Trade News

WASHINGTON --  A government watchdog on Friday criticized NHTSA, saying the agency routinely fails to meet deadlines, its staff lack some key training, and it does not ensure all imported vehicles meet safety requirements.

The safety agency has faced significant delays in processing petitions to change or set new safety rules, among other issues, the Transportation Department's Inspector General said.

NHTSA also "lacks formal training and clear guidance for enforcing compliance" and is not meeting requirements for ensuring imported vehicles meet federal safety requirements, the audit added.

The report found "weaknesses in NHTSA's training and guidance limit its ability" to set and enforce motor vehicle safety rules.

NHTSA declined to comment beyond a letter included in the audit which said it would adopt the inspector general's six recommendations.

The agency has recently updated and improved processes to enhance oversight, boost compl…

Editor's note: This story is part of a special report on advanced driver-assist systems running in the Nov. 15 edition.

General Motors' investment in radar software company Oculii and the Ohio startup's pending acquisition by computer chip supplier Ambarella Inc. are two of the latest signals that many in the industry feel differently than Elon Musk about radar technology.

Oculii makes software for radar sensors used in advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving. The company says its software can improve the resolution of any radar sensor by up to 100 times, a feat that would not only improve radar's performance but also potentially lead to cost savings for automakers who might otherwise rely on more expensive lidar systems.

"Historically, resolution has been tied directly to the number of antennas and active transceivers that are in the system," Oculii CEO Steven Hong said during an Ambarella conference call with analysts last month. "Ou…

Police in Windsor, Ontario, continue to investigate what they describe as an “intentional” explosion at the Stellantis minivan factory there.

Police were called to the Windsor Assembly Plant at about 5:45 p.m. ET on Nov. 4. 

The facility was evacuated, and police said no one was injured and there was never an active fire as a result of the explosion. About 2,000 people were inside the facility at the time of the blast.

Police said Friday they had “no further information to report at this time.”

“This remains an active investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Windsor Police Service or Crime Stoppers if they wish to remain anonymous,” Constable Talya Natyshak said in an email to Automotive News Canada, a sibling publication to Automotive News.

Stellantis on Friday said it also had “no further updates.”

Production resumed a few hours after the explosion and has been running since. 

Two dealership groups last month each added a second outlet of a brand already in their portfolios, while a duo bought their first franchised dealership.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic- and import-brand stores.

McCurley Integrity Dealerships of Pasco, Wash., acquired a second Subaru dealership and bolstered its presence in Washington state.The group on Oct. 28 bought Stewart Subaru in Yakima from Frank Stewart, according to DCG Acquisitions, a Dave Cantin Group company, which handled the deal. Joe Beaver and George Pero were the brokers in the transaction.The store was renamed McCurley Subaru of Yakima. Yakima is southeast of Seattle.

It's the sixth store for the McCurley group, which also includes McCurley Integrity Subaru in Pasco, according to its website.

In May, the group sold McCurley Integrity Toyota in Walla Walla, Wash.Mason McCurley, the group's president, was honored in 2019 in Automotive News…

Peter Kelly, CEO of KAR Global, weighs in on the changing world of auto auctions in times of pandemic and inventory shortages. Plus, the retreat from all-digital events explained.

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General Motors will launch 10 electric vehicles in South Korea by 2025, but has no plans yet to manufacture EVs in the country, Steven Kiefer, the head of GM's international operations said on Friday.

The automaker builds EVs in the United States and China. It also has plans to build them in Mexico and Canada

Kiefer's visit after a Korean labor union delegation went to Detroit in June had led to speculation in local media that he could announce new EV production plans.

"We are not announcing any plans yet to produce electric vehicles in the country, so stay tuned for that," Kiefer told a media briefing.

GM's South Korea unit builds about 600,000 vehicles a year, shipping many to the United States including the popular Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV, and employs about 12,000 people. It reported an operating loss of 309 billion won ($262 million) last year.

When asked about the impact of the chip shortage at GM's Korea plants, GM Korea Chief Execu…

Sales of new light vehicles including sedans, crossovers, SUVs, multipurpose vehicles and minibuses in China shrank for the sixth straight month in October, dipping 5 percent to some 2.01 million, after slumping 17 percent in September.

The slowdown in the market's contraction came as a result of a slight easing in the semiconductor chip shortage last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday. 

On July 1, China upgraded emissions standards on heavy-duty trucks to State 6 rules, on par with Euro 6 standards.  

With output curtailed by tighter emissions controls and the persistent chip shortage, deliveries of new commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses fell 30 percent to around 326,000 in October.

As a result, the overall market for new vehicles including light vehicles and commercial vehicles declined 9.4 percent to roughly 2.33 million.

In the first ten months, new-vehicle sales in China rose 6.4…

Trucking technology company Plus won't merge with a blank-check firm as planned, it was announced this week, but the company's big order from Amazon for driver-assist systems remains intact.

The dissolution of the agreement with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V has "no impact" on Plus' ability to continue supplying Amazon or other customers with its PlusDrive retrofit product, a company spokesperson said Tuesday.

Amazon ordered 1,000 of the driver-assist systems in February, according to the spokesperson, and Plus has already started delivery. It is unclear how many have shipped thus far.

The order marked a substantial development for Plus, as did the planned merger with Hennessy, a special purpose acquisition company — better known as a SPAC — unveiled in May. The merger would have added $500 million in cash to the company's coffers and valued it at $3.3 billion.

Citing "recent developments in the regulatory environm…

BUFFALO, W.Va. -- The key swing senator who has already played an outsized role in shaping Democrats’ planned $2 trillion Build Back Better Act told Automotive News that he opposes a planned provision to grant an extra $4,500 federal tax credit for union-made electric vehicles.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, speaking at an event here that announced Toyota Motor North America’s $240 million investment in the automaker’s West Virginia components plant, called the provision backed by Michigan’s congressional delegation “wrong” and “not American.”

“When I heard about this, what they were putting in the bill, I went right to the sponsor [Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.] and I said, ‘This is wrong. This can’t happen. It’s not who we are as a country. It’s not how we built this country, and the product should speak for itself,” Manchin said in an interview. “We shouldn’t use everyone’s tax dollars to pick winners and losers. If you’re a capitalist economy that we are …