TOP NEWS
* General Motors Co. is close to reaching a tentative agreement that could end the United Auto Workers' ongoing nationwide strike, CNBC reported Sept. 25, citing people familiar with the negotiations. "All unsettled proposals are now at the main table and have been presented to General Motors, and we are awaiting their response," Terry Dittes, vice president and director of UAW General Motors Department, said in a statement.
* German auto giant Continental AG announced a 10-year restructuring program to cut dependence on the equipment business with automakers and expand its software-based portfolio in response "to the emerging crisis in the automotive industry." The restructuring is set to affect up to 20,000 jobs globally and cost Continental about €1.1 billion. The company plans to discontinue the production of hydraulic components for gasoline and diesel engines in Roding and Limbach-Oberfrohna, Germany, and in Pisa, Italy. It expects to close its Newport News, Va., and Henderson, N.C., locations in the U.S., and discontinue truck tire production in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
CARMAKERS
* Volkswagen AG said it will retain CEO Herbert Diess and Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch, despite their indictment by the Brunswick public prosecutor's office over market manipulation charges.
* Ford Motor Co. plans to transfer most of its assets in India to a joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. that could be announced as soon as next week, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Under the reported arrangement, Mahindra will hold a 51% stake in the new entity and Ford will own the remaining shares, along with equal voting rights and board representation.
* Volkswagen is in "final talks" with Turkish officials and could announce a deal to build a €1 billion assembly plant in the country within two weeks, Reuters reported, citing VW board member Andreas Tostmann.
* Bayerische Motoren Werke AG named Ilka Horstmeier and Milan Nedeljkovic to its management board, effective Oct. 1. Nedeljkovic will serve as production head, replacing Oliver Zipse, who was appointed BMW's chairman, while Horstmeier will serve as human resources and labor relations head, replacing Milagros Caiña-Andree, who stepped down for personal reasons.
* Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. said it will cut prices on select models by 5,000 rupees to help boost demand.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
* Chinese electric-car maker BYD Co. Ltd. is considering an IPO for its electronic component unit in China, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the plan. The division makes insulated gate bipolar transistors, which reduce power loss and improves reliability in electric cars, the news wire said.
* Ford Motor selected Austin, Texas, as the third city after Miami-Dade County and Washington, D.C., where it plans to launch autonomous commercial vehicles in 2021.
* Chinese battery-maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. said it will invest up to 10 billion yuan in a local battery production base in Yibin, Sichuan province, Gasgoo reported.
* Hyundai Motor Group, which owns Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp., said it formed a joint venture with Switzerland's H2 Energy to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology and build 1,600 heavy-duty fuel cell trucks by 2025.
* Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. said it successfully concluded an experiment that saw its LEAF electric vehicles power office buildings with the cars contributed to a 14.1 kWh total reduction in energy use from the grid over a 30-minute interval.
* Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd.-owned Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars said it will unveil the XC40 SUV, its first fully electric model, on Oct. 16. The XC40 will also be the first vehicle equipped with Volvo's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, which was co-developed with auto-software maker Veoneer Inc.
AUTONOMOUS AND CONNECTED VEHICLES
* General Motors said it will equip models under its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands with Amazon's voice-controlled digital assistant Alexa starting 2020.
* Volkswagen's Škoda brand unveiled its in-vehicle voice-controlled system digital assistant called Laura.
MOBILITY SERVICES
* Uber Technologies Inc.'s U.K. arm introduced Uber Pro, a tiered loyalty scheme that offers its drivers roadside assistance, maintenance services and free education courses, Reuters reported, citing the ride-hailing app's U.K. and Ireland head, Melinda Roylett.
POLICY, REGULATIONS AND SAFETY
* The Trump administration does not intend to impose tariffs on autos imported from Japan "at this point" as the countries announced a partial trade deal Sept. 25, the Nikkei Asian Review reported, citing Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
* Minnesota and New Mexico said they would side with California and adopt the state's stricter emissions norms instead of the Trump administration's plans to freeze emissions standards amid the White House's efforts to remove California's authority to set its own emissions rules, Reuters reported, citing the states' governors.
* Virginia is planning to use $20 million from Volkswagen's environmental mitigation trust to accelerate the deployment of electric school buses across the state.
* Several state-funded banks in Turkey said they will offer cheaper loans to customers buying domestically produced vehicles, pushing up shares of Ford's and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's local units, Bloomberg News reported. Interest rates for the loans will drop to 5.88% instead of the usual 20.8%, the report said.
* French tiremaker Michelin SCA said it will close its manufacturing plant in Bamberg, Germany, affecting 858 employees. The company said the closure will cost it €167 million and that it will focus on supporting the workers through a support program with internal and external mobility opportunities, retirement assistance and other benefits.
* Japanese auto-parts maker DENSO Corp. said it will invest ¥11 billion through 2025 to expand a local plant in Hokkaido to boost production of semiconductor sensors.
* Rheinmetall Automotive AG said its parts subsidiary Pierburg received over €700 million in orders for its electric vapor pump, or EVAP, which can clean an engine's carbon canister without the need to inject fresh air. Pierburg received orders from "renowned American and Chinese automobile manufacturers" that initially will run until 2026. "Once the corresponding vehicle series have been ramped up, Pierburg will produce up to 3.5 million EVAPs annually worldwide for these orders alone," the company said.
* Automotive electronics company Visteon Corp. said executive vice president and CFO Christian Garcia will step down to pursue another opportunity, effective Oct. 31. Visteon named William Robertson its interim CFO, effective Nov. 1.
* French auto parts-maker Faurecia SE could invest $10.7 million to create an assembly plant in Highland Park, Detroit, creating 500 jobs in the process, the Associated Press reported, citing local officials.
AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL
* Vehicle production in the U.K. grew 3.3% to 92,158 automobiles in August, the first growth in 15 months, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Commercial vehicle production in the U.K. jumped 47.9%year over year to 5,544 vehicles in August.
MOTORCYCLES
* Taiwan-based electric-scooter maker Gogoro Inc. unveiled a new model called VIVA as part of its global expansion plan set to launch in 2020, Electrek reported.
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The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng jumped 0.37% to 26,041.93, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.13% to 22,048.24.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.99% to 7,362.13, and the Euronext 100 climbed 0.70% to 1,089.32.
On the macro front
The GDP report, the international trade in goods report, the jobless claims report, the corporate profits report, the retail inventories report, the wholesale inventories report, the pending home sales index, the EIA natural gas report, the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.
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