Trade News

Longtime AutoNation Inc. CEO Mike Jackson may finally have his retirement date.

More than two and a half years after AutoNation's board of directors thought it had found its replacement for Jackson only to later recall the auto retail veteran to that role, the nation's largest dealership group has landed a top auto industry executive as its next CEO.

AutoNation on Tuesday said it had hired former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Mike Manley to replace Jackson as CEO effective Nov. 1. Manley, who has auto retail experience, is currently head of Americas for Stellantis — the company formed when PSA and FCA merged in January.

Jackson, 72, who has been CEO of AutoNation for most of the past 22 years, will also retire from AutoNation's board of directors.

The hiring of Manley, 57, marks a new era at AutoNation, which will have its fourth CEO since February 2019. The dealership group, with $20 billion in annual revenue and 228 dealerships, is in the midst…

LOS ANGELES — The freshened 2022 Acura RDX crossover arriving at dealers in early November will have revised front and rear styling, additional features, a new trim package and a quieter interior.

American Honda did not announce pricing for the new model year.

"RDX has been an incredible success for Acura, with more than half a million sold since it was first introduced in 2006," said Emile Korkor, assistant vice president of sales. "The new 2022 RDX is the best it has ever been and further proof of Acura's commitment to deliver exciting premium performance products based on our unique DNA."

The styling changes to the compact RDX are inspired by the fourth generation of the midsize MDX crossover that went on sale this year, Acura said. The updates include a thinner chrome strip around the front rims and a larger air intake.

At the rear, the RDX gets a revised fascia with cutouts for the new rectangular exhaust finishers. The RDX A-Spec appearanc…

General Motors' upcoming generation of electric vehicles, powered by a new Ultium Drive three-motor system, will be designed in-house and will include integrated power electronics to reduce costs and manufacturing complexity while reducing mass and volume, GM said Tuesday.

"Twenty years of electric drive system development and more than 100 years of high-volume vehicle engineering are helping GM pivot quickly from conventional vehicles to EVs," President Mark Reuss said in a statement. "Our vertical integration in this space, encompassing both hardware and software, helps give us control over our own destiny and a significant competitive advantage."

Reuss shared details on the motors at the 2021 Mackinac Policy Conference sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber. GM announced plans for Ultium Drive, a family of five interchangeable drive units and three motors, last year.

The Ultium motors include a 180-kilowatt front-drive motor, 255-kW rear- and fron…

Robin Geoulla had doubts about the automated driving technology equipped on his Tesla Model S when he bought the electric car in 2017.

“It was a little scary to, you know, rely on it and to just, you know, sit back and let it drive,” he told a U.S. investigator about Tesla’s Autopilot system, describing his initial feelings about the technology.

Geoulla made the comments to the investigator in January 2018, days after his Tesla, with Autopilot engaged, slammed into the back of an unoccupied fire truck parked on a California interstate highway. Reuters could not reach him for additional comment.

Over time, Geoulla's initial doubts about Autopilot softened, and he found it reliable when tracking a vehicle in front of him. But he noticed the system sometimes seemed confused when faced with direct sunlight or a vehicle in front of him changing lanes, according to a transcript of his interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator.

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The price of used vehicles slipped a little in August, easing inflation anxiety a bit, as the cost consumers face for other goods continued to rise, just not in a disastrous way.

DETROIT — Amid increased competition in the large utility segment, Ford Motor Co. is freshening the Expedition SUV with new technology and trims to protect the sales gains made since the vehicle's 2017 redesign.

The 2022 Expedition, on sale in the first quarter of next year, will come standard with the automaker's latest Sync 4 infotainment system, an optional 15.5-inch touch screen and optional BlueCruise hands-free driver-assist system. In an attempt to broaden the family hauler's appeal, Ford is adding an off-road Timberline variant as well as a Stealth Edition performance package.

Since redesigning the Expedition four years ago, Ford says its market share in the segment has tripled, and the large SUV's sales increased year over year in 2018 and 2019 before falling in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. But with the arrival of the Jeep Wagoneer, in addition to last year's redesign of General Motors' biggest SUVs, executives say they need to keep investing i…

BERLIN -- Tesla Inc. is inviting people living near its new German factory to look around the production complex next month.

The plant, which will supply Tesla cars to the European market, is nearing completion in Gruenheide in the German state of Brandenburg.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter that he will be present at what he called a "county fair" on Oct. 9.

Citizens of Brandenburg and Berlin will be allowed to explore the factory site and look inside.

Visitors can "visit on-site booths and join various activities," and will also have the chance to take rides in a Model Y, Tesla said. There will also be food trucks on the site.

People interested in attending the event from 10 a.m. local time to 7 p.m. can pre-register online until Sept. 30, Tesla said.

"Due to capacity constraints, tickets are not guaranteed," the company wrote. If the event is at capacity, the automaker will prioritize visitors with an address in Berlin or Bra…

Editor's note: All dollar figures in Canadian currency.

OTTAWA — The Canadian Press is projecting the Liberals have won enough seats to stay in power with a minority government but have fallen short of winning a majority.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will need the support of at least one other party to maintain a minority government.

As of late Monday night, The Canadian Press projected that the Liberals were leading in 156 ridings, the Conservatives in 123, the Bloc Quebecois in 29, the NDP in 28 and the Greens in two.

The win marks the Liberals’ third government in six years.

What a Liberal government could mean for Canada’s auto sector:

Under previous mandates, the Liberals established a relatively consistent track record for automotive support and investment, particularly when it comes to electric vehicles. 

The government announced in June that it wants all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada be zero-emissio…

At a time when federal officials are scrutinizing the safety of Tesla Autopilot, new research sheds light on how the system is reshaping driver behavior.

When the driver-assist system is enabled, Tesla drivers' eyes stray from the road more frequently and for longer periods of time compared with manual driving, according to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This is believed to be the first study that uses real-world driving data to measure how attentive Autopilot drivers are behind the wheel, and where they're glancing besides the road ahead.

"This is the first time we can quantify the effects of automation, in this case specifically Tesla Autopilot, on how drivers pay attention," said Pnina Gershon, MIT research scientist and one of the study's authors. "Essentially what it shows is when Autopilot is engaged, we see glances off the road that are longer."

The findings arrive as NHTSA investigat…

General Motors has signed an agreement with car rental giant Hertz Corp. to help funnel more loaner vehicles to dealerships amid the global microchip shortage.

As an enhancement to GM's existing Dealer Courtesy Transportation Program, Hertz will provide loaner vehicles to dealers at the automaker's current rate, a GM spokesperson confirmed to Automotive News. Hertz's primary focus will be providing Chevrolet Bolt customers with loaners during the recall process.

AutoForecast Solutions estimates that the global industry has lost 8.36 million vehicles from planned production because of the chip shortage. About 2.7 million of those vehicles were cut from North America production plans.

GM this month doubled its production loss forecast to 200,000 vehicles in the second half of the year. The automaker continues to pause production at assembly plants, especially those that build crossovers and sedans, to redirect chips elsewhere and has built some vehicl…