Trade News

Sonic Automotive Inc. announced that it is "considering a full range of potential alternatives" for its rapidly growing EchoPark brand of used-vehicle-only stores as the dealership group announced record second-quarter results Thursday.

Sonic said in a release that it has hired investment bank Lazard and U.S. law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP as financial and legal advisers for what it is calling a "review of strategic alternatives" for EchoPark. One analyst covering Sonic speculated that the move could be precursor to a spinoff of the EchoPark business.

Soaring sales and revenue at EchoPark were a key highlight of Sonic's second quarter.

Revenue for the nation's seventh-largest new-vehicle retailer jumped 59 percent to an all-time quarterly record of $3.35 billion. Net income more than tripled to a record $113.8 million, compared with $30.8 million a year earlier.

"During the second quarter, our team continued to execute at a high level, driving …

Vehicle output in China kept shrinking in the first several weeks of July amid the persistent semiconductor chip crunch, adding to declines the previous two months, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Production at 11 key auto manufacturing groups tumbled 33 percent to around 806,000 vehicles in the first 20 days of July, the top industry body said this week.

Output of light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, MPVs and minibuses dropped 31 percent during the period, while production of commercial vehicles such as buses and trucks plunged 41 percent.

The 11 companies, which consist of nearly all foreign automakers producing locally and major domestic manufacturers, represent more than 90 percent of vehicle output in China.

CAAM didn’t disclose additional information on vehicle output during the latest period studied. 

Due to the chip shortage, vehicle production and sales in China contracted in May…

A critical product line is coming to life at Volkswagen's plant in Zwickau, Germany, and the last thing the company wants there is a manufacturing process that holds back speed.

The product: the ID4, Volkswagen's first all-electric crossover. The potential problem: offlining vehicles to install their windows.

To avoid that, VW turned to mechanical and plant engineering firm Dürr. For its part, Dürr turned to a whole new manufacturing process.

Volkswagen is transitioning the factory into a dedicated source of electric vehicles. The goal is to accelerate output to 330,000 EVs a year. To get there, the site is undergoing automation improvements to accommodate the unique needs of new EV architectures, with many of the changes being supplied by Dürr.

"Increasing international competitive pressure and changes in vehicle architecture, especially with regard to new drive concepts, are forcing manufacturers to exploit any potentia…

Tesla Inc. showed signs of divergent strategies in the world's two biggest automotive markets, raising prices to boost profit margins in the United States while keeping prices steady in China and hoping to grow sales there.

Tesla raised prices for the most affordable versions of the Model 3 and Model Y about a dozen times this year in the United States, according to data tracked by Reuters. At the same time, Tesla recently introduced an affordable Model Y version in China, where it refrained from price hikes.

Tesla posted record vehicle deliveries in the second quarter, and the price increases in North America boosted quarterly profits to a record.

But in China, the world's biggest electric vehicle market, Tesla faces competition from local rivals and problems that include product recalls, high-profile protests by consumers and pressure from regulators.

Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said introduction of the lower-priced Model Y in China "may m…

The auto industry's tight new-vehicle supplies and strong retail demand could extend almost another year because of ongoing inventory shortages and strong economic conditions, Toyota Motor North America executives said Wednesday.

A chronic shortage of microchips and other supply-chain disruptions that have forced automakers to idle assembly plants -- in some cases for months -- have upended the industry's steady recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

J.D. Power and LMC estimated Wednesday that dealers currently have 932,000 vehicles in stock for retail sale, compared with 3.1 million units two years ago.

"It will take a little time — maybe into the second quarter of 2022 — before we see inventories start to stabilize to match demand again," Bob Carter, TMNA's head of sales, told reporters on a quarterly video call.

Toyota is keeping a close watch on spiking COVID-19 cases, which could further threaten production. However, …

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday posted second-quarter net income of $561 million, crediting strong demand for helping it stay in the black despite the ongoing global semiconductor shortage and improving its forecast for the rest of the year.

Ford's overall profit fell by about half from a year earlier, but it reported adjusted earnings of $1.1 billion before interest and taxes, up from a $1.9 billion loss in the second quarter of 2020 as the pandemic began. Its adjusted margin rose to 4 percent.

“This outcome was far from certain at the beginning of the quarter,” CEO Jim Farley said on an earnings call with investors.

Ford said it had expected a net loss for the period but performed better because of strong demand for new vehicles like the Bronco and Mustang Mach-E, lower incentives and a favorable mix of more profitable vehicles. The automaker had warned that second-quarter net income would be "substantially lower" because of last year's one-time …

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated the restart date for the Lansing Delta Township, Spring Hill and Ramos Arizpe assembly plants.

General Motors will resume full-size pickup production Monday, as planned, after cutting output this week due to the global microchip shortage, the automaker said Wednesday. But six other North American plants will take additional downtime, including Fairfax Assembly, which has been idled for nearly six months.

GM's pickup plants -- Flint Assembly in Michigan, Silao Assembly in Mexico and Fort Wayne Assembly in Indiana -- will restart full production Monday. Flint had been operating on only one shift this week, and Fort Wayne and Silao were idled.

The chip shortage has hampered production for GM and other automakers since early this year. GM has prioritized chips for its lucrative full-size pickup and SUV segments over crossovers and sedans. AutoForecast Solutions estimates that the chip crisis has reduc…

Sonic Automotive Inc. made its first franchised dealership acquisition in nearly seven years on Monday when it bought two Colorado dealerships.

Sonic bought Grand Junction Subaru and Grand Junction Volkswagen in Colorado from Ron Bubar. Bubar is retiring, according to Kerrigan Advisors, which represented him in the transaction. Sonic did not use a broker.

The Subaru dealership marks a return to the Japanese brand for Sonic. It had owned a Subaru dealership in Columbus, Ohio, but sold it to Germain Motor Co. in 2019. With the acquisition, Sonic has three Volkswagen dealerships in its portfolio.

"These two franchises represent the first of several upcoming acquisitions for our franchised dealership business, and we are pleased to add Subaru to our brand portfolio and continue to grow our partnership with Volkswagen," Sonic President Jeff Dyke said in a statement. "Both of these brands are in high demand in the Colorado market and will allow us to continue…

Tesla Inc. plans to shutter some high-rent showrooms within shopping malls and instead emphasize remote work and cheaper locations, according to a report on the website Electrek.

The electric automaker plans to rent spaces in mall parking lots, warehouses and other locations to manage test-drive fleets and delivery centers, Electrek said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Tesla also plans to make a large part of its retail work force remote, helping customers place orders online, the report said.

Tesla did not immediately return a request for comment.

The shift in strategy comes more than two years after Tesla said it would close many of its brick-and-mortar locations to focus on online sales, before reversing that decision a few weeks later.

Tesla operates more than 170 stores and galleries across the country, according to its website, including many in malls and shopping centers. This week, it reported it had 598 store and service…