Trade News

A private investment firm connected to longtime automaker executive Mark LaNeve aims to spend around $400 million over the next three years buying minority stakes in auto dealerships.

New York-based Franchise Equity Partners launched this month. It was co-founded by Michael Esposito and Scott Romanoff, who are the firm's managing partners. LaNeve, a former Ford Motor Co. and General Motors sales and marketing executive, and Don Reese, former CEO of used-car retailer DriveTime, are part of the firm's leadership team.

Franchise Equity Partners is backed by New York investment firm HPS Investment Partners, which has $75 billion in capital, Esposito said. HPS has allocated $1 billion to fund Franchise Equity Partners, which will invest in five areas: auto dealerships, restaurants, heavy-equipment dealerships, beverage distributors and consumer services such as health and beauty.

Esposito noted that while he and Romanoff have invested some of their own mone…

Keating Auto Group has acquired three more stores in Texas, while a growing dealership group purchased two import stores within the past month and a family-owned dealership bought its second store in Iowa.

Here is a look at the deals, which include import and domestic stores. One of the deals involves a group ranked by Automotive News on its top 150 dealerships list.

Texas expansion

Keating Auto Group expanded its presence in the Houston market earlier this month with the acquisition of three rooftops.

Keating Auto, of Victoria, Texas, on Nov. 9 bought Hub Hyundai Houston, Hub Hyundai Katy-Genesis West Houston and Hub Mitsubishi Katy, all in Houston, from retiring dealers Bob Cox and Jackie Cox, said Ben Keating, owner of Keating Auto.

The dealerships were renamed Northwest Hyundai, West Houston Hyundai-Genesis of West Houston and West Houston Mitsubishi.

Keating is planning to construct separate facilities for the West Houston Hyun…

ENCINITAS, Calif. — When it reaches U.S. dealerships in the spring, the 2023 Toyota bZ4X won't have an eye-popping range or bleeding-edge technology that would make the electric midsize crossover stand out from the competitors expected to fill the segment.

But it will have something that none of its rivals will carry: a Toyota emblem. And executives at the Japanese automaker believe that logo will be enough to make it and a coming lineup of other Toyota EVs successful in the U.S.

"Don't underestimate the power of the Toyota badge because it comes with a lot of things that people like: peace of mind, quality, driving dynamics, reliable dealer network, long-term durability — all those things," said Cooper Ericksen, group vice president for product planning and strategy at Toyota Motor North America.

The bZ4X will feature a Toyota-estimated range of up to 250 miles and an advanced standard suite of safety and driver-assistance technologies. Sizewise, it wi…

DETROIT — After going public this month, electric-vehicle startup Rivian Automotive is worth almost 50 percent more than one of its early big investors: Ford Motor Co.

But Ford believes it can soon add more value for shareholders than at any point in the past century with a plan to become the nation's second-biggest producer of EVs in two years. And Ford no longer thinks it needs Rivian's help to get there.

The two companies have scrapped plans to jointly develop an EV, Ford CEO Jim Farley told Automotive News. Ford already had canceled a planned Lincoln collaboration at the start of the coronavirus pandemic but still intended to work with Rivian on a different vehicle until recently.

"Right now, we have growing confidence in our ability to win in the electric space," Farley said in an interview Thursday. "When you compare today with when we originally made that investment, so much has changed: about our ability, about the brand's direction in both case…

DETROIT — General Motors on Friday said customers who buy vehicles that are built without heated or ventilated seats because of parts shortages can have the features added later, potentially as soon as the middle of next year.

GM provided the update a week after informing dealerships that it had to eliminate the features temporarily on much of its lineup.

"We have confirmed with our U.S. dealers that all vehicles covered by the previous announcement to temporarily remove heated and ventilated seats will be eligible for a retrofit process that will activate the operation of the heated and ventilated seat modules," GM said in a statement. "General Motors will cover the costs to retrofit each vehicle."

GM told dealers in a memo obtained by Automotive News that it will discount vehicles missing heated or ventilated seats by $50, instead of up to $500 as it originally said.

Heated steering wheels cannot be retrofitted, the memo said, so vehicles missi…

Stellantis is requiring all of its salaried, nonunion U.S. workers to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Jan. 5.

Those who don't comply will be put on a 30-day unpaid leave of absence and could be subject to termination thereafter, the company said.

Around 80 percent of the automaker's U.S. salaried workforce has reported that they're already fully vaccinated. Stellantis joins Ford Motor Co. and Mercedes-Benz USA as automakers that are mandating vaccinations for salaried personnel.

The move comes as Stellantis prepares for a phased reopening in 2022.

"Stellantis is now requiring all U.S. salaried non-represented employees to report and submit proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status by December 4, 2021, and receive their final dose by January 5, 2022," the company said in a statement.

"This action also will ensure alignment with the federal [emergency temporary standard] if it is implemented."

Aaron Jacoby, head of L.A. law firm Arent Fox’s auto industry practice, says today's extraordinary circumstances are prompting dealers to rethink long-held assumptions.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the fuel economy for new vehicles hit a new high in the 2020 model year at 25.4 miles per gallon but most automakers relied on credits to meet federal emissions requirements.

The agency expects the industry's fuel economy for the 2021 model year will decline to 25.3 mpg.

The Detroit 3 automakers -- General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler parent Stellantis -- lagged other automakers in fuel economy performance, according to the EPA report, as they sell a rising number of large trucks and SUVs.

GM is projected to be the lowest of all automakers in 2021 with a fleet average of 21.5 mpg for all its vehicles, just behind Stellantis at 21.6 mpg, with Ford at 22.7 mpg.

The report said since 2004, carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by 24 percent as fuel economy has improved by 32 percent.

The report said only Tesla Inc., Subaru Inc. and Honda Motor Co. met requirements without using credits. Au…

Tesla Inc.’s female employees face “rampant sexual harassment,” according to a lawsuit by a woman who works in the electric carmaker’s plant in Fremont, Calif.

Jessica Barraza, 38, said in a complaint filed Thursday in state court in Oakland that she experienced “nightmarish” conditions as a night-shift worker at Tesla, with co-workers and supervisors making lewd comments and gestures to her and other women multiple times a week. When she complained to supervisors and human resources, they failed to take action, Barraza says.

She suffers from panic attacks as a result of three years of such behavior and “is afraid to return to work knowing that her body could be violated at any time with no repercussions,” the complaint says. “She is on medication and in therapy, and she is not the same person she used to be.”

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Barraza’s suit was reported earlier by The Washington Post.

The case comes as T…

DETROIT — Score one for the legacy automakers.

Ford Motor Co.'s upcoming F-150 Lightning and the electric Chevrolet Silverado expected in 2023 topped the Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T in an Autolist survey on which electric pickups consumers are most interested in buying.

Of those surveyed, 38 percent said they prefer the Lightning, 26 percent said they want General Motors' Silverado EV, 20 percent prefer the Cybertruck, and 11 percent want the GMC Hummer EV. Five percent said they want the R1T, which is the only one of the five that's already on sale.

In a similar survey Autolist conducted in 2019, Rivian's pickup ranked first, followed by Tesla second and Ford third. Ford had not yet announced the Lightning name or released any product details at the time.

"The Lightning has all the ingredients of a successful launch," Autolist CEO Corey Lydstone said in a statement. "It has the name recognition that transcends the EV marketplace, it has the s…