Trade News

China’s efforts to build a thriving market for secondhand vehicles, pretty much from zero, are slowly starting to deliver results, including in the electric car segment.

Sales of pre-owned vehicles jumped by 30 percent in the first ten months of this year and are expected to reach 17 million units in 2021, according to the China Automobile Dealer Association, or CADA.

Trading in secondhand electric or hybrid models rose to 47,000 units last year, the organization’s data shows. While that’s still relatively small, it’s almost double the volume in 2017 and is expected to grow rapidly as China’s electric fleet begins to mature.

You could see — and actually feel — that rising level of interest in the pre-owned sector at CADA’s packed conference earlier this month in Haikou, a city with typically tropical temperatures on the southern Hainan Island. Event organizers were forced to continually boost the air conditioning as delegates crowded into sessions, incl…

WASHINGTON — NHTSA has opened an investigation to assess potential safety risks in more than 325,000 Nissan Pathfinder midsize crossovers from the 2013 to 2016 model years.

The agency's Office of Defects Investigation said it has received 14 complaints from vehicle owners alleging hood latch failures while the vehicles were being driven, resulting in the hoods opening and obstructing the driver's view.

"Sudden and unexpected opening of the hood can startle drivers, block their visibility and could lead to a crash into other vehicles or objects," the agency said in its investigation report.

The investigation was opened Thursday, Dec. 9. No injuries, crashes or fatalities related to the issue have been reported, according to the NHTSA document.

The agency said Nissan is "collecting field parts to assess the alleged failure of the hood latch" and that a root cause has not been identified.

Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for com…

Automakers envy Apple.

Every year, tens of millions of U.S. consumers pay premium prices for Apple's phones and computers. Then they use those devices to buy apps and subscribe to various services, with Apple typically getting a cut of the revenue.

Within a couple of years, most of those customers then upgrade to a next-generation device, often without even considering a rival brand, and the cycle starts anew.

That hugely profitable business model — and Apple's nearly $3 trillion market cap — has just about every major player in the auto industry dreaming of new ways to generate recurring revenue streams through in-vehicle software and connectivity. The numbers they project are huge — $25 billion for General Motors and $23 billion for Stellantis by 2030. Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley, one of the 2021 All Stars featured on the front page of this week's issue, is working to create what he calls an "always on" re…

State, county and municipal government fleets in Ohio, as well as private citizens who volunteer to participate, are expected to add hundreds more connected vehicles — specially equipped to test new advanced driver-assistance systems — along a 35-mile stretch of "smart" highway in central Ohio called the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor.

Efforts are underway to quadruple the number of test vehicles interacting with each other and with the infrastructure along U.S. Route 33, said Sue Bai, chief engineer at the Honda Research Institute and project lead for the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor.

"We're very excited to see more cars coming on board," she said in a phone interview. "With government fleets coming online, we expect at least 600 more connected vehicles."

Honda has more than 200 specially equipped, connected Honda and Acura vehicles deployed in the area, she said.

American Honda Motor Co. is a major partner and the most active automaker participating …

TOKYO — Former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, the onetime electric vehicle pioneer who dove into the technology with overly optimistic expectations a decade ago, says now is finally the time to go all-in on EVs, as he blasts his former company as vision-less in this new era.

Ghosn said newcomers to the industry, including Tesla and entrants from China, have an advantage over legacy players, and he warned that old-guard companies such as Nissan Motor Co. must be faster to stay competitive in the rapidly shifting landscape.

"The speed of the shift is going to determine who's going to be the winner," Ghosn said in an online news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, where the ousted auto veteran spoke last week on the release of his recent book in a Japanese-language edition.

Ghosn spoke from his home in Beirut, where he lives as an international fugitive. He was indicted four times in Japan on allegations of financial misconduct and fle…

Join Automotive News at noon EST Wednesday, Dec. 15, for a live talk on the new, complex supply chain facing automakers as part of their electric vehicle ambitions. Tune in to our LinkedIn and Facebook pages to be part of the discussion with Executive Editor Jamie Butters and Staff Reporters Hannah Lutz, Pete Bigelow and Laurence Iliff.

Lutz, Bigelow and Iliff have reported extensively on the technical, business, raw material and sourcing challenges facing the auto industry on the road to electrification. They will talk about their work on the Elements of Electrification project and about what the future holds for EV battery development and supply.

You may send questions in advance of the event to [email protected].

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen's software unit Cariad and Robert Bosch are nearing an agreement to cooperate on automotive software, a German business paper reported.

VW plans to invest a triple-digit million euro amount as part of the deal, Handelsblatt reported on Saturday, citing company sources.

VW has bundled all its software efforts into Cariad, hoping it can challenge Tesla and Alphabet in a field in which it has not traditionally been active.

Cariad ranks high on VW Group's transformation agenda, with CEO Herbert Diess taking on responsibility for the unit on the group's management board as part of a reshuffle.

Diess sees software as the key future battleground of the automotive industry, ranging from operating systems to enable autonomous driving to software services that can be installed over the air.

Cariad, which gets 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in funds from VW each year, declined to comment.

Bosch was not immediately av…

The U.S. luxury market, long a battleground where Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus fought for every inch of terrain, is increasingly facing a challenge from Tesla, according to the latest new-vehicle registration data from Experian.

Through the end of October, Tesla's Model Y crossover and Model 3 sedan were the two most popular vehicles offered by any premium brand, regardless of powertrain, the Experian data found.

Tesla totaled 134,504 Model Y registrations in the U.S. through October, as well as 112,314 Model 3 registrations. Those two nameplates have dominated the EV space this year, accounting for 65 percent of all electric vehicle registrations in the first 10 months of the year.

But they've also become more popular than the best-selling nameplates offered by any premium brand, including gasoline-powered mainstays such as the Lexus RX, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3 Series.

According to Experian, 98,297 RX crossovers were registered through …

MOAB, Utah — Jeep is no stranger to overcoming obstacles.

This is true on dusty, rock-laden trails as well as in a marketplace that has been upended this year by the coronavirus pandemic and a shortage of microchips.

Despite those challenges, the off-road brand is building up steam by broadening its portfolio with new powertrain offerings, redesigned models and forays into segments where it hasn't competed before.

The goal now is to continue churning out metal while working around parts shortages to fulfill orders for customers who are ready to experience the next phase of Jeep products. But with so many important launches in a short period, the brand will have to ensure it keeps building on the quality gains it has made in recent years and avoid snafus that could slow its momentum at a critical time.

"Jeep is white hot right now," said Brian Moody, executive editor at Autotrader. "They clearly know who they are and how…

Around 2016, Street Volkswagen ran a radio advertisement to drum up business for its sales and service departments.

In the commercial, the dealership in Amarillo, Texas, offered to help consumers buy a vehicle they spotted elsewhere or transport a vehicle from out of town, owner John Luciano said. A few people took the store up on the offer.

Soon, Luciano and a few other dealership leaders realized that interest potentially could become something bigger. The store drew up a form for customers to fill out with make, model, year, mileage, trim and color specifications of a particular vehicle they wanted, Luciano said. The fledgling program got a name — Car Catcher — and a mascot of sorts, a caricature of a dog holding a magnifying glass.

"People want the car and don't want to have to drive to Oklahoma City or Dallas or whatever. They'd rather deal with us," Luciano said. "We charge them a flat fee to do it, and they love it. We do all the work."

…