About Automotive News

Automotive News

Overview

Automotive News is a weekly trade newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan, covering the global automotive industry. Established in 1925, it is one of the oldest and most influential business-to-business publications in the world, written primarily for individuals corresponding with automobile manufacturers, automotive suppliers and dealers. It is owned by Crain Communications Inc., the Detroit-based business media company, and is part of the Automotive News Group within Crain. The company's headquarters is located at 1155 Gratiot Avenue in downtown Detroit. Globally, more than 55 editors and reporters — the company says more than 65 in its press materials — cover the industry across print, digital, video and event platforms. The publication's products include the weekly print newspaper, the autonews.com website with breaking news and daily newscasts, email newsletters, webinars, conferences and events, and data products. Its sister titles include Automotive News Europe, the German-language Automobilwoche, Automotive News China and Automotive News Canada.

Founding: Automotive Daily News in New York, 1925

Automotive News began life as Automotive Daily News. The first issue appeared on August 27, 1925, published in New York by Slocum Publishing, with George Slocum as Detroit advertising manager. Slocum had long felt that the fast-growing American auto industry needed its own trade newspaper, and in 1925 he secured the financial backing to start one. The chief financial angel of the venture was Bernarr Macfadden, the publishing magnate best known for his physical-culture and true-detective magazines. Starting a trade newspaper in New York — far from the industry's Detroit centre of gravity — was an ambitious choice, but the financial backing and the advertising market of New York made the launch possible. The paper was published five times a week, positioning itself as the daily chronicle of an industry that was then producing the Model T in volumes that were reshaping American life.

The Move to Detroit and the Name Change

In 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, Slocum bought out the other investors and moved the paper to Detroit, placing it at the centre of the industry it covered. With the move came a change in rhythm: publication was reduced from five times a week to twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The midweek edition was dropped in June 1938, and with the June 4 issue the paper's name was changed from Automotive Daily News to Automotive News — the name it carries today. The subscription price was reduced at the same time from $6 a year to $4 a year, a Depression-era concession to its readers. In 1939 the publication day was changed to Monday, establishing the weekly cadence that the print edition still follows. Circulation was 5,000 when Slocum moved the paper to Detroit; it grew to 12,000 at the beginning of World War II, though it fell to 8,748 during the war years, when civilian automobile production was suspended and the industry converted to wartime manufacturing. Notably, even during 1942–45, when there was effectively no auto industry to cover, the publication retained 73 percent of its circulation — a testament to its hold on its readers.

The Wemhoff Era

From 1936, Pete Wemhoff served the publication as managing editor, editor, publisher and general manager over the next 35 years, becoming the central figure in its institutional memory. Wemhoff's tenure spanned the Depression, World War II, the post-war automotive boom and the rise of the import challenge, and he built the title's reputation for authoritative, insider coverage of Detroit's automakers and their suppliers. The paper's coverage of engineering, design, production and supply chains reflected the needs of its core audience: the people who built and sold cars. By the end of Wemhoff's tenure, Automotive News was firmly established as the trade paper of record for the American automobile business.

The Crain Acquisition, 1971

Slocum Publishing ran Automotive News until 1971, when Crain Communications purchased it. The acquisition brought the title into one of America's leading business-to-business publishing companies, founded by G.D. Crain Jr. in Chicago in 1916. Keith Crain — the son of the company's founder — became publisher and editorial director of Automotive News, a role that began a family association with the title that continues to the present day. Under Crain, the publication expanded its reporting staff, deepened its coverage of suppliers and dealers, and built the international editions that would define its global footprint. Keith Crain remains editor-in-chief of Automotive News and chairman of the board of Crain Communications, while KC Crain serves as group publisher of Automotive News and executive vice president of Crain Communications. Jason Stein is the publication's editor and publisher.

Global Expansion: Europe, China and Canada

Under Crain ownership, Automotive News built a global network of editions. Automotive News Europe was started in 1996, covering the European auto industry from its base on the continent. Automotive News China launched in 2006, published in both simplified Chinese and English to serve the world's largest vehicle market. Automobilwoche is a German-language print publication for automotive executives, distributed twice monthly with a circulation of approximately 15,000. The global team of more than 65 editors and reporters backs all three editions plus the flagship American title, with the European and Chinese editions created locally. In February 2016, the company announced the creation of Automotive News Canada at the Toronto Auto Show — a dedicated suite of print, online and newsletter products focused on Canadian automakers, franchised dealers and suppliers in an industry that produces 2.4 million vehicles a year and contributes $83 billion to the Canadian economy. The preview issue was published online, and the first monthly print edition appeared on Canada Day, July 1, led by publisher Jason Stein, editor-in-chief Jeff Melnychuk and editor Joe Knycha.

What It Covers

Automotive News covers the business of the automotive industry across the full value chain: vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers, franchised dealers, and the engineering, design and production disciplines that connect them. Its reporting spans breaking news on mergers, executive moves and plant decisions; monthly sales and production data; technology and regulation; new and concept vehicles; dealership operations including best practices, fixed operations, remarketing and finance and insurance; and the strategic questions facing the industry as it electrifies and automates. The trade magazine also covers international automotive news through its regional editions. Crain describes the title as distinct from other publications in the field in one important respect: Automotive News remains a fully subscriber-paid publication, a model the company presents as a testament to the value the content delivers to its readers.

Digital Products, Events and Multimedia

The modern Automotive News operation extends well beyond the weekly print newspaper. Its offerings include breaking news sent to mobile devices, digital editions and web products for the desktop, daily newscasts, webinars, podcasts — including the "Futurismo" podcast on mobility — and a program of conferences and events. Data products form an increasingly important part of the business: monthly sales reports, production data and benchmarking figures are among the most closely watched figures in the industry, and the publication's data centre is a standard reference for analysts and executives. The combination of the award-winning weekly print edition, a robust website, email newsletters and video broadcasts gives the title a multi-platform presence that reaches readers wherever they work.

The Detroit Headquarters

The company's headquarters at 1155 Gratiot Avenue in downtown Detroit places Automotive News in the Brewery Park complex, to which Crain Communications relocated its corporate headquarters in 2001 as part of a consolidation of its Detroit-based employees into one facility. The Gratiot Avenue location sits in the heart of a city whose identity is inseparable from the automobile industry — and whose fortunes the publication has chronicled for a century. In addition to its Detroit base, Crain Communications maintains newsrooms and bureaus around the world serving its automotive titles.

Standing in the Industry

Automotive News celebrated its centenary in 2025, marking one hundred years since the first issue of Automotive Daily News appeared in New York. The title's longevity — through the Depression, the war years, the post-war boom, the oil shocks, the Japanese import wave, the 2008–09 bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, and the current transformation toward electrification and software-defined vehicles — has made it the paper of record for the automotive business. Its audience, which Crain notes consists primarily of automobile dealers along with manufacturers and suppliers, depends on it for the news and data that drive commercial decisions. As the flagship of Crain Communications' Automotive News Group, with Automotive News, Automotive News Europe, Automotive News China, Automobilwoche and Automotive News Canada under its umbrella, it remains the most authoritative voice in automotive trade journalism. The official website is autonews.com.