Trade News

WASHINGTON -- Volkswagen Group's U.S. unit issued a false news release Tuesday claiming it would rename its U.S. operations as "Voltswagen of America" in a marketing stunt designed to call attention to its electric vehicle efforts.

The news release, posted on its website and accompanied by tweets, was reported by Automotive News, Reuters and other outlets globally and included a detailed description of its purported rebranding efforts and new logos.

Later Tuesday, the company fessed up.

“Volkswagen of America will not be changing its name to Voltswagen. The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day,” VW said in a statement after removing the release from its U.S. media site. “We will provide additional updates on this matter soon.”

Earlier, a VW spokesperson at the German manufacturer’s headquarters in Wolfsburg called it “an interesting idea” from the marketing department.

VW had said it mistakenly publi…

Mercedes-Benz is taking a dual-pronged strategy to electrify its performance sub-brand — with plug-in hybrids and all-electric models — as the luxury automaker barrels toward a zero-emissions future.

The first electrified Mercedes-AMGs will debut this year with a U.S. market launch expected in 2022.

"With our new drive strategy, we are transporting our hallmark DNA into an electrified future," Mercedes-AMG global boss Philipp Schiemer noted. "We are ... opening ourselves up to new target groups who can experience Mercedes-AMG as the performance luxury brand of the 21st century."

The urgency to hit emissions targets and avoid costly fines is driving Mercedes to rethink its broader product line. Daimler's passenger-car brand estimates at least 50 percent of its sedans, coupes and utility vehicles will be electrified by 2030, while the number of combustion-engine variants will fall by 70.

Targeting the AMG line, known for throaty V-6 and V-8 …

GHSP has named industry veteran Dan Dawiedczyk its next president to scale its existing automotive business and new technology market operations globally.

Dawiedczyk, who is succeeding Tom Rizzi, will take the helm April 1, the Holland, Mich., mechanical and electromechanical systems supplier said in a statement Tuesday.

GHSP, nearly 100 years old and privately held, is a portfolio company of Grand Haven, Mich.-based JSJ Corp. As such, Dawiedczyk will report to JSJ CEO Nelson Jacobson.

Dawiedczyk, 49, most recently was vice president and managing director of Connection Systems Americas at Aptiv, a supplier of autonomous-driving technologies and driver-assist systems.

He was responsible for optimizing the company's business footprint, developing strategic initiatives and launching products across several product lines.

"The technologies and innovations developed by GHSP are helping to drive both the automoti…

Xiaomi Corp. plans to invest about $10 billion over the next decade to manufacture electric cars, embarking on its biggest-ever overhaul to enter China’s booming EV market.

Billionaire co-founder and CEO Lei Jun will lead a new standalone division that will invest an initial 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) on smart vehicle manufacturing, the company said in an exchange filing.

The Chinese smartphone maker joins tech giants from Apple Inc. to Huawei Technologies Co. in targeting the vehicle industry, betting future cars will grow increasingly autonomous and connected.

Depending on progress, Xiaomi could end up investing a total 100 billion yuan in the project in as little as three years, taking external financing into account, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News before the announcement. The company will contribute about 60 percent of the envisioned sum and plans to raise the rest of the funds, said the person, who asked not be identified …

First-quarter U.S. light-vehicle sales are poised to rebound from depressed levels of a year earlier, despite persistent supply chain woes.

The supply challenges — a global microchip shortage, U.S. port congestion, a massive container ship stuck in the Suez Canal and more — plagued the industry as automakers continued to cope with tight stock levels because of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the headwinds, analysts expect first-quarter light-vehicle sales to rise about 9 percent from a year ago.

For March, Cox Automotive estimates the seasonally adjusted, annualized light-vehicle selling rate rose to 16.5 million, while J.D. Power and LMC Automotive are projecting a SAAR of 16.4 million.

Most automakers are scheduled to report their first-quarter U.S. sales Thursday.

"First-quarter sales are starting off on a strong note," Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds' executive director of insights, said in a statement. "The fact that we're surpassing last year's…

With an eye toward boosting its attractiveness to top talent in the U.S. and China, Volvo Cars will extend its generous paid parental leave policy to its entire global work force starting April 1.

The Family Bond policy, which Volvo trialed in Europe in 2019, will give employees with at least one year of service a total of 24 weeks of leave at 80 percent of their base pay, the company said Tuesday.

The policy applies to either parent and the leave can be taken anytime within the first three years of parenthood. In addition, the person returns to his or her job after the leave period ends.

Volvo employees in the U.S. and China, where the automaker has expanded rapidly by opening vehicle production plants in the last decade, stand to significantly benefit.

In the U.S., Volvo employees were previously offered six weeks of parental leave at 100 percent of their salary. Starting next month that rises to either 19 weeks at 100 percent or 24 weeks at 80…

WASHINGTON -- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday the White House will not propose hiking gasoline taxes or a new vehicle miles traveled fee to pay for a proposal to massively boost infrastructure spending.

Buttigieg told CNN a vehicle miles traveled fee is "not part of the conversation about this infrastructure bill." Buttigieg has previously spoken about the idea of a VMT but has acknowledged it faces challenges regarding privacy and technology.

He also told CNN a gas tax hike is not under consideration.

"I want to reiterate the president's central commitment here. If you're making less than $400,000 a year, this proposal will not involve a tax increase for you," he said.

Earlier, the White House said President Joe Biden will outline on Wednesday how he would pay for his $3 trillion to $4 trillion plan to tackle America’s infrastructure needs, a proposal likely to include tax increases first laid out on the campaign trail.

A press release leaked online Monday revealed that Volkswagen of America will use the brand name “Voltswagen” to differentiate its line of electric vehicles, which began deliveries to U.S. dealers this month.

Automotive News has independently confirmed the authenticity of the planned change with a person familiar with the company's plans, and that it is not an April Fools' Day joke. 

The person said the change is in keeping with the company’s “all electric” future in the U.S.

CNBC reported, according to the leaked release, which had been dated April 29, 2021, the name change would cover all of the automaker’s U.S. operations, though the new Voltswagen of America would continue to remain an operating unit of the larger Volkswagen Group of America.

An email to VW of America CEO Scott Keogh was not returned.

The name change is not expected to carry upward to the parent company in Germany, Volkswagen Group. The brand will maintain its rece…

General Motors CEO Mary Barra is being called out by leaders of Black-owned media companies for refusing to meet with them.

The group of media owners -- which include Byron Allen, founder and CEO of Allen Media Group; rapper and actor Ice Cube, who owns the pro-basketball league Big3, production company Cubevision and Contract with Black America; Roland Martin, CEO of Nu Vision Media; and Junior Bridgeman, owner of Ebony Media -- took out a full-page ad in the Detroit Free Press on Sunday accusing Barra of ignoring multiple requests to meet, and the automaker of allocating less than 0.5 percent of their ad spend to Black-owned media. GM said that figure isn't accurate.

“Mary, you have asked us to meet with your Chief Marketing Officer, Deborah Wahl. We have absolutely no interest in that because when Deborah was Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, in our opinion, Black Owned Media was, once again, severely neglected, minimized and discriminated against. To …

A Toyota store on the ground floor and residential units above it. Price Simms Auto Group CEO Adam Simms discusses the proposed $279 million mixed-use project in Walnut Creek.

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