Trade News

The U.S. auto industry is poised to conduct bold — if involuntary — experiments this month in marketing and inventory management: how to execute the traditional year-end sell-off that consumers have been conditioned to expect when you have very little on hand to sell.

December is typically one of the best months for vehicle sales thanks primarily to two segments: luxury and commercial fleet. But after November yielded another month of deliveries suppressed by dealer inventory shortages, consumers will have trouble finding something on which to place a big red bow, said Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power.

"If Black Friday weekend is any sort of leading indicator to what we should expect in December, it was pretty soft. So without things to sell and without a whole lot of marketing support already, I don't expect this to be a December to remember for anyone," he said.

Among the seven automakers that repor…

DETROIT — As the auto industry continues to grapple with supply chain disruptions and the resulting shortage of new vehicles, National Automobile Dealers Association Chairman Paul Walser foresees a silver lining for dealerships: the end of the much-hated stair-step incentive.

Stair-step programs, which promise cash bonuses to incentivize dealerships to hit aggressive monthly, quarterly or annual sales targets, have been labeled as brand destroyers by critics and have been problematic for dealers to manage. Once used extensively by certain automakers, they've practically disappeared as vehicle supplies on the lots have dwindled.

And they could be gone for good, Walser said.

"Here's a wonderful benefit that I'm thinking has a reasonable chance of staying," Walser, a partner in Walser Automotive Group in Edina, Minn., told Automotive News in an interview this week. "NADA and dealers across this country have been barking about the challenges of stair-step i…

DETROIT-- General Motors customers who buy vehicles without heated steering wheels because of a parts shortage can have the heating system added next year, the automaker said Friday.

The update comes weeks after GM told dealerships that it had to temporarily eliminate heated steering wheels, heated seats and ventilated seats from many 2022 models.

The retrofit process will begin when parts become available, likely in the third quarter, at no additional cost to the customer, GM said in the statement. Affected customers will receive a $25 credit per vehicle. GM had planned to discount vehicles by $150 if heated steering wheels could not be retrofitted.

On Nov. 19, GM said it would retrofit vehicles sold without heated and ventilated seats, but the automaker did not yet have a retrofit solution for heated steering wheels.

GM is also offering a year of complimentary usage of its Remote Access Plan to customers who will have…

ChargePoint Holdings Inc. has named Elaine Chao, former secretary of both the U.S. transportation and labor departments, to its board as the electric vehicle charging industry gears up for explosive growth.

Chao will bring government experience and connections at a time when the federal government, under the infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden last month, plans to spend $7.5 billion on EV charging. Chao -- who has had an extensive career across government, finance and non-profit organizations -- is married to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and both of her cabinet appointments won bi-partisan support.

“Her policy and transportation experience helps strengthen our diverse board of technology, mobility and energy expertise,” ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano said in a statement on Thursday.

The Transportation Department’s watchdog concluded last year that Chao, when leading the department, may have violated ethics rules by trying to incl…

Mega auto retailer Lithia Motors Inc. sold another N.Y. dealership, while Terry Taylor picked up a North Carolina store and Parks Automotive Group purchased two dealerships in separate fourth-quarter deals.

Here's a look at the transactions involving import and domestic dealerships. Two of the transactions involved a group ranked on Automotive News' top 150 dealership group list.

Lithia sells N.Y. store

Lithia Motors Inc. last week divested another store from its 2016 Carbone Auto Group acquisition.

Lithia sold Carbone Honda Yorkville in New York, to Brickl Cos. on Nov. 23.

In October, Lithia sold Carbone Chevrolet in Yorkville and Carbone Buick-GMC of Utica, also in New York, to Brickl.

The Honda dealership was renamed LeadCar Honda Yorkville. Brickl, through its LeadCar dealership group, now has seven stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri and New York.

Brickl, of Prairie du Sac, Wis., said Daniel King is the managing par…

A Florida dealership employee is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly striking his co-worker in the head with a metal baseball bat. The co-worker died a week later.

Steve Tilbury, 26, struck Charles Cummings, 50, while the two were at work Nov. 23 at Ritchey Cadillac Buick GMC in Daytona Beach, Fla., according media reports and a statement from local police.

Cummings died Tuesday at Halifax Health Medical Center. The Daytona Beach Police Department said charges for Tilbury, who was initially charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery, were changed that day to second-degree murder.

Larry Kelly, the dealership's general manager, said in a statement to Automotive News and the Daytona Beach News-Journal: "Our understanding is that a service department team member from Ritchey Cadillac Buick GMC was attacked by a fellow team member resulting in critical injuries. Sadly, he later succumbed to these injuries."

"We continue to wo…

WASHINGTON — American Honda Motor Co. is recalling nearly 789,000 vehicles globally for hoods that may open while driving, which could increase the risk of a crash.

The affected vehicles are certain 2019 Passport midsize crossovers, 2016-19 Pilot midsize crossovers and 2017-20 Ridgeline midsize pickups. Honda spokesman Chris Martin said 788,931 vehicles are being recalled globally, with about 725,000 in the U.S.

Honda said "gaps in the front seal between the hood and the grill allow for air entry, potentially resulting in hood vibration at highway speeds," according to a defect information report submitted to NHTSA last month.

"Over time the hood vibration could form stress fractures along the hood latch striker and separate the hood latch striker from the hood," the report said.

Potential warnings of a defective hood latch striker are hood vibration noises or a loose hood. If the hood latch striker becomes damaged and separates from the hood, the…

BEIJING -- Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to launch an all-electric small sedan in China late next year, having turned to local partner BYD for key technology to finally make an affordable yet roomy vehicle, four sources told Reuters.

Two of the four people with knowledge of the matter described the car as an electric holy grail for Toyota, which has struggled for years to come up with a small EV that is both competitive on cost in China and doesn't compromise on comfort.

The sources said the breakthrough was chiefly down to BYD's less bulky lithium-iron-phosphate Blade batteries and its lower-cost engineering know-how -- a turning of the tables for a Chinese company whose popular F3 sedan was inspired by Toyota's Corolla back in 2005.

Little known outside China at the time, BYD, or "Build Your Dreams," hit the headlines in 2008 when Warren Buffett bought a 10 percent stake and it has since become one of the biggest manufacturers of so-called new energy…

Dealer Jeff Lash, who was indicted earlier this year on federal fraud charges, sold a New York Subaru dealership in August to West Herr Automotive Group.

The acquisition of Spurr Subaru in Brockport, N.Y., from Jeff Lash and Danielle Lash gave West Herr its second Subaru dealership.

Jeff Lash is the same Lash who is a former managing partner at GPB Capital Holdings and who was indicted in February on federal securities fraud charges, along with former GPB CEO David Gentile and Jeffry Schneider, owner and CEO of Ascendant Capital, sources confirmed to Automotive News.

Lash, who lives in Naples, Fla., according to federal prosecutors, oversaw investments into dealerships from 2013 through early 2018 for GPB, an alternative asset management firm that until last month was majority owner of Prime Automotive Group. Lash, who owned and operated several dealerships before joining GPB, was alleged to have defrauded GPB investors and was indicted on charges of co…

MEXICO CITY -- A proposed U.S. electric vehicle tax credit is "discriminatory" and Mexico is analyzing a range of legal actions in response that may include tariffs, Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier said on Thursday.

"In the past we have imposed tariffs and we would have to do or propose something very important and strategic for those products, in those places where it hurts them ... so that the consequences can be felt," Clouthier told a news conference.

Clouthier said this was "not a desirable" course of action, but underscored that Mexico would do everything in its power to safeguard its automotive industry, which directly employs around one million people.

The U.S. Congress is considering a new $12,500 tax credit that would include $4,500 for union-made U.S. electric vehicles. Only U.S. built vehicles would be eligible for the $12,500 credit after 2027, under a House proposal.

Clouthier, who called the measure "totally contrary to f…