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DETROIT — Gordon Fournier has been named CFO and COO of suburban Detroit auto supplier Piston Group.

The Southfield, Mich.-based supplier, privately owned by former Detroit Pistons basketball star Vinnie Johnson, said in a statement Wednesday that Fournier will take the titles effective March 16.

Piston Group — which is comprised of Piston Automotive, Irvin Automotive Products, Detroit Thermal Systems and nonautomotive business AIREA Inc. — primarily supplies chassis, electronics assemblies, electric batteries, cooling modules and other automotive components.

Piston Group's worldwide sales to automakers hit $2.8 billion in 2018.

Ford Motor Co. is Piston Group's largest customer, bolstered by the supplier's launch of cooling modules for the Ford F-150. Piston is also assembling lithium-ion battery packs from LG Chem and Panasonic for use in Ford's plug-in-electric vehicle lineup and has plans to extend production into its battery-electric vehicles…

DETROIT — General Motors on Wednesday said it plans to spend $20 billion on electric and autonomous vehicle programs in the next five years and expects its battery costs to fall below the level that analysts say would make EVs competitive with internal-combustion vehicles.

GM's proprietary Ultium batteries will cost less than $100 per kilowatt-hour and allow for a driving range of up to 400 miles on a full charge, GM said. That's about 50 percent more than the 259-mile range for the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt.

The GMC Hummer EV, expected to go into production in fall 2021, will be the first vehicle to use the new battery technology, GM said. The automaker gave previews of 10 other upcoming EVs to analysts and reporters Wednesday, including a Hummer SUV, a midsize Chevy SUV, a Buick SUV and crossover and three Cadillacs.

"Our team accepted the challenge to transform product development at GM and position our company for an all-electric future," GM CEO Mary Barr…

FRANKFURT -- Mercedes-Benz is embarking on a sweeping cost-cutting plan to free up cash to build electric and self-driving cars, a step which could see entire engine families and platforms eliminated, Daimler board member Markus Schaefer said.

"We will review our current lineup and the idea is streamlining the portfolio," Schaefer said on a conference call on Tuesday.

Potential cost-cutting measures at Daimler could see the company reducing the many variants of Mercedes' vehicles together with entire platforms and powertrains, Schaefer said.

"Yes we will have fewer platforms in future," Schaefer said in response to a question about whether Mercedes will build cars on fewer more flexible vehicle underpinnings.

Some products may get eliminated by tightening emissions standards, such as the introduction of so-called Euro 7 exhaust emissions standards.

"The question is how many engines you take through the gauge, through Euro 7," Schaefer said…

BEIJING -- China's car sales had the biggest monthly plunge on record as the coronavirus kept shoppers away, intensifying the pressure on automakers already battling an unprecedented slump before the outbreak.

Sales fell 80 percent in February, the China Passenger Car Association said on Wednesday, without giving a full sales figure for the month. Average daily sales improved toward the end of the month compared with the first three weeks.

"Dealers returned to work gradually in the first three weeks of February and their showroom traffic is very low," CPCA said, adding it expects February's sales drop will be the steepest of this year.

Toyota, the first major global automaker to report its February sales in China, said it sold 23,800 Toyota and premium Lexus cars last month, down by 70 percent from a year earlier.

General Motors said the industry will face "serious challenges" in the first quarter, but anticipates the situation will ease in the s…

Aston Martin has joined the recent parade of roofless vehicles from ultraluxury and exotic brands with the V12 Speedster.

The British brand called the V12 Speedster a "living show car" and design elements peppered throughout the exterior and interior help it look the part.

For example, in addition to not having a windshield, a narrow bar begins at the dash and runs between the shoulders of the two seats and above the center armrest, giving the model a unique, dual cockpit look.

It rides on its own platform, Aston Martin noted, and the body is largely built of carbon fiber.

The front and rear of the vehicle share similar design elements with other models in the lineup, including the Vantage sports car and the upcoming DBX SUV.

Originally set to be unveiled at the Geneva auto show, the V12 Speedster is to debut via a streamed press conference at the brand's headquarters.

Aston Martin said it wi…

FRANKFURT -- Daimler is working on a strategy to push sales during the remainder of the year to make up for lost volume in China, where BMW expects March demand to continue to suffer from the steps being taking in the country to slow the coronavirus outbreak.

"The Chinese market was down in February. We want to come up with a recovery plan," CEO Ola Kaellenius told journalists in a conference call on Tuesday.

China production at Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand is currently stable, supply chains are secure and and three-quarters of the automaker's retailers in the country have re-opened, sales boss Britta Seeger said.

Seeger said it is too early to forecast the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on the automaker's overall sales, which are forecast to be slightly below last year's level.

Meanwhile, rival BMW said on Tuesday said its China sales have taken a hit because of the coronavirus, but the company stuck to its target for increasing passenger car sa…

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will offer a battery-electric version of the Transit cargo van in the U.S. and Canada for the 2022 model year as it looks to strengthen its leadership in commercial vehicles.

The automaker said the EV will be available in cargo van, cutaway and chassis cab configurations, plus three roof heights and three body lengths. It declined to discuss range, pricing or other production-related specifics.

Ford agreed to build a Transit EV at its Kansas City Assembly Plant as part of its four-year contract with the UAW ratified late last year. It's also planning a Transit EV for Europe.

The van will join an F-150 EV and the Mustang Mach-E in Ford's growing electric-vehicle portfolio, as the automaker invests more than $11.5 billion in the technology through 2022.

"Commercial vehicles are a critical component to our big bet on electrification," Ford COO Jim Farley said in a statement. "As leaders in this space, we are …

The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in the first such emergency move since the 2008 financial crisis, amid mounting concern that the coronavirus outbreak threatens to stall the record U.S. economic expansion.

The rate cut, which came between the central bank’s regularly scheduled meetings, was announced hours after Group of Seven finance chiefs held a rare teleconference to pledge they’d do all they can to combat the fast-moving health crisis.

“My colleagues and I took this action to help the U.S. economy keep strong in the face of new risks to the economic outlook,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told a hastily convened press conference in Washington on Tuesday. “The spread of the coronavirus has brought new challenges and risks.”

Powell left the door open to further action by the central bank at its next scheduled meeting March 17-18. “In the weeks and months ahead we will continue to closely monitor developments,” he said…

DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. told employees Tuesday it's banning all nonessential domestic and international air travel at least until March 27 as cases of the coronavirus spread around the world.

Ford also confirmed two employees in China have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and are getting better, Reuters reported.

The automaker has been prohibiting travel to and from China but is extending the ban to all flights within the U.S. and internationally. A spokesman, citing the health and safety of Ford's employees, said there may be some exceptions, but they'd likely be rare.

The spokesman said the company will reevaluate the date of the ban on a weekly basis and could extend it if necessary.

CNBC first reported the new travel restrictions.

General Motors, meanwhile, said it has no restrictions on domestic travel for employees, but the automaker banned employees from traveling to China, Japan, South Korea and Italy last week. Senio…

Cox Automotive's Manheim Nashville auction location will remain closed as it assesses damage caused by severe weather Tuesday. In the meantime, the company is asking clients to avoid the site.

It was not clear how long the location will be closed.

Social media users had been posting photos apparently of the property, showing debris strewn around and at least one van partially overturned. Manheim commented on one of the photos: "Thanks for your concern. We are just happy that no one got hurt. We can replace cars. We can't replace people."

Matt Trapp, Manheim's east regional vice president, said in an email that no one was injured at the site. The auction's human resources team is working to account for the safety of team members who live in the area, he said.

Tornadoes and severe weather ripped through parts of Tennessee early Tuesday morning, killing at least 22 people and damaging some 140 buildings, the Associated Press reported. Local authoriti…