Trade News

Join Automotive News Publisher Jason Stein for a daily podcast series about the coronavirus crisis. He’ll speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about how the virus is impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

While new-vehicle inventory remains a pressing worry for the industry, U.S. auto retailers are mostly optimistic about business this year. Automotive News Retail Editor Amy Wilson provides insight into Automotive News' 2021 Dealer Outlook Survey.

iPhone / iPad“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify"Daily Drive" is available on Spotify. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

BOSTON -- A U.S. appeals court on Thursday declined to further delay the extradition to Japan of two men charged with helping former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee the country.

The order by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston clears the way for U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, to be handed over to Japan, after the U.S. State Department approved their extradition.

Their lawyers had said that absent a stay of a prior ruling, the U.S. government could turn over the Taylors to Japan as early as Friday.

Paul Kelly, a lawyer for the Taylors, said their defense team is "currently exploring the Taylors’ legal options." The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately comment.

The Taylors were arrested in May at Japan's request.

Prosecutors say the Taylors helped Ghosn flee Japan on Dec. 29, 2019, hidden in a box and on a private jet before reaching his childhood home, Lebanon, which …

DETROIT — General Motors plans to invest a combined $100 million in a propulsion plant and a casting facility to boost full-size pickup transmission capacity.

GM will invest $93 million at its Romulus, Mich., propulsion plant to increase machining capability and $7 million at its Bedford, Ind., casting operations to add die casting capability, the automaker said in a statement Thursday.

The investments will back additional production of GM's 10-speed automatic transmission used in the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra light-duty pickups. Sierra sales rose 8.9 percent to 253,016 vehicles last year, and Silverado sales grew 2.8 percent to 586,675.

"Demand for our Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra full-size pickups continues to be very strong and we are taking action to increase the availability of our trucks for our dealers and customers," Phil Kienle, GM vice president of North America manufacturing and labor relations, said in the statement.

2020 was going to be an uphill climb for Infiniti's 204 dealers, even if a once-in-a-century pandemic hadn't upended the auto industry.

The Nissan luxury brand was contending with one of the oldest product portfolios in the industry while navigating a strategic pivot away from fleet sales and heavy discounting.

"Product is the lifeblood of the brand," Infiniti National Dealer Advisory Board Chairman Ed Lennon Jr., 66, told Automotive News. "When you don't have freshened product, it's very difficult for a dealer to make a reasonable return on sales."

The pandemic made prospects even more challenging.

"Depending on where your dealership was, some areas had a much harder time than others," said Lennon, president of Circle Infiniti in West Long Branch, N.J. "We are in the New York market, which got hit very hard with COVID-19."

The results were not pretty. U.S. sales cratered 32 percent last year — the largest a…

The Genesis upstart luxury brand has been a critical success in the U.S., with awards showered on its three-sedan lineup over the past five years and early acclaim for its first crossover, which arrived in dealerships in December.

But it has struggled with sales and its dealer network. Currently, all 350 Genesis dealers continue to operate out of their Hyundai stores.

So there's a lot of work ahead. The new year is looking to be something of a watershed, as a second crossover arrives in the U.S. and the brand works with dealers on programs to fund dedicated facilities.

"Distribution, fixed operations policy, getting the support that we need for some of the infrastructure items as the certified pre-owned business starts to emerge — there are so many things that we're really seeing for the first time," said Peter Lanzavecchia, chairman of the Genesis National Dealer Advisory Council and owner of Genesis of Cherry Hill in Marlton, N.J. …

Lincoln Motor Co. dealers entered 2021 offering the fewest vehicles in years.

After discontinuing the MKZ and Continental sedans in 2020, the luxury brand builds just four nameplates: the Navigator, Aviator, Nautilus and Corsair. Sales tumbled 6.1 percent in 2020 to 105,410.

But even in the midst of a pandemic, profitability is up and dealers are pleased with the mix of models that they say are both attracting new customers and winning over former Lincoln sedan buyers.

Bill Dawes, chairman of the Lincoln National Dealer Council, is pleased with changes to the brand but is eager to know how executives plan to continue growing.

Dawes, 56, owner of the Bob-Boyd Auto Family, which includes a Lincoln store in Columbus, Ohio, spoke with Staff Reporter Michael Martinez. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: How was 2020 for Lincoln dealers?

A: It was a wild year with COVID. A lot of early consternation, a lot of u…

Jaguar Land Rover dealers begin 2021 with an armada of fresh vehicles either on sale now or en route for a first-quarter showroom debut. The redesigned Land Rover Defender that arrived last summer is drawing new customers. In just seven months last year, the redesigned Defender posted more sales than the classic model did all the years in the 1990s when it was last available in the U.S.

Nearly every vehicle for both brands has received a series of upgrades for the '21 campaign, ranging from exterior design changes that bring consistency to Jaguar's crossovers, sports cars and sedans as well as to Land Rover's SUVs, to both brands getting updates to interiors and infotainment systems and over-the-air reflash capability.

That has dealers feeling optimistic after the turbulence of 2020, says Larry Zinn, 34, chairman of the Jaguar Land Rover Retailer Cabinet.

Zinn's family has been selling Jaguars since the British Leyland days of the e…

With pickups, crossovers and SUVs accounting for nearly 75 percent of the market, car-heavy brands had a tough 2020, and Mini was no exception.

Mini's U.S. sales last year totaled 28,138, down 22 percent from 2019. COVID-19 was a factor, of course, but Mini is facing other headwinds, pricing perhaps being the strongest. It's possible to spend nearly $60,000 on the most expensive Mini Countryman, and the least expensive versions of the iconic Cooper Hardtop — the brand's bestseller — at dealerships today are priced in the low $20,000s to mid-$20,000s.

But Mini can be profitable — with a little help from parent company BMW, says Jason Willis, chairman of the Mini National Dealer Council. Willis, 42, dealer principal at Mini of Des Moines in Iowa, spoke with Staff Reporter Richard Truett. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Does Mini have a long-term future in the U.S.?

A: We are the only Mini dealer in the country that does not h…

Volvo's U.S. sales recovered from last year's pandemic-induced shutdown faster than those of its European competitors and the overall industry.

Sales rebounded from the COVID-19 slump in June, and the Swedish automaker closed the year with sales up 1.8 percent — one of only three automakers to end the year in positive territory.

Last year was a strong profit and volume year, Volvo Retail Advisory Board Chairman Ernie Norcross, 59, told Automotive News.

But Volvo dealers shouldn't expect to rest on their laurels.

The sales target for 2021 is expected to be 10 to 15 percent higher, said Norcross, owner of Volvo Cars Memphis in Tennessee.

Fresh product on the horizon, coupled with improving consumer sentiment in the wake of a COVID-19 vaccine has Norcross optimistic that Volvo dealers can deliver on the higher sales expectations.

"We have to take the same attitude that we had in 2020 into 2021," …

Mitsubishi had quietly racked up a seven-year streak of U.S. sales increases when the chaos of 2020 brought an end to it.

But dealers believe a bevy of upgraded products have the brand positioned to rebound from last year's 28 percent drop, said Richard Nisbett, the Mitsubishi National Advisory Board chairman. Nisbett owns Daytona Mitsubishi in Daytona Beach, Fla.

More help for the lineup is on the way this year in the form of the redesigned Outlander midsize crossover, which will be the first Mitsubishi built on a platform from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance.

Nisbett, 59, spoke with Staff Reporter Vince Bond Jr. about Mitsubishi's prospects for 2021 and its product portfolio. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: On the product side, how do you feel about where the company is right now?

A: Every model's been either upgraded or it's going to be all-new. Would I like a deeper bench? Absolutely. But it's excitin…