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☆ Stellantis Will Lay Off Up to 2,450 at Michigan Truck Plant
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-09 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Stellantis announced plans on Friday to lay off as many as 2,450 workers later this year at a pickup truck plant near Detroit, the latest sign of trouble for the trans-Atlantic automaker. The layoffs are expected to begin as early as Oct. 8 at the Ram truck plant in Warren, Mich., where production will be reduced to one shift from two, the company said on Friday. Stellantis’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, has said the company needs to cut costs, and he has noted that at least one North American factory was operating at an unsatisfactory level. The company has been hit by sluggish sales in North America, where it generates most of its profits, as well as bloated costs and manufacturing inefficiencies. It reported last month that profits in the first six months of 2024 fell by nearly half to 5.6 billion euros (about $6 billion).

Persons: Stellantis, Stellantis’s, Carlos Tavares Organizations: Atlantic Locations: Detroit, Warren, Mich, North America

☆ Tesla’s Profit Fell 45% in the Second Quarter on Weak E.V. Sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Tesla on Tuesday reported a significant drop in profit in the three-month period between April and June, a result of the electric car company’s sluggish sales. The automaker said it earned $1.5 billion in the second quarter of the year on revenue of $25.5 billion. In the second quarter of 2023, Tesla made $2.7 billion and had revenue of $24.9 billion. The company’s current operating profit margin, a measure of how much money it makes on every dollar of revenue, was 6.3 percent, compared with 9.6 percent in the same period a year ago. The results will most likely heighten pressure on Tesla and its chief executive, Elon Musk, to show that the company can find new ways to grow and make money.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk

☆ G.M. Will Restart Cruise Taxi Service
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-23 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors said on Tuesday that its Cruise driverless-taxi division has restarted test operations in three Sun Belt cities, using self-driving cars with human safety drivers who will monitor the vehicles and intervene if needed. The incident prompted California to revoke Cruise’s license to operate driverless vehicles in the state. G.M.’s chief financial officer, Paul Jacobson, said Cruise is now providing autonomous ride services in Dallas, Houston and Phoenix. He also said Cruise was using self-driving versions of the Chevrolet Bolt electric car and that production of a dedicated driverless cab called the Cruise Origin had been suspended indefinitely. developed the Origin — a rectangular, van-like vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals — specifically for Cruise.

Persons: Motors, ’, Paul Jacobson, Cruise Organizations: Sun, Chevrolet Bolt Locations: San Francisco, California, G.M, Dallas , Houston, Phoenix

☆ Ford Will Make Gasoline Trucks, Not Electric Vehicles, in Ontario Plant
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-18 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor said on Thursday it would retool a plant in Canada to produce large pickup trucks rather than the electric sport-utility vehicles it had previously planned to make there. The Ford plant, in Oakville, Ontario, recently stopped making the gasoline-powered Ford Edge S.U.V., and was slated to shift to new electric versions of the Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, both three-row S.U.V.s. Instead, Ford will turn the factory in Oakville into a third production location for its Super Duty pickup trucks, which are among its most profitable models. Jim Farley, the chief executive of Ford, said the company’s two other Super Duty plants, in Kentucky and Ohio, were running at full capacity but couldn’t produce as many vehicles as its commercial customers wanted. Super Duty trucks are typically used to haul heavy equipment and materials by building contractors, oil and gas companies and other businesses.

Persons: General Motors, Ford, Jim Farley Organizations: Ford, General, Ford Edge, Ford Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, Duty Locations: Canada, Oakville , Ontario, Oakville, Kentucky, Ohio

☆ Auto Sales Grew Slightly in Second Quarter
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-02 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | Jack Ewing | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Much of the auto industry, with the notable exception of Tesla, reported modest sales growth in the three months through June as high interest rates, high vehicle prices and uncertainty about the economy weighed on consumers. Sales in late June were also slowed by disruptions at car dealers stemming from a cyberattack on a company that supplies software and data services to dealerships. That’s a marked slowdown from the year’s first three months, when sales grew 5 percent. Slow growth is likely to continue through the end of the year, said Jonathan Smoke, Cox’s chief economist. “We probably can’t quite keep the pace of sales of the first half, but we aren’t expecting a collapse in sales.”

Persons: Tesla, That’s, Cox, Jonathan Smoke, ”, “ Organizations: Cox Automotive Locations: United States

☆ Cyberattacks Disrupt Car Sales by Dealers in U.S. and Canada
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Thousands of auto dealers across the United States and Canada are suffering disruptions to their operations as a result of cyberattacks on a provider of critical software and data services used in auto retailing. The provider, CDK Global, said it was targeted in two attacks on Wednesday, prompting the company to shut down its systems to prevent the loss of customer data and to allow testing and other measures to restore its services. “We are assessing the impact and providing regular updates to our customers,” CDK Global said in a statement. “We remain vigilant in our efforts to reinstate our services and get our dealers back to business as usual as quickly as possible.”CDK provides services to more than 15,000 retail locations. Its dealer management systems store customer records and automate much of the paperwork and data involved in selling and servicing cars and trucks.

Persons: ” CDK Organizations: CDK, ” Locations: United States, Canada

☆ Car Deals Vanished During the Pandemic. They’re Coming Back.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-03 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For much of the last four years, automakers and their dealers had so few cars to sell — and demand was so strong — that they could command high prices. During the coronavirus pandemic, auto production was slowed first by factory closings and then by a global shortage of computer chips and other parts that lasted for years. With few vehicles in showrooms, automakers and dealers were able to scrap most sales incentives, leaving consumers to pay full price. Some dealers added thousands of dollars to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, and people started buying and flipping in-demand cars for a profit. But with chip supplies back to healthy levels, auto production has rebounded and dealer inventories are growing.

☆ A Loss at Mercedes-Benz Slows U.A.W.’s Southern Campaign
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

About 56 percent of the Mercedes workers who voted rejected the U.A.W. In April, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee voted to join the union, the first large nonunion auto plant in the South to do so. I don’t think they’re going to stop just because they lost here.”Since its founding in 1935, the U.A.W. has almost exclusively represented workers employed by the three Michigan-based automakers: General Motors, Ford Motor, and Chrysler, now part of Stellantis. And it has long struggled to make headway at plants owned by foreign manufacturers, especially in Southern states where anti-union sentiment runs deep.

Persons: Weeks, ”, Arthur Wheaton Organizations: Mercedes, Benz, United Automobile Workers, Volkswagen, Daimler Truck, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, General Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler Locations: Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, Michigan, Stellantis, Southern

☆ Few Chinese Electric Cars Are Sold in U.S., but Industry Fears a Flood
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-15 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Biden administration’s new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles won’t have a huge immediate impact on American consumers or the car market because very few such cars are sold in the United States. But the decision reflects deep concern within the American automotive industry, which has grown increasingly worried about China’s ability to churn out cheap electric vehicles. “Today’s announcement is a necessary response to combat the Chinese government’s unfair trade practices that endanger the future of our auto industry,” Senator Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement. The tariff on electric vehicles made in China was quadrupled from 25 percent. Chinese lithium-ion batteries for electric cars will now face a 25 percent tariff, up from 7.5 percent.

Persons: Biden, “, Gary Peters, ” Organizations: Biden, Michigan Democrat Locations: United States, China, Michigan

☆ G.M. Will Retire the Chevrolet Malibu to Make More Electric Cars
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors said on Wednesday that it would stop making the Chevrolet Malibu, the last affordable sedan in its U.S. model lineup and a venerable nameplate that was introduced in the 1960s when the company was a dominant force in the U.S. economy. For years, American drivers have been gravitating toward sport utility vehicles and away from sedans, compacts and hatchbacks. G.M.’s two Detroit rivals, Stellantis and Ford Motor, have also largely wiped their slates clean of cars in the United States. Last month, Subaru, a Japanese automaker, said it would stop making its Legacy sedan next year. produces the Malibu at a plant in Fairfax, Kan., and will continue to manufacture the car until later this year, when it plans to retool the factory to make a new version of the Chevrolet Bolt, an electric car, and the Cadillac XT4, a luxury S.U.V.

Persons: Motors, Chevrolet Organizations: Chevrolet Malibu, Detroit, Ford Motor, Foreign, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Subaru Locations: U.S, United States, Japanese, Fairfax, Kan

☆ G.M. Reports Big Jump in Profit on Gasoline Car Sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

General Motors on Tuesday reported a big jump in profits for the first three months of the year, based on the strength of its gasoline vehicle business, and raised its outlook for the rest of the year. The company saw slow growth in electric vehicles, but robust sales of internal combustion vehicles, especially pickup trucks, helped raise its profit to $3 billion in the first quarter, a 24 percent jump from the same period a year ago. also said that it now expects to make $10.1 billion to $11.5 billion in profit this year, up from a previous forecast of $9.8 billion to $11.2 billion. business and improving profitability,” G.M.’s chief financial officer, Paul Jacobson, said in a conference call with reporters, using the shorthand for internal combustion engine. He repeated an earlier forecast that G.M.’s battery-powered cars and trucks would start generating profits in the second half of this year.

Persons: ’, Paul Jacobson, Jacobson, G.M Organizations: Motors

☆ VW Workers in Tennessee Vote for Union, a Labor Milestone
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a landmark victory for organized labor, workers at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee have voted overwhelmingly to join the United Automobile Workers union, becoming the first nonunion auto plant in a Southern state to do so. In a statement late Friday, the company said that the union had won 2,628 votes, with 985 opposed, in a three-day election. to organize the Chattanooga factory over the last 10 years were narrowly defeated. The outcome is a breakthrough for the labor movement in a region where anti-union sentiment has been strong for decades. won record wage gains and improved benefits in negotiations with the Detroit automakers.

Organizations: Volkswagen, United Automobile Workers, Detroit automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Tennessee, Southern, Chattanooga

☆ VW Workers in Tennessee Start Vote on U.A.W., Testing Union Ambitions
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last fall the United Automobile Workers union won big pay increases from the Detroit automakers, and the impact rippled quickly through the nonunion auto plants scattered across the South. On production lines in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and elsewhere, those pay increases have been referred to as the “U.A.W. bump.”Now 4,300 workers at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., will test whether the union can achieve an even greater bump. On Wednesday, they begin voting on whether to join the U.A.W., and the prospects of a union victory appear high. About 70 percent of the workers pledged to vote yes before the union asked for a vote, according to the U.A.W.

Persons: Tesla, “, ”, Kelcey Smith Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Detroit automakers, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, VW Locations: United States, Alabama , Tennessee , Kentucky, Chattanooga , Tenn

☆ Ford Slows Its Push Into Electric Vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ford Motor on Thursday delayed the production of at least two new electric cars and said it would pivot to making more hybrids. Its decision was the latest sign that large automakers have been forced to rethink their strategy for electric vehicles because sales for those models are slowing. The shift by Ford and automakers like General Motors and Mercedes-Benz, which have also pushed back their electric car plans, has been prompted largely by the companies’ difficulties in making and selling enough electric cars and doing so profitably. Because they are still learning how to make the cars and their batteries at lower cost, the companies have not been able to bring out more affordable models. “That’s made it a lot tougher to sell those vehicles.”

Persons: ” Sam Abuelsamid, “ That’s Organizations: Ford, General Motors, Mercedes, Benz

☆ Auto Industry Expects Minimal Disruption From Port Shutdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Concerns about the impact of the Baltimore bridge collapse on auto imports and exports are beginning to ease as car companies turn to other ports along the East Coast. On Thursday, Cox Automotive, a market researcher, said it expected the situation in Baltimore to have no material impact on vehicle sales in the United States. “While Baltimore is the top port for auto shipments, this is not likely to cause or create a sudden new problem in vehicle supply that will materially impact the market,” Jonathan Smoke, Cox’s chief economist, said in a conference call. “The port is heavy for exports and imports, but there are alternatives.”Mercedes-Benz said it has already found other ways of handling the vehicles it usually imports from Germany through Baltimore.

Persons: Jonathan Smoke, ” Mercedes, Benz Organizations: Cox Automotive Locations: Baltimore, East Coast, United States, Germany

☆ Automakers Are Rerouting Car Shipments Away From Baltimore
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Several large automakers said on Tuesday that they were working to reroute shipments of cars because of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The Port of Baltimore plays an important role in the shipment of vehicles and handled more than 750,000 cars and trucks in 2023, according to the Maryland Port Administration. Pete Buttigieg, the U.S. transportation secretary, said that the rerouting would affect the national supply chain. “It will not be quick, and it will not be inexpensive.”Among the automakers that use the port are General Motors, Ford Motor, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Some automakers said they were planning to divert imports and exports of vehicles to other East Coast ports while they assessed how the collapse would affect their logistics.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Wes Moore, Pete Buttigieg Organizations: Maryland Port Administration, Gov, General Motors, Ford Motor, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Benz, BMW Locations: Baltimore, The Port, United States, Maryland, U.S, East Coast

☆ VW Workers Seek Union Vote at Tennessee Plant for Third Time
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-18 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Volkswagen employees in Tennessee who are hoping to join the United Automobile Workers asked a federal agency on Monday to hold an election, a key step toward the union’s longtime goal of organizing nonunion factories across the South. With the union’s backing, Volkswagen workers filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking for a vote on U.A.W. representation, saying that more than 70 percent of the 4,000 eligible workers at the plant had signed cards supporting the union. “Today, we are one step closer to making a good job at Volkswagen into a great career,” Isaac Meadows, an assembly worker at the plant, said in a statement. If held, an election would be the first test of the U.A.W.’s newfound strength after staging a wave of strikes in the fall against the three Detroit automakers — General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis — and winning record wage increases.

Persons: ” Isaac Meadows, ’, — Organizations: United Automobile Workers, Volkswagen, National Labor Relations Board, “, Detroit, —, Motors, Ford Motor Locations: Tennessee

☆ Toyota’s Hybrid-First Strategy Is Delivering Big Profits
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-09 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In today’s high-tech, high-stakes auto industry, fortunes can change quickly, and there’s no better example of that right now than Toyota Motor. Not long ago, it looked as if Toyota had fallen dangerously behind in electric vehicles. Tesla, the electric car pioneer, has grown rapidly and become the world’s most valuable automaker. Toyota, however, was more deliberate — or lethargic, its critics would say. Amid all the enthusiasm for electric vehicles in the last few years, it seemed Toyota just didn’t get it.

Organizations: Toyota, Motors, Ford Motor Locations: United States

☆ How Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Once in Hot Demand, Lost Its Luster
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

In July Michael Puglia drove home with what seemed like the coolest vehicle he’d ever own — a Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. It was big enough to haul around his children and all their hockey gear. Once, after Mr. Puglia had driven 35 miles to an ice rink, his range fell by 73 miles. Another time, a 60-mile jaunt reduced his range by 110 miles. Several trips to the dealership for software updates didn’t fix the problem, leaving Mr. Puglia wondering whether he should keep the $79,000 truck.

Persons: Michael Puglia, He’d, ” Locations: Puglia, Ann Arbor, Mich

☆ Ford Reports Quarterly Loss but Says Sales Grew
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Ford Motor said it lost $526 million in the final three months of 2023, mainly as a result of special charges related to its employee pension programs and the reorganization of some of its overseas operations. The automaker said its fourth-quarter revenue rose to $46 billion, from $44 billion a year earlier, thanks to strong sales of internal-combustion vehicles and light commercial trucks. The division of the company that makes gasoline and hybrid vehicles earned $813 million before interest and taxes in the fourth quarter, and its commercial vehicle division made $1.8 billion. The unit that makes electric vehicles lost $1.6 billion. Looking ahead, Ford said it expected to make between $10 billion and $12 billion in adjusted earnings before taxes and interest this year.

Persons: Ford Organizations: Ford Motor

☆ G.M. Profits Hurt by Unsold Electric Vehicles and Strike
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

has also struggled to produce such vehicles in large numbers because of manufacturing problems with a new battery technology the company calls Ultium. has also pared its electric vehicle ambitions. expected to produce 400,000 electric vehicles by the middle of 2024, but consumers have not flocked to battery-powered cars as fast as auto executives expected. sold more than 19,000 electric vehicles, but most were Bolts, which are no longer being produced and used an older battery technology. Only about a third of the electric vehicles that were sold used the newer battery packs produced at a factory in Ohio that G.M.

Persons: Ultium, G.M Organizations: Ford Motor, Chevy, LG Locations: Ohio

☆ U.A.W. Announces Drive to Organize Nonunion Plants
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United Automobile Workers union announced Wednesday that it was undertaking an ambitious drive to organize plants owned by more than a dozen nonunion automakers, including Tesla and several foreign companies — a goal that has long eluded it. The move comes weeks after the U.A.W. In addition to Tesla, the targets of the drive are two other electric vehicle start-ups, Lucid and Rivian, and 10 foreign-owned automakers: Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda and Volvo. If the U.A.W. secures a foothold among those companies, it could signal a big shift in the American auto industry, where nonunion manufacturers have long had a significant cost advantage over the Detroit automakers.

Persons: Tesla Organizations: United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Benz, Subaru, Volkswagen, Mazda, Volvo, Detroit

General Motors is slowing the expansion of its Cruise automated driving division and significantly cutting spending at the unit after suspending operations in response to growing safety concerns about its driverless cars. The company had been planning to roll out a ride service in San Francisco and three other cities and begin testing Cruise vehicles on the streets of several other markets. It now plans to focus on only one city as it works to improve the operation of its fleet of driverless vehicles it has been testing. “We expect the pace of Cruise’s expansion to be more deliberate when operations resume, resulting in substantially lower spending in 2024 than in 2023,” G.M.’s chief executive, Mary T. Barra, said Wednesday at an investor conference. “We must rebuild trust with regulators at the local, state and federal levels, as well as with the first responders and the communities in which Cruise will operate.”Last month, California regulators suspended Cruise’s license to operate in the state after an incident in which a Cruise self-driving vehicle in San Francisco ran over a pedestrian who had been hit by another car and dragged her for 20 feet.

Persons: ”, ’, Mary T, Barra Organizations: Motors, Cruise Locations: San Francisco, California

☆ G.M.’s Contract Deal With U.A.W. Faces Surprisingly Stiff Opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Neal E. Boudette | More About Neal E. Boudette | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A United Automobile Workers union vote on a tentative contract agreement with General Motors that provides record wage increases has run into unexpectedly strong resistance from veteran workers. A majority of workers at several large plants in Michigan, Indiana and Tennessee rejected the contract, though union members at a large sport utility plant in Arlington, Texas, voted in favor of it. G.M., Ford Motor and Stellantis agreed to similar contracts with the union after U.A.W. Workers walked off the job at the first three plants on Sept. 15 and stayed on strike for more than 40 days. The agreement appears to be headed for ratification at Ford and Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram vehicles, by comfortable margins, according to running tallies the U.A.W.

Organizations: United Automobile Workers, General Motors, Ford Motor, Workers, Ford, Chrysler, Jeep Locations: Michigan , Indiana, Tennessee, Arlington , Texas

Mr. Biden made history with his visit when he became the first president to appear on a picket line to support the striking workers. When word came down that the union had struck a deal with the automakers, Mr. Biden stepped away during a state dinner welcoming the Australian prime minister and called the U.A.W. “The union situation is a win for Biden,” said Barry Rabe, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. Mr. Fain has yet to give Mr. Biden the U.A.W.’s endorsement, but he has also outlined ambitious goals that would be much harder to achieve if Mr. Trump returned to the White House. And while Mr. Biden visited picketing workers and voiced support for their strike, Mr. Trump visited a nonunion plant in Michigan and said union members “were being sold down the river by their leadership.”

Persons: Biden, Trump, Shawn Fain, “, ”, Barry Rabe, Fain, ’, Trump’s Organizations: Democratic, Biden, University of Michigan, National Labor Relations Board Locations: autoworkers, Michigan

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