Trade News

Volkswagen of America said Thursday that it had committed $20 million to ongoing efforts to prepare its U.S. retail network to sell battery-electric vehicles, including underwriting upgrades at franchised dealerships for charging infrastructure and fixed ops.

U.S. dealers began selling the VW ID4 compact crossover in March. The automaker will begin local production in early 2022 at its assembly complex in Chattanooga.

VW said that its subsidy program, which is scheduled to continue through June, has resulted so far in dealers adding 23,490 kilowatts of charging capacity and training more than 1,260 service technicians across the country. More than 99 percent of VW dealers in the U.S. signed up for improvements needed to sell EVs.

"It's the consumer who will lead America's electric vehicle revolution," Scott Keogh, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said in a statement. "And it's our dealership partners who bring their communities…

Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise, is leaving the autonomous vehicle developer, General Motors said in statement Thursday.

The self-driving vehicle company that is majority-owned by GM will be run by Kyle Vogt, co-founder, president and chief technical officer, for now.

GM did not say why Ammann, CEO of the San Francisco startup since 2019, was leaving or whether he took a position elsewhere.

GM said it will accelerate the Cruise strategy it outlined during an investor day in October, in which Cruise will help build the automaker's autonomous platform.

Ammann’s departure is the second high-profile loss for GM in a matter of days. On Wednesday, the automaker confirmed that Pamela Fletcher, GM's vice president of global innovation, is leaving the company to become chief sustainability officer for Delta Airlines.

Before taking charge of Cruise, Ammann, 49, was president of GM from 2014 to 2018. He was also the automaker’s CFO from 2011 to 2014 after…

Amazon-backed electric vehicle startup Rivian Automotive Inc. will build a $5 billion plant in Georgia, its second U.S. assembly plant, as it looks to expand production.

The new plant will employ more than 7,500 people, is scheduled to open in 2024 and will eventually build 400,000 vehicles a year, the company said Thursday, largely confirming plans previously outlined in documents filed with other states.

The plant will be located on the so-called East Atlanta Megasite, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement. Plant construction is slated to begin in the summer of 2022 about 30 miles east of Atlanta. Production is targeted to begin in 2024.

In its first publicly reported earnings since it went public last month, Rivian also reported a third-quarter net loss of $1.23 billion in the third quarter, or an adjusted net loss of $776 million.

The EV maker reported revenue of $1 million after it started to ship its first vehicles in September. …

Subaru of America has appointed Renee Rhem, vice president of customer advocacy, to the automaker's executive team.

Rhem, 52, who joined Subaru in 2020 from the finance industry, is the first African American woman to be appointed to Subaru's top management. She reports directly to Subaru of America CEO Tom Doll, the automaker said.

Subaru's customer advocacy department "works to maintain customer and brand loyalty and foster positive partnerships with Subaru retailers to resolve customer issues," the automaker said.

Rhem, who lives in Delaware, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spelman College in Atlanta.

A vehicle operated by self-driving tech company Waymo struck a pedestrian in the road Wednesday night in San Francisco.

A human safety driver was operating the vehicle, an electric Jaguar I-Pace, in manual mode at the time of the collision, according to a Waymo spokesperson, who further said the vehicle had been in manual mode "for the entirety of its mission."

The pedestrian, a 33-year-old man, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The collision occurred at 10:24 p.m. on Haight Street between Buchanan and Webster. Police say they found the pedestrian in the roadway. He was taken to the hospital via ambulance, according to Waymo. His condition was not immediately known.

Police say the Waymo safety driver, a 37-year-old man, remained on the scene of the crash and cooperated. The safety driver was the only human aboard the vehicle, according to Waymo. Investigators do not believe alcohol or …

As an unprecedented year comes to an end, it’s a good time to reflect and put things into perspective. Our 2021 Yearbook will break down one of the most memorable periods in the auto industry, giving you the kind of context needed to get a head start on 2022. You can take an early look at our yearbook, which shows the year’s All-Stars, Rising Stars, the Best Dealerships To Work For, top innovators from the PACE Awards and the 40 Under 40 brightest stars in auto retailing. And get a jump on the new year with a detailed look at the new products coming for 2022. Come back on Dec. 27 for a complete rundown of the year’s top stories, loads of industry data and what you can expect in the coming year. We also will profile our inaugural Champions of Diversity, honoring those who have made a difference in improving industry diversity, equity and inclusion. Our greatly expanded yearbook gives you the complete picture of an unforgettable year for the industry.<…

BAIC Motor Co.’s electric vehicle subsidiary, BluePark New Energy Technology Co., started mass production of robotaxis with domestic tech giant Baidu.

BluePark New Energy Technology, a Shanghai-listed company, disclosed the information Tuesday when taking queries from retail investors via an internet platform.

BluePark New Energy Technology declined to divulge additional details about the project.

The robotaxi program was first disclosed this year by Baidu, China’s largest internet search engine operator and leading autonomous driving technology developer.

Baidu said in June it was working with BluePark New Energy Technology to build and deploy 1,000 full electric crossovers as robotaxis with L4 autonomy over the next three years.

The robotaxi is adapted from BluePark New Energy Technology’s Arcfox-badged Alpha-T, a 5-seat midsize electric crossover, according to Baidu. 

The vehicle is fitted with 2 lidars, 13 cameras, 5 millime…

Sales of new light vehicles in China will rise 8 percent to 23 million next year as the semiconductor chip crunch and other supply-chain bottlenecks ease, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicted Tuesday.

With deliveries of commercial vehicles such as trucks and buses expected to contract 6 percent to 4.5 million, the overall market for new vehicles will expand 5.4 percent to 27.5 million in 2022, the industry trade group said.

Sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will remain robust, surging 47 percent to reach 5 million, CAAM added. 

Separately, IHS Markit analysts on Thursday said they see the mainland China market rising 3.3 percent to 24.2 million next year, with more meaningful recovery expected for 2023 — or back above pre-crisis levels to 26.9 million, and rising 11.3 percent from 2022 to 2023.

With one month to go, 2021 light-vehicle sales industrywide will increase 5.6 percent to 21.3 million while comm…

EV startup Canoo Inc on Wednesday said it was accelerating its production plans in the U.S. and ending its deal for VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands to serve as its contract manufacturer in Europe.

Canoo shares were up 3 percent in after hours trading.

The Arkansas-based company said the shift from using VDL Nedcar overseas to relying on the plants it is building in northwest Arkansas and Pryor, Oklahoma, was made to reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities and overseas shipping costs, and increase speed to market for its vehicles.

"The initiatives announced today are another step in executing our strategy of reducing risk and increasing certainty," Chief Executive Tony Aquila said in a statement. "We have concluded that building in America is better aligned with our mission."

Canoo said starting production in Oklahoma remains on track for late 2023, but it also now expects to begin building electric vehicles in Arkansas next yea…