Trade News

The history of the automotive industry is chock full of innovative thinkers from its very first days, yet – for most of that history – innovation of anything beyond the conceptual drawing board remained generally only within the reach of the titans of industry, and their large-scale design and industrial manufacturing capabilities. 

While this economy-of-scale-based paradigm has nearly always been true – innovation has flourished in spite of it, mainly within the aftermarket sector, that has created myriad opportunities for modifiers, hot-rodders, tuners, accessorizers, and physical "hackers" of every kind – which, in turn, indirectly increased the values of the vehicles themselves. Just look at the annual SEMA show to see how much real-world innovation is done outside the walls of the OEMs, and how much desire there is to contribute to overall industry innovation and improve the enjoyment of the consumer experience. The best “platforms” are actually more valuab…

Lordstown Motors Corp. said on Monday that CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez have resigned, days after the electric truck maker warned that it had "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern in the next year.

Lordstown said its lead independent director, Angela Strand, has been appointed executive chairwoman and would oversee the firm's transition until a permanent CEO is identified.

The company named Becky Roof as interim CFO effective immediately. Roof has previously served as interim finance chief at numerous companies including Eastman Kodak and Hudson's Bay Co.

Shares in Lordstown plunged Monday, closing down nearly 19 percent to $9.26.

Strand, 52, is managing director of an advisory firm specializing in technology and business strategy, and has worked with fleets and fleet management companies, the types of customers Lordstown is aiming to win after production of its Endurance pickup is sch…

The high prices and short supplies of used cars are now the stuff of daily headlines, even beyond the automotive press.

We dig deep in a Page 1 story and in a special section in Monday's issue. Here's some of what we found:

■ Dealer Troy Duhon is rewarding his sales staff with bonuses as high as $400 for each used car they buy "off the street," often using Facebook and other social media sites. "It's the smartest thing I've done in 20 years," he says.

■ Ohio dealer Joey Huang typically begins mining lease returns eight months before they expire. Now, "we're working all the way back to 24 months," he says.

■ Dealers are expanding their search geographically. Earlier this spring, Jason Pettigrew, a used-car manager at a Toyota dealership in Ohio, found himself bidding simultaneously on vehicles in Pittsburgh, Nashville and Orlando.

■ Wider searches …

Used-vehicle values have been on a roller coaster ride since last spring, when the coronavirus began its rapid spread in the U.S.

As dealership showrooms in much of the country shut down amid government stay-at-home orders, used-vehicle prices collapsed in late March and into April of 2020 before rebounding that May.

They stayed unseasonably strong throughout last summer and then followed a somewhat typical pattern until March this year. That's when a shortage of new and used vehicles, combined with unusually high demand, sent prices soaring to unprecedented heights. Only in the past few weeks has price acceleration moderated to a slower pace.

Raquel Urtasun, former head of Uber ATG’s R&D efforts, discusses her new self-driving startup, new ways to utilize machine learning in self-driving systems and why trucks are the natural first use case for automated-driving tech.

How do I subscribe?

Apple Podcasts: “Shift: A podcast about mobility” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe.

Spotify: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" can be streamed through Spotify on your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Click here to subscribe.

Google Play: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" is available on Android devices through the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe.

Two Americans charged with helping former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee trial in Japan a year-and-a-half ago are now set to appear at their own hearing at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.

Michael Taylor, 60, and Peter Taylor, 28, have been charged with helping Ghosn in December 2019 to illegally escape Japan, where he was facing charges of financial misconduct.

The former executive, who has denied prosecutors' accusations of understating income and using company funds for personal use, was smuggled out of Japan in a case for audio equipment and ended up in Beirut, where he currently resides.

In March, the father-son duo were brought to Japan to face charges in a rare case of extradition that was seen as a much-needed victory for Japan's justice system after the made-for-movies escape by the former auto executive. Later that month, prosecutors formally charged the two with aiding Ghosn.

The Taylors' case in Tokyo is the latest addition to mu…

Even when utilizing General Motors' Super Cruise to control vehicles, human motorists like to maintain an active role in the driving process.

That's the conclusion of a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which researchers analyzed the driving behavior of motorists who use the advanced driver-assist system.

Far from passive monitoring of the system as it conducted the driving task or intervening in unusual scenarios, humans retook control to perform common maneuvers the system cannot yet execute on its own, such as lane changes, more frequently than the study's engineers expected. A mean of 9.98 of these transitions were performed per trip, according to the study, and they almost always do not represent a driver responding to a perceived risk. Rather, human drivers are doing so to conduct those maneuvers or because they prefer to intermittently drive.

In the real world, drivers are perhaps pioneering a mor…

PLANO, Texas — For years, Lexus dealers and brand leaders have admitted that the weakest link across the Japanese luxury brand's lineup has been right there at their fingertips.

Whether it was a joystick or unwieldy touchpad, the center console-mounted controls for the brand's lackluster infotainment system have hurt its vehicles with reviewers and customers, which has cost it sales.

After three years of in-house effort, Lexus will debut a next-generation intuitive infotainment system, dubbed Lexus Interface, on the redesigned NX compact crossover and quickly spread it across the rest of the lineup.

"Honestly, it's been the Achilles' heel of our brand," said Cooper Ericksen, group vice president for product planning and strategy for Toyota Motor North America.

"With all the pain that we have endured with remote touch interface and joysticks? Believe me, we want to go as fast as humanly possible" to get the new system installed in the rest of Lex…

LOS ANGELES — Last year was rough on automakers as they struggled to maintain production and keep up with surprisingly strong demand. It was particularly rough on luxury upstart Genesis, whose U.S. sales plunged 23 percent to just more than 16,000.

The Hyundai Motor Group brand began 2020 with a splashy Miami debut of its GV80 midsize crossover, but then grappled with regulatory challenges to get the GV80 and the redesigned G80 sedan into dealerships. Delays in its planned summer launches for those two dragged into December.

But suddenly, things look different. Just as the U.S. market is emerging from the pandemic with renewed vigor, Genesis is finally spreading its wings. As the industry grapples with semiconductor shortages, Genesis is launching new models and emerging as a growing force in the luxury market.

Sales are up 149 percent this year to just more than 15,000 through May. And June marks a major milestone in the brand's six-year journey: the …

Dave Gardner was chosen in early March 2020 to run the automobile division of American Honda Motor Co. and formally took over May 1 that year. Between those dates, the surging pandemic changed the industry landscape, and Gardner adapted.

The former CEO of Honda Canada, who oversaw manufacturing and nonautomotive operations, was already seen as an agent of change before the pandemic turned the industry upside down.

Globally, Honda Motor Co. named a new CEO in April this year, Toshihiro Mibe, who was a driving force behind the company's electrification efforts and partnership with General Motors in his previous post as a managing director. In North America, Honda is undergoing a reorganization of its manufacturing and sales units, handing over key positions to a younger generation of leaders.

Gardner, 61, spoke with Staff Reporter Laurence Iliff. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: A year into your new job and just ove…