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Capgemini Invent's Dennis Ephlin explains how some Automotive News All-Stars and their companies are using software to provide more value to customers.

Polestar on Thursday detailed global expansion plans and released a preview image of its upcoming crossover as it prepares to go public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company next year.

The Swedish EV maker said it would boost the number of showrooms worldwide, from 86 today to 150 by the end of 2022, as part of its plan to sell 290,000 vehicles annually by 2025. It plans on having 50 showrooms in the U.S. by 2023, up from 25 today.

Polestar released a new teaser image of its much-anticipated Polestar 3 crossover, set to debut in 2022. The company said the Polestar 3 would include lidar sensors, electronics and software that would enable "autonomous highway piloting" to customers "around mid-decade."

"From here on in, Polestar is all about growth," CEO Thomas Ingenlath said in a statement.

Polestar plans go public via a SPAC merger in the first h…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. said it was the top-selling automaker in the U.S. for a third consecutive month, posting a 5.8 percent increase in November light-vehicle sales that contrasted with declines for nearly all other companies that reported monthly results.

Ford's utility vehicle sales jumped 21 percent from a year ago, and F-Series pickup sales rose 15 percent despite the ongoing microchip shortage that has thinned dealership inventories. The automaker said sales of its electrified vehicles grew at triple the rate of those from other manufacturers.

Ford said its total light-vehicle sales of 157,417 was enough to beat all other automakers, including General Motors and others that report on a quarterly basis, based on numbers those companies provide privately to analysts and industry data trackers. The last time Ford had such a streak at No. 1 was 1974, company officials said.

Ford's results included a 23 percent year-over-year decline for the Lincoln …

BERLIN -- Daimler's supervisory board signed off an investment plan worth over 60 billion euros ($67.88 billion) for the Mercedes-Benz passenger car and vans businesses between 2022 and 2026.

The company aims to be at the forefront of electric vehicle production and software, Daimler said in a statement on Thursday.

Existing plans announced in October of 2020 to reduce capital expenditure by 20 percent from 2019 levels by 2025 remain in place, the statement said, with new spending focused on electrification, digitalization and autonomous driving.

Increasing net revenue per vehicle and implementing a direct sales models formed part of this strategy, it said, adding that advances in battery technology and production should help reduce the cost of battery-electric vehicles over time, Daimler said.

"Our goal is technological leadership in the automotive luxury segment and in the area of premium vans while remaining committed to our ambitious margin ta…

Polestar, the Swedish electric vehicle maker, said it will double its number of U.S. showrooms in two years while developing its own platform architecture for upcoming vehicles.

The Volvo-affiliated automaker on Thursday also released a revealing teaser image of its much-anticipated Polestar 3 crossover, set to debut in 2022. The company said the Polestar 3 will include lidar, electronics and software that would enable "autonomous highway piloting" to customers "around mid-decade."

"From here on in, Polestar is all about growth," Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said in a statement.

The announcements come as Polestar prepares to go public via a merger with the special purpose acquisition company Gores Guggenheim in the first half of 2022, a deal valued at $20 billion.

Polestar said it would increase the number of "Spaces," or showrooms, it has globally from 86 today to 150 by the end of 2022. In the U.S., it said it would grow from 25 showrooms now …

WASHINGTON — Ford Motor Co. is recalling about 125,000 Bronco Sport and Escape vehicles in North America over a defect with the rear brake linings that could affect braking performance.

The recall covers vehicles from the 2021-22 model years.

Ford said it is "conducting research" to confirm the affected vehicle population, but estimates the recall will cover 114,996 U.S. vehicles, according to a safety recall report posted to NHTSA's website Thursday. The rest of the recalled units are in Canada and Mexico.

The rear brake linings on those vehicles might have been manufactured incorrectly, and "during certain situations, the driver may have to apply more brake pedal force, and the distance required to stop the vehicle may be extended, increasing the risk of a crash," the automaker said in a notice to U.S. auto safety regulators.

Ford said it is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the issue.

German supplier Continental's unit in…

DETROIT -- General Motors expects full year adjusted pre-tax profits will reach about $14 billion, higher than the previous forecast, CFO Paul Jacobson said during a presentation on Wednesday.

GM had previously forecast full-year adjusted pre-tax profits at $11.5 billion to $13.5 billion.

Jacobson said GM's financial performance is benefiting from strong consumer demand, high prices for new vehicles and more stability in supplies of semiconductors.

Jacobson cautioned that supplies of semiconductors, and GM's vehicle production, won't get back to normal until late 2022. GM's inventories of vehicles at dealerships won't get back to normal soon.

“We're not fully recovered yet, and I don't think we expect to be into 2022,” but the chip situation is beginning to stabilize, he said.

Jacobson expects the crisis to improve in the second half of next year. “We’re optimistic that we can get to sort of a full run rate by the end of next year,” he said…

DETROIT — With more than half the votes counted, a proposal to give UAW members a direct role in choosing their leadership is passing by a sizable margin.

More than 60 percent of the ballots counted as of late Tuesday were cast in favor of adopting the "one member, one vote" election system, according to unofficial results from the office of court-appointed monitor Neil Barofsky. The referendum will pass unless at least 62 percent of the remaining votes reject the change.

Workers voted in favor of changing to direct election by a more than 2-to-1 margin at the large Ford Motor Co. local in Dearborn, Mich., and by about 4-to-1 at Ford's assembly plants in Louisville, Ky., and the Stellantis transmission plants in Kokomo, Ind.

UAW members had until Monday to return their ballots, and 143,072 were received by the deadline. The vote is a condition of the UAW's settlement with the federal government over a corruption probe that has sent 15 people, including t…

A California used luxury dealership has sued Mercedes-Benz, BMW and their captive finance companies, claiming bans on lease returns to third-party retailers interfere with dealer and lease rights under state code.

Calabasas Luxury Motorcars asked the U.S. Central District Court of California to permanently block such restrictions and award attorney fees. The dealership also seeks class-action status for all dealerships allegedly injured by the two captive finance companies' policies.

The defendants have not yet filed answers in court. Spokespeople contacted by Automotive News declined to comment on behalf of BMW, BMW Financial Services, Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services because of the pending litigation.

Calabasas Luxury said numerous lessees had attempted to trade in or sell their BMW and Mercedes vehicles to the dealership only to have the two automakers refuse the transactions.

According to Calabasas Luxur…

Sometimes, "always be closing" can backfire. Pushing finance and insurance products without a thought to the customer's needs could actually hurt the bottom line, according to a Florida dealership.

Brian Kramer, general manager of Germain Toyota of Naples, said the store finds it more profitable to eschew selling protections that customers don't need.

The dealership also accepts customers canceling warranties, and it plans to add a self-service warranty cancellation feature online in the spirit of its "simple, fast and easy" philosophy, Kramer said.

"That freaks a lot of people out," he said.

Selling something that a customer will end up canceling or just refinancing adds "friction," Kramer said. This ultimately wastes time to the point it eats into profitability, he said.

Forcing products results in cancellations, which leads to more 90-day to six-month chargebacks. It also means the dealership is taking …