Trade News

Cruise LLC, the self-driving car startup that is majority owned by General Motors, filed an application with the State of California for a permit to charge fares for driverless rides.

Cruise needs permission from the California Public Utility Commission to ferry people around in its driverless vehicles without a test driver and charge for the service. The company has already been given permission by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to give rides without a safety driver.

The company’s business is a big part of GM’s push to double its revenue to $280 billion by 2030. Cruise’s autonomous ride-hailing business should grow to $50 billion in revenue in about six years, its CEO Dan Ammann said at the automaker’s investor presentation last month.

“Cruise has hit another important milestone today as the first company to apply for the final state permit required to launch an autonomous ride-hail service in California,” said Prashanthi Raman, head of glob…

Carter Myers Automotive, of Charlottesville, Va., has purchased Miller Auto Group, adding four rooftops in two states along with the Toyota brand to its lineup.

Carter Myers bought the group, owned by John Miller, on Wednesday. It included Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram and Chevrolet-Toyota dealerships in Martinsburg, W. Va., and Honda and Hyundai dealerships in Winchester, Va. Carter Myers purchased a Subaru store in Winchester last year.

The newly acquired stores were renamed CMA's Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram of Martinsburg, CMA's Chevrolet-Toyota of Martinsburg, CMA's Honda of Winchester and CMA's Hyundai of Winchester. Winchester is about 25 miles south of Martinsburg, just across the state line.

"We have known the Miller family for many years and are excited to welcome their team to CMA," Carter Myers CEO Liza Borches, said in a statement. "As far back as the 1970s, George and John Miller worked with my dad [H. Carter Myers III] as West Virginia and Virginia …

Volkswagen Group of America has named a South African executive who previously worked in a high-ranking position in the automaker's Mexican operations to take over its Chattanooga Assembly Complex, where he will succeed another South African executive.

Chris Glover, 57, a 30-year VW executive who most recently served as executive vice president for production and logistics with Volkswagen de México, will succeed countryman Tom du Plessis on Jan. 1 in running the German automaker's operations in Chattanooga, Tenn., as du Plessis retires after 13 years with VW.

Prior to his stint in Mexico, Glover worked in VW production operations in China and his native South Africa.

The Chattanooga Assembly Complex produces the VW Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport, as well as the Passat, production of which is ending after the 2022 model year. In 2022, it will begin producing localized versions of the VW ID4 compact EV crossover.

As U.S. auto dealerships continue to grapple with a vehicle supply-demand imbalance that is causing inventories to dwindle, some dealers are searching for any and all ways to get vehicles on their lots.

For Aschenbach Automotive Group in Frederick, Md., establishing a buying center was an alternative way for the company to fill the supply gap and add to its used-vehicle inventory.

"Most of our stores do a pretty darn good job of buying from the public, but this is additional revenue we didn't have, and it's really thinking outside of the box," Conrad Aschenbach, president of Aschenbach Automotive Group, told Automotive News.

The group, which operates five dealerships across Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia, plus the buying center in Florida, got its start in 2017 when Aschenbach acquired a Cadillac-Buick-GMC store in Carlisle, Pa., with his father, William.

As a relatively new group with stores spread out geographically, it was struggling with…

Tesla Inc. plans to open a factory to produce battery manufacturing equipment in the Canadian city of Markham, Ont., Mayor Frank Scarpitti said, as the electric carmaker ramps up the production of cheaper, higher-range 4680 battery cells.

“I’m delighted to share that Tesla Canada is joining our already robust automotive and technology ecosystem by locating a manufacturing facility in the City of Markham,” the mayor of the city near Toronto said on Twitter.

Markham is a suburb of Toronto, just north of the city.

“The facility will be the first branded Tesla Canada manufacturing facility in Canada and will produce state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to be used at the Gigafactories located around the world in the production of batteries.”

Scarpitti did not provide many details. In 2019, the U.S. electric carmaker acquired Canada-based Hibar, which manufactures pumps used in fast-speed battery assembly that Tesla is introducing for its new 4680…

Laura Schwab's gender discrimination lawsuit against Rivian paints an unflattering picture of the electric vehicle startup's corporate culture, one that is at odds with one of company founder and CEO RJ Scaringe's stated principles: valuing diversity.

Schwab said she was fired from her role as Rivian's vice president of sales and marketing on Oct. 15, after less than a year on the job, and alleged that the company's "toxic bro culture" derailed her career.

In addition, she said problems began less than six months into the job, when she began raising concerns about the company's ability to "deliver on promises to investors."

She wants Rivian's work practices declared unlawful under California's labor code and seeks reimbursement for the suit's costs and "other further relief that the court may deem just and proper."

Rivian confirmed to Automotive News that Schwab was no longer employed there but would not comment further. The company is in a feder…

DETROIT — The last time Ford Motor Co. shares were worth this much, Jim Farley was climbing the executive ranks at Toyota, Apple was about to reveal a handheld music player called the iPod, and air travelers didn't have to take off their shoes at security. Ford, fresh off the scandal surrounding Explorers fitted with defective Firestone tires, was a month away from firing Jacques Nasser as CEO.

The automaker's long-languishing stock hit $19.72 in morning trading Friday, touching its highest level since September 2001 and having nearly tripled in value during Farley's 13 months as Ford's top executive.

Shares had steadily slipped since Alan Mulally retired in 2014, a trend that factored heavily into the ouster of Mark Fields in 2017. They briefly dipped below $5 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year and closed at $6.66 the day before Farley took over the top job in October 2020.

Wall Street has taken a shine to Ford's growth plans, which un…

Automotive employers including Ford Motor Co. and Mercedes-Benz said last week they are mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for salaried personnel as the industry adapts to upcoming federal rules.

But still uncertain is what added pressure big manufacturers might put on their factory work forces as the industry tries to break free of nearly two years of pandemic disruption.

Ford said last week that it will require "most" of its U.S. salaried employees to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 8. That is in line with an executive order President Joe Biden signed this year that requires federal contractors to have their employees be immunized by that date in order to continue receiving contracts from the government.

A Ford spokeswoman said in a statement that "the health and safety of our work force remains our top priority, and we have been very encouraged by the support of our employees to comply with our protocols, including the more than 84 percent of U.S. salaried …

Four dealership groups made acquisitions this fall to grow their platforms in the Midwest and West.

Here's a look at the deals involving domestic and import brands. One of the deals involved a dealership group ranked on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S.

LaFontaine continues Michigan growth

LaFontaine Automotive Group acquired its fifth dealership in Michigan this year with Monday's acquisition of St. Clair Chevrolet-Buick-GMC in China Township, northeast of Detroit.

The growing Highland, Mich., group bought the dealership from Pam Moran and Janice Moran, who retain a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership in St. Clair, Mich., according to LaFontaine.

The acquired dealership was renamed LaFontaine Chevrolet-Buick-GMC of St. Clair. It marks the group's fifth Buick-GMC store and second Chevrolet dealership.

LaFontaine already this year bought Ralph Thayer Automotive and its Hyundai, Mazda and Volkswag…