NewsPaper: June 2022

Thursday, June 30, 2022

GM, Ford to overtake Tesla in EV market share by 2025, study says

Tesla's EV market share is expected to plummet from 70 percent today to 11 percent in 2025, according to the annual 'Car Wars' study published by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

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GM revives program to train first responders on EVs

GM's revamped program focuses on teaching firefighters how to safely respond to incidents involving EVs and hybrids.

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Kansas Buick dealership faces 2 more lawsuits alleging hostile work environment, whistleblower retaliation

The new lawsuits were filed by former Brogden controller Lynda Cole and human resource specialist Brooke Nemechek.

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Craft Automotive to sell Honda, Hyundai, Stellantis dealerships to Carter Myers Automotive

Craft Automotive Group said it signed an agreement to sell three dealerships to Carter Myers Automotive. The transaction is slated to close in August.

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Tesla leads in luxury brand loyalty, and it's not slowing down, S&P Global Mobility says

Tom Libby: Tesla's internal loyalty rate "is an ominous, frankly, ominous trend for the rest of the industry."

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Ferrari to continue building internal combustion engines on its road to EVs

Although Ferrari's first EV will arrive in 2025 and the automaker already offers some plug-in models, the weight of batteries and an attachment to noisy, powerful engines are slowing the automaker’s shift.

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Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Union technicians strike Mercedes-Benz of San Diego

The dealership offered a 15.1 percent pay increase for master technicians and a 10 percent increase for certified technicians, plus annual raises after that.

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Union technicians strike Mercedes-Benz of San Diego

The dealership offered a 15.1 percent pay increase for master technicians and a 10 percent increase for certified technicians, plus annual raises after that.

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Toyota slows vehicle output

Toyota produced fewer vehicles in May than a year earlier but plans to increase production starting in July.

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Tesla lays off 200 Autopilot workers, report says

CEO Elon Musk caught workers by surprise earlier this month when he said layoffs would be necessary in an increasingly shaky economic environment.

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Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Hyundai goes sleek and rounded with new Ioniq 6 EV 'streamliner'

Hyundai says the Ioniq 6's "single-curved aerodynamic profile" delivers the brand's sleekest drag coefficient yet and houses a "cocoon-like cabin." While the Ioniq 5 hatch is chiseled and digital, the Ioniq 6 is more flowing and organic.

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Lithia Motors buys 9 dealerships in Florida, Nevada

Lithia Motors in two acquisitions purchased eight dealerships in southern Florida and a Hyundai-Genesis dealership in Nevada.

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Tesla brings back 'Enhanced Autopilot' driver assistance

Tesla is once again selling "Enhanced Autopilot" after phasing it out in 2019. The $6,000 feature sits between standard Autopilot and the incomplete "Full Self Driving" beta software at $12,000.

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Hyundai, Kia raided in Germany over suspected diesel defeat devices

German officials have searched business premises at eight properties in Germany and Luxembourg in an operation coordinated by the European Union agency Eurojust.

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As Lucid opens stores, it will take pop-ups to other cities

Lucid is opening stores in major U.S. cities, but at the same time, it's taking its "Grand Tour" pop-up on the road to let more people take a test drive.

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Monday, June 27, 2022

Ford recalls EV F-150 Lightning pickups

Ford said it is recalling about 2,900 F-150 Lightning EVs because a software issue could result in a failure to provide adequate warning of low tire pressure.

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Judge orders new trial for damages in Tesla worker's race bias lawsuit

Ex-Tesla factory worker Owen Diaz had turned down a $15 million award, which the judge in the case cut down from the jury's original $137 million.

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Sunday, June 26, 2022

Gas prices not denting demand for new cars

Experts say a significant improvement in the fuel economy of most internal-combustion vehicles, including large trucks and utilities, means consumers aren't feeling the need to switch to smaller options.

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CarMax sales fall, but it holds onto per-vehicle profit

CarMax Inc., like other major players in the automotive retail world, finds itself trying to maneuver through a year hampered by sunken buyer confidence.

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Here's the Automotive News 2022 list of top suppliers

Sales revenue at the world's largest parts suppliers bounced back significantly from 2020, even surpassing 2019 results in many cases. But beneath those numbers, suppliers are feeling the pinch.

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Infiniti QX80 redesign will shine as the center of brand makeover

Infiniti is rolling into a brand campaign that will include a new look for dealerships, a new design language for vehicles and a flurry of accents for customer touch points, such as a signature Infiniti sound.

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The latest numbers on the microchip shortage: Europe, N.A. suffer biggest hits

Hopes that the microchip shortage was easing off are proving premature. In the past 60 days, AFS has increased its forecast for lost 2022 production by 800,000 vehicles.

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Pandemic, supply woes still hammering Toyota production

Toyota's slowdown expands the count of lost production to some 400,000 vehicles in the fiscal year finishing March 31, 2023. Despite the fall back, Toyota is keeping its production goal unchanged at 9.7 million vehicles for the full fiscal year, an all-time high if achieved.

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Q1 buy-sells tracking on same busy pace as '21

Dealership buy-sell activity in the first quarter of 2022 was similar to that of the same period in 2021, according to data compiled from industry experts and Automotive News.

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Supplier Toyota Boshoku sees quadrupling of sales through self-driving pod car interiors

Toyota Boshoku, the automaker's main seating and interior supplier, is answering the call for future robotaxis and drone delivery docks.

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Saturday, June 25, 2022

Ford F-150 Raptors, Mustangs targeted by thieves at Detroit-area plants

Thieves made off with 13 F-150 Raptors and six Mustangs from factories in the Detroit area this month.

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2023 BMW 7 Series brings down the house with ‘Theater Screen’

A pair of electric motors and articulated rails control the orientation of BMW's 31-inch rear-seat infotainment display.

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VW loses 2 EV execs as ID4 production begins

Former Tesla execs Matt Renna and Dustin Krause had been with VW since 2018, joining as the automaker prepared to sell EVs in the U.S. They departed in spring for jobs with EV startups as the German automaker begins producing ID4s in the U.S. for the first time.

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CarMax used-car sales down again in latest quarter amid inflation, affordability woes

The company retailed a total of 240,950 used vehicles in the quarter ending May 31, down 11 percent from the same time last year. Comparable store used-vehicle sales also fell 12.7 percent.

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Friday, June 24, 2022

Silicon Valley car dealer embraces a tech giant culture

Del Grande dealer group thrives in Silicon Valley by embracing the area's tech culture. The family enterprise invests in training, compensation and the perks expected in the California enclave.

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Genesis Electrified G80 launch delayed

Genesis' Electrified G80 battery-powered sedan will go on sale later than expected. It will offer combined output of 365 hp and 282 miles of range on a single charge.

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2 EV execs exit as VW ID4 production begins

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CarMax used-car sales down again in latest quarter amid inflation, affordability woes

The company retailed a total of 240,950 used vehicles in the quarter ending May 31, down 11 percent from the same time last year. Comparable store used-vehicle sales also fell 12.7 percent.

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Kia granted injunction to halt sale of California dealership

Kia America Inc. won a preliminary injunction against Rally Auto Group and would-be purchasers Alam Khan and his Dalia Auto Group. A federal judge in California found a likelihood of consumer confusion if Rally and Dalia continued to use Kia's trademark and other intellectual property.

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CarLotz shutters 11 stores as it realigns for profitability

The used-vehicle consignment company, in announcing the move this week, blamed vehicle sourcing snafus and said it needed to preserve cash.

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Kia granted injunction to halt sale of Calif. dealership

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Auto supply chains brace for a very different future

After decades of offloading low-value production and producing the same old technologies, the industry is transforming the supply chains that bring it all together.

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Automotive safety supplier Veoneer being prepped for sale, report says

The radar and active safety systems specialist, which was spun off by Autoliv in 2018, is expected to attract interest from rival automotive suppliers as well as some buyout firms.

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Wednesday, June 22, 2022

New U.S. criminal fraud charge filed on Nikola founder Trevor Milton

Milton previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud over statements he made from November 2019 to September 2020 about Nikola. His trial is scheduled for July 18 in the federal court.

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NHTSA wants automakers to collect more 'black box' crash data

U.S. safety regulators proposed requiring black boxes to collect 20 seconds of pre-crash data at a higher frequency rate to help better understand the actions that lead to a crash. NHTSA currently requires five seconds.

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Musk says Tesla's two newest car plants are losing billions of dollars

Tesla Inc's new car factories in Texas and Berlin are "losing billions of dollars" as they struggle to increase production because of a shortage of batteries and China port issues, Chief Executive Elon Musk said recently.

"Both Berlin and Austin factories are gigantic money furnaces right now. Okay? It's really like a giant roaring sound, which is the sound of money on fire," Musk said in an interview with Tesla Owners Silicon Valley, an official Tesla recognized club, in Austin, Texas, on May 31.

The club divided its interview with Musk into three parts, the last of which was released Wednesday.

Musk said Tesla's Texas factory produces a "tiny" number of cars because of challenges in boosting production of its new "4680" batteries and as tools to make its conventional 2170 batteries are "stuck in port in China."

The Shanghai COVID shutdowns in China "were very, very difficult," he said. The shutdown affected car production not only at Tesla's Shanghai factory, but also at its California plant, which uses some vehicle parts made in China.

"The past two years have been an absolute nightmare of supply chain interruptions, one thing after another, and we're not out of it yet," Musk said.

Tesla's overwhelming concern, he said, is "How do we keep the factories operating so we can pay people and not go bankrupt?"

Musk said earlier this week that a 10 percent cut in salaried staff at Tesla will happen over three months. He also said a U.S. recession was more likely than not. Tesla earlier this year started production at the factories in Berlin and Texas, both of which are critical to the growth ambitions of the top electric car maker.

Musk said he expected Tesla would start production of its Cybertruck electric pickup trucks, which has been delayed, in mid-2023.

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AlixPartners predicts supply chain issues to last through 2024; EV costs grow

Supply constraints and the semiconductor shortage will fester in the auto industry through 2024, consulting firm AlixPartners said at its annual Global Automotive Outlook briefing.

"We see pent-up demand driving sales through it, but it's a very important distinction from the many that are saying it's getting better and it's going to be gone," Mark Wakefield, co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners, said during the briefing Wednesday. "We'd say it's getting better, but it's not going to be gone for the next two years."

A report presented at the briefing predicted that global vehicle sales would fall to 79 million in 2022 from 80 million last year but would rise to 87 million in 2023.

The report also said the automotive industry has made advances in electrification. According to the briefing, the industry has committed $526 billion through 2026 for the transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles.

The firm said raw materials for EVs were $8,255 per vehicle, nearly twice the cost of raw materials for internal combustion vehicles because of the increased cost of cobalt, nickel and lithium. Elmar Kades, also co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice, said during the briefing that the transition to EVs is projected to cost automakers and suppliers a total of $70 billion by 2030. The report said, however, that 40 to 60 percent of these costs could be prevented if companies avoided bankruptcy and reduced continuity and tooling costs.

The report also said that the EV charging station business model isn't currently viable and that more public charging stations are necessary. According to Kades, the U.S. needs to invest nearly $50 billion in charging infrastructure by 2030 to meet the demands of electrification.

"Families with houses have a high tendency to charge at home ... but those who are not living in their houses have to charge externally," Kades said. "U.S. public charging stations have to go up within the next eight, nine, 10 years by a factor of 18."

The report said EV purchases could account for 33 percent of global automotive sales by 2028 and 54 percent by 2035, up from less than 8 percent of sales last year.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Forvia, formerly known as Faurecia, completes $741M capital increase

Forvia, which was formerly known as Faurecia, announced its name change following the closing of the Hella deal in February.

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Q&A: Magna CEO explains why the megasupplier expects a big boost from industry's EV shift

CEO Swamy Kotagiri says the supplier's content per vehicle is poised to rise sharply in EVs for products such as all-wheel-drive systems, while Magna's new battery enclosures business is forecast to reach sales of more than $1.5 billion by 2027.

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