Trade News

LMP Automotive Holdings Inc., the used-car and vehicle subscription company that has aspirations to roll up dozens of dealerships, has closed on its first five franchised stores — two Kia stores in Florida and three dealerships in West Virginia.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company, which went public in December 2019, said late Friday that it bought Kia stores in Port Charlotte and Cape Coral from Fuccillo Automotive Group. The two stores sit on a combined nearly 58 acres and provide room for reconditioning and vehicle storage.

It also completed purchases of West Virginia stores Beckley Buick-GMC Automall in Beckley, King Coal Chevrolet in Oak Hill and Hometown Kia in Mount Hope, plus three used-vehicle dealerships. LMP bought an 85 percent stake in the West Virginia stores. Ernie Davis and Lori Davis were the owners of the two General Motors stores.

The closings, part of the company's first stage of acquisitions, comes after two other planned acquisition…

LOS ANGELES — Mazda is promoting several executives following the retirement of North American operations chief Jim Lievois, effective April 1.

Ryuichi Umeshita has been appointed executive vice president and assistant to the president, overseeing U.S. operations, Mazda told Automotive News in a statement Friday.

Umeshita is currently executive officer of brand enhancement, global marketing, sales and customer service at Mazda Motor Corp. in Japan. He will report to Jeff Guyton, president of Mazda North American Operations, the company said.

Tom Donnelly, senior vice president of retail operations, will have expanded responsibilities that include the oversight of regional operations, aftersales, technical service and vehicle distribution, Mazda said. He will report to Umeshita.

Brian Nash will move from managing director of eastern U.S. to vice president of regional operations, responsible for leading all regional teams, Mazda said.

"We hav…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. on Friday issued a recall for fewer than 75 Mustang Mach-E crossovers with defective subframe bolts, adding another hiccup for the launch of one of its newest, high-profile vehicles.

The automaker said Friday that it was not aware of any accidents or injuries, but was calling back the electric crossovers because a supplier didn't properly tighten some bolts. Ford said roughly 94 percent of the 1,258 total affected vehicles in the U.S. and all 90 in Canada will be fixed before they reach customers. The automaker declined to give a specific number being recalled.

The news comes days after Ford promised to compensate roughly 4,500 Mach-E owners for delivery delays as some vehicles are held up by additional quality checks.

Ford said it planned to cover the first month's payment up to $1,000 and add 250 kilowatt-hours of free charging for 150 owners who have experienced multiple delivery delays. An additional 4,350 owners would receiv…

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. told dealers this week that it would not lower their product allocations in response to a shortage of microchips used in vehicles and that there would be "no negative impact" to their retail business.

Andrew Frick, Ford's vice president of sales in the U.S. and Canada, said in a letter obtained by Automotive News that the automaker has faced a "very challenging" few months because of the chip shortage and recent severe winter weather that has resulted in multiple production disruptions for some of its most profitable vehicles. Frick said Ford expects the shortage to continue until at least midyear.

"The impact has been particularly significant on selected product lines, primarily F-150, Escape, Edge and EcoSport," he wrote. "While these vehicle lines represent most of our chip-related losses, there have been minor disruption on other lines."

Despite the unexpected downtime at plants around the globe, Frick said Ford planned …

General Motors kept its status as the top manufacturer for customer loyalty for the sixth-straight year in IHS Markit's Automotive Loyalty Awards program, while Ford Motor Co. again won major honors for loyalty to a specific make.

The awards are based on 12.4 million new retail vehicle registrations in the U.S. in 2020.

GM's defense of the top spot stemmed from a 69 percent customer retention rate and the popularity of its utility and pickup lineups: Ninety-three percent of returning owners bought another GM utility vehicle or pickup in 2020, IHS Markit said.

Ford won its 11th consecutive award in the Overall Loyalty to Make category. The Ford brand's leadership in pickups helped foster a loyalty rate of 63 percent. IHS Markit noted customers were particularly loyal to the brand's F-Series trucks.

IHS Markit added a category this year that recognizes the ability to retain owners of hybrid or electric vehicles and convince them to purchase alternat…

LOS ANGELES — Longtime Mazda executive Jim Lievois is retiring from his post as executive vice president of operations, where he's responsible for overseeing sales, service and marketing in North America.

Lievois, a Detroit native, joined Mazda in 1997 as vice president of finance and has been CFO and a member of the board of Mazda North American Operations during his 24 years at the automaker.

His retirement is effective April 1, Mazda told Automotive News in a statement. He has held his current role since January 2018.

"Jim has made many important contributions to Mazda during his tenure," said Masahiro Moro, CEO of Mazda North American Operations. "His leadership and expertise have been instrumental in driving our U.S. business forward at critical moments in our history. We wish him well and extend our sincere gratitude for the positive impact he's had on Mazda."

The company said Lievois championed several key initiatives at Mazda over his tenu…

Join Automotive News for our daily podcast series. We speak with industry experts, insiders and Automotive News reporters about events and trends impacting and reshaping the automotive industry.

Daniel Weisman, chief innovation officer at Motion Auto Insurance, says car-sharing, ride-hailing services and enhanced driver-assist systems are changing the way vehicles are insured.

How do I subscribe?Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

iPhone / iPad“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Spotify"Daily Drive" is available on Spotify. Click here t…

Peugeot North America CEO Larry Dominique has been named the North America head of Alfa Romeo in a move that adds fresh uncertainty to the French brand's planned return to the United States.

The switch, announced Friday, is part of a global reorganization of the Italian marque. Alfa and Peugeot are now part of Stellantis, the company created by the January merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group.

Dominique, 58, has been leading Peugeot's planned U.S. return for four years. Part of his charge has been to create a distribution channel that would shun expensive stores and emphasize the use of technology to offload some consumer-facing services such as scheduling vehicle delivery and pickup.

A replacement for Dominique wasn’t named, the latest in a line of signals pointing to the end of Peugeot's U.S. comeback efforts.

Two days before the merger, then-Peugeot CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato told journalists: “We can’t not take into account t…

A group of unsecured lenders to Hertz Global Holdings Inc. are proposing an alternative reorganization of the rental car company that would take it public, a move that counters a plan to sell the company to two investment funds for as much as $4.2 billion.

The lenders want to convert their holdings in the bankrupt company into shares of the reorganized company, which could be traded publicly, the people said. If Hertz’s board were to accept that plan, it would supersede a bid from Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management to buy the company.

The group believes the Knighthead bid, which values Hertz at $4.85 billion, is too low, according to the people. Its members think Hertz has an enterprise value of $5 billion and would fetch more under their plan, one of the people said. The lenders have not submitted a formal proposal to Hertz and terms are still in flux, the people said.

In one scenario being discussed, Hertz’s shares would become publi…

Auto production around the world has been hobbled by a shortage of microchips. Here’s what’s behind the shortfall:

As the industry pulled away from the pandemic in mid-2020, chipmakers prepared for a more moderate recovery. But demand for vehicles jumped ahead of forecasts and chipmakers are found it tough to dial up production to keep pace. The ever-increasing electrification of cars and trucks is putting automakers into more direct competition for vehicle components with the likes of giant cellphone, computer and TV manufacturers. Now automakers and their parts suppliers are waiting in line behind Apple, Sony and Samsung. Until chip supplies are back to normal, automakers will be forced to pick and choose which models to favor and which to sacrifice.