Automation

Automakers push to reopen plants with testing and lots of masks

The industry is converging on a consensus that temperature screening, health questionnaires, assembly lines redesigned to keep workers apart, and masks and gloves can enable factories to operate safely.Read More

Honda restarts in Wuhan with temperature checks, masks

Output at Honda's joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group, idled in late January when authorities ordered a lockdown to snuff out the coronavirus, has returned to pre-virus production levels, but with new safety protocols for some 12,000 workers.Read More

GM to supply 30,000 ventilators as part of $490M government contract

GM plans to deliver 6,132 ventilators by June 1. The automaker is producing the ventilators at its 2.6 million-square-foot plant in Kokomo, Ind.Read More

Distributed energy could cut risk

Going all electric with local and microsources of power is the way of the future.Read More

Business grinds to a halt for Paragon in hard-hit NYC

Revenue at Brian Benstock's two stores in New York City nearly evaporated in the second half of March.Read More

Nissan, Honda, BMW take rare step of unpaid furloughs

The non-Detroit 3 automakers have for decades avoided sending workers home with no pay. The COVID-19 pandemic is a different matter.Read More

Mexico asks U.S., Canada to grant automakers transition for USMCA rules

Mexico's automotive lobby AMIA, insisting automakers and parts suppliers can't adapt supply chains to meet rules of origin requirements under the USMCA by July 1, urged authorities to postpone until January 2021 the start of sectoral rules in the trade pact.Read More

Jeep enters uncharted territory

Social media is being used to encourage drivers to do the opposite of its usual call to hit the road -- and stay put.Read More

Industry leaders talk virus, future in online Automotive News series

Automotive News will offer live, weekly video interviews with industry leaders and experts in an eight-part online series called "Congress Conversations" beginning April 16.Read More

Unwavering faith through two viral fights

For Horne Auto Fixed Ops Director Bob Cawley, who battled Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2018, getting through the coronavirus pandemic is about faith in God.Read More

For F&I managers, crisis offers opportunity

Those who weathered the recession of 2008 should remember that crises are a time to review and improve business practices.Read More

Fuel cells could play bigger role for BMW

BMW's i Hydrogen Next has a hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system that could become another pillar of the automaker's drivetrain portfolio.Read More

Mexico auto lobby: 90 days not enough to meet USMCA content rules

AMIA, insisting automakers and parts suppliers can't adapt supply chains to meet rules of origin requirements under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement by July 1, urged authorities to postpone until January 2021 the start of sectoral rules in the trade pact.Read More

Light-vehicle output to decline 12% in 2020, IHS Markit estimates

Car and light-truck production will drop 12 percent this year to around 21.6 million vehicles and will rebound by 7.5 percent next year, the market research company predicted Monday.Read More

Tesla working on new ventilator design using Model 3 screen

It's unclear when the prototype would be ready or if the design would meet rigorous medical quality standards.Read More

Wuhan emerges from lockdown in survival mode

When the mass quarantine of one of China's major cities and key auto manufacturing hubs lifts this week, logistics, transport and supply chain management will remain challenges. And the city, with aspirations to become even more integrated in global supply chains, is unlikely to see a resumption in foreign direct investment for some time.Read More

No good reason not to report monthly

The auto industry should bring back monthly reports, writes an Automotive News reader in a letter to the editor.Read More

Once Cobo Hall, then TCF Center, soon field hospital

Organizers have canceled this year's show, scheduled for June, because the federal government is turning the city's main convention hall into a field hospital.Read More

?Not a profit, that's for sure' at South Florida dealership

For Gus Machado Ford in Hialeah, Fla., being able to stay open for both vehicle sales and service through a turbulent March wasn't enough to escape the blow to business.Read More

Congress should consider payroll subsidies

The $2 trillion dollar federal aid package will provide short-term relief, but payroll subsidies would provide more long-term support for the American work force.Read More