Trade News

A Stellantis assembly plant in Detroit temporarily halted and then resumed operations over the weekend after heavy rain fell in the region Friday, causing major flooding.

Jefferson North Assembly Plant canceled its first shift on Saturday due to the extensive flooding in the area, with several expressways and roadways in Detroit covered in water. Water was removed from the plant and operations resumed with a 4:30 p.m. second shift Saturday, the automaker said.

A Stellantis shipping yard near the plant also was covered in water after Friday's rain and several of the company's vehicles stored there were swamped, according to images shared on social media over the weekend.

The exact makes and models nearly submerged in that yard were not confirmed by the automaker. Jefferson North Assembly Plant builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT and Dodge Durango.

"Water at the shipping yard has also been removed and o…

It feels like we've been focused for a long time now on the crisis reality that the auto industry has been living under.

And it's not because we're obsessed with gloom, believe me. It's because that's just what's been going on. Everywhere. All at once. The disruption of the trade war of the past few years, tariffs, difficulties getting metals, the pandemic, challenging workplace protocols, the labor shortage, the microchip shortage, the petrochemical supply-chain disruption, problems at the ports, and now the resulting collapse of vehicle inventories.

But here's the thing: A fantastic story of resilience is coming into focus.

That's the word that kept coming up in conversations for this week's issue as people talked to us about far-flung issues — from the performance of the world's supply chain, captured in our latest Top Suppliers ranking, to the way retailers are de…

Hassounah's Silicon Valley startup has a Lego-like system for quickly removing and replacing battery modules. He discusses his company’s approach to swapping and what it could mean, especially for fleet and ride-share drivers.

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Big falls are often followed by big bounces.

Infiniti's global boss, Peyman Kargar, hopes the same laws of physics apply to his struggling premium brand. After a 35 percent slump in worldwide sales last year, and a 25 percent slide in U.S. sales during the first quarter, Infiniti is poised to bounce back later this year, Kargar says.

Kargar believes the arrival of the long- awaited redesign of the brand's sales-leading QX60 will provide that bounce.

"A big, big additional jump will come thanks to the QX60," Kargar said in an interview from Infiniti's global headquarters in Yokohama. "We have a really great year in front of us."

The QX60 is critical to Infiniti's comeback, as parent company Nissan Motor Co. struggles to dig out of its biggest operating loss ever and avoid a third-straight year of red ink. But perfecting the formula to achieve sustainable growth at Infiniti is still a work in progress.

Kargar…

LOS ANGELES — Lucid Motors is laying the retail and manufacturing groundwork for the launch of its battery-electric Air sedan in the coming months after years of delays, bringing the California startup's goal of taking on Tesla and Mercedes-Benz a big step closer to reality.

Last week, Lucid announced the end of its preproduction phase at its new Arizona manufacturing plant and said it will move into "quality validation builds" that will pave the way to begin producing for commercial sale.

At the same time, Lucid opened its eighth company-owned showroom, in New York City's Meatpacking District. Lucid is marketing the Air as a high-performance luxury sedan with up to 500 miles of range and ultra-fast charging capabilities.

"Opening a Lucid Studio in New York, one of the most vibrant cities in the world, allows us to demonstrate how Lucid Air and its groundbreaking technology perfectly complement the fast pace and refined taste of the Big Apple," CEO Peter…

The coming GMC Hummer EV weighs more than 9,000 pounds and can reach 60 mph in about 3 seconds. The twin electric motors in the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT make more torque than a diesel-powered F-150 and can propel the 4,500-pound vehicle to 60 mph in just 3.5 seconds. Tesla's Model S Plaid can reach 200 mph and hit 60 mph in less than 2 seconds.

All three deliver torque numbers usually associated with high-output diesel-powered trucks. And they are shod with tires created specifically for electric vehicles.

In the EV era, almost no part of the automobile will go unchanged — including tires. With more than 100 electric models scheduled for launch in the next few years, tire companies are under pressure as they wrestle with conflicting demands for a new generation of tires.

These new tires need to be stronger to handle increased vehicle weight and substantially greater torque created by electric motors. But the tires have to be made a…

BERLIN -- Volkswagen brand plans to stop selling combustion engines cars in Europe by 2035 as it shifts to full-electric vehicles, but later in the U.S. and China, its sales chief, Klaus Zellmer, told a German newspaper.

"In Europe, we will exit the business with internal combustion vehicles between 2033 and 2035, in the United States and China somewhat later," Zellmer told the Muenchner Merkur newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.

"In South America and Africa, it will take a good deal longer due to the fact that the political and infrastructure framework conditions are still missing," Zellmer added.

VW brand's Accelerate' strategy unveiled on March 5 includes plans for 70 percent of the brand's European sales to be all-electric vehicles by 2030.

This would prepare the company for a possible tightening of the European Union's climate targets and even go beyond them, Zellmer told the Muenchner Merkur.

By 2050 at the latest, the en…

BEIJING -- Tesla Inc. plans to recall more than 285,000 electric vehicles sold in China to address risks associated with its Autopilot feature after an investigation conducted by the country’s market regulator.

The EV maker will recall 211,256 locally-produced Model 3 vehicles and 35,665 imported ones, as well as 38,599 China-made Model Ys because their Autopilot systems are too easily-activated during a drive and could potentially lead to car crashes, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement Saturday.

Tesla will upgrade the autopilot system for the recalled cars for free, it said.

Local registration data as of May shows Tesla delivered more than 275,000 imported and domestically-made Model 3s and Model Ys in China since 2019, suggesting most of the delivered cars will be recalled on the safety issues.

The decision was made after the market regulator conducted an investigation related to product defects, according to the …

On a Wednesday afternoon in May, an Uber driver in San Francisco was about to run out of charge on his Nissan Leaf. Normally this would mean finding a place to plug in and wait for a half hour, at least. But this Leaf was different.

Instead of plugging in, the driver pulled into a swapping station near Mission Bay, where a set of robot arms lifted the car off the ground, unloaded the depleted batteries and replaced them with a fully charged set. Twelve minutes later the Leaf pulled away with 32 kilowatt-hours of energy, enough to drive about 130 miles, for a cost of $13.

A swap like this is a rare event in the U.S. The Leaf's replaceable battery is made by Ample, one of the only companies that offers a service that is more popular in markets in Asia. In March, Ample announced that it had deployed five stations around the Bay Area. Nearly 100 Uber drivers are using them, the company says, making an average of 1.3 swaps per day.

Am…

Subaru of America has added a trim level to its largest vehicle — the three-row Ascent Onyx — as the Japanese automaker expands its strategy to appeal to new customers while retaining brand loyalists with blacked-out versions and other packages aimed squarely at adventurers.

The Japanese automaker's tactic mimics that of one of its chief rivals in the U.S., Jeep, which carved out niches with appearance and performance trims such as the TrailHawk and Overland.

"So much of our growth has been keyed in on conquest in general," explained Jeff Walters, head of sales for Subaru of America. "We're always looking for ways to appeal to new buyers."

Like the Outback Onyx, the Ascent Onyx features dark-toned exterior trim, including blacked-out badges and black 20-inch wheels. Based on its Premium line, the Onyx adds reverse gear automatic braking, a heated steering wheel and a hands-free power liftgate.

The Ascent Onyx follow…