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KAMINOKAWA, Japan — Japanese automakers, once hailed as electrified-vehicle pioneers but derided of late as reluctant laggards, are finally getting their heads into the global EV game.

The effort begins now, with one of the country's biggest automakers and one of its smallest lifting the curtain on secretive EV manufacturing hubs that reveal the automakers' innovative thinking about how to make EVs profitably.

Nissan Motor Co., an EV leader a decade ago that was quickly surpassed by international rivals, is firing up a completely renovated plant to churn out new EVs this winter. And low-volume Mazda Motor Corp. has designed a new line to roll out electrified vehicles.

The factory updates — costing hundreds of millions of dollars — indicate that Japan's players intend to use their world-renowned expertise in lean manufacturing and creative continuous improvement, or kaizen, to compete in EVs.

The production tricks used…

Rivian Automotive Inc., the Amazon-backed electric-pickup maker that’s preparing to go public, expects to record a quarterly net loss of up to $1.28 billion due to costs associated with the start of production of its debut truck.

The losses are increasing from a year ago due to “significant labor and overhead costs” for its plant in Normal, Ill., the startup said Friday in a filing. The net loss for the period ended Sept. 30 will range from $1.18 billion to $1.28 billion, according to the preliminary results.

“As we just started to ramp vehicle production at the site, the facility produced limited quantities of vehicles in the period,” the company said. The operating loss for the quarter is expected to be $725 million to $775 million.

The company, which began delivering the R1T truck last quarter, previously reported a net loss of nearly $1 billion in the first half of the year.

Rivian is among the most serious competitors lining up to take on ele…

Mercedes-Benz plans to bring the next generation of its EQC electric compact crossover to the U.S. around 2025, as well as a battery-powered C-Class sedan, the automaker told dealers this month.

Mercedes had planned to introduce the EQC crossover with the debut of its EQ subbrand in the U.S. in early 2020. But after delaying the launch by a year, the company scrapped plans to bring the model here.

The EQC is part of a fleet of electric vehicles Mercedes is launching in the U.S. as it shifts toward being an EV-only brand.

The two new models will be built on the Mercedes Modular Architecture electric platform, which the automaker said should offer longer range, faster charging and a more efficient drivetrain. The platform's skateboard design also opens up the interior for more passenger and cargo space.

The current EQC crossover is based on the combustion engine GLC crossover. Powered by an 80-kilowatt-hour battery, the EQC has a range of up to 257…

The transistors used in vehicle power electronics are conventionally made from silicon. But GaN Systems Inc. of Ottawa is moving forward on transistors made from a hard crystal known as gallium nitride, or GaN, created by combining gallium with nitrogen.

GaN Systems believes the material change will enable smaller, more efficient and lower-cost power electronics, translating to smaller and lighter batteries for electric vehicles with improved charging performance and greater range for vehicles.

BMW AG and other auto and parts manufacturers are interested.

Last month, the luxury automaker signed a deal with GaN Systems to potentially source power transistors for its on-board vehicle chargers and e-motors. The innovation could help BMW produce EVs with higher power density, faster charging capabilities and longer range. The material could also advance capabilities in autonomous driving and wireless power applications.

For…

From the rear, a small Findlay Auto Group staff meeting more resembles the locker room of an all-star game than it does an automotive retailing training session.

While the athletes in this huddle aren't nearly as famous as their jerseys might imply, their continued development and performance are just as critical to their team's mission as if they were on a field with a ball in their hands and helmets on their heads.

These are the Rising Leaders of Findlay Auto Group, and this sports-infused Las Vegas room is the training ground for the next generation of dealership general managers, sales managers and department heads who will one day run vital pieces of the 33-rooftop, family-owned dealership chain. Those gathered are not here to learn the intricacies of dealership management systems or the vagaries of inventory management, but how to work together as a team and develop as leaders — and how they will better themselves by doing both.

Read more about How this retail group uses sports to coach up a new batch of leaders

A Napleton Automotive Group executive accused of sexual assault by a co-worker in 2018 was sentenced Wednesday in Florida to five years of probation on a charge of third-degree felony battery.

Edward Napleton Jr., director of operations for Napleton Automotive Group and son of company President Ed Napleton, will not face prison time nor will he be required to register as a sex offender in Florida under a type of guilty plea identified in court documents as a "best interest" plea. Under a best interest plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but does acknowledge that a guilty plea is in his or her best interest.

Napleton Jr. stipulated to one count of sexual penetration, according to his plea sheet. Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Scott Suskauer withheld adjudication in the case, which means Napleton Jr. isn't formally convicted of the charge.

A Florida statute gives judges special authority to sometimes "withhold adjudication" in probation sentence…

Four dealership groups bought single rooftops — some with multiple brands — in deals late in the fourth quarter and in October in the Midwest, West and South.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic, import and luxury brands.

Domestic brand growth in Wisconsin for Kayser Automotive

Kayser Automotive Group of Madison, Wis., has purchased a Ford dealership in Sauk City, Wis., adding a sixth dealership to its domestic-brand-only platform.

Kayser on Sept. 30 bought Courtesy Ford of Sauk City from Ray Fregia Jr., also dealer principal of Fregia's Courtesy Ford of Danville in Illinois.

Kayser plans to build a new facility within two years for the Ford dealership that was renamed Kayser Ford of Sauk City, said Brendan Baxter, Kayser Automotive's senior vice president.

The Kayser group, owned by the Baxter family and led by brothers Sean, Ryan and Brendan, already has Chevrolet-Buick and Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealerships in Sauk Cit…

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA -- The Canadian government on Friday warned that U.S. proposals to create new EV tax credits for American-built vehicles could harm the North American auto industry and run foul of trade agreements, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

In the letter dated Oct. 22, Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng told U.S. lawmakers and the Biden adminisration that the credits, if approved, "would have a major adverse impact on the future of EV and automotive production in Canada".

She said this would raise the risk of severe economic harm and tens of thousands of job losses in one of Canada’s largest manufacturing sectors, adding that U.S. companies and workers would not be immune from the fallout.

The letter also said that the "proposals are inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the United States Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the World Trade Organization."

A U.S. House panel in September approved legislation to boost EV credits to u…

Lyft Inc. received reports of more than 4,000 instances of sexual assault on its ride-hailing platform between 2017 and 2019, it said, detailing the data in a safety report it had promised to publish about two years ago.

The company report, issued late on Thursday, showed sexual assault reports on its platform had increased from around 1,100 in 2017 to some 1,800 in 2019. But it said bookings increased at a higher rate during that time, resulting in a 19 percent drop in the overall incident rate.

Lyft said more than 99 percent of its journeys had occurred without any safety incident.

"While safety incidents on our platform are incredibly rare, we realize that even one is too many. Behind every report is a real person and real experience, and our goal is to make each Lyft ride as safe as we possibly can," Jennifer Brandenburger, head of policy development and research, said in a company blog post.

The company said it has invested in safety feature…

DETROIT -- General Motors is more than halfway through shipping newly-assembled pickups that it had parked due to a shortage of semiconductor chips, a top GM executive said on Friday.

"We've made great progress," Steve Carlisle, GM's North American chief executive said at the Reuters Events Automotive Summit. "We're a bit better than halfway through that at the moment and our goal would be to clear out our '21 model years by the end of the year. We'll have a bit of a tail of '22 model years into the new year but not for too long."

The global chip shortage has forced automakers like GM to idle production or in some cases mostly build vehicles and then park them until the necessary chips can be installed, allowing those vehicles to be then shipped to dealers.

Last month, GM CFO Paul Jacobson cautioned that GM's third-quarter wholesale deliveries could be down by 200,000 vehicles because of chip shortages. He did not break out what share of that was trucks.…