Trade News

DETROIT -- The 2022 Chevrolet Corvette, on sale later this year, will come with an upgraded fuel system, additional colors and a special edition similar to racing models.

Dealers will begin taking orders for the 2022 model July 1, and production is slated to begin in the third quarter.

The most significant change from the 2021 model year is the upgraded direct-injection fuel system, improved engine calibration and an enhanced active fuel management range, Tadge Juechter, chief engineer for the Corvette, told Automotive News at a media event here.

To meet a new particulate emissions requirement, GM had to reengineer much of the engine and fuel management system, he said. But the 2022 model maintained 490 hp or 495 hp on available performance exhaust systems.

"Usually when you do a new emissions requirement, you have to sacrifice horsepower and torque to meet the new emissions requirement. That wasn't the case," he said. Read more about Chevy reveals upgraded 2022 Corvette, special edition

WASHINGTON -- The Detroit 3 and UAW said Wednesday that workers will continue to be required to wear masks in workplaces.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in May that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most instances, including at work. The UAW and the automakers said temperature screening upon entering facilities is expected to be phased out.

Toyota Motor Corp is among the automakers that has ended temperature checks and entry questionnaires at U.S. plants but it is continuing to require facial coverings.

Many U.S. employers are still requiring vaccinated workers to wear masks in workplaces.

The joint statement from the UAW and General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis said it was continuing the requirements "out of an abundance of caution."

The UAW and automakers continue to recommend autoworkers get vaccinated.

Self-driving startup Argo AI, backed by Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, expects to pursue a public listing within the next year, founder and CEO Bryan Salesky said on Wednesday.

"So we're actively fundraising and are going out this summer to raise a private round initially," Salesky said at The Information's Autonomous Vehicles Summit. "And then we're looking forward to an IPO within the next year."

"The raise this year will definitely provide capital that gives us plenty of runway and will help us continue to scale out," he said, adding that autonomous driving is a capital-intensive business.

Ford and Volkswagen each hold a 42 percent ownership interest in Argo AI.

Last year, VW closed its $2.6 billion investment in Pittsburgh-based Argo AI, which valued the company at just over $7 billion.

Vehicle shortages continued to impact finance trends in used cars in May, as the average amount financed for used vehicles increased $1,654 compared with April. For new vehicles, the amount financed only went up about $400, on average.

"I think the one for used is really the kicker there because clearly from one month to the next, a huge increase in amount financed," Edmunds Senior Analyst Ivan Drury told Automotive News. I"don't think that ... number is ... going down anytime soon,because there just are so few used vehicles for sale — and new vehicles, the same problem."

There continues to be a shortage of certain new vehicles because of the chip shortage, causing customers to consider used vehicles. However, demand for new vehicles remains strong, and once supply returns, customers will be willing to pay the higher prices, Drury said.

Edmunds said the average down payment for new vehicles rose $128 in the last month, while used v…

Stellantis says it will now idle minivan production at its factory in Windsor, Ontario, for the entire month of June due to the ongoing global microchip shortage.

The shortage already led to the automaker halting production during the weeks of June 7 and 14.

“Stellantis continues to work closely with our suppliers to mitigate the manufacturing impacts caused by the various supply chain issues facing our industry,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “Due to the unprecedented global microchip shortage, production at the Windsor Assembly Plant will be down through the remainder of June with the week of June 21 as a previously scheduled down week.”

The week of June 28 includes the statutory Canada Day holiday on July 1.

The plant resumed operation the week of May 31, but not at full capacity. The automaker didn’t elaborate on the number of shifts or vehicles it produced that week. Other than those handful of shifts, the plant has been down s…

Steve Berrard, who led auto retail giant AutoNation Inc. during its inception, died Monday, according to a news release. He was 66.

Berrard was co-CEO of the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company from 1996 to 1999.

Before that, he was CEO and president of the then-popular video rental chain Blockbuster. He had close ties to the late Florida business mogul Wayne Huizenga, who had poured investments into Blockbuster and with whom Berrard started AutoNation.

Before the pair started rolling up dealerships into the company that became the largest dealership group in the country, Berrard worked as president of Huizenga Holdings Inc. — Huizenga's investment vehicle — and took positions with its subsidiaries from 1981 to 1987.

Berrard and Huizenga stepped down from their co-CEO roles in 1999, and AutoNation's search for a replacement focused on finding an established auto industry executive who could impress Wall Street. Huizenga, who remained the company's chai…

A U.S. district judge in Virginia sided with a subprime lender regarding a punitive class-action lawsuit that alleged it failed to comply with the Military Lending Act.

The case could have broader implications for the automotive finance space by deterring similar litigation, according to an attorney who specializes in automotive and personal property finance. Marci Kawski, partner at Husch Blackwell, said the decision is a victory for dealerships and auto finance companies.

"It's a well-reasoned decision by a well-respected judge," Kawski said. "This kind of transaction is not subject to the MLA, and this decision confirms that."

Jerry Davidson, an active military member, brought a class action against United Auto Credit on the grounds it ran afoul of the act when Davidson financed a used GMC Acadia in 2018.

In the initial complaint, filed in April 2020, Davidson said the lender failed to provide proper MLA disclosures an…

WASHINGTON -- General Motors on Wednesday threw its support behind the overall emissions reductions in California's 2019 deal with other major automakers, but asked the Biden administration to give automakers more flexibility to hit the carbon reduction target between now and 2026.

GM's position, outlined in a letter from CEO Mary Barra to EPA head Michael Regan, represented the latest shift on vehicle emissions policy by the No. 1 U.S. automaker.

Until November, GM backed the Trump administration's effort to block California from setting tougher emissions standards than the federal government. Wednesday's letter followed a call between Barra and Regan on Tuesday.

The major automakers in the U.S. all face the challenge of protecting petroleum-fueled truck and SUV profits without clashing with an administration committed to stronger climate policy, or certain activist investors who are demanding that companies do more to cut emissions.

Ford Motor C…

Lordstown Motors Inc., an electric-vehicle startup that recently went public, said it may not have the cash to get its debut pickup truck to market -- and might not last as a company in the next 12 months if it can’t raise more capital.

The disclosure in a regulatory filing Tuesday comes after CEO Steve Burns said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call last month that his company needed to raise more money to fund the Endurance truck model’s development.

“The company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on its ability to complete the development of its electric vehicles, obtain regulatory approval, begin commercial scale production and launch the sale of such vehicles,” the filing said. “The company believes that its current level of cash and cash equivalents are not sufficient to fund commercial scale production and the launch of sale of such vehicles.”

Lordstown shares plunged 16 percent to close at $11.22. In postmarket…