Trade News

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Thursday companies such as Intel and Infineon had signaled they would cooperate with a voluntary request for data on the chips crisis, but may make it compulsory depending on the number and quality of responses.

The White House made the request to automakers, chip companies and others last month, saying the information would boost supply-chain transparency and help understand where bottlenecks exist. The deadline for firms to respond is Nov. 8.

"Companies including Intel, General Motors, Infineon, and SK Hynix, have indicated that they plan to be very forthcoming with their data. We are very appreciative of their efforts and encourage other companies to follow suit," a Commerce spokesperson told Reuters.

"The (request for information) is voluntary, but this information is crucial to addressing concerns about transparency in the supply chain. Whether or not we have to use compulsory measures depends on how many compan…

Toyota Motor North America will look to build "a campus setting" for its planned battery plant to feed North American production of battery-electric and hybrid vehicles, a top executive with the automaker told Automotive News.

That coded language could mean a new assembly plant dedicated to production of skateboard-based battery-electric vehicles is in the offing — instead of just a standalone battery plant. Toyota has no excess capacity in North America; production of the Avalon large sedan in Kentucky will end in 2022.

While a location for a planned investment of $3.4 billion over the next nine years has yet to be announced, Chris Reynolds, chief administrative officer for corporate resources, says he doesn't expect Toyota to ignite or even respond to a bidding war between states or municipalities that might be eager to attract the plan's projected initial 1,750 jobs.

"We don't believe bidding wars to be in Toyota's benefit," Reynolds said. "What we …

Art Agrawal, CEO of insurance comparison firm Jerry, is using his first car-buying experience as motivation to develop an extensive online tool to seamlessly connect consumers and providers across the industry.

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SHANGHAI -- Apple Inc.'s talks with China's CATL and BYD over battery supplies for its planned electric vehicle have been mostly stalled after they refused to set up teams and build U.S. plants that would solely cater to the tech giant, three people with knowledge of the discussions said.

The companies informed Apple sometime in the past two months that they were not able to meet its requirements, the people said. But the U.S. company has not given up hope of resuming talks with either CATL or BYD, according to one source.

Chinese battery makers are more advanced than rivals in the development of lithium iron phosphate batteries which are cheaper to produce and sources have previously said Apple favors this battery technology.

CATL, the world's No.1 maker of batteries for EVs, has been reluctant to build a U.S. factory due to political tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as cost concerns, said one of the people with direct knowledge of the t…

Lithia Motors Inc., which has been on a dealership buying spree and kickstarted the parade of megadeals in 2021, is not done shopping this year as it climbs towards its eventual goal of 500 U.S. stores.

After a busy third quarter in which Lithia's combined dealerships acquisitions — with purchases in Alabama, California, Texas, Georgia and international expansion via Canada's Pfaff Automotive Partners — are expected to generate annual revenue of $1.7 billion, the retailer has deals worth nearly the same amount expected to close in the fourth quarter.

"While several large deals were announced recently, the automotive retail industry remains highly fragmented and unconsolidated with the market share of the 10 largest groups at only about 10 percent," Lithia CEO Bryan DeBoer said during the company's third-quarter earnings call last week. "We have nearly $1.5 billion in annual revenue commitments as well as over $12 billion in the pipeline, which excludes our pee…

LONDON -- The Dutch government's forensic lab said on Thursday it had decrypted EV maker Tesla Inc.'s closely guarded driving data-storage system, uncovering a wealth of information that could be used to investigate serious accidents.

It was already known that Tesla cars store data from accidents, but the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) said it had discovered far more data than investigators had previously been aware of.

The NFI said the decrypted data showed Tesla vehicles store information about the operation of its driver assistance system, known as Autopilot. The vehicles also record speed, accelerator pedal position, steering wheel angle and brake usage, and depending on how the vehicle is used, that data can be stored for over a year.

"These data contain a wealth of information for forensic investigators and traffic accident analysts and can help with a criminal investigation after a fatal traffic accident or an accident with injury," Francis…

Ally Financial, one of the top players in the automotive finance business, said it will buy credit card company Fair Square Financial for $750 million.

The all-cash deal is expected to close at the end of the first quarter of 2022, Ally said Thursday in a statement.

"Our announcement to acquire Fair Square Financial — a digital-first credit card company — aligns with our long-term strategy to be the leading full-service digital-bank," Ally CEO Jeffrey Brown said in the statement. "The addition of credit card complements our existing offerings, adding a growing, customer-focused product with attractive risk-adjusted returns."

Ally said the purchase gives it a "scalable, digital-first credit card platform."

Ally said the acquisition delivers 658,000 cardholders and $763 million in loan balances. The average customer has a 657 FICO score and a $2,300 line of credit.

It expects the deal to begin building profits in 2023.

Automotive News Asia Editor Hans Greimel caught up with Carlos Ghosn to discuss the former Nissan chairman's life in Lebanon, future ambitions and doubts about the alliance he once led.

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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. 

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WASHINGTON — Volvo is recalling 306,782 older models globally for potentially defective driver-side airbags after a rupture incident resulted in a death.

The recall affects certain V70 and XC70 vehicles from the 2001 to 2008 model years. No 2008 model-year vehicles in the U.S. are affected, Volvo said.

The latest recall comes after Volvo this month said it was recalling more than 460,000 older models globally for potentially defective driver-side airbags that have been linked to the one death. The affected vehicles in the early October recall are the S80 sedan from the 2001-06 model years and the S60 sedan from the 2001-09 model years.

With the expanded scope, Volvo said the total number of vehicles being recalled globally is 767,551.

"We are continuing to perform extensive investigations to determine whether other cars might be at risk," Volvo spokesman Thomas McIntyre Schultz said in a statement to Automotive News. "The issue only affects cars …