Trade News

State-owned Changan Automobile Co. has established a subsidiary to develop intelligent EVs with two major China companies -- technology giant Huawei Technologies and leading battery cell supplier CATL.

The subsidiary, Avatar Technology Co., will operate as an independent business entity. 

The new company will partner with Huawei and CATL to create a “world-leading” platform for smart and connected EVs and to build a rich portfolio of smart vehicle products, Changan said Thursday. 

Additional details about the subsidiary were not disclosed. 

Changan, based in the southwest China municipality of Chongqing, builds and markets sedans, crossovers and minibuses under proprietary brands. It also runs joint ventures with Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. in China.

Changan surpassed Geely Automobile Holdings through April to become the largest domestic Chinese light-vehicle manufacturer, with sales of its own brands more than doubl…

Midea Group Co., a major Chinese home appliance maker and owner of German industrial robot manufacturer Kuka AG, is wading further into the auto industry by producing components for electric vehicles. 

A Midea plant in the east China city of Hefei this week launched output of key EV components such as electric motors and compressors, and electronic water and oil pumps, the company said. 

Midea has already signed up state-owned automaker Dongfeng Motor Group and two domestic EV startups -- WM Motor and HiPhil -- for the components, according to information disclosed Wednesday. 

Midea acquired Kuka for 29.2 billion yuan in 2017. It booked a net profit of 27.2 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) on revenue of 284.2 billion yuan in 2020.  The company, based in Foshan and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, is the latest of China’s home appliance makers to diversify into the auto industry. 

In March, Haier Group Corp., another …

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is collaborating with state-owned automaker GAC Motor Co. to develop and build a self-driving electric vehicle for mass production. 

Under a deal signed this week, a joint venture will be formed between Didi’s autonomous driving arm and GAC’s EV subsidiary, GAC Aion.

The JV will develop a driverless autonomous EV “for large-scale commercial application with the aim of entering accelerated mass production through innovating across primary areas such as the drive-by-wire system, self-driving sensors and system integration,” Didi said.

Additional details about the EV were not disclosed.

GAC is the second automaker Didi has partnered with this year to jointly develop self-driving vehicles. 

In April, Didi inked a deal with Volvo Car Corp. to adapt Volvo XC90 SUVs and include them in its self-driving test fleet in China. 

Under the deal, Volvo will provide XC90s fitted with backup sys…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. took about 20,000 reservations for the 2022 F-150 Lightning within 12 hours of the electric pickup's debut and will limit production in its first year on sale, according to CEO Jim Farley.

Farley, speaking Thursday on CNBC, said the company was "off to the races" after opening up order banks after the vehicle's Wednesday night reveal. Ford is taking $100 refundable deposits for the Lightning, which starts at $39,974 before shipping.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday evening, Farley said the company would limit production in the vehicle's first year on sale and that Ford already had "made a call on volume," but he declined to give a number. Ford took a similar strategy with the 2021 Mustang Mach-E electric crossover, limiting it to 50,000 vehicles in its first year of production.

Wolfe Research analyst Rod Lache, in an investor note Thursday, estimated Lightning production would be limited to 80,000 pickups per year, based on capaci…

DETROIT — Hours before it was set to unveil its F-150 Lightning electric pickup, Ford Motor Co. informed employees that both plants that build the gasoline-powered version — the nation's bestselling vehicle — will be idled for two weeks as part of another round of production cuts.

In a memo to employees obtained by Automotive News and confirmed by Ford, the automaker said its Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan and the truck side of its Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri will be idled the weeks of May 31 and June 7. They will also operate on a reduced schedule the week of June 14.

Additionally, Chicago Assembly, where workers build the Explorer and Aviator crossovers, will be down the week of May 31 and will be on a reduced schedule the week of June 7. Flat Rock Assembly in Michigan, where workers build the Mustang, will be idled the weeks of May 31 and June 7.

Hermosillo Assembly in Mexico, which builds the Bronco Sport, will be down the weeks of June …

All six public retailers raised finance-and-insurance profits in the first quarter, bolstered by strong vehicle sales margins and dwindling vehicle supplies.

AutoNation Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., posted the highest F&I profit per vehicle in the quarter with $2,218, a 6.1 percent increase over first-quarter 2020. AutoNation was the only public retailer in the quarter to report profit per vehicle over $2,000.

The other public groups reported these results in same-store F&I profit per vehicle.

Group 1 Automotive, of Houston, up 3.1%, or $58, to $1,931.Sonic Automotive Inc., of Charlotte, N.C., up 8.1%, or $135, to $1,807.Asbury Automotive Group, of Duluth, Ga., up 6.8 percent, or $114, to $1,798.Lithia Motors, of Medford, Ore., up 7.5 percent, or $117, to $1,674.Penske Automotive Group, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., up 12 percent, or $160, to $1,523.

Stellantis will once again extend the shutdown of its minivan plant in Windsor, Ontario, as it continues to wait for an ample supply of microchips.

The automaker said Wednesday the plant will not run the week of May 24, limiting its ability to replenish North American stock of the Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, Chrysler Grand Caravan in Canada and Chrysler Voyager in the United States.

However, in statement to Automotive News Canada, the automaker said “the plant will run a partial shift the week of May 31,” but didn’t elaborate on the number of shifts or vehicles it intends to produce that week.

“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.

About 4,581 people work on two shifts at the Windsor Assembly plant, most of them hourly employees represented by the union Unifor.

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A few months back, I wrote about John Hiester's idea to keep his dealership techs busy at his four stores in North Carolina during the early days of the pandemic. As someone who liked to tinker on old cars, Hiester wondered if his technicians would like to refurbish classic cars to pass the time.

His idea soon caught fire, growing into a team competition with the winning car being auctioned for charity. To top it off, celebrity car customizer Danny Koker provided each team of techs tips and advice recorded for a YouTube series.

Hiester bought 19 vehicles in all, and 14 were used in the competition. After many months of work — some of it after-hours because customer service business bounced back — a 1969 Plymouth Road Runner was crowned the winner in online fan voting.

It was sold at auction in late February, fetching $43,000. The winning team donated the money to Military Missions in Action, a nonprofit that supports disabled veterans, active-duty milita…

As the pandemic progresses, U.S. consumers have further acclimated to digital retailing platforms.

Still, finance and insurance processes remain a hurdle to customers being able to finish a car deal online without assistance, according to a study digital retail provider Roadster conducted in conjunction with the National Automobile Dealers Association.

The study, which polled more than 1,000 consumers in March who had purchased a vehicle from a franchised dealership within the past 12 months, noted that 82 percent learned about protection products and service plans online. For those who transacted fully online, 94 percent indicated they learned about those plans online. And for those who purchased in-store, 42 percent self-educated through online channels.

Still, a large percentage of consumers who purchased online — even those who transacted 100 percent online — interacted with someone at the dealership remotely for assistance. Read more about F&I still a stumbling block in online transactions

Tesla Inc. has pledged to work with Chinese authorities to investigate a crash involving one of its electric cars in which a policeman died.

The California-based company said in a Weibo posting that it made a report to a government agency about the accident, which occurred in the eastern city of Taizhou. One traffic policeman died after being injured in the accident, local police said in a later statement. A second officer injured in the crash is now out of danger, the statement said. Footage of the accident, reported widely by Chinese press, was spreading quickly on social media Tuesday.

Another crash is also still under investigation in China after a Tesla rear-ended a truck in Shaoguan in Guangdong province on May 7, killing the driver of the EV, according to a Global Times report. The cause of that accident isn’t yet clear.

Tesla has faced a slew of public criticism over recent weeks in the world’s biggest car market. Events came to a head at last mo…