Dustin Walsh

Piston Group, owned by former Detroit Pistons forward Vinnie Johnson, sued the Council in May to restore the certification after months of battling.

The lawsuit alleges the council and its president, Michelle Sourie Robinson, were "vindictive, willful, wanton or malicious" in their actions to decertify Piston Group as a minority business enterprise.

The longtime subprime auto lender reached a $27 million settlement with the Massachusetts attorney general tied to alleged deceptive loan practices.

At the center of the dispute is whether former Detroit Pistons star Vinnie Johnson runs the day-to-day operations of his large supplier, which operates four subsidiaries.

The supplier, owned by former NBA star Vinnie Johnson, is appealing the action. The company's major customers utilize its supply contracts as part of their own minority-owned business spending.

Automaker purchasing teams are scrambling after the Texas winter storm that shut refineries and pinched supplies of needed byproducts. "This problem is bigger and closer than the semiconductor issue," one auto executive said.

Magna said the plant will supply EV battery enclosures to the 2022 GMC Hummer EV. The steel, aluminum and composite enclosures are designed to protect batteries from water and other elements.

The supplier said the ongoing microchip shortage could hit global auto production by about 10-15 percent in the first half of 2021 and likely lead to additional plant closures.

The Detroit supplier swung to a $36 million profit during the fourth quarter as it announced it secured the lucrative next generation axle and driveshaft program for Ram’s heavy-duty trucks.

For 2020, BorgWarner's sales were flat at $10.165 billion, compared with $10.168 billion in 2019. The positive impact of adding the Delphi acquisition was offset by the financial and operational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said.

Seiji Maeda, who had led the supplier's motor business unit in Japan, replaced Kenichiro Ito in the role.

The startup, which plans to go public through a reverse merger, said it will build initial battery pack and electric motor prototypes as well as complete preproduction vehicles at the new location.

Gerard Roose, the current vice president of sales, marketing and product development at Inteva, will replace Offenbacher this month at the interiors and closures supplier.

Lear's improvement in sales is hinged on increased market share, considering global production for Lear declined 3 percent during the quarter compared with a year earlier.

The supplier, which recently acquired Delphi Technologies, saw sales growth in its drivetrain business.