is still a Bentley. And that is going to take time.

The British ultraluxury brand plans to introduce its first EV around 2025, years after the initial wave of EVs from its Volkswagen Group sibling brands Audi, Porsche and VW, not to mention other mass-market and luxury automakers.

But Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark says that ultraluxury must still be the identity of any Bentley EV. For starters, it means a battery range of at least 300 miles, he said at the company's headquarters here this month.

That range will be no small feat considering Bentleys have large footprints and are filled with plush and opulent materials, all of which add significant weight. The company's Continental GT coupe with a W-12 engine has a gross weight of 5,985 pounds. The Bentley Flying Spur sedan weighs 6,614 pounds, and a Bentayga SUV wi…

Nearly two years after a fatal crash involving an Uber self- driving test vehicle, prosecutors are still deciding whether they'll bring charges against the human safety driver who was behind the wheel.

A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said last week the case remains under review. A decision on whether to charge Rafaela Vasquez could come in a matter of weeks.

Vasquez was behind the wheel of the Volvo XC90 on the night of March 18, 2018, when the vehicle, operating in autonomous mode, struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz.

Instead of watching the road, an investigation found Vasquez had been watching an episode of the "The Voice" on a company cellphone. Cameras mounted inside the test vehicle captured the wrenching moment when Vasquez looked up and realized a collision was imminent.

The resulting impact killed Elaine Herzberg, 49. She became the first person ever killed in a crash invol…

When the Texas energy industry is thriving, that means good-paying jobs in a state that loves big-ticket full-size trucks.

So Saudi Arabia's escalating oil price war with Russia, which has the potential to hurt U.S. oil producers and their employees, will be closely watched by the state's dealers and associations.

Oil prices last Monday had their worst day since 1991, plummeting by double-digit percentages amid coronavirus fears and the launch of Saudi Arabia and Russia's price war. The two major oil producers are feuding over Russia's refusal to comply with OPEC's proposal to further cut production and restore oil market stability as the virus continues to disrupt global economies.

In Texas — the largest oil and natural gas producing state in the country — the energy sector is a crucial part of the "engine of the economy," said Darren Whitehurst, president of the Texas Automobile Dealers Association.

"If the price …

Ford Motor Co. on Friday effectively tapped COO Jim Farley as its next chief executive.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ford has agreed to award Farley a stock grant worth $2.5 million should someone else eventually succeed 64-year-old CEO Jim Hackett. If Farley is offered the position of president and CEO and declines, he would not receive the stock grant, the filing said.

Farley, 57, assumed the COO post on March 1, a job widely viewed as a stepping stone to the top role. But the Friday filing is the first time Ford has tied financial incentives to Farley and CEO succession. Ford has revived the COO post as part of a sweeping turnaround and effort to boost operating profits.

Ford previously disclosed with the SEC that Farley's total compensation as COO will rise to $8.29 million, up nearly $2 million from his compensation as president of new business, technology and strategy at the automaker. Read more

LONDON - Aston Martin is increasing a capital-raising plan of up to 500 million pounds ($617 million) by 36 million pounds ($44 million) due to the coronavirus outbreak which will now see a consortium led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll take a roughly 25 percent stake in the company.

Aston, which has seen its share price tumble in recent days in addition to big losses last year after it failed to meet sales expectations, announced plans for Stroll to buy up to 20 percent of the company in January in a bid to turn around its fortunes.

"In light of recent extraordinary equity market volatility related to concerns over Covid-19, the company has renegotiated certain terms relating to the proposed investment," the company said on Friday.

Short-term working capital from Yew Tree, a vehicle controlled by Stroll, is also being increased to 75.5 million pounds ($93 million).

The firm, which builds all its cars in Britain, said the th…

LOS ANGELES — Mazda's North American Chief Marketing Officer Dino Bernacchi has resigned after nearly three years of helping the automaker move upmarket as a "premium" brand, with new messaging for its advertising campaigns.

Brad Audet, the leader of the brand's ad agency Garage Team Mazda, will temporarily head the marketing team while the company searches for a permanent replacement for the CMO position, Mazda said in an e-mailed statement.

"We truly appreciate Dino's contribution to Mazda North American Operations and wish him well in his future endeavors," Mazda said in the release. "During Dino's tenure with MNAO, we saw consistent improvements in brand opinion following the successful launch of our Feel Alive campaign."

Bernacchi, whose resignation is effective March 20, assumed the newly created role of CMO for Mazda's U.S. operations in May 2017. He had worked as marketing director of Harley-Davidson Motor Co. immediately prior to joining Mazda N…

MILAN -- Premium brakes maker Brembo said on Friday it would temporarily close its four Italian plants next week, a further sign that the coronavirus outbreak threatens to disrupt Europe's struggling automotive industry.

Brembo supplies premium brands such as Ferrari, Tesla, BMW and Mercedes, as well as several Formula 1 teams.

Brembo's plants are all located in the provinces of Bergamo and Brescia in the northern Lombardy region, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The plants will be closed from Monday to Sunday next week to intensify measures to safeguard workers' health and safety, given "the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent objective inability to operate with continuity," the company said in a statement.

The Italian government has taken extraordinary measures to try and contain the virus outbreak in the country, the worst in Europe, including restrictions on travel and closing restaurants and most …

BEIJING/SHANGHAI -- Chinese electrified vehicle maker BYD said on Friday it is making 5 million masks a day to fight the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 3,200 people in China.

The Shenzhen-based automaker, which is backed by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, said in a statement it started work on building a new mask production line in late January. BYD also produces around 300,000 bottles of hand sanitizers a day, it said.

BYD, which also produces EV batteries, said it will give masks to its workers to ensure normal production and will supply the rest to people in Hubei, the epicenter of the coronavirus, and to hospitals and the public transport sector.

More than 134,500 people have been infected globally by the coronavirus and more than 4,900 have died, according to a Reuters tally of government announcements. The total number of cases in mainland China is 80,813.

As factories in China start to resume work, a number of Chinese manufacture…

TOKYO/BEIJING -- Toyota Motor Corp. said on Friday that production at its plant in Guangzhou, China, would return to normal on Monday, after a month-long output suspension due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Japanese automaker's plant in southeast China will resume its second shift, returning to production levels from before the outbreak accelerated last month. The plant, which produces the Camry sedan and the Yaris compact hatchback models, resumed its first shift earlier this month.

Operations at two other Toyota plants, in Changchun, Jilin Province, and Chengdu, Sichuan Province, have also returned to normal, while its plant in Tianjin is only operating a single shift, compared with double shifts at the start of the year.

Global automakers continue to grapple with production in China due to logistical delays and limited workforces as the country's manufacturing sector slowly recovers from coronavirus-related stoppages, which have disrupted the global…

DETROIT – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Mike Manley is encouraging employees to work remotely in an effort to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Staffers in places such as China and Italy have been doing this already, but that approach is being expanded to all office employees, Manley said in a message to employees. Some staffers, depending on their duties, will still need to appear in person to work. The program is designed to be flexible to allow for a mix of remote and on-site work, according to a spokesman.

While speaking on the impact of the virus outbreak, Manley said: "Clearly we are now moving beyond regional hotspots and into planning for how this will impact every area of our business across the world."

"In our office locations, we are accelerating the deployment of working remotely, or 'Smart Working,'" Manley said in a late Thursday letter to staff that was obtained by Automotive News. "At our offices in China, Korea, Japan and Italy…