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GM Financial's loan originations plunged 35 percent in the fourth quarter as a new incentive program offered by General Motors got off to a slower start than anticipated. Despite the decline, lease originations and net income rose, and revenue inched up slightly.

In the fourth quarter, loan originations at GM's captive finance company fell to $5.5 billion, while lease originations rose 3 percent to $5.4 billion, the company said in a statement last week.

The rollout of the new GM incentive program drove much of the dip in loan originations, GM Financial CEO Dan Berce said. The traditional incentive offerings, such as down payment assistance, were successful in the first half of the year.  

But the automaker launched new incentive programs in the fourth quarter: promotional rate programs designed to retain GM customers and drive business to the captive. The programs lagged as the company worked on dealer training and customer acceptance, but it has …

The recent news from Bosch was colored in doom and gloom for the auto industry. 

The world’s largest auto supplier just announced a 44 percent plunge in annual operating profits. Over the past year, it laid off 6,800 workers. And it isn’t expecting any sunshine soon. Bosch predicts that 2020 will mark the third straight year of global production declines, down 10 million units from 2017. 

"It could well be that we have passed the peak of automotive production," warned CEO Volkmar Denner.

And although we may hear other negative news during this earnings season’s announcements, one company’s misfortunes rarely speak for an industry at large. Nor do short-term trends make for solid forecasts for ongoing health. Drill deeper into the numbers, and you won’t just find an industry on a steady, 20-year ascent. You’ll find conditions that welcome prosperity for the next decade and beyond. 

Begin with the unique factors behind Bosch’s t…

Honda North America is recalling 241,000 Odyssey vehicles in the U.S. over a wiring problem that could cause an electrical short circuit.

The recall includes Honda Odyssey EX-L, Touring and Elite minivans from the 2018-2020 model years.

The global number of affected vehicles is just over 272,000, Chris Martin, a spokesman for Honda told Automotive News in an email.

The wire harness for the third-row seat accessory power outlet can get pinched between the unibody and rear trim panel, NHTSA documents said. Damage to wires could cause an electrical short, overheat the wire harness and increase the risk of a fire.

Honda will inspect, reroute and wrap insulating tape on the wire harness or replace the harness if it is damaged, it said in a statement Tuesday.

"Honda is aware of three fires related to this issue with no reported injuries," the statement said.

The automaker will start notifying customers by mail March 16, NHTSA documents said.

Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. broadened its future transportation portfolio with an agreement to jointly develop electric vehicles with California startup Canoo, the companies said on Tuesday.

It was the second such deal announced in recent weeks by Hyundai and sister company Kia Motors Corp., which in mid-January said they would invest $110 million in UK startup Arrival and jointly develop electric commercial vehicles.

In Seoul, a Hyundai spokesperson said the automaker's partnership with two-year-old Canoo would focus on smaller electric passenger vehicles about the size of its Accent compact.

Like Arrival, Canoo has developed a "skateboard" -- a low-rise platform that bundles batteries and electric motors with such chassis components as steering, brakes, wheels and tires -- on which a variety of body types can be built.

Canoo last fall revealed its own "post-SUV" model, based on its electric-vehicle skateboard and intended to be marketed t…

Jeremiah Farrell, the retired president of Chrysler Financial Corp. who played a key role in the survival of Chrysler dealers during Lee Iacocca's late 1970s and early 1980s turnaround plan for the troubled automaker, died on Feb. 7 following an illness. He was 82.

Chrysler, bleeding cash and facing a weak U.S. auto market, secured an historic government-backed rescue signed by President Jimmy Carter as part of a sweeping package of concessions from unions, lenders and other creditors to stay afloat. The Small Business Administration provided hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed loans to car dealers to weather the downturn.

“If it wasn’t for Chrysler Financial, I think most of the dealers would have gone out of business during that critical period,” Ken Meade, founder of The Meade Group of auto dealerships in the Detroit area, said in Farrell's obituary. “Jerry Farrell’s leadership was the life force that we needed at that time on the dealer level.” Read more

NEW YORK -- New Wells Fargo & Co. CEO Charlie Scharf’s first overhaul included bringing in yet another former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and breaking the firm’s main businesses into smaller fiefdoms.

The reorganization divides the bank’s business lines into five units from three previously, Wells Fargo said in a statement Tuesday. Scharf split the investment bank into its own unit and separated consumer lending under a new leader.

Scharf’s biggest moves after almost four months atop the bank come as Wells Fargo works to regain customer trust and mend ties with regulators and elected officials following years of scandals that claimed the last two CEOs.

“These organizational changes enable us to more effectively pursue our goals and take advantage of the opportunities in front of us,” Scharf said in the statement. “I am confident that this organizational model and our strengthened risk and control foundation will bring greater focus and ac…

New Wells Fargo & Co. CEO Charlie Scharf’s first overhaul included bringing in yet another former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and breaking the firm’s main businesses into smaller fiefdoms.

The reorganization divides the bank’s business lines into five units from three previously, Wells Fargo said in a statement Tuesday. Scharf split the investment bank into its own unit and separated consumer lending under a new leader.

The bank, a major auto lender, has acknowledged employees opened millions of fake bank and credit card accounts to meet wildly unrealistic sales goals. Wells Fargo admitted that it forced borrowers to pay for auto insurance they didn’t need. Some of those auto borrowers ultimately had their vehicles repossessed. Wells Fargo has admitted to illegally repossessing the vehicles of hundreds of service members.

Scharf’s biggest moves after almost four months atop the bank come as Wells Fargo works to regain customer trust and mend t…

Officials from trade groups representing automakers and tech companies, as well as consumer and vehicle safety, called on Congress to carve out legislation for autonomous vehicles that sharpens safeguards and closes loopholes without hindering innovation and global competitiveness.

During the hearing, held Tuesday in Washington by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, witnesses and legislators spoke of the growing benefits of autonomous vehicle technology — and, eventually, self-driving vehicles on their own — and their role in preventing or mitigating accidents and collisions.

But obstacles remain, including the need for federal legislation that allows the United States to remain globally competitive as other countries, including China and Japan, roll out their own regulations and developments for self-driving vehicles.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said the U.S. has fallen behind other countries since the Self Drive Act was approved unanim…

WASHINGTON -- An emboldened President Donald Trump has set his sights on restructuring the more than $1 trillion U.S. trade relationship with the European Union, raising the specter of another major trade war as the global economy slows and he seeks re-election.

Trump, who has long complained that the EU's position on trade is "worse than China," on Monday told U.S. governors that he was training his sights on Europe after signing a Phase 1 deal that cooled a bitter trade war with China.

"Europe has been treating us very badly," he said. "Over the last 10, 12 years, there's been a tremendous deficit with Europe. They have barriers that are incredible ... So we're going to be starting that. They know that."

European officials say they are willing to work with Trump to address some irritants in the relationship. But they warn that they will retaliate against any U.S. move to impose tariffs on cars and other products, as Trump has threatened.

"In the…

WASHINGTON -- A Tesla driver killed in a March 2018 crash in California while using the Autopilot driver-assistance system had reported that on prior trips, the car had steered away from the highway, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) disclosed in documents made public Tuesday.

Walter Huang, a 38-year-old Apple software engineer, was driving his Tesla Model X in Mountain View, Calif., in Autopilot mode at about 70 mph when it crashed into a safety barrier. The NTSB said Huang had reported issues on prior trips with Autopilot steering the wheel toward an area between a highway ramp and the lane. It is a moving violation to cross into that section of the road, known as the "gore area."

Data from the vehicle showed that in prior trips Huang had taken corrective action after Autopilot had steered toward the area. The NTSB said in the fatal crash Huang's hands were not detected on the steering wheel in the final six seconds before the crash. There was n…

F&I platform Dealertrack, a subsidiary of Cox Automotive, plans to phase out its digital F&I menu as it partners with competitor Darwin Automotive, executives from both companies said.

Dealers will have the option to migrate to Darwin's F&I menu product or find a new provider.

Darwin CEO Phil Battista said dealers currently using Dealertrack's eMenu won't automatically shift over to Darwin's menu — they will have to opt in.

"Dealers who want to have a menu application will be referred to us to be put on Darwin," Battista said.

The conversion would take no more than 18 months, though dealership clients that opt for Darwin's menu product could see a transition as early as next quarter, both companies said.

Through the partnership, consumer information and F&I product selections will populate directly from Darwin's menu into Dealertrack's online deal jacket. Most dealerships using a Dealertrack F&I platform use the menu opt…