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TOKYO — How does a Detroit automaker sell American vehicles in Japan's notoriously fickle, hyper-competitive and supposedly closed market? Actually, if you're Jeep, you do it quite well.

Jeep posted a 16 percent sales surge in Japan last year, making it one of the fastest-growing brands in the world's No. 3 auto market. In posting its sixth year of back-to-back growth since 2013, Jeep also bucked a trend of slumping overall sales in Japan and falling demand for imports.

Granted, Jeep's volume is still pretty paltry. It sold just 13,360 vehicles here in 2019.

But its success in a market that has been a nonstarter for U.S. automakers and a perennial flashpoint of U.S.-Japanese trade tensions offers a convincing counternarrative to the oft-repeated refrain that the Japanese just won't buy American.

Indeed, the next-best Detroit contender, Chevrolet, saw sales tumble 33 percent to just 585 vehicles in 2019 — fewer than Lamborghini. And Ford Motor Co.…

For a pioneer in the fledgling automotive subscription arena, 2020 is shaping up to be a promising year.

Clutch Technologies, the Atlanta company owned by Cox Automotive that develops software for vehicle subscription service providers, now works with 18 automaker brands — compared with just four a year ago, President Vince Zappa said during a presentation in Detroit last week.

What began as a premium-brand service — Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and BMW — has expanded to the mass market. Subaru, for example, quietly launched its Clutch-affiliated subscription service, Just Drive, in three U.S. markets: Highland Park, Ill.; Aurora, Colo.; and Salt Lake City.

"From our perspective, 2019 is the year in which we see a lot of foundational bets being made," he said during the presentation. "In fact, I was very surprised by the fact that OEM activity surged so much during the year. I actually didn't expect it to grow as fast as it did. And, …

BERLIN -- Around 250 Germans on Saturday protested in the outskirts of Berlin where U.S. electric automaker Tesla Inc. is planning to build a gigafactory, saying its construction will endanger water supply and wildlife in the area.

Tesla announced plans last November to build its first European car factory in Gruenheide, in the eastern state of Brandenburg.

Politicians, unions and industry groups have welcomed the move, saying it will bring jobs to the region, but environmental concerns drove hundreds of locals to the streets on Saturday.

"We are here, we are loud, because Tesla is stealing our water," protesters called.

Saturday's protest came after a Brandenburg water association on Thursday warned against "extensive and serious problems with the drinking water supply and wastewater disposal" for the proposed factory.

Anne Bach, a 27-year-old environmental activist, said Tesla's plans published earlier this month showed it would need more…

Volkswagen is not known as a pickup brand. But LaFontaine Volkswagen of Dearborn is using pickups to attract customers who wouldn't otherwise come into the store.

The Michigan store acquires used pickups and outfits them with a lift kit, beefy rims and tires, side steps and sometimes even fender flares. The trucks are then parked out front on the dealership lawn.

It's prime advertising, considering that the store is located on Telegraph Road, a busy byway in Dearborn with a constant stream of passersby.

The dealership began selling lifted trucks three years ago when General Sales Manager Matt Szabla and Ryan Vandenbussche, corporate buyer for LaFontaine Automotive Group, decided to try something new.

"It just started with one Silverado Z71," Szabla said. "It was the ugliest color ever — it was a teal green. But it sold right away."

The quick sale signaled that the Volkswagen store was on to something. Read more

Huntington Beach Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram wanted to make waves when the U.S. Open of Surfing came to town last summer.

The Southern California dealership's ad team, TurnKey Marketing, decided to get in on the action via Snapchat, the growing messaging app that has a foothold among the industry's youngest customers.

TurnKey used Snapchat's filter tool, which allows advertisers to create overlays that people can put on photos that they then share with friends and followers, to engage with attendees of the surfing spectacle on behalf of the dealership.

The Huntington Beach dealership's filter caught on. It was used around 7,400 times and drew 200,000 views, TurnKey co-founder Drake Baerresen said. The cost to the dealership was just $700.

Baerresen said TurnKey also uses quick-hit advertisements on the Snapchat app to target certain shopper segments and gauge their responses. Baerresen said his agency can track phone cal…

VAIL, Colo. — GMC used to just be General Motors' truck brand. But the automaker has groomed it into a purveyor of high-profit, loyalty-driving subbrands, with the hugely successful Denali line and an expanded collection of AT4 off-roaders poised to soon make up about half of GMC's sales.

The brand also might resurrect the Hummer name for what could be a family of electric pickups and SUVs starting next year.

"It's almost the next generation of what accessories was to cars, now these subbrands," said Steve Hill, GM's vice president of U.S. sales, service and marketing. "If you go up to someone who drives a Yukon, they don't say, 'I drive a Yukon.' They say, 'I drive a Denali.' That's how important it is. It's part of who they are."

The massively profitable Denali line made up 30 percent of GMC sales last year, and GMC is rolling out AT4 across its full lineup this year. The brand unveiled AT4 versions of the Yukon SUV and Canyon …

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a bill that represents the state’s most ambitious strategy to promote electric vehicles.

New Jersey, where transportation accounts for about half of greenhouse gas emissions, joins about a dozen other states that have targets for electric-vehicle adoption. The bill calls for 2 million plug-in electric vehicles by 2035, and offer consumers rebates of as much as $5,000.

“We are expecting about 60 percent of total U.S. new car sales to be electric by 2040,” said Nick Albanese, BloombergNEF’s head of Intelligent Mobility analysis. “New Jersey’s target would be above average.”

CLEVELAND — The Serpentini Auto Group, already one of the highest-volume Chevrolet sellers in Ohio, just got a lot bigger.

Bob Serpentini, president and founder of the group bearing his name, and partner Ken Ganley on Thursday announced the acquisition of three Pat O'Brien Chevrolet dealerships in the suburbs of Cleveland. Terms of the deal, which is effective immediately, were not disclosed.

The addition of the three Pat O'Brien Chevrolet stores in Medina, Westlake and Willoughby, Ohio, gives Serpentini a total of six Chevy dealerships in northeast Ohio. Serpentini's existing Chevy stores are in Strongsville, Orrville and Tallmadge, Ohio.

Temporary signage with Serpentini branding is up at the acquired dealerships. Permanent signage should be in place in about a month.

In a phone interview with Crain's Cleveland Business, an affiliate of Automotive News, Serpentini, 62, said he and Pat O'Brien Chevrolet owner Pat O…

Electric vehicle startup Fisker will sell its Ocean crossover in Germany, Norway and Denmark in 2022 as its first European markets ahead of a wider rollout in the region, CEO Henrik Fisker said.

Fisker started taking $250 deposits in November for the Ocean and will initially target those European markets with the most deposits.

The bulk of deposits, about 80 percent, have come from the U.S. So far Germany, Norway and Denmark are leading Europe, said Fisker.

The Ocean compact EV was the only car destined for production unveiled at the CES show in Las Vegas this month, where Fisker revealed its starting price of $37,499.

Fisker, a former Aston Martin and BMW designer, said he aims to keep the price low by partnering with automotive groups to achieve the economies of scale that would not normally be available to a small company of its size.

"It's not really rocket science. It's clear that to make an affordable vehicle, you need volu…