Trade News

The Center for Automotive Research plans to go forward with the annual Management Briefing Seminars as a hybrid event in early August, forgoing the virtual format it used last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based nonprofit research group has seminars scheduled Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021.

As always, CAR plans to hold the event at the Grand Traverse Resort near Traverse City, Mich. The resort held in-person conferences in fall 2020 and CAR cited its sanitary protocols as reason to hold live events.

"It will be a hybrid event, so we will be offering both the in-person experience, and for those not comfortable attending in person or are unable to attend in person, there will be a virtual option available," said Katie Ramsburgh, director of community relations and marketing operations at CAR.

Registration will open on Thursday, April 15. Both registration options will be available at that time, Ramsburgh …

Early owners of Ford Motor Co.'s newest electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E crossover, have experienced a battery problem that leaves their vehicles unable to start after charging, according to a service bulletin filed by Ford with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Ford said a software glitch can cause the EV's smaller 12-volt battery to discharge while the larger high-voltage battery pack is charging.

Owners who have experienced the issue said they are unable to start their vehicles after charging, according to The Verge, which first reported the issue on Thursday.

Ford said only "a small number" of Mach-Es built before Feb. 3 were affected, and dealers are able to correct the issue by reprogramming several of the electronic control modules on the vehicle.

Ford said it sold 6,614 Mach-Es in the first quarter. Tesla, the industry's EV leader, said it delivered a record 184,800 cars worldwide in the quarter.

Industry veteran Bo Andersson has stepped down from his leadership positions at Yazaki Corp.

Andersson resigned as CEO of the Japanese family-owned wiring supplier's North and Central American businesses and as president of its European operation on March 31, the company said Thursday.

Andersson, 65, will continue to work at the company in a senior executive advisory role, Yazaki said.

Ryosuke Yazaki, a third-generation family member, succeeded Andersson as CEO of Yazaki North America.

"The automotive industry and technology are both moving faster than ever before," Yazaki, 39, said in the company's statement. "With rapid change comes both tremendous challenges and great opportunities. Yazaki is positioned well and will play a critical role in moving the automotive industry forward."

Hans Lemmens was named CEO of Yazaki Europe. He takes the helm after serving as executive vice president for sales at the company since 2018. He has held …

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. is forgoing the traditional two-week summer shutdown at most of its U.S. plants because of the ongoing semiconductor shortage, and employees will instead have to schedule their vacation time through their individual locals, the automaker said Thursday.

Additionally, Ford announced new downtime for plants in Illinois, Michigan and Missouri amid the crisis.

The automaker informed the UAW that workers at its Dearborn (Mich.) Truck Plant, Michigan Assembly Plant, Flat Rock (Mich.) Assembly Plant, Kentucky Truck Plant, Ohio Assembly Plant, Chicago Assembly Plant and Kansas City (Mo.) Assembly Plant will be working during the traditional shutdown weeks in late June and early July. John Savona, Ford's vice president of manufacturing and labor affairs, said in a letter that employees at those sites would be able to schedule their typical two-week vacation time through the union. A spokeswoman said timing and other details would vary by plant. Read more about Ford to skip traditional summer shutdown at many plants amid chip shortage

Auto industry groups reiterated a call for government intervention to address the global semiconductor shortage during a virtual forum Thursday on supply chain risks that includes remarks from a broad swath of stakeholder industries and analysts.

Executives from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association spoke at the conference, which was held by the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security to address policy objectives and concerns over President Joe Biden's executive order on supply chains.

The auto industry's latest call for federal support comes after the alliance submitted comments on Monday to the Commerce Department, urging the government to dedicate a portion of funding under the proposed Chips for America Act to auto sector needs.

"This could be accomplished by, for example, specifying that a particular percentage — that is reasonably based on the projected needs of the au…

China's new-vehicle sales in March kept rebounding from a year earlier when vehicle demand was curbed by the coronavirus outbreak, surging 67 percent to 2.38 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers estimates.

Last month, demand for new light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses rallied 73 percent. 

Sales of new commercial vehicles including trucks and buses jumped 56 percent, according to the preliminary tally the industry body released Thursday. 

For the first quarter, new-vehicle deliveries across China shot up 73 percent year on year to exceed 6.34 million. 

In the period, the number of new light vehicles delivered advanced 74 percent while the volume of new commercial vehicles rose 71 percent, according to the estimates. 

The industry body didn’t break down its estimated sales volumes for light vehicles and commercial vehicles. It is expected to disclose …

A quarter-century has passed since the National Transportation Safety Board first recommended that collision-avoidance technology be required on all vehicles.

The federal agency hasn't given up hope that someday becomes a reality.

NTSB members unveiled their annual "Most Wanted" list of transportation-related safety improvements Monday, and collision-avoidance tech once again made the Top 10 list, which included measures to address speeding, drunken driving and better protection of vulnerable road users.

At a time when federal regulators estimate traffic fatalities have risen 4.9 percent year over year, the NTSB believes those are key topics that must be addressed. Collision-avoidance systems could offer substantial improvements in safety. A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found collision-avoidance tech can prevent half of rear-end…

General Motors and its two joint ventures delivered more than 780,000 vehicles in China in the first quarter, an increase of 69 percent from the year-earlier period when the coronavirus outbreak severely dented auto sales and production. 

Driving the sales rebound were the Wuling, Cadillac and Buick brands, according to tallies GM’s China unit released this week.

Deliveries at Wuling, whose main products are minibuses, doubled from a year earlier to exceed 347,000 on strong demand for its first four-door full electric sedan and first pickup model. 

Cadillac deliveries soared 114 percent to exceed 57,000 on volume generated by the XT4, XT5 and XT6 crossovers and the CT5 sedan. 

Buick sales surged 73 percent to more than 224,000 as demand for the GL8 multipurpose vehicle, the Envision crossover and the LaCrosse sedan remained robust. 

Chevrolet deliveries rose 27 percent to top 64,000, led by the Blazer and Equinox crossov…

TOKYO – Toyota has begun selling its most advance automated driving system to date in a refreshed Lexus LS sedan and will soon expand deployment to the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, rolling out a Level 2 system that uses a lidar sensor, machine learning and over-the-air updates.

The setup, called Advanced Drive, will allow the cars to automatically change lanes and pass other vehicles in highway driving, Toyota Motor Corp. said in a news release on Thursday.

The technology debuted April 8 for the Japan market in a special grade of the Lexus LS500h sedan. It will next be offered in the Mirai, when that sedan goes on sale in Japan on April 12.

In the top-line Lexus LS500h model, the Advance Drive package adds about 660,000 yen ($6,000) to the sticker, boosting the price to 17,940,000 yen ($163,400), including tax.

It costs about $5,000 extra in the Mirai.

Toyota said last July the system would go to market by the end of 2020. But the introduction…