News

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the parent of iPhone assembler Foxconn plan to set up a joint venture to build electric cars and develop internet-connected vehicles.

FCA confirmed on Friday it was in talks with Hon Hai on the potential creation of a 50-50 joint venture to develop and manufacture new generation full-electric vehicles in China and engage in the IoV (Internet of Vehicles) business.

The initial focus will be on the Chinese market, with exports coming later, according to the automaker.

FCA said it is in the process of signing a preliminary agreement with Foxconn aimed at reaching final binding agreements in the next few months.

FCA's statement came after Taiwan's Hon Hai, the parent of Foxconn, the Chinese assembler of Apple iPhones, announced the potential joint venture in a separate statement.

Hon Hai said it would hold its 50 percent share both directly and indirectly and its direct shareholding would not exceed 40 percent.

A Columbus, Ohio, man pleaded guilty Monday to a $4.5 million scheme of defrauding his employers, Cummins Bridgeway LLC and Cummins Inc.

David Hudson, 54, faces a sentence of 51 to 63 months in prison for writing checks to himself out of profit-sharing funds, according to a news release the U.S. Department of Justice in Detroit. His sentencing is scheduled for April 15.

Hudson worked for power generator distributor Cummins Bridgeway from 2003 to 2014, when it was acquired by Cummins Inc., which makes engines and power-generation equipment.

After the acquisition, Hudson's responsibilities included transferring funds to entities created to share Cummins profits with Cummins Bridgeway employees, according to the news release. Hudson, according to the release, wrote unauthorized checks to himself from those profit-sharing vehicles between 2008 and 2017.

Cummins retains operations in New Hudson, Mich., and Hudson lived in Michigan at the time of the of…

DETROIT -- General Motors' captive finance company has restructured its leadership team to better align with its automaker parent, CEO Dan Berce said in a memo to employees.

A series of leadership shifts, including COO Kyle Birch's promotion to president of North America, will lead to more coordination between GM Financial and GM.

In his newly created role of president of North American operations, Birch will continue to report to Berce, according to the memo. A few key leaders on Birch's team will report not only to Birch, but also to executives within GM — Deborah Wahl, global chief marketing officer, and Travis Hester, global vice president of customer experience. Birch and much of his team will work closely with GM on marketing, customer experience and digitization.

In September, GM appointed Wahl as its first global chief marketing officer since 2012 and Hester to the newly created position of global vice president of custome…

Think of them as a cross between a city bus and an Uber. They are on-demand, app-based passenger shuttles, and they are beginning to pop up across the U.S. as cities work to expand mobility options.

These ​microtransit vehicles are often cheaper than hailing a personal car, and unlike other forms of mass transit, they aren't constrained by timetables and fixed routes. Passengers summon shuttles using an app. Some of the minibuses operate door to door; others pick up and drop off passengers at "virtual stops" near their desired location. They also operate on college campuses.

Among the companies powering these shuttle services are New York-based Via Transportation Inc. and Durham, N.C.,-based Transloc Inc., a subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility.

Via announced on Monday that it had created the nation's largest on-demand microtransit system, expanding the SmaRT Ride service in Sacramento, Calif., to 42 vehicles. Via operates the service in partnershi…

TOKYO -- Japan's Honda Motor Co. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. on Wednesday said they would jointly research the use of hydrogen fuel cells to power heavy-duty trucks, looking to expand fuel cell use by applying the zero-emission technology to larger vehicles.

As part of a two-year deal, Isuzu will test Honda's fuel cell powertrain, which was designed for passenger cars, in Isuzu's commercial trucks, the companies said, which could pave the way for using the technology in a wider range of vehicles.

Automakers are looking to develop more electric vehicles to comply with tightening global emissions regulations.

Many see battery-powered EVs as a solution for passenger cars in urban settings, but a growing number see hydrogen fuel cells as an effective way to power trucks, buses and other big vehicles.

"Although we have done extensive R&D into passenger FCVs [fuel cell vehicles], we have not been able to study how best to apply the technology to commercia…

PARIS -- PSA Group named Vincent Cobee, a former Renault-Nissan alliance executive, as CEO of the Citroen brand, replacing Linda Jackson, who will take on a strategic role within the group.

PSA also said Wednesday that Beatrice Foucher, another former Renault-Nissan alliance executive, will be the CEO of its DS Automobiles upscale brand, replacing Yves Bonnefont.

Jackson, who had led Citroen since 2014 and also oversaw PSA's low-emissions vehicle business unit, will lead a study "to clarify and support differentiation" of PSA's brands, and will report to CEO Carlos Tavares. PSA last month signed a memorandum of understanding to merge with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The merged PSA-FCA will have more than a dozen brands.

Cobee, a French national, left Mitsubishi in April 2019 as part of a wider shuffle among the top ranks at Nissan and Mitsubishi in the wake of the arrest of Carlos Ghosn last November. He joined Citroen as deputy CEO in October 2019. He ha…

BEIRUT -- Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, speaking in Beirut after his dramatic escape from Japanese justice, said on Tuesday that the French ambassador had warned him shortly after his arrest that his own company was plotting against him.

"Frankly, I was shocked by the arrest and the first thing I asked is make sure Nissan knows so they can send me a lawyer," Ghosn told Reuters in an interview in Beirut.

"And the second day, 24 hours from this, I received a visit from the French ambassador who told me: 'Nissan is turning against you'. And this is where I realized that the whole thing was a plot."

Former Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who was forced to resign last year after admitting that he had received improper compensation, told a news conference hours after Ghosn's arrest that Ghosn had been using corporate money for personal purposes and under-reporting his income for years.

The arrest of Ghosn, widely respected for rescuing the automaker f…

Genesis marked a new milestone with the global unveiling of its first crossover, the GV80, a crucial model that could reel in customers interested in the upstart Korean brand's value and quality proposition, but turned off by its all-sedan lineup.

At an event in Seoul, Genesis provided the first official pictures in full color and announced the base engine for the home market — a six-cylinder diesel that won't be heading to the U.S. when the crossover goes on sale by summer.

The GV80, with an optional third row, will be available with two turbocharged gasoline engines in the U.S., Genesis said. The G70 sedan is offered with a base turbo four-cylinder or optional turbo six-cylinder engine, and those are likely choices for the GV80, providing better fuel economy in the smaller motor and performance in the bigger one.

Some standout attributes of the new crossover, according to Genesis, include an electronically controlled suspension with road preview from…

WASHINGTON -- New rules enacting President Donald Trump's reductions in fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles through 2026 moved closer to reality on Tuesday when U.S. agencies sent proposals to the White House for final review.

After more than 17 months of discussion, NHTSA and the EPA submitted proposed rules for 2021 through 2026 model year fuel efficiency to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the agencies said.

Final rules are expected as early as late February or March, officials said.

The administration of former President Barack Obama had required car manufacturers to achieve roughly 5 percent annual increases in vehicle fuel efficiency through the 2026 model year.

The Trump administration proposed in August 2018 freezing fuel efficiency standards at 2020 levels through 2026, erasing the increases the Obama administration enacted, but officials will not finalize that proposal.

"We're not going to be flat,…

VAIL, Colo. — GMC's Yukon and Yukon XL full-size SUVs will gain as much as 30 percent more cargo space and a suite of advanced technology powered by General Motors' new digital vehicle platform as part of a redesign for the 2021 model year.

The Yukon models are among GM's most lucrative nameplates, and like the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, they will further establish a profit base that's key to GM's investment in an electric-vehicle future. The Yukon and Yukon XL are among the six full-size SUVs that GM will resdesign this year.

"GMC Yukon is the full-size premium SUV that's made to be used," Duncan Aldred, vice president of global Buick and GMC, said in a statement. "The new Yukon delivers what customers value most — premium features, purposeful technology and all-terrain capability."

The standard Yukon's maximum cargo space has been stretched 30 percent to 28.2 cubic feet, with 41 percent more legroom and 67 percent more cargo…

BEIRUT -- Carlos and Carole Ghosn, the former first couple of Nissan Motor Corp., are united again in Beirut. They hold hands in the street and whisper together in a mix of Arabic and French. They kiss.

But the pair's most visceral display of unity comes when they talk about Carlos Ghosn's former home.

"I'm done with Japan," Carole Ghosn said in an interview with her husband in a private house in Beirut.

Two weeks ago, Carlos Ghosn made a dramatic escape from house arrest in Japan, where he was awaiting trial on charges of under-reporting earnings, breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds. He denies all charges.

Shortly after Ghosn appeared in Beirut, Japanese authorities issued an arrest warrant for Carole on suspicion of alleged perjury related to the misappropriation charge against her husband.

"What they're accusing me of is a bit of a joke," said the 54-year-old Lebanese-American national, who spent many years as a fashio…