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Staying late at the office. Covering another employee's shift. Going the extra mile for a customer.

Employees at Raymond Chevrolet and Raymond Kia, both in Antioch, Ill., are rewarded with cash bonuses for these efforts — an incentive that owner Mark Scarpelli said has improved employee retention and workplace attitude.

Exemplary employee behavior is met with a "Q-card." The "Q" stands for quality. The cards, which detail how the employee excelled, are cashed for a $25 bonus.

At the end of every month, employees gather for Cake Day, where they socialize and news updates are shared. More anticipated, however, is the chance to receive an even bigger monetary reward. The names of employees who received a Q-card — typically eight to 10 each month — are placed in a bucket. The employee whose name is drawn from the bucket receives a "crisp $100 bill," Scarpelli said.

"Sometimes it's really easy to focus on areas where we ne…

From its beginnings as a provider of high-performance graphics processing power for video games, Nvidia Corp. has become one of the most valuable companies in the world based on its central role in ushering in an artificial-intelligence era across industries. The company, which works with several global automakers such as BYD, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, saw its stock surge 24 percent on Thursday, adding $184 billion to its value after a positive revenue outlook based on artificial-intelligence advances. That’s one of the largest one-day gains in value for a company in history, and places Nvidia’s market capitalization at nearly $939 billion.

That surge continued Friday with shares rising another 2.5 percent to close at $389.46 — pushing the market capitalization past $963 billion. The increase extends Nvidia far ahead of computing competitors like Qualcomm, worth approximately $122 billion, and Intel, valued at about $119 billion.   Although Nvid…

Hyundai Motor Group took another step to complete the puzzle for its new $5.5 billion electric vehicle production hub in southeast Georgia with the announcement Friday of a deal to source battery cells through a $4.3 billion joint venture with supplier LG Energy Solution.

The companies will each hold a 50 percent stake in a new battery plant, to be constructed in Bryan County with enough annual capacity to produce 30 gigawatt hours of batteries, which can power 300,000 EVs annually.

It will be the second new U.S. battery plant to serve Hyundai.

The LG deal follows a similar supply agreement that Hyundai inked with South Korean battery supplier SK On Co. for a $5 billion battery plant in Bartow County, Ga. That plant will have an annual production capacity of 35 GWh and is expected to mainly supply Hyundai Motor Group auto plants in West Point, Ga., and Montgomery, Ala. Construction of the LG joint venture plant will begin this year, with production sch…

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation has filed an emergency motion to prevent a June 1 enforcement of Massachusetts' updated right-to-repair law, according to a court document filed Thursday.

The action comes after state Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a March filing that terminating her office's nonenforcement stipulation was "in the public interest" and that enforcement would begin in June.

A spokesperson for Campbell's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In its filing, the alliance argues that a June 1 enforcement would cause its members "irreparable harm," as any attempt to comply with the law would require automakers "to remove essential cybersecurity protections from their vehicles."

Additionally, attempts to avoid compliance — either by disabling telematics systems as some automakers have done or withdrawing from the Massachusetts market — "would harm consumers and cause incalculable harm" to automakers'…

Hyundai and LG Energy Solution say they will invest $4.3 billion to produce electric vehicle batteries in Georgia. In the first direct partnership of its kind between two competing electric vehicle makers, Ford EVs will get access to Tesla’s superchargers. Plus, a look at what employee referrals for staff openings say about a dealership’s service department.

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Stellantis has appointed Aamir Ahmed, a former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles marketer who went on to work for Amazon and Harman International, to lead the Fiat brand in North America.

The move is effective immediately, the automaker said Thursday. Ahmed assumes the responsibility from Larry Dominique, who had been leading Fiat in addition to his role as senior vice president for Alfa Romeo in North America.

Ahmed, 39, will take the reins of a brand that has had difficulty getting traction in the U.S. Fiat currently sells only the 500X here but plans to reintroduce an electric version of the 500 in 2024.

Fiat's global CEO, Olivier Francois, said last fall that the 500e would return to take advantage of the industry's fledgling electric "revolution" in the U.S. but that the Italian brand has no grand volume ambitions for it and didn't plan to expand the product portfolio further.

Stellantis said Ahmed will head a North American unit tasked with "providi…

Tesla Inc.'s surprise agreement with rival Ford Motor Co. to provide access to the Tesla Supercharger network opens the door for other automakers to follow suit, analysts say.

With about 17,000 charging connectors, Tesla has the largest and most reliable fast-charge network in the U.S. Ford customers will gain access to roughly 12,000 next year as part of the first such agreement between Tesla and another automaker.

The deal provides Tesla with additional customers and revenue for its coast-to-coast infrastructure of direct-current chargers, which make road trips and long commutes possible. It more than doubles the number of fast-charger plugs available to Ford customers from all charging partners.

"We're all shocked that Ford has announced this," Loren McDonald, CEO of consulting firm EVAdoption, told Automotive News. "But now that Ford has made the decision, it's easier for everyone else. The ice has been broken and now the dominoes can fall."

…

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., the world’s biggest EV battery producer, is joining Tesla Inc. and BYD Co. in adding a focus on the booming solar sector.

CATL said it is researching the development of perovskite cells, among the most promising methods to drive new improvements in solar panel performance. It also on Thursday struck an agreement with JA Solar Technology Co., China’s fourth-biggest module maker, to cooperate on scientific innovations, marketing and storage.

“We are building a pilot test line,” CATL said in a response to questions, without providing details on timelines or capacity.  

The moves come as the world is on track to install a record number of solar panels this year, propelled by China’s relentless deployment of clean energy.

Global investment in the technology this year will surpass spending on oil production for the first time, according to the International Energy Agency. EV-to-battery producer BYD be…

Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley says Chinese electric vehicle makers are its main rivals in the sector, but the company has hurdles competing on cost at a smaller scale.

"We see the Chinese as the main competitor, not GM or Toyota," Farley said Thursday at the Morgan Stanley Sustainable Finance Summit. "The Chinese are going to be the powerhouse."

China, the world's largest auto market, has some of the best battery technology and dominates EV production, Farley said. He cited BYD, Geely, Great Wall, Changan and SAIC as among the "winners" among Chinese automakers.

To beat Chinese automakers, Farley said Ford needs distinctive branding, which he believes it has, or lower costs. "But how do you beat on them on cost if their scale is five times yours?" Farley said. "The Europeans let (Chinese automakers) in - so now they are selling in high volume in Europe."

Ford said in February it would invest $3.5 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant …

It's been nearly 16 months since Ford Motor Co. split into separate business units for electric and gasoline-powered vehicles.

The company recently restructured its earnings reports to give more insight into the profits and losses for each unit and, in doing so, confirmed what many had long believed: Its internal combustion business is making most of its profits while EVs are deep in the red.

Despite the strong bottom line in the traditional business, called Ford Blue, challenges remain. The company is looking to remove billions in costs that are preventing it from making even more money. Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, said the company is making progress on those cost-cutting plans but has more work to do.

Galhotra, 57, spoke with Staff Reporter Michael Martinez this month. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: You've said Ford Blue is a growth business. How much longer will that be true?

A: We are a growth business because of the strength…

Volkswagen Group and its Audi unit have agreed to an $85 million settlement in principle over violations of Texas environmental laws stemming from its diesel cheating scandal, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Thursday. 

The settlement stipulates that the German automakers pay a civil penalty of $85 million for their unlawful actions, Paxton said.

Earlier this month, the Texas Supreme Court ruled the state environmental lawsuit against Volkswagen and Audi could go forward.

Volkswagen, which declined to comment on Thursday, previously settled U.S. actions prompted by the emissions scandal for more than $20 billion, but that did not shield it from local and state government liability, courts ruled previously.

"If a company thinks they will avoid accountability when they violate Texas laws, endanger Texans, and pollute our environment, they’re dead wrong. Volkswagen and Audi are finding that out the hard way, and now they are payi…

Starting next spring, Ford EV owners will have access to roughly 12,000 Tesla Superchargers via adapters in the first direct partnership of its kind between two competing electric vehicle makers.

And starting in 2025, Ford Motor Co. will stop building its EVs with traditional Combined Charging System (CCS) ports, replacing them with Tesla's preferred North American Charging Standard (NACS) charge port, removing the need for a special adapter.

"Widespread access to fast-charging is absolutely vital to our growth as an EV brand, and this breakthrough agreement comes as we are ramping up production of our popular Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning and preparing to launch a series of next-generation EVs starting in 2025," Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.

Farley and Tesla CEO Elon Musk made the announcement Thursday evening on Twitter. Tesla operates about 17,000 superchargers in the U.S., so Ford will have access to the majority of them.

Musk…