Trade News

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, Riverside Dodge -Chrysler -Jeep-Ram in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, began offering unlimited sick days to its employees.

The message to employees was simple: If you're feeling sick, stay home. Don't feel like you have to come into work because you'll miss out on pay, and risk spreading COVID-19 in the process.

It was intended to be a temporary measure, said Trent Hargrave, general manager at Riverside Dodge, located about 330 miles north of the U.S.-Canada border and 329 miles east of Edmonton. But the dealership saw its absentee rate plummet "almost to zero," he said, because fewer people who otherwise would have spread diseases at work instead stayed home.

"You see it all the time: A person comes in with the sniffles and then they try for a day or two, and then they're sick. So, we lose a day or two from them anyway," he said. "And then three other people the next week start to exhibit those symptoms. So…

Asbury Automotive Group Inc. formally expanded into several new western states and picked up an estimated $5.7 billion in annualized revenue after closing Friday on the purchase of Larry H. Miller Dealerships, a deal announced in late September.

The $3.2 billion acquisition of Larry H. Miller's 61 new- and used-vehicle stores also gives Asbury a finance-and-insurance products provider, Total Care Auto, and might protect the dealership group from a takeover by another publicly traded rival.

"We are excited to complete the transformative acquisition of Larry H. Miller Dealerships," Asbury President and CEO David Hult said in a statement Friday. "With its strong culture and stewardship mentality, coupled with the ability to rapidly expand Asbury's presence into these desirable, high-growth Western markets, it is a rare opportunity."

Asbury, of Duluth, Ga., ranks No. 6 on Automotive News' list of the top 150 dealership groups based in…

Lexus may be behind other luxury brands when it comes to getting full-electric vehicles into its U.S. showrooms, but when the first of at least four new EVs arrives late next year, the brand will rely heavily on its dealer network to catch up with — and perhaps overtake — its competitors.

Lexus has been cast in a starring role in the $70 billion investment Toyota Motor Corp. will make globally in electrification, including half for battery-electric vehicles. CEO Akio Toyoda laid out the automaker's ambitious plans in a presentation in Tokyo this week that featured him speaking in front of 16 future battery-electrics. Those vehicles, which Toyoda said were planned for production and were among 30 EVs planned for global markets by 2030, included a midsize pickup, an off-roader heavily resembling the former Toyota FJ Cruiser and four Lexus vehicles.

But for Lexus to succeed in the U.S. — the brand's biggest global market — it will need the help …

Rivian Automotive Inc.’s shares fell to the lowest level since they started trading last month after the electric-truck maker’s debut earnings report revealed a slower-than-expected increase in production.

The company expects to fall “a few hundred vehicles short” of its goal to make 1,200 this year. CEO RJ Scaringe told analysts after Thursday’s close that ramping up production rates has been harder than anticipated.

“Hiccups were inevitable, but (Rivian) faces some right off the bat,” Joseph Spak, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note, referring to the automaker by its stock ticker. “We don’t want to read too much into near-term issues and believe it doesn’t impact the medium/long-term story, but it does highlight the risk that RIVN has a lot on its plate.”

The results slowed the company’s momentum after Rivian pulled off the biggest initial public offering of the year. Rivian, backed by big names including Amazon.com Inc., is seen as one o…

Toyota is opening up portions of its 11,650-acre Arizona Proving Grounds to other automakers as a contract testing resource, allowing them space to build their own garages and offices on-site and use its many on-road and off-road testing tracks.

The Japanese automaker opened the facility in 1993 in Wittmann, Ariz., in the Sonoran Desert, about 60 miles northwest of Phoenix, and has been using its desert tracks for durability, performance and reliability testing ever since. Toyota has contracted with Intertek Transportation Technologies to operate the proving grounds and provide tenant management, but it will still continue to own and use the facility, the company explained Friday.

"TAPG has world-class resources for making ever-better vehicles, and by opening it up to the whole industry for long-term engagements, we believe it can make an even greater impact on advancing mobility for all," Randy Stephens, group vice president of product performance engineering …

Just two months ago, Cruise CEO Daniel Ammann played a starring role in GM’s investor day presentation, where the automaker said it could double revenue to $280 billion by 2030.

Ammann explained that Cruise alone could account for at least $50 billion of that $140 billion in growth.

Right around that time, Cruise had applied to the California Public Utility Commission for a permit to charge for robotaxi rides sans safety driver. Only Alphabet's Waymo is on pace to do that. Cruise is a big piece of GM CEO Mary Barra’s growth strategy and Ammann was getting the company ready to execute.

Now, he’s out.

This is no ordinary executive departure. Ammann was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley who played a supporting role in GM’s bankruptcy. Then he joined GM as treasurer and climbed to CFO before being named president on the same day Mary Barra was promoted to CEO.

He played a big role in downsizing GM’s money-losing overseas operations, sell…

Dealerships have traded hands at a heightened level and have commanded all-time-high prices in 2021, especially as the year comes to a close — trends primed to carry over into 2022, buy-sell experts say.

"We saw a ramp-up in closings starting in Q3 and we expect Q4 to knock the ball out of the park in terms of the number of franchises that trade hands," said Erin Kerrigan, managing director at Kerrigan Advisors, a sell-side firm Irvine, Calif.

Kerrigan Advisors estimated in its third- quarter Blue Sky Report that dealership transactions increased 11 percent to 81 from a year earlier, and from 58 transactions in 2019. Transactions, as counted by Kerrigan Advisors, can be single- or multiple-store deals.

Through the first nine months of 2021, Kerrigan Advisors said there were 225 completed transactions, up 21 percent from the same period in 2020.

But with an active fourth quarter, the firm estimates more than 350 transactions will be c…

General Motors said it plans to restart operations at its Corvette factory in Kentucky next week. The automaker said some employees will return on Monday and that the entire work force will be back Tuesday.

The Bowling Green assembly plant has been idled this week after a tornado that ripped through six states caused a fire on the roof.

GM said a small number of workers were inside the factory when the storm hit. No one was injured.

The plant employs about 1,200 hourly workers, represented by UAW Local 2164, along with about 180 salaried workers. GM idled production at the plant in March, October and November 2020 because of a parts shortage separate from the microchip crisis that has hampered auto output globally.