by Michael Strong | Mar 17, 2020
Automakers around the world are rapidly increasing the number of electric vehicles they plan to bring to market, and perhaps none more aggressively than Volkswagen. However, this shift comes with a complication: battery supplies Most automakers use batteries with...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 17, 2020
You might get a sense of déjà vu in the coming weeks as you watch automakers struggle to kickstart fast-falling sales while also taking steps to prevent a wave of repossessions as job losses mount and owners struggle to pay their car loans and leases. If anything,...
by Joseph Szczesny | Mar 17, 2020
ALG, a subsidiary of TrueCar, updated its 2020 new vehicle sales forecast, calling for a major downshift in car sales in what it described as the longer-term economic slowdown as the economic wreckage from the COVID-19 hits home. The forecast calls for a 14.2% decline...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 17, 2020
(This story has been updated to reflect the announcement that Daimler also will close its European plants.) Daimler AG on Tuesday evening in Europe announced it will temporarily close most of its European plants to address both the coronavirus pandemic and the...
by Michael Strong | Mar 16, 2020
The wheels of justice turn slowly until you add in the coronavirus epidemic, then they grind to a halt as they did when the $2.2 billion court case involving Tesla CEO Elon Musk was put on hold due to the outbreak. A new trial date has not be set. Shareholder groups...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 16, 2020
While the very name, Volkswagen, may bring to mind images of the Beetle, the Golf and the GTI, what’s drying buyers to VW showrooms these days is a very different sort of product. Sport-utes like the Tiguan and newer Atlas model dominate demand. It should be no...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 16, 2020
Toyota’s big plant in Guangzhou reopened today, a significant development in China’s battle to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. By the end of January, as it became clear an epidemic was underway in the province of Hubei, automotive assembly and parts plants quickly...
by Joseph Szczesny | Mar 16, 2020
As auto plants in China closed by COVID-19 struggle to re-open, car plants in the U.S. and Western Europe are beginning to shut in face of the spreading virus, which in less than three months claimed thousands of victims around the world. Volkswagen of America said...
by Joseph Szczesny | Mar 16, 2020
Facing increasing volume of complaints from workers ordered to stay on their jobs in manufacturing plants, the United Auto Workers, General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced they are forming a COVID-19/Coronavirus Task Force to study...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Mar 13, 2020
With the coronavirus outbreak now declared pandemic, the impact on daily life is expected to become increasingly significant — and the auto industry is already feeling the brunt of the outbreak as plants close, workers get quarantined, sales tumble, events are...
by Joseph Szczesny | Mar 13, 2020
General Motors cleared the way for all of its salaried and contract employees to work from home starting March 16, in a bid to shut down the spread of COVID -19, which has disrupted life across the United States. However, the company plans to keep operating the...
by Joseph Szczesny | Mar 13, 2020
For most people I suspect electric vehicles remain something of a mystery for the simple reason they have never had a chance to drive one in everyday life. However, my recent test of the 2019 Kia Niro EV reinforced the basic fact that electric vehicles are practical...
