Trade News

Automakers are beginning to loosen their mask policies for vaccinated office and factory workers in a signal that working life could soon return to pre-pandemic norms as more people across the nation get their shots.

To the extent that some employees remain reluctant or unwilling to get immunized — or don't want to share that information — these facilities will have to operate with bifurcated sets of rules based on workers' vaccination status.

Toyota Motor North America last week said it would allow some of its U.S. manufacturing and office employees to work without a mask beginning next month if they provide proof of vaccination and wear a company-issued lanyard or wristband, depending on location.

The policy covers a sizable portion of Toyota's U.S. operations. It will apply Monday, July 5, to powertrain component facilities in Missouri and Tennessee and July 12 to Toyota's headquarters in Plano, Texas, as well as the Indiana and K…

An Audi dealership that was one of the stores at the center of a lawsuit filed by Volkswagen of America against Napleton Automotive Group has been acquired by another dealership group.

Burlington Automotive Group acquired Audi Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on May 17 from Wyoming Valley Motors.

Burlington Automotive, led by Randy Lebowitz, Jake Lebowitz and Wayne Hileman, now has nine dealerships, according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company. Dave Cantin and Brian Brown of DCG Acquisitions handled the transaction.

Napleton Automotive had been set to acquire the Audi dealership on multiple occasions dating to at least 2016. The latest deal collapsed last year.

Volkswagen of America last year asked a federal court in Pennsylvania to enforce a 2017 court order related to that store, and a judge ruled in August 2020 in Volkswagen's favor, deeming purchase agreements between Napleton and Wyoming Valley for its Audi store and a Volk…

McDonald Automotive Group, with dealerships in Littleton and Lakewood in Colorado, bought three stores this month in the state, adding brands to its portfolio.

McDonald on June 17 purchased Ehrlich Toyota East and Ehrlich Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram, both in Fort Morgan, from Scott Ehrlich and John Motschall, plus Ehrlich Toyota in Greeley from the Ehrlich family, former owner Scott Ehrlich said.

The stores have been renamed McDonald Toyota of Fort Morgan, McDonald Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Fort Morgan and McDonald Toyota.

The McDonald group, which dates back more than 50 years and now is led by the fourth generation of the family, also sells Mazda, Volkswagen, Volvo, Audi, Hyundai and Genesis vehicles.

Ehrlich said McDonald approached him about the sale.

"I was a reluctant seller," Ehrlich told Automotive News, adding that he will retain his Toyota of Laramie store in Wyoming.

McDonald Automotive Group, in a statement, said it is del…

WASHINGTON — The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is calling on NHTSA to reconsider its plan to end a national pilot program that would allow the agency to facilitate and monitor the testing and development of automated vehicles and assure the safety of those activities.

In a letter sent Thursday to NHTSA Acting Administrator Steve Cliff, the alliance argues that a national AV pilot program is "an important component of a much needed and long overdue federal regulatory framework for AVs."

The alliance — which represents most automakers in the U.S. as well as some suppliers and tech companies that are developing AV technologies — said a pilot program also could enable the safe and responsible testing and deployment of AVs at a larger scale under NHTSA oversight, allowing the agency to gather necessary data and research to establish a longer-term regulatory framework for AVs and tackling consumer acceptance challenges.

The group is asking NHTSA to meet w…

DETROIT — Rory Gamble, the 13th president of the UAW, who inherited a union in crisis and helped avert a federal takeover after prosecutors proved his two predecessors were corrupt, has elected to retire a year early.

Gamble on Friday informed the union's International Executive Board of his decision -- effective June 30 -- which he has been considering for months. Even if he wanted to continue in the role, a longstanding tradition of officers not running for reelection after they turn 65 years old would have prohibited Gamble, 65, from seeking another term.

"I said on Day One I would hand over the keys to this treasured institution as a clean union," Gamble said in a statement. "My original intent as a UAW Vice President was to retire at the end of June 2021, and after looking at the progress we have made and the best interests of UAW members for a stable transfer of power, this is the right time for me to turn over the reins."

While the UAW did not imm…

The Tesla Model 3 sedan has become the first all-electric vehicle to top Cars.com's annual American-Made Index, beating out the Ford Mustang.

The Model 3, assembled in Fremont, Calif., jumped to the No. 1 spot from No. 4 last year. It is the first time Tesla Inc. has topped the list after having three vehicles in the top nine in 2020.

The Mustang, built near Detroit in Flat Rock, Mich., made its first top 10 appearance this year.

The 2021 index comes amid a microchip shortage and heightened consumer demand.

"Despite this, there remains a high consumer focus on buying American-made vehicles as the economy is still emerging from the effects of the pandemic," Kelsey Mays, Cars.com assistant managing editor and the index's lead researcher, said in a press release.

Tesla also took the No. 3 spot this year, with the Model Y crossover.

Tesla scores well in the index's analysis of U.S. manufacturing work force and domestic powertrain sourcin…

From speeding up design concepts to enhancing the car-buying experience, Unity Technologies' Ed Martin discusses the industry's use cases for augmented and virtual reality.

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CarMax broke several fiscal first-quarter records set in the year before the coronavirus pandemic hit as the used auto retailer's revenue and earnings soared amid booming demand for used vehicles.

Net revenue hit $7.7 billion in the fiscal first quarter ended May 31, a 138 percent increase from the hard-hit fiscal 2021 first quarter, which was a year ago because of how the retailer breaks down financial reporting periods. Revenue also surged 43 percent from the company's prior record set in the fiscal first quarter two years earlier.

Total vehicle sales more than doubled to 452,188, the used retailer said Friday, representing a 31 percent rise from the first quarter two years earlier.

Within that tally, retail sales doubled on an annual basis to 270,799 vehicles. On a same-store basis, retail vehicles sales rose 99 percent from the year-earlier period and increased 16 percent from the fiscal first quarter of 2020.

Wholesale vehicle&…

BERLIN -- Continental has appointed company veteran Gilles Mabire to head its automotive technologies business.

Mabire, who was named chief technology officer, will lead 17,000 engineers worldwide working on embedded software and the development of high-performance computers seen as an essential component of future vehicle architectures, the German supplier said in a statement on Wednesday.

Mabire, 49, has a degree in electronics and mechatronics and over 25 years of cross-business international management experience in the auto industry.

He will assume the post by Jan. 1, 2022 at the latest, succeeding Dirk Abendroth, who is leaving the company at his own request at the end of June.

Michael Hülsewies, 48, Continental's head of architecture and software, will temporarily take over the management of the CTO organization until Mabire fills the post permanently.

Born in France and educated in the UK, Mabire joined Continental in 2006.

Mercedes-Benz USA said on Thursday sensitive personal information of nearly 1,000 customers and interested buyers was inadvertently made accessible on a cloud storage platform.

No Mercedes-Benz system was compromised and no files were maliciously misused, the company added.

The data accidentally made accessible comprised self-reported credit scores, driver license and social security numbers and credit card information that was entered by customers and interested buyers on dealer and company websites between January 2014 and June 2017.

Mercedes said any individual who had credit card information, a driver's license number or a social security number included in the data will be offered a complimentary two-year subscription to a credit monitoring service.

"Data security is a serious matter for MBUSA," the company said in a statement. "Our vendor confirmed that the issue is corrected and that such an event cannot be replicated. We will continue our …