Trade News

DETROIT -- U.S. consumers borrowed more for longer in the first quarter of 2021 so they could drive more expensive trucks, crossovers and SUVs, according to a new Experian study of auto credit market trends.

At the same time, average credit scores for consumers who financed new and used vehicles are higher, and delinquency rates are lower, indicating a healthy auto credit market overall, the study found. Experian, an information services company, gathers data on consumer and business credit and generates credit scores, among other services.

"Consumers are increasingly purchasing SUVs, (crossovers) and pickups. It's driving loan amounts up and payments up," said Melinda Zabritski, Experian's senior director of automotive financial solutions.

Average credit scores for new and used vehicle buyers rose in the first quarter, and the average used car buyer now has a prime level credit rating of 663, Experian said. The share of consumers with sub-prime credit s…

BERLIN -- Switzerland's Quantum Group said its bid for Volkswagen Group's Lamborghini division could turn the sports-car brand into a "spearhead of innovation" in technology and clean energy.

The newly-established investor said on Wednesday its proposed acquisition "would deliver attractive value to all shareholders and ... would clearly be a key strategic benefit to the wider Volkswagen Group."

VW said on Tuesday that Lamborghini was not for sale, in response to a report that Quantum Group had, together with London-based Centricus Asset Management, bid 7.5 billion euros ($9.2 billion) to buy Lamborghini.

Quantum Group founding partner Rea Stark is also co-founder of Piech Automobile with Toni Piech, the son of former Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech, according to its website.

In a statement, Quantum Group said it wanted to create a luxury multibrand platform, with Lamborghini "at the heart of the vision to further develop brands into a susta…

700Credit, a supplier of credit and compliance solutions to dealerships and software providers, has accelerated its industry partnerships this year, driven by the uptick in digital retailing transactions.

Ken Hill, managing director of 700Credit, said high demand for soft-pull technologies in customer relationship management software is prompting the additional business. A soft credit pull is when a customer authorizes the dealership to check their credit report without damaging their score.

"It allows dealerships to introduce credit into the conversations at a much earlier point in the conversation," Hill said. "With a better understanding of the consumer's credit, they can quote a more accurate payment at the top of the sales funnel."

700Credit has announced two partnerships a month since January. The solutions provider is also integrating with dealership management company Tekion, Hill said.

The company has more than 190 industry partnerships, …

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday said a new, dedicated EV architecture would underpin battery-electric versions of the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator crossovers, as well as midsize pickups and "rugged SUVs" that will go into production within the decade.

The new vehicles are part of Ford's strategy to boost its EV offerings to 40 percent of sales globally by 2030 and were detailed at the company's Capital Markets Day for investors.

Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's chief product platform and operations officer, said the company would offer two new EV architectures: a rear-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive platform, as well as a platform dedicated to full-size pickups.

The rwd/awd platform "will underpin a range of emotive vehicles slated for production between now and 2030," Thai-Tang said.

That includes EV versions of the Explorer and Aviator, which CEO Jim Farley also noted in a presentation. Thai-Tang also said the platform will underpin "rugged SUVs," showin…

General Motors and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin said Wednesday they will develop a vehicle capable of carrying astronauts and equipment longer distances across the moon.

The announcement comes as NASA lays groundwork to return humans to the lunar surface.

It is the companies' response to a request NASA put out last year, which asked members of the automotive industry to pitch ideas for lunar terrain vehicles, known as LTVs, that could travel faster and farther on the moon than the ones used during the Apollo program.

The space agency is looking for mobility systems that can be deployed as part of Artemis, a U.S.-led international program that has a goal of landing astronauts on the lunar south pole by the mid-2020s.

NASA has not awarded a contract to GM and Lockheed Martin for a lunar rover, but the companies are keeping that option open, company leaders said at a Wednesday media event.

“This partnership is really about getting ahead of …

BERLIN, May 26 (Reuters) - German police are investigating whether a fire that broke out overnight at the construction site of Tesla's first European gigafactory had a political motive, after far-left activists claimed responsibility.

The fire at Gruenheide in the eastern state of Brandenburg early Wednesday morning damaged several power cables leading to the Tesla site and an area of around 3 square meters, said a spokesman for the LKA state criminal investigation office.

The spokesman said arson was not being ruled out and investigators were examining a letter that circulated on social media during Wednesday which claimed responsibility.

The letter, which was published on a radical left platform, said it had cut the power supply to the Tesla site by setting fire to six high-voltage cables above ground.

"Tesla is neither green, ecological nor social," said the letter, according to the LKA spokeman.

Tesla, which has said it could produce …

Dealership lawyer Stephen Dietrich sees deals continuing to gain momentum as more buyers and sellers feel confident about the industry's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

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CHELSEA, Mich. — When the new 2022 Volkswagen Taos begins arriving at U.S. dealerships next month, most consumers may have a hard time differentiating it from the brand's top-selling Tiguan — and that's by design.

But while the styling may be similar between these two segment-sharing compact crossovers, the brand's strategy to separate them by features and price will give VW is first real entry-level vehicle in the growing and crowded segment.

Smaller, less expensive and with better fuel economy, the Taos gives VW a vehicle with which to take on the Jeep Compass and similar vehicles to which the larger, more expensive Tiguan nearly always came up short.

"Taos fills a very specific gap in our portfolio. VW dealers have been clear and consistent: We were missing this opportunity," said Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen of America. Taos, he said, "is little, but no doubt, fierce."

With the introductions of the Taos next month and the ID4 EV last March…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it is upping its spending on electrification by $8 billion to $30 billion through 2025 and expects 40 percent of its global sales will be fully electric by 2030.

The additional spending will be focused on battery development, according to CFO John Lawler. The company said it plans to reduce battery costs by 40 percent, to under $100 per kilowatt hour, by mid-decade and will soon offer its own line of batteries branded as IonBoost.

Ford is also doubling down on its commercial business, expecting to nearly double the $27 billion it earned in 2019 from revenue tied to commercial hardware and adjacent services, estimating it will be $45 billion by 2025. It's creating Ford Pro, a services and distribution business that will be geared toward commercial and government customers. Ted Cannis, Ford's head of North America commercial vehicles, will become CEO of the new Ford Pro business unit.

The moves are part of a wide-ran…

DETROIT — Gerald Kariem, vice president of the UAW's Ford department, said Tuesday that he will retire effective June 30, a year before his term is set to end.

Kariem, 65, took over the UAW-Ford department in early 2020 after then-Vice President Rory Gamble was promoted to UAW President.

The union said Tuesday Kariem's successor would be named at a later date.

"I had intended to retire at 65 as Regional Director in Region 1D," Kariem said in a statement. "But it was important to get our Ford members through this pandemic and make sure we had solid footing for our membership before I retired.

"I'm proud of the work we have done implementing the 2019 labor agreement, steering through this pandemic and the day-to-day challenges it presented, and now this worldwide launch of the F-150 Lightning. The time is right to pass the torch."

Before his latest position, Kariem had served as Region 1D director since 2010.

Kariem's departure may not…