CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT

Aptiv has brought on Sophia Velastegui as its new chief product officer. Velastegui is a former Microsoft exec, and the move comes on the heels of Aptiv's Wind River acquisition.

CLOSING

Denso is closing its small motor plant in Greenville, North Carolina. The closure will affect 475 employees.

EARNING DIP

In December, car sales in Europe slid for the sixth straight month, dropping by 22%.

INDUSTRY DIRECTIONS

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that all current autonomous vehicles on the road do not meet safety criteria for its new ratings program. IIHS will issue its first ratings later this year.

LABOR DISPUTE

Workers at GM's Silao, Mexico plant will vote for a new trade union on Feb. 1-2. They voted to scrap their previous labor contract last year.

Tesla's new Berlin factory will elect a new works council at the end of February. There are concerns that the council's membership will be management-heavy with an early election. German law requires employees to work at a company for at least six months to participate in a council.

LITIGATION

OSHA has fined Ohio's Sanoh America for ignoring COVID-19 guidelines that lead to at least one worker's death.

Canada's Ministry of Transport is investigating the heating systems of Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y following consumer complaints about poor performance in cold weather.

Germany's Federal Cartel office conducted searches at LEONI AG's office. Investigations are ongoing over pricing coordination within certain cable manufacturers.

MERGERS, VENTURES, ACQUISITIONS

Renault and Geely have formed a JV to build vehicles using Geely's technology at Renault's Busan facility in South Korea.

Hyundai is partnering with quantum computing company IoNQ to study lithium compounds and advance the development of EV battery technology.

CCL Industries has acquired automotive interior system manufacturer McGavigan Holdings. McGavigan has production facilities in the UK and China.

OPENING

BASF will build a new hexamethylene diamine (HMD) plant in Chalampé, France. The auto industry uses HMD in polyamide plastics and coating.

PRODUCTION DECREASE

AutoForecast Solutions estimates that chip shortages will result in a global cut of 832k vehicles in 2022.

Toyota has lowered its planned February output by 150k vehicles due to the semiconductor shortage. The automaker still plans to build 800k cars in January.

RECALLS

Ford recalled 200k Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles from 2014-15 due to a fault that could cause brake lights to stay on when the driver isn't breaking.

REGULATION

Canada and Mexico's dispute over conflicting interpretations of USMCA vehicle content rules is causing uncertainty. CARS' director of research, Bernard Swiecki, told automotive news, "The longer that this goes without a consensus, the risk is that companies essentially decide it's safer not to try to comply."

SHUTDOWN

Toyota has paused some production at a plant in Japan after 14 workers tested positive for Coronavirus. The stoppage, which will end next week, will cut vehicle output by around 1.5k vehicles.

SUPPLY CHAIN

After halting production at Toyota and VW plants in Beijing last week, China's "zero tolerance" approach to Covid could lead to more plant shutdowns.