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MEXICO CITY -- Some of Mexico's auto factories may have to suspend production in the coming weeks as the coronavirus disrupts shipments of key parts from China, according to local officials, in what would be another blow to the stagnant Mexican economy.

Manuel Gonzalez, economic development minister of Aguascalientes, one of a dozen Mexican states that have car factories, said some manufacturers had already told him they were running low on parts.

"I've been in contact with some important companies: They tell me that they have inventory through the second or third week of March," Gonzalez told Reuters. "If that supply is not normalized, we will probably see firms suspending production."

The fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak has rippled through the global economy and upended supply chains. More than 119,100 people have been infected by disease and 4,298 have died, the vast majority in China, according to a Reuters tally.

If Mexican automakers wer…

TOKYO -- Honda Motor Co. on Wednesday said that limited operations had resumed at its production site in Wuhan, the epicenter of China's coronavirus outbreak where some workers returned to their jobs after a month-long shut down of offices, schools and factories.

The Japanese automaker said that it would gradually resume vehicle production at the plant, which produces popular models including the CR-V crossover for the world's biggest auto market.

Earlier in the day, government authorities in Wuhan, a major manufacturing center in the country, lifted restrictions on a limited number of key industries in the city, allowing some people to return to work.

Rival Nissan Motor Co., which also operates a vehicle manufacturing plant in Hubei province, plans to partially resume production at the site along with another plant in Zhengzhou, Henan province, sometime this week, a company spokeswoman in China told Reuters.

DETROIT -- Three U.S. senators pressed Japan's government to assure a fair trial for Greg Kelly, an American citizen and former Nissan director, who is being held for alleged financial crimes, saying his case highlights issues that could put the countries' relationship at risk.

In a commentary published by Real Clear Politics, Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Lamar Alexander and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee criticized the treatment by Japanese authorities of the former Nissan executive, who was temporarily jailed in solitary confinement and has been unable to leave the country while awaiting trial.

"His predicament is a cautionary tale for Americans thinking about working in Japan, raising serious questions about whether non-Japanese executives can comfortably work in Japan under its legal system," the three Republicans wrote Tuesday. "If Americans and other non-Japanese executives question their ability to be treated fairly in Japan, then that most imp…

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said Wednesday it will start implementing temporary closures at some of its Italian plants, and Italy's largest dealer group said it will shut its doors until April 3 to help combat Europe's worst outbreak of the coronavirus.

A FCA spokesman said affected plants were in Pomigliano d'Arco, Melfi, Atessa and Cassino. Each factory will be halted for two or three days between Wednesday and Saturday. Production is scheduled to restart on Monday.

FCA's move affects plants that account for 600,000 units a year and 4 percent of European vehicle production, Evercore ISI estimates.

FCA said in a statement it was taking additional steps to minimize the risk of spreading the virus among employees, including intensive sanitization of all work and rest areas, to support the government's directives to curb the spread of the infectious disease.

"As a result of taking these actions the company will, where necessary, make temporary closur…

TOKYO – Mike Colleran has been appointed the new global head of the struggling Infiniti premium brand as part of a personnel shuffle at parent company Nissan Motor Co. 

Colleran, currently deputy chairman of Infiniti’s management committee, will become chairman starting April 1 and be promoted to corporate vice president at Nissan, the company said on Wednesday.

He will report to Nissan Chief Quality Officer Christian Vandenhende, who had filled in as Infiniti chairman following the departure of previous Infiniti President Christian Meunier in May to become global president of the Jeep brand. Meunier’s resignation came just four months after the departure of his predecessor, Roland Krueger, deepening a leadership crisis at the brand.

A former captain in the U.S. Marines, Colleran steps into Infiniti at a delicate time.

The brand is moving its head office back to Japan from Hong Kong this year and is battling slumping sales. Infiniti sale…

TrueCar has named Mike Darrow president and CEO, making permanent the role he'd filled on an interim basis since last May.

Darrow, 62, will lead the Santa Monica, Calif., vehicle listings site and steer several new initiatives developed under his tenure, including new shopping tools and a rebranding campaign that launched this year. He also will have a seat on the company's board.

"I'm extremely humbled and honored at the opportunity to lead this talented group of TrueCar employees," Darrow said Tuesday in a statement. "I'm so proud of the way the company united to launch our new brand and consumer experience earlier this year, which was no small feat. I look forward to working with the team as we continue to innovate and deliver a modern and world-class car-buying experience that appeals to consumers and dealers alike."

Darrow was appointed interim president and CEO in May 2019, following the retirement of then-CEO Chip Perry. Pr…

DETROIT -- "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive."

Former Vice President Joe Biden and his supporters aren't using this bumper sticker slogan from the 2012 re-election of Barack Obama going into Tuesday's presidential primary in Michigan.

But it's the foundation of their appeal to Democratic voters — that Biden is a relationships guy with a long history of backing Detroit when it mattered most.

"In 2009, when GM and Chrysler were on the verge of bankruptcy, it was Barack Obama and Joe Biden who believed in us," Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Monday night at a rally with Biden at Detroit's Renaissance High School.

Biden didn't say the words — "I bailed Detroit out" — but he didn't have to.

His allies in the Democratic Party establishment were happy to oblige, drawing on the playbook Democrats have used for the past five cycles by touting the Obama-Biden administration's use of billions in taxpayer dollars to bail out General M…

CLEVELAND -- The federal government has prevailed in a complex arbitration case related to Atlanta-based Novelis Inc.'s proposed $2.6 billion acquisition of Beachwood-based Aleris Corp. — a decision that clears the way for the deal to take place, but will require Novelis to sell Aleris's entire aluminum auto body sheet operations in North America.

Novelis is a major supplier to the auto industry and Ford Motor Co. is its second-largest overall customer, generating about 10 percent of its annual revenue, according to its 2019 annual report. The supplier generated $12.3 billion in revenue during its 2019 fiscal year -- nearly $3 billion from automotive customers. 

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement issued Monday, March 9, that the required divestiture "will fully preserve competition in this important industry."

"Today's decision is a victory for automakers and American consumers and taxpayers and will preserve competition in the marke…

TURIN – The Italian automotive industry is bracing for potential fallout from a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 500 people in the country.

Italy’s prime minister has called the outbreak the country’s “darkest hour,” inviting comparisons to the U.K. during World War II. The effects, both psychological and economic, could be devastating as the government struggles to contain the damage.

“We need to change our habits right now,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at an unscheduled news conference Monday evening. He ordered the of nation of more than 60 million people to “stay at home” as he explained that “we are forced to impose sacrifices.”

Despite the dire warnings automakers and suppliers continued to operate on Tuesday.

"So far there is no change in the measures we have taken,” a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles spokesman told Automotive News Europe. “We are evaluating whether further measures will be neces…

Manheim has converted its Flint, Mich., and Houston auction locations to all-digital formats, the Cox Automotive unit said Tuesday.

The two sites join Manheim Tucson, where digital-only auctions have been running since May.

Like at the Arizona site, vehicles in the Manheim Flint and Manheim Houston auctions will remain parked in designated spots as a live, digital auction is conducted on large monitors with bar code price scanning capability and condition report information.

Manheim Flint has been running two all-digital lanes since January. It has since seen a rise in both buyer attendance and sales conversion, the company said.

Manheim has been adopting digital lanes at other locations throughout the country while keeping portions of the auction sites for vehicles physically running through lanes. Last year, Manheim grew its digital lane count to 150 and sold more than 2.3 million vehicles to digital buyers, or almost half of the company's total…

TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co. is likely to pull out from a venture capital fund it runs with alliance partners Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, as part of the Japanese automaker's drive to cut costs and conserve cash, two sources said.

Nissan will formally make a decision on whether to leave the fund, Alliance Ventures, by the end of this month, the two Nissan insiders told Reuters, declining to be identified because the information has not been made public.

The likely move comes after Nissan's junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., told an alliance meeting last week that it would no longer continue to inject money into the fund, one of the people said.

The decision to leave the Amsterdam-based fund was all but a done deal, the other person said, adding: "Of course we're out. The house is on fire."

A Nissan spokeswoman said it was speculation and declined to comment. A Mitsubishi spokesman said no decision had been made.

The move come…