Trade News

German supplier Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA completed the expansion of a vehicle electronics factory in Shanghai this week to meet rising demand for key auto components.

With the new building added to an existing manufacturing site, the plant now covers a ground area of around 50,000 square meters (538,196 square feet), becoming Hella’s largest electronics factory globally.

Annual production capacity at the Shanghai plant has been more than doubled from the current level of more than 40 million electronic components, Hella said.

The number of employees at the factory will also increase by 600 to reach 2,200 over the next three years, the company said.

Hella operates four vehicle electronics and eight automotive lighting factories in China. 

In the latest fiscal year ended May 31, Hella’s China operations generated sales of some 890 million euros ($1.04 billion), accounting for nearly 14 percent of global revenue. 

Hella ran…

Tesla Inc. wants to shift to a less expensive battery for its electric vehicles but first needs to figure out how to overcome political tensions to get a Chinese partner to build the iron-based batteries near its U.S. factories.

The world's two biggest economies have yet to resolve disputes over tariffs, intellectual property rights and Chinese incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone. And China's sweeping regulatory crackdown, aimed largely at the technology sector, could pose yet another hurdle.

China dominates the production of iron-based batteries thanks to a series of key patents, which have allowed the country to make 95 percent of the world's lithium iron phosphate batteries.

However, these patents expire soon and Tesla said it plans to adopt LFP batteries in its fleet of standard-range vehicles globally and move battery production closer to its factories.

"Our goal is to localize all key parts of the vehicles on the contine…

Auto retail giant AutoNation Inc. said it will buy Priority 1 Automotive Group, as it announced record third-quarter results that saw net income nearly double, bolstered by higher used-vehicle sales and revenue and record new-vehicle gross profit per unit.

The nation's largest new-vehicle retailer said Thursday it posted third-quarter net income of $361.7 million, up 98 percent from the $182.6 million earned a year earlier. Revenue jumped 18 percent to $6.38 billion even as new-vehicle sales fell 12 percent.

"Demand continues to outpace supply for new vehicles," outgoing AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson said in a statement. Former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Mike Manley is set to take over as AutoNation's chief executive Nov. 1.

AutoNation said new-vehicle days supply was just 10 days at the end of September. A year earlier, it was 43.

"New-vehicle sales are constrained by reduced production volume with low inventory levels," Jackson said. "We expect…

Florida dealer Rita Case reflects on selling the first Honda cars in the U.S., receiving the Horatio Alger award and why she isn't planning to retire anytime soon.

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Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc. cut its full-year sales outlook Wednesday, expecting a fall in global light vehicle production due to chip shortages and supply chain disruptions.

Chip scarcity has hampered automobile production around the world, bringing some assembly lines to a halt, with automakers warning the chip shortage could extend, even as vehicle demand booms in markets including the U.S.

The company said it expects 2021 sales of $35.4 billion to $36.4 billion, compared with $38.0 billion to $39.5 billion forecast earlier. Magna added it expects light vehicle production to fall seven per cent in North America and nine per cent in Europe this year.

Magna, which is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov. 5, also cut its adjusted operating margin forecast to between 5.1 percent and 5.4 percent from 7 percent to 7.4 percent, citing automakers' unpredictable production schedules and higher commodity costs.

Accord…

LONDON --  The new Range Rover has been designed to closely follow the current model's look, a new teaser picture released by Land Rover shows.

The blurred picture of the flagship SUV's fifth generation comes ahead of the model's digital reveal on Tuesday, Oct. 26.

The Range Rover has been one of Jaguar Land Rover's most profitable vehicles since the current generation was launched in 2012, JLR CEO Thierry Bollore told investors in February.

The new model uses the automaker's new MLA (modular longitudinal architecture) platform designed to accommodate electric, plug-in hybrid and full hybrid drivetrains.

JLR has confirmed it will make a full- electric Range Rover, but it will not be among the launch models.

Land Rover has previously said it will launch its first electric vehicle in 2024.

JLR design chief Gerry McGovern described the new Range Rover and related Range Rover Sport as "transformational" in the investor call in Febru…

Lithia Motors Inc.'s revenue hit a third-quarter record, driven largely by increased new- and used-vehicle sales, higher average vehicle selling prices and strong gross profit per vehicle.

Net income totaled $307.9 million, nearly double the $158.8 million from a year earlier.  Lithia had 209 U.S. dealerships in 2020, but the group has been on an acquisition binge throughout 2021, bolstering the current number of dealerships to 265. Lithia’s April acquisition of Michigan's Suburban Collection alone added 34 dealerships.

Revenue for the Medford, Ore., retailer climbed 70 percent to $6.17 billion.

Adjusted net income more than doubled to $342 million, from $160 million in the third quarter of last year.

Lithia continued its dealership acquisition tear in the third quarter, with purchases in Alabama, California, Texas and Georgia. It also expanded into Canada — the group's first international acquisition — when it bought Pfaff Automotive Partne…

Electric cars and other new-energy vehicles will be subject to increased safety checks in China, amid driver concern over issues ranging from battery fires to brake failures.

NEV makers will be required to strengthen safety monitoring and management systems, according to draft guidelines issued Wednesday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. They will also be required to improve quality defects, from vehicle design and testing to upstream supply chains.

Under the proposed changes, automakers will have to set up a 24-hour emergency response system for major accidents. Companies whose cars are involved in accidents or defy regular checks may face penalties including being removed from government subsidies or production suspensions.   

Issues such as battery fires, brake failure, sudden loss of power or mechanical defects have become a major concern in customers’ purchasing decisions. In an incident that went viral in April, a pr…

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. has acquired Kahlo Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram in Noblesville, Ind., north of Indianapolis, the auto retailer said in a LinkedIn post.

The dealership, which was owned by the Kahlo family, is near Asbury's Hale Chevrolet dealership in Noblesville, a store it acquired in 2017 as it entered the state.

Asbury will retain the Kahlo name for the dealership, the nation's sixth-largest new-vehicle retailer said in the post. The transaction closed Monday, an Asbury spokeswoman said.

"We are thrilled to welcome 71 hardworking team members to the Asbury family and expand in the Indiana market," the post said.

Asbury now has eight dealerships in Indiana, and the Kahlo store marks its 92nd store.

Asbury purchased a Subaru dealership in Colorado this year, while selling a BMW store in Virginia. It plans to buy more stores by the end of the year, including Larry H. Miller Dealerships, the nation's eighth-largest new-vehicle reta…