Donald Trump's trade war will only produce losers, warns auto industry

Carmakers and U. S. auto dealers are using a similar refrain to push back against U. S. President Donald Trump’s talk of a trade war: Everyone will suffer if the rhetoric keeps ratcheting up.
“Only losers” will emerge from the U. S. and European Union battling one another with tariffs, said Bernhard Mattes, the president of German auto-industry lobby VDA, which represents carmakers including Volkswagen AG and BMW AG.

Volvo Cars’s chief executive officer and a group representing American auto dealers echoed the sentiment almost verbatim in the wake of a tit-for-tat between Trump and the European Commission’s Jean-Claude Juncker. The comments suggest the auto industry could form a unified front after the president tweeted he could slap levies on BMWs, Audis and other cars shipped from Europe if the U. S.’s planned tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are met with retaliation.

Ford to cut costs by $14 bn; invest in trucks, electric cars

Ford Motor plans to slash $14 billion in costs over the next five years, Chief Executive Officer Jim Hackett told investors on Tuesday, adding that the number 2 US automaker would shift capital investment away from sedans and internal combustion engines to develop more trucks and electric and hybrid cars.

Most of those savings will not show up on Ford's bottom line until 2019 and 2020, Hackett and other Ford executives said, reflecting the industry's long product engineering lead times.

Ford will be open to more partnerships to spread the costs and risks of simultaneously developing new technology and services while churning out profit from selling trucks and sport utility vehicles in North America, Hackett said during a nearly two-hour presentation. He cited a partnership with ride services company Lyft to deploy future Ford self-driving cars, an alliance with Indian automaker Mahindra and a potential alliance with Chinese electric vehicle maker Zotye.
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Ford recals 1,17,000 vehicles as defective seats, belts pose safety threat

Ford Motor Co. Is recalling nearly 1,17,000 vehicles because the bolts in the seat, seat belt or seat belt buckle may fracture.

The recall involves the 2014 F-Series pickup, 2014 E- Series van, 2014-2015 Ford Escape and the 2015 Lincoln MKC SUV. Most of the affected vehicles are in the US, but there are 20,681 in Canada and 1,510 in Mexico.

Ford says if the bolt fractures, the seat or the seat belt's performance could be compromised in a sudden stop or crash.

The company says it's not aware of any accidents or injuries related to the defect.

Customers will be notified and dealers will replace the affected bolts for free.

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Ford profit beats estimates; maintains 2017 profit outlook

Ford Motor Co reported a lower quarterly net profit on Thursday but beat analyst expectations amid higher commodity, engineering and recall costs, and a drop in vehicle sales

Ford shares were down slightly at $11.54 in early trade.

The No. 2 US automaker, which reiterated its pretax profit forecast for 2017, warned investors in late March that higher costs and lower sales volumes would hurt quarterly earnings.

Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told reporters at the company's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, that additional costs made this the "toughest quarter" for 2017.

Shanks said Ford's results for the rest of the year would be "about flat to a little bit better" compared with 2016.

The company's results come at a time of uncertainty for the U.S. auto industry following disappointing sales in March.

While sales of new vehicles have risen since the end of the Great Recession and hit 17.55 million units in 2016, analysts expect a slight sales decline in 2017. Ford said Thursday it expects industrywide sales to decrease a little this year and in 2018.

Ratings agencies have warned of worsening credit and there are concerns millions of nearly new leased vehicles due to flood the market over the next couple of years will depress used-car values and hurt US automakers' sales.
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