Volkswagen of America head Scott Keogh is betting that the battery-powered crossover key to the brand's EV aspirations will replicate the pricing and novelty success that the Beetle had when it hit the U.S.

The new model will go on sale next year and slot below the Tiguan in both size and price.

Silvercar — the wholly owned Audi subsidiary that has been the German premium brand's platform to experiment with mobility solutions — is expanding a partnership with Audi dealerships in several U.S. metros that will make on-site Audi rentals available.

After five long years, the scars of the largest, most expensive scandal in automotive history are finally starting to fade.

The brand's future product plans call for a further thinning of its sedan lineup, while expanding new battery-electric offerings, beginning this year with the ID4 subcompact crossover.

The newest crossover, to be assembled in Mexico, will slot both in price and size below the popular Tiguan.

The Los Angeles auto show postponed its 2020 show by six months because of COVID-19, wedging it in between auto shows in New York and Detroit next spring, and potentially forcing automakers to chose from among the three.

Longtime executive Bill Fay, who is retiring after 38 years, says strong dealer relations have allowed Toyota and Lexus to recover from disasters more quickly.

The Volkswagen ID4 compact crossover goes on sale late this year in the U.S., though initial supplies may be constrained from the single German factory supplying Europe and North America.

Volkswagen has built a central reservation system to allow consumers to place initial deposits on the ID4, a battery-electric Tiguan-sized crossover that will show up in U.S. showrooms late this year. The refundable deposits will be augmented by $400 refundable deposits later to confirm the vehicle order.

Longtime Toyota Motor North America executive Bill Fay will retire Sept. 1 after 38 years. He will be succeeded by Jack Hollis as senior vice president of automotive operations, with current Lexus head David Christ taking over Toyota Division and Andrew Gilleland taking over Lexus.

U.S. light-vehicle inventories fell again in July to 2.3 million as automakers struggled to keep factories running fast enough to keep up with consumer demand.

The two Japanese automakers announced the joint project, to produce a pair of coming subcompact crossovers, in 2018. Production is due to begin next year. They did not fully explain the added investment, other than to say it was to incorporate more "cutting-edge manufacturing technologies" into its assembly line and improve worker training.