Automobile Industry

Industry Roundup

Electric & Hybrid Vehicles

GM, LG JV Ultium Cells LLC may qualify for US$2.5B Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan from US government; loan would help build three new lithium-ion battery cell plants in Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio
Green Car Reports (08/01)

Stellantis reports record first half 2022 results with net profit up 34% from a year ago to €8.0B, net revenue up 17% year-over-year to €88.0B; North American market share up from a year ago to 11.3%, as Jeep Wrangler remains best-selling PHEV is US
Stellantis NV (08/01)

Light Vehicles

July new vehicle sales expected to drop 10% from a year ago to 1,119,712 units as inventories near historically low levels; fleet sales projected to grow 30% from a year ago: TrueCar
PR Newswire (08/01)

Alfa Romeo to launch new large vehicle in US in 2027; company deciding if new model will be crossover, sedan, SUV, with manufacturing site decision coming later
National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) (08/01)

Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)

NHTSA investigating 1.3 million 2014-2020 Jeep Cherokees because electronic parking brake my activate while vehicle is moving; NHTSA looking into whether leaking water may damage electronic parking brake module
Car and Driver (07/28)

Heavy Trucks/Commercial Vehicles

Sierra Club and Elders Climate Action sue USPS for its alleged failure to meet request for records related to Oshkosh contract for production of up to 165,000 mail delivery vehicles; the groups filed a Freedom of Information Act request over a year ago
Al Bawaba Business (08/01)

Royal Mail hits milestone of 3,000 electric vehicles across its delivery and collection fleet, signs deal for 2,000 more Peugeot EVs as part of plan to have 5,500 EVs by spring 2023; vans have up to 38% larger load space to help address growing volumes
International Distributions Services PLC (Royal Mail) (07/29)

All-Terrain/Off-Highway Vehicles (ATVs/OHVs)

Textron recalls 1,750 2022 model-year Arctic Cat Alterra 600, Tracker 600 ATVs due to possible failure of 20 Amp fuse that can result in sudden loss of engine power, headlights; dealers to make repairs free of charge
Targeted News Service (08/01)

Pickup Trucks

Toyota recalls 75,000 Tundra pickup trucks from model year 2022-2023 due to possible car seat anchor issue; upper car seat anchors may not meet minimum strength to keep seat from moving in event of a sudden stop
Cars.com LLC (07/26)

Vans

Mercedes-Benz reports Q2 group revenue up 7% from a year ago to €36.4B due to demand for luxury vehicles, good model mix, enhanced pricing power, cost discipline; Q2 car sales hit 487,100 vehicles, van sales hit 100,100 units
Mercedes-Benz AG (07/29)

Auto Interior

Software company Incari updates Incari Studio application development platform to import state-of-the-art 3D models, place and animate models in design scene; software makes it easier to design complex vehicle interior applications
Automotive Interiors World (07/29)

GM starts retrofit of ventilated seats in select vehicle models first week of August, with other retrofits occurring in coming months; GM built, sold vehicles without chip-dependent features due to microchip shortage, including ventilated and heated seats
Cars.com LLC (07/28)

Automotive Care

Winnebago launches free customizable mobile app with searchable owner’s manuals, how-to videos, dealer service locator, maintenance checklists; company research finds desire among owners to simplify many facets of ownership
Winnebago Industries Inc. (07/28)

Automotive Use

Indorama Ventures enters agreement with Capchem Technology to evaluate opportunity to build, operate a carbonate solvents plant in the US Gulf Coast; plant would supply lithium-ion batteries industry in North America amid growth in electric vehicle market
Indorama Ventures Public Co. Ltd. (08/01)

Wacker to debut novel ELASTOSIL LR 3078 product series at K 2022 International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber, Oct. 19-26; company's self-adhesive liquid silicone rubber grades support applications such as medical technology, automotive industry
Wacker Chemie AG (07/29)

Auto Parts & Accessories

Taiwan Textile Research Institute develops treated leather to regulate material's temperature from 27°C-31°C in sunlight; leather is free of hazardous chemicals, contains solvent-free PU microcapsules, for use in automobile interiors, home furnishings
Industry Intelligence Inc. (08/01)

Turkey's Gazi University scientists make electrospun nanofibers from vehicle windshield waste; fibers of chemically recycled polyvinyl butyral can be used in various applications, such as producing new textiles, coatings, filtration, adsorption materials
Transportation Daily News (08/01)

Tires

Stellantis recalls 53,340 Chrysler 300s, Dodge Challengers and Chargers in US due to issue with tire pressure monitoring system sensor that may indicate low-pressure; recall involves vehicles made between Sept. 7, 2021 and June 9, 2022
Auto Business News (07/27)

Bridgestone invests in autonomous driving software developer Tier IV for undisclosed amount in effort to accelerate development of advanced tire technologies; Tier IV developing Autoware, world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving
Bridgestone Corp. (07/26)

Batteries

Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics Network expands footprint with four charter flights/week to Huntsville, Alabama, supported by B2B, B2C services to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami; service transports batteries, pharmaceuticals and perishable goods
Macau Business (08/01)

University of Manchester scientists create novel 'nano-petri dish' enabling image capture of single atoms 'swimming' in liquid for first time; method can aid understanding biological processes, improving batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, water treatment
University of Manchester (07/29)

Autonomous Transportation Technology

Aurora and Schneider to pilot weekly autonomous trucking lane between Houston and Dallas, with load frequency expected to increase as relationship expands; pilot to help prepare and scale for commercial launch of subscription-based product Aurora Horizon
Business Wire (08/01)

Autonomous aviation company Xwing expands its air cargo operations to over 400 weekly flights across 14 states, including North Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Oregon and Washington; company has completed close to 10,000 flights within UPS' regional network
Robotics and Automation News (07/29)

Driverless Vehicles

Pony.ai forms JV with Chinese heavy truck manufacturer SANY Heavy Truck to create an autonomous truck brand, using its virtual driver; JV plans to start mass production in 2024, with annual production reaching around 10,000 trucks within a few years
Robotics and Automation News (07/28)

Electric Vehicle Charging

Fleet electrification firm ZEVX names Blink Charging as preferred charger provider; ZEVX’s Athena vehicle electrification group to refer clients to Blink for EV charging equipment, services
GlobeNewswire (08/01)

ConnectDER supplying Siemens with proprietary plug-in adapter that allows EV charging directly from home meter socket, saving 60% to 80% in charger installation costs; nearly half of US homes need upgrades to install typical Level 2 chargers
PR Newswire (07/28)

Automotive & Driving

Engineered products firm Barnes Group closing manufacturing plant in Bristol, Connecticut, by mid-2023 due to decline in production of gasoline-powered vehicles, supply chain issues, inflation; plant makes legacy transmission springs, washers
Hartford Courant (08/01)

Magna swings to Q2 net loss of US$156.0M from net income of US$424.0 a year ago, with sales growing 4% year-over-year to US$9.4B; sales growth driven by 14% increase in North American light vehicle production, 2% growth in global production
Magna International Inc. (08/01)

Higher gasoline prices leading to noticeably lower fuel economy/range satisfaction ratings among gasoline-powered vehicle owners; gas-powered vehicles still rank higher in satisfaction survey than battery-electric vehicles: J.D. Power
Aftermarket News (08/01)

Auto Parts & Accessories

SMP releases 832 new part numbers during first half of year for Standard, Standard Import brands, including 286 aftermarket exclusives; to date SMP has released parts that cover 180 different categories, over 200 part numbers for 2021, 2022 vehicles
Standard Motor Products Inc. (07/29)

O’Reilly Automotive reports Q2 net income down 1% from a year ago to US$577.0M, with sales up 6% year-over-year to US$3.7B; comparable store sales up 4.3% in Q2 as DIY business faces pressure from high fuel prices, broad-based inflation
GlobeNewswire (07/29)

Monroe shocks and struts introduces new part numbers that expand product coverage by over 6.5 million passenger vehicles, light trucks; expanded product lines include Quick-Strut assemblies, OESpectrum shocks and struts, Magnum strut assemblies
Tenneco Inc. (07/28)

Batteries

Ford to use lithium iron phosphate batteries in select vehicles starting in 2023 to meet EV demand; some versions of Mustang Mach-E EV to offer LFP batteries starting in 2023, with versions of F-150 Lightning EV pickup offering LFPs in 2024
Green Car Reports (07/28)

Redwood Materials investing US$3.5B through end of decade to build manufacturing plant near Reno, Nevada, to make cathodes, components for EV batteries; plant to have capacity to make components for 1 million EV batteries annually
Forbes (07/27)

Optibike introduces R22 Everest Edition 3 e-bike with battery featuring 3,260 watt hours of energy; bike can climb up to 24,000 feet on single battery charge, with company claiming it is first e-bike capable of climbing Mt. Everest on a single charge
EIN Presswire (07/27)

Electric & Hybrid Vehicles

VW reports sales revenue for first half of 2022 down 7.3% from a year ago to €33.2B, with global vehicle deliveries dropping 23.2% year-over-year to 2.1 million units; all-electric vehicle deliveries up 25% from a year ago to 116,000 units
Volkswagen AG (07/29)

Stellantis to lay off workers at Canadian assembly plants in Windsor and Brampton, Ontario, as company seeks operational efficiencies in transition to EVs; company did not release total number of employees to be let go
Baystreet US News Alerts (07/28)

GM working on purpose-built police pursuit vehicle based on Chevrolet Blazer SS EV SUV with up to 320-mile range, rear-wheel or all-wheel drive; Ford considering developing police vehicle based on Mustang Mach-E EV SUV
Green Car Reports (07/27)

Electric Vehicle Charging

California has most home EV charger installations in nation, with 20% of households in Riverside, California, having EV chargers followed by San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles; in New York City, 0.5% of homes have EV chargers: study
Green Car Reports (07/26)

Shyft Group introduces Blue Arc Power Cube portable, remote-controlled commercial-grade charging station with 3MW of onboard power; Power Cube offers Level 2 and fast-DC charging capabilities with one-to-two hour charge times
ENP Newswire (07/26)

Light Vehicles

Ford reports Q2 net income up at US$667.0M from US$561.0M a year ago, with revenue up at US$40.2B from US$26.8B a year ago; growth driven by 35% increase in wholesale shipments, favorable pricing, vehicle mix
Ford Motor Co. (08/01)

Hertz swings to Q2 GAAP net income US$940.0M from US$169.0M loss a year ago, with total revenue up 25% year-over year at US$2.3B; results driven by high demand for services, strength of underlying business, positive market forces, dedication to customers
Hertz Corp. (07/29)

Hyundai promotes Randy Parker to CEO of Hyundai North America, Edgar Carranza named CEO of Hyundai Motor Mexico; Tedros Mengiste named VP of Genesis Motor America sales operations, Bob Kim named VP of national sales, Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor Co. (07/29)

 Logistics

 Stock