News

Two of the largest dealership groups in the country expanded their footprints this month while a regional group as well as a partnership also bought stores.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic and import stores in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Alabama and Indiana.

Two transactions involved an auto retailer ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups.

Ciocca expands in Pennsylvania

Ciocca Dealerships acquired its second Stellantis dealership with a Pennsylvania purchase this month.

The group on May 15 bought Forrer Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Duncannon, Pa., from dealer Jeff Forrer. The store was renamed Ciocca Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Duncannon.

Duncannon is north of Harrisburg.

It marks Ciocca's first acquisition since its August purchase of Flemington Car & Truck Country in New Jersey, the company confirmed.

Ciocca Dealerships, of Allentown, Pa., ranks No. 51 on Automotive News' lis…

The Federal Highway Administration said it awarded a $9.58 million grant to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to conduct connected-vehicle technology research.

The university's Transportation Research Institute will use the money to prepare the city's infrastructure for vehicle technology testing and deployment under the Ann Arbor Connected Environment Reimagined project, according to a statement Thursday by the federal agency.

The grant comes from the Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation program, which funds safety and efficiency innovation projects in the U.S.

The Michigan project will use cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, a wireless communication tool.

"Connected vehicle technologies are a key tool for getting to zero deaths on America's roadways. ... The University of Michigan will help explore vehicle technologies of the future to help us meet this goal," Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in the stat…

Hurry! Nominations close Friday for the fifth annual Techs Rock Awards presented by the TechForce Foundation.

The awards honor professional service technicians who are passionate about their work, show excellent skills and inspire the next generation. Techs can be nominated in one of five categories: Pay It Forward, Rookie of the Year, Die Hard, Outstanding Mentor and Barrier Buster.

A panel of judges will select a winner in each category, who will be awarded more than $1,900 in tools, gift cards, merchandise and other prizes. Those five winners will then be eligible for the grand prize, which will be decided by a public vote in June.

The grand prize winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the STX 2024 automotive conference along with other prizes valued at $6,000.

The Techs Rock Awards are part of TechForce's work force development campaign to inspire and support tomorrow's technicians.

The Aston Martin DB12 launching this fall features a revamped 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine that delivers the same 0-to-60-mph time of 3.5 seconds as the outgoing DB11 equipped with a 5.2-liter V-12.

That's one highlight of the grand touring coupe Aston is banking on to anchor a lineup that begins transitioning to electric drivetrains in about 18 months.

A staple of the British luxury brand for 75 years, the DB is one of the company's most consistent sellers. In what will likely be its final upgrade before an electric DB arrives by 2030, the DB12 is essentially a front-to-rear revamp of the DB11 it replaces.

Engineers redesigned the suspension system and installed an electrically locking rear differential tied into the stability control system that helps the car's tires maintain grip in corners under hard acceleration. The DB12's chassis is also 7 percent stiffer.

Under the hood, the Mercedes-Benz-sourced V-8 pumps…

UAW President Shawn Fain on Wednesday called the hundreds of workers currently on strike against suppliers Clarios and Constellium an "inspiration" to the union as a whole and vowed to keep supporting them.

"All these workers are leading the way for all of us right now," Fain said in a 30-minute Facebook Live appearance. "Their fights are a strong reminder that the way workers build power and make gains in bargaining is by having the collective capacity to shut employers down when our employers refuse to not treat our members fairly. I want striking UAW members to know our million-strong union stands in solidarity with you in the fight for justice."

Roughly 400 workers at a Clarios vehicle battery plant near Toledo this week voted down a tentative contract agreement by a wide margin, extending a strike that began May 8. The plant supplies batteries for General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

"It's a shame," Fain said. "These workers aren't asking for the moon.…

Alphabet Inc.'s self-driving subsidiary Waymo will put its driverless vehicles on Uber Technologies Inc.'s ride-hailing and food delivery platform later this year.

Uber customers in metro Phoenix, where Waymo operates, will be able to use a set number of driverless vehicles for rides and deliveries, according to a joint blog post by the companies Tuesday.

The multiyear partnership follows Waymo's early May move to expand its commercial driverless service in metro Phoenix to 180 square miles and its coverage area in San Francisco.

Waymo's service now stretches across much of Phoenix and its major suburbs. Previously, Waymo operated in downtown Phoenix and the East Valley. Waymo's expanded service also includes a second pick-up and drop-off location at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The number of Waymo vehicles in the Uber fleet will fluctuate, but they will be available via Uber's a…

Li-Metal, a battery materials company based in Canada, says it has produced lithium metal from lithium carbonate, which reduces the number of steps and harmful byproducts involved in refining lithium, a key electric vehicle battery material.

The new technology generates lithium metal without the need for an intermediary step that produces lithium chloride. Refining lithium chloride produces chlorine gas, which is toxic and has corrosive properties.

"It's a route to really mobilize the lithium carbonate that's produced for lithium ion batteries and to transform that into lithium metal that will be needed by next-generation batteries," Maciej Jastrzebski, co-founder and chief technology officer of Li-Metal, told Automotive News. "It opens up basically a line of sight onto a large number of lithium units that can then be converted to metal."

The company's announcement comes amid skyrocketing demand for EVs. Some automakers have prom…

A look at how retail tech startup Tekion decided to buy its own dealerships to test its services, and won. GM and Samsung win tax breaks for a $3.5 billion battery plant in Indiana. And experts say an indictment against a former Apple autonomous car engineer could signal bigger security risks for the industry.

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Tesla knocked the U.S. luxury sales crown off BMW's head last year, ending the German marque's three-year reign in the segment.

But BMW plans to beat the American upstart at its own game. Over the next few years, BMW will add competitively specced battery-powered models to its lineup of sedans and crossovers.

Last year, electric vehicles accounted for 5 percent of BMW's U.S. sales, Sebastian Mackensen, CEO of BMW of North America, told Automotive News.

Mackensen predicts battery-electric vehicle share will "more than double" this year and outpace BMW's overall sales growth in the U.S.

"There's still a healthy and robust demand for plug-in hybrids, but [BEVs] will drive demand long term," he said.

Despite the expected long-term market shift toward battery power, Mackensen is confident of near-term demand for combustion engines.

"We're selling the Ultimate Driving Machine — that can be the ultimate combustion engine-driving machine, a…

Automotive supply behemoth Bosch has named a president for Bosch Mobility Americas as the company realigns its global mobility business.

Paul Thomas, 52, will assume the newly created role in January, Bosch said Wednesday. He will be based in suburban Detroit, where the German company keeps its North American headquarters.

Thomas will oversee an Americas unit with about 30,000 employees and $10 billion in annual revenue. His current role is vice president of Mobility Solutions, Americas, where he is responsible for sales, marketing and quality.

"Paul has a proven track record of driving growth in our mobility business. His leadership will be critical to help us support our customers and reach our potential in a key growth region for Bosch globally," Mike Mansuetti, president of Bosch in North America, said in the release.

Bosch is the world's largest auto supplier with $49 billion in sales in 2022, according to the Automotive News 2022 list of t…

In this podcast, Jeff Berman, Group News Editor, for Logistics Management and Peerless Media, interviews Chris Rogers, Head of Supply Chain Research for S&P Global Market Intelligence. 

Rogers provided Berman with an overview of various global trade trends and themes, including:

the current outlook for U.S.- bound imports and shipments; a Peak Season outlook; ongoing inventory drawdowns; and the U.S.-China relationship related to trade and tariffs, among others

Chris Rogers is Head of Supply Chain Research for S&P Global Market Intelligence. He has more than 10 years of experience in building research businesses covering corporate decision-making and government policy in the supply chain and logistics sectors at S&P Global, Bloomberg, and Flexport. Chris’s prior experience includes power, gas and emissions markets analysis at investment banks, including JP Morgan and UBS.

Lithium ion battery supplier Microvast Holdings said it is considering all options after the U.S. Energy Department canceled a $200 million grant following lawmakers' concerns over its alleged links to China.

"Neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese Communist Party has any ownership in the company, nor do they control or influence company operations in any way," Microvast CEO Yang Wu said in a statement on Wednesday.

The grant, which stemmed from U.S. $1 trillion 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, was to help Microvast build a plant in Tennessee.

Two Republican lawmakers criticized the decision to grant funding in a letter last December to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, saying Microvast had ties to the Chinese Communist Party that raised "serious concerns about the department's ability to protect U.S. taxpayer dollars."

The grant was further targeted to support work by General Motors and Microvast on developing specialized EV battery …