Automobile Manufacturing

Your eyes aren't fooling you — your car repair bill really is getting more expensive.Several factors are pushing costs up: heavier, more complex vehicles, new materials and manufacturing methods, a worsening dearth of talented technicians and pandemic-induced supply shortages."Customers definitely are getting sticker shock," said David Goldsmith, who owns Urban Classics, a repair shop in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.Repair costs are rising relative to the overall rate of inflation. Motor vehicle maintenance and…

Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno speaks at a news conference in Tokyo, on Oct. 13, 2022. Sony and Honda's joint mobility venture unveiled a new EV prototype in January.Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesJapan is gearing up to be a larger player in the EV space by signing a critical minerals trade deal with the U.S., but it has a lot of catching up to do and resource restraints could slow its progress.Tokyo in March signed the U.S.-Japan Critical Minerals Agreement, securing both countries' commitment to…

A 2019 pre-owned Nissan Leaf SV on the lot in 2022 during the chip shortage that depleted stock of new auto inventory.Boston Globe | Boston Globe | Getty ImagesAffordable EVs have been on sale in the U.S. well over a decade and the data analytics company Experian says about 2.2 million were on the road at the end of last year. Electric vehicle sales keep growing, too. As recently as 2021, total battery-powered electric vehicle sales in the U.S. were under 450,000, but Kelley Blue Book says sales surpassed 800,000 in 2022…

The Rivian name is shown on one of their new electric SUV vehicles in San Diego, U.S., December 16, 2022.Mike Blake | ReutersElectric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive said Monday that its first-quarter deliveries were in line with expectations and that it remains on track to produce 50,000 EVs in 2023.Rivian said in a statement that it produced 9,395 EVs in the first quarter and delivered 7,946 vehicles to customers by quarter-end. Both numbers were down from fourth-quarter results, but that wasn't a surprise: Wall Street…

Ford F-150 Lightning trucks manufactured at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn Michigan.Courtesy: Ford Motor Co.Ford Motor said that it has resumed full production of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup following a February battery fire — and that it's once again raising prices on the popular truck.Ford said the standard-range Lightning Pro, a lower-cost version of the truck optimized for fleet use, will now start at just under $60,000, not including shipping. That's roughly 50% higher than the Lightning Pro's…

John Lawler, Chief Financial Officer of Ford, rings the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), March 23, 2023.Brendan McDermid | ReutersFord Motor disclosed Thursday that its electric vehicle unit, called Ford Model e, lost $2.1 billion in 2022 — and could lose as much as $3 billion in 2023.But the company also forecast a drastic turnaround, reiterating that it expects its EV business to be solidly profitable by the end of 2026. So how will it pull that off?The automaker's answer started with a single slide…

The badge of a Ford Motor Co. E-Transit electric vehicle during a presentation in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, July 28, 2021.Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFord Motor said Thursday its electric vehicle business lost $2.1 billion last year on an operating basis, a loss that was more than offset by $10 billion in operating profit between its internal combustion and fleet businesses.The Detroit automaker expects 2023 to unfold along similar lines, forecasting an adjusted loss of $3 billion for its EV unit,…

If you're in the market for a new car, be prepared for the possibility of paying more than sticker price.The average new-car price in February was $45,296, compared with an MSRP of $41,637, according to the iSeeCars report. An estimated 31% of new vehicles were sold above MSRP last month, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. That's down from a high of 48% last July.On average, new autos are priced 8.8% above the manufacturer's suggested retail price, or MSRP, according to new research from…

Fotostorm | E+ | Getty ImagesFor a rising share of car owners, monthly auto loan payments appear to be evolving into a problem.While borrowers who are behind on their payments by more than 60 days represent a tiny portion of all outstanding auto loans — 1.84% — their ranks are growing, according to a recent report from Cox Automotive. The share was 26.7% higher in December than the year-earlier month and is largely concentrated among borrowers with low credit scores."The danger of struggling to pay an auto loan is not…

Semitruck makers have seen record demand for trucks in recent months and have pivoted from managing extremely tight supply constraints to filling orders now that parts are starting to flow more freely."Demand for trucks is, I would say, unprecedented," said David Carson, SVP of sales and marketing for Daimler Trucks North America. "We've seen an incredible demand going through Covid and continuing well into next year. That demand actually exceeds our capacity and it exceeds the capacity of the entire industry." Somewhere…