Trade News

FRANKFURT Volkswagen Group is to sell a stake in its electric vehicle charging unit Electrify America, two people familiar with the matter said, as the automaker looks for outside funds to build infrastructure for battery-powered cars.

Volkswagen is working with Citi to look for a co-investor that is prepared to inject roughly $1 billion into the division, the people said, adding that the company is expected to shortly reach out to infrastructure groups and other potential investors.

Volkswagen, Electrify America and Citi declined to comment.

Set up in the aftermath of Volkswagen's emissions cheating scandal that broke in the United States, Electrify America plans to spend $2 billion in the 2017-2026 period to expand charging stations for electric vehicles.

The unit, whose main rivals include ChargePoint and Tesla's Supercharger, has 635 charging stations with around 2,850 fast-loading spots up and running, while a further 125 stations are curre…

Halfway into 2021, the horse race for the luxury crown has a new leader.

BMW galloped to the front in the second quarter, powered by strong demand for crossovers, and taking a first-half lead.

At the mid-year mark, BMW outsold German rival Mercedes-Benz by 7,348 units. That's quite a reversal of fortunes from a year ago when Mercedes had a 16,795 unit lead over BMW.

Mercedes also led after the first quarter, with Lexus No. 2 and BMW No. 3.

The luxury vehicle segment has roared back to life from the COVID lockdown doldrums a year ago. Total U.S. luxury sales rose 63 percent to 624,414 cars and light trucks in the second quarter, outpacing the broader industry's 49 percent increase, even amid tightening inventories. First-half luxury sales rose 42 percent.

BMW captured the U.S. luxury crown in 2019 and 2020 after Mercedes had a three-year run atop the rankings.

In the second quarter, BMW sold 96,561 vehicles, up 90 percent from a year…

Asbury Automotive Group has closed the search for a new CFO with the hiring of Group 1 Automotive executive Michael Welch. He will take over for interim CFO William Stax on Aug. 9. Stax will return to his role as Asbury's corporate controller and chief accounting officer.

Welch, 46, replaces Patrick Guido, who was Asbury's CFO for a little more than a year. Guido stepped away from his role for personal reasons June 24, the company said.

Welch is Asbury's third CFO in the past three years. Welch, an industry veteran, has spent more than 20 years at the competing public dealership group, most recently as corporate controller.

Welch will receive an annual base salary of $550,000 and cash incentives of up to 85 percent of his base salary, Asbury said in a government filing. Once in his position, Welch also will receive shares valued at $500,000 to vest across a three-year period, a $100,000 relocation allowance and the use of a demonst…

China’s new-vehicle market contracted for the second straight month in June amid a persistent semiconductor chip shortage, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Monday.

Car and truck deliveries fell short of 1.93 million units, a decline of 16 percent from a year earlier, the top industry trade group said, drawing on a preliminary tally of members.

Demand for new light vehicles -- sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses -- fell 15 percent, while sales of new commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses slumped 21 percent, according to CAAM estimates.

The trade group didn’t release an estimate for light vehicle or commercial vehicle volumes in June.

In the first quarter, new-vehicle sales in China surged 77 percent from the new coronavirus-stricken same period of 2020.

China, the world's biggest market for new cars and light trucks, has become a bellwether for the industry's fortunes, notably EV sales.&…

Rivian has cooked up a number of new ideas for its upcoming R1T off-road electric pickup, from the tank turn to the one-stop shopping experience to the guides program that pairs customers with their own personal valet inside the company.

Here's the latest ingredient in Rivian's recipe: the Camp Kitchen. The $5,000 option is a fully equipped, self-contained cooking center stored in Rivian's Gear Tunnel, a space behind the cab and in front of the bed that is accessed through a door on the side of the truck. The Camp Kitchen slides in and out of the Gear Tunnel.

It has a 1,440-watt, two-burner, induction-heated cooking surface so campers can cook outdoors without worry that high winds could blow flames from a campfire into flammable brush. The kitchen is powered by the truck's battery pack.

Rivian also thought about taking care of the dirty dishes. The Camp Kitchen comes with a 4-gallon water tank and pump, spray faucet and collapsible sink.

A full…

While North American auto factories leveled off in their production cuts because of microchip shortages this week, European and Asia Pacific plants made more volume changes. Worldwide, automakers could eventually see 6.1 million vehicles lost because of the supply crisis, according to AutoForecast Solutions’ latest weekly survey, compared with its forecast of 5.8 million vehicles one week ago.

Source: AutoForecast Solutions Inc. autoforecastsolutions.com

A report last week succeeded in stirring public anger over Toyota Motor North America's donations this year to federal lawmakers, although it tells only part of the story.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington released an article headlined "This sedition is brought to you by…," which tabulated corporate money given since Jan. 6 to 147 Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Media reports zeroed in on Toyota, which as of a Thursday, July 1, tally had donated to 38 of those lawmakers, more than any other company, for a total of $56,000, according to the group.

Consumers who were outraged by those politicians' behavior took to social media to blast Toyota, as well as Walmart, insurance giant Cigna and similar corporate donors — as they have done throughout the year as companies, including Ford Motor Co., declined to blackball legislators who failed to accept the legally count…

Nissan's next-generation Z car will formally debut at the New York auto show in August. The sports car has been spotted undergoing road tests in the U.S., and it's clear it closely tracks the Z Proto concept shown in September.

The makeover — due in showrooms early next year — will be the first for the car since 2009. The Z is expected to be powered by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine, similar to the engine used in the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400.

The design features retro styling elements that hark back to previous-generation Z's, such as the signature silhouette — a long hood, pointy nose and short and sloping rear deck — and the original hood bulges from 1970s editions. Twenty-first century touches include LED headlamps, lightweight carbon-fiber bodywork and a 12.3-inch digital meter display.