Trade News

DETROIT — Ten months after the Chevrolet Bolt's initial recall, General Motors has outlined two solutions to eliminate fire risk: module replacements starting next month and new diagnostic software that identifies potentially dangerous anomalies or damaged batteries, the automaker said Monday.

GM plans to send battery module replacements to dealers in mid-October and launch its diagnostic software, installed by dealers, in the next 60 days.

The drawn-out Bolt recall has become a black eye for GM and diminished trust among many customers as the automaker aims for an all-electric lineup by 2035 and rolls out a new generation of electric vehicles, starting with the GMC Hummer pickup this fall. The module replacement and diagnostic software mark GM's next try at a fix after a separate software update, announced in April, failed to prevent battery fires.

Battery supplier LG has restarted production at its plants in Holland and Hazel Park, Mich., and the supp…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. auto safety investigators have opened a new probe into 30 million vehicles built by nearly two dozen automakers with potentially defective Takata airbag inflators, a government document seen by Reuters on Sunday showed.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday opened an engineering analysis into an estimated 30 million U.S. vehicles from the 2001 through 2019 model years. Automakers were alerted to the investigation, which is not yet public.

The new investigation includes vehicles assembled by Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors, Subaru, Tesla Inc., Ferrari, Nissan Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., Daimler, BMW, Chrysler (now part of Stellantis), Porsche Cars, Jaguar Land Rover (owned by Tata Motors) and others.

The automakers on Sunday either declined to comment before NHTSA's expected public announcement on Monday, or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. NHTSA declined …

LOS ANGELES — American Honda is setting a target of 70,000 in annual sales for the Prologue crossover that it will launch in 2024 on a platform developed by General Motors.

And as the Japanese company develops its own EV platform throughout the decade, Honda expects to reach half a million EV sales in North America by 2030 on its way to becoming an entirely zero-emissions automaker by 2040, the company said Monday.

"Launching our first volume BEV in 2024 is the start of an exciting new direction for Honda," said Dave Gardner, executive vice president of national operations at American Honda. "We are working with our dealers to plan the transition from sales of primarily gasoline-powered vehicles to selling 100 percent electric vehicles by 2040."

Honda said its EV sales goals are dependent on receiving fair and equitable access to state and federal EV incentives in the U.S. Honda and other international automakers have voiced opposition to a proposal by …

Tara Rush might be considered a committed optimist. Though she’s relatively new in her current role as chief marketing officer for Audi of America — she became its first female marketing chief in December — she’s been with the German premium brand since April 2019, when she became head of communications after leaving Heineken.

Whether her job is inside or outside the auto industry, her eye is always trained on the same goal. 

“I’m just always looking at every situation and asking, ‘Where is the biggest opportunity and where can I create a lot of positive energy for change?’ So I’m definitely one of those people who, even in those challenging moments, I’m always kind of looking for the solution, for the positive side of things,” Rush said. 

It’s a driving motivation, one that has been present throughout her career. It was amplified in 2015 during a multiday workshop she attended about defining your personal purpose. The workshop fundamentally ch…

60 with Mercedes

Mark Gold, second from left, general manager of James Motor Co., a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Lexington, Ky., and Ray Ball, third from left, dealer principal, receive a 60-year award from Dave Devore, left, Mercedes-Benz USA sales operations manager, and Chris Kirby, Mercedes-Benz USA aftersales operations manager.

50 with Toyota

Eddie Roberts, third from left, dealer principal of Roberts Toyota in Columbia, Tenn., and Cackie Roberts Walker, general manager, receive a 50-year award from John Beaumont, left, Toyota Motor North America assistant regional general manager, and Shane Sizemore, Toyota Motor North America regional general manager.

50 with Chevrolet

Lewis Wood, right, owner of First Team Hampton Chevrolet in Virginia, receives a 50-year award from Tom Saltarelli, center, General Motors regional zone manager. Also pictured is Ashton Lewis Jr., dealer operator.

50 with Audi

Paul Rusnak, center, fo…

Dealership buy-sell activity, building off a brisk pace that began in late 2020, ramped up in the second quarter and appears primed to reach new heights for the remainder of 2021 thanks to rising dealership profitability, improved access to capital and increased activity from the publicly traded auto retailers.

Haig Partners, a buy-sell firm in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., estimated in its second-quarter Haig Report that 120 dealerships sold during the quarter, nearly triple the 42 stores that changed hands during the comparable period in 2020 when deals slowed during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. Other dealership advisers also report robust deal-making with many expecting the strength of the market to persist for the balance of 2021 — though headwinds exist further out.

"The number of dealerships being acquired right now has exploded since this time last year, kind of going back to 2019," said Alan Haig, president of Haig Partners. "The stores are m…

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle unit owned by Google parent Alphabet Inc., is taking more office space in San Francisco. The company is subleasing more than 48,000 square feet at 555 Market Street in the city's financial district from Uber Technologies Inc. Waymo already has space in the Bayview neighborhood, while Google has several offices in the city. The new lease for Waymo is a vote of confidence for an office market that has been slower to rebound from the pandemic than other major U.S. cities, with technology employers embracing remote and hybrid work. While Google has maintained its space in San Francisco, many other tech companies have sought to offload millions of square feet they previously leased.

— Bloomberg

Ohio officials last week marked the official opening of what has been dubbed the nation's longest connected highway. The 33 Smart Mobility Corridor, a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Route 33, is outfitte…

General Motors last week committed $50 million toward expanding access to education and employment opportunities for Detroiters and strengthening the city's neighborhoods.

"As the home of our headquarters for more than a century, Detroit has always been a priority for General Motors," CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "We're invested in supporting a strong future for this community. Our new commitment will help break down barriers and promote growth through education and economic success."

In its first round of funding as part of the larger commitment, GM has made $4 million in grants:

$1.25 million to a comprehensive digital support system that includes Internet connectivity, devices, tech support and digital literacy skills to create greater access to education and employment$1 million to support employment, health and well-being resources coordinated across the city with key agencies$1 million to a mobility initiative that aims to addres…

TOKYO — Japan's auto industry is warning that the government's push for carbon neutrality could cost the country millions of jobs and millions of units of lost vehicle output.

The doomsday scenario was floated this month by Akio Toyoda, in his role as chairman of Japan's automaker association. He attacked what he sees as potentially overzealous green manufacturing goals as unsustainable.

The Japanese government's road map, which aims to slash the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 on the way to net carbon neutrality by 2050, should be better tailored to the reality that Japan's economic lifeblood is rooted in manufacturing, he said.

Toyoda, who is also president of Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest automaker and a corporate flagship of Japan Inc., said a knee-jerk shift to electric vehicles could undercut Japan's industrial base and that the country needs a wider, more creative approach to carbon reduction.

Read more about Akio Toyoda: All-EV plans are a threat to Japan

WASHINGTON — A proposal by House Democrats that would give consumers an extra incentive to buy union-made electric vehicles has stoked tension and debate among lawmakers, automakers and other stakeholders.

Despite outspoken criticism from Toyota Motor North America, American Honda Motor Co., Tesla and advocates of nonunionized businesses, the House Ways and Means Committee last week advanced the tax credits for inclusion in the Democrats' $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill.

The proposal — led by Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich. — would boost consumer tax credits to as much as $12,500 for EVs assembled in a factory represented by a labor union with U.S.-produced batteries. After five years, only EVs assembled in the U.S. would be eligible for the $7,500 base credit.

As drafted, the House proposal could face a roadblock in the Senate: Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from coal-producing West Virginia, where Toyota is the only automaker with a factory.

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