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Ford to resume F-150 production; Daimler settles €3.2B German truck-toll case

TOP NEWS

* Ford Motor Co. said it will restart production of its F-150 pickup at its Dearborn, Mich., plant May 18, followed by the Kansas City plant May 21. F-Series Super Duty truck production will also resume at Ford's Kentucky plant May 21. The automaker had suspended production of the F-Series trucks due to the scarcity of critical parts following an explosion and fire at a supplier's facility May 2. Ford said it is shipping the parts daily on a Boeing 747 jet from Nottingham, England, until production in the local supplier returns to normal, The Detroit Free Press reported.

* Daimler AG and Deutsche Telekom AG, which own 45% each in a road toll system Toll Collect for heavy trucks in Germany, reached a €3.2 billion settlement with the country's government in a 14-year-old legal dispute. Germany had initiated the case over a delay in setting up the toll system. Including past payments to the government, both companies agreed to pay €500 million as a one-time final payment for concluding the matter.

CARMAKERS

* Volkswagen AG's namesake brand will not take part in the 2018 Paris motor show, Reuters reported, citing a spokesman for the company's French operations. However, the German automaker's luxury unit Audi, sports car unit Porsche, Czech carmaker Skoda and Spanish unit Seat will participate in the event, the VW spokesman told the news agency. VW reportedly could host "various communications activities" in Paris instead and did not rule out a comeback for the next edition in 2020.

* Chinese real estate conglomerate Shenzhen BAONENG Investment Group Ltd aims to take a majority stake in Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. for 25 billion Chinese yuan to 27 billion Chinese yuan as early as June, Gasgoo reported. The deal talks reportedly began in 2017, and Baoneng seeks to buy out the entire company in future.

* Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. expect to sell over 1 million vehicles in Europe in 2018, helped by new SUV launches, Yonhap News Agency reported. The two South Korean automakers, whose total sales rose 7.1% year over year to 364,945 units in Europe from January to April, reportedly will launch the Niro electric car, the Kona electric subcompact SUV and an upgraded Soul electric boxcar in the continent later in 2018.

ELECTRIC AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

* Mobileye NV secured a contract with an unnamed European automaker to fit 8 million cars with its autonomous driving technologies, Reuters reported, citing an official of Israel-based Mobileye. The autonomous driving company owned by Intel Corp. is scheduled to begin supply in 2021. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

* Tesla Inc. signed a binding agreement with Australian miner Kidman Resources Ltd. for the supply of lithium, a key ingredient in electric batteries, produced by the latter's joint venture Western Australia Lithium for an initial three-year period. Commissioning is targeted in 2021, with a nameplate capacity of about 44,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide, or 37,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

* Tesla released the driving logs from the Model S car involved in the crash in South Jordan, Utah, and wrote that "contrary to the proper use of Autopilot, the driver did not pay attention to the road at all times," Electrek reported. The driver has received a traffic citation from the police for "failure to keep proper lookout," while the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it will be investigating the accident as a "special crash" only for data gathering, according to the report.

* Britain will introduce a new law to enable motorists to remotely park their cars, beginning in June, using an app on their phones or a key fob, Reuters reported. Lawmakers have set a target of 2021 to roll out fully self-driving cars on Britain's roads, according to the report.

REGULATIONS AND SAFETY

* Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said it is impossible to finalize a pact on a reworked North American Free Trade Agreement before the May 17 deadline, Reuters reported, citing his comments to a Mexican radio station. The deadline was set by the U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., for the revamped NAFTA to be voted on by the current Republican-controlled U.S. Congress. Guajardo reportedly added that a settlement is possible "at any moment from the close of May onwards, or in June" if the participants "show the willingness."

* The U.S. Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation held a hearing for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's chief-to-be Heidi King on a range of issues from the Takata Corp. airbag recalls to self-driving cars, The Detroit News reported. The committee is set to vote on her appointment May 22, which if passed will be followed by a full Senate voting.

* Honda Motor Co. Ltd. will resume selling its CR-V SUVs in China as a quality-control watchdog in the country approved the Japanese automaker's second proposal for a recall, the Nikkei Asian Review reported. The recall of some 130,000 units, produced in collaboration with its China joint venture partner Dongfeng Motor Group Company Ltd between February 2017 and February 2018, reportedly is scheduled to start May 22 and could also include other models fitted with the same CR-V engine that allegedly leaked gasoline odor inside the car while driving at sub-zero temperatures.

AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL

* New passenger car registrations in Europe grew 9.6% year over year in April to 1,306,273 vehicles, according to a report by the auto industry body ACEA. Sales rose in all the five primary EU markets in the month, with Spain leading at a 12.3% year-over-year growth, followed by the U.K. at up 10.4%, France at up 9%, Germany at up 8% and Italy sales increased by 6.5% year over year. Toyota and Hyundai posted sales increases of 20.3% and 15.3% respectively, while Ford's registrations were up 14% and market leader Volkswagen AG grew 13.8%.

* AutoZone Inc. said it appointed Gale King and Jill Soltau to its board, raising the U.S. auto parts retailer's board membership to 12. King is executive vice president and chief administrative officer at financial services company Nationwide, and Soltau is the president and CEO of craft and fabric specialty retailer Jo-Ann Stores LLC, AutoZone said.

TRUCKS AND MOTORCYCLES

* Dutch truck maker DAF Trucks N.V., a unit of PACCAR Inc, said it partnered with peer VDL Groep bv to launch the first edition of CF Electric trucks that will be put into service in the course of 2018. The 4x2 CF Electric features a 210 kW electric motor that can cover 100 kilometers at one full charge. DAF will manufacture the trucks and VDL will install the electric components on to the CF Electric.

* The European Commission, in its first-ever CO2 emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles in the region, proposed average CO2 emissions from new lorries in 2025 and 2030 should be 15% and 30%, respectively, lower than in 2019. The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association welcomed the commission's two-step approach to CO2 emission target for buses, trucks and lorries, but called the proposed levels "far too aggressive."

The day ahead

Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.

In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.54% to 30,942.15, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.53% to 22,838.37.

In Europe, as of midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.17% to 7,747.06, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.36% to 1,077.41.

On the macro front

The jobless claims report, the Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey, the E-Commerce retail sales report, the leading indicators report, the EIA natural gas report, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.

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