Automotive Industry
News covering the Automotive Industry at large.
503 articles in this category
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Cummins Inc., the manufacturer of diesel engines, has reached an agreement with the United States and the State of California. The $1.675 billion settlement would be the largest penalty for Clean Air Act Violations. Hundreds of thousands of engines were found with an emission-cheating defeat device. There were 630,000 defeat devices from 2013 to 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 trucks. The Clean Air Act requires automakers and engine manufacturers to comply with emission limits. Defeat devices can b
This agreement costs Cummins $1.67 billion
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Automakers have been struggling since 2020 to launch their new vehicles on time. Shifts to creating electric vehicles and the COVID-19 pandemic created large supply chain issues. These issues have increased delays for new vehicles to be launched. PwC Consulting discovered in a report that 34% of vehicle launches 2023 had production delays. An additional 21% of delays were "due to other factors". PwC did a calculation of production delays with issues such as quality standards, supply chain
These setbacks are due to software issues, more advanced safety systems, and a large lean toward EVs.
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Reporting through December 20th, 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has data about manufacturer recalls for the year. Ford has issued 54 recalls affecting 5,692,135 vehicles. Not only is this the highest of any automaker, but it marks the third year in a row that Ford is at the top spot for recalls. Ford had almost twice as many Kia vehicles at 3 million. This was related to leaking brake fluid which is a fire risk. Stellantis came second with 45 recalls and 2.
One automaker dominates the number of total recalls.
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Automakers are trying to achieve price parity between EV and ICE vehicles. This is a key objective so EVs become more attainable to buy. Price parity would help consumers who are interested in EVs. Kelly Blue Book's (KBB) November average transaction price data for new vehicles shows that we are moving slightly in the right direction. In 2024, certain EVs will lose the federal tax credit. The industry average transaction price (ATP) for every type of vehicle was $48,247. The new EV average
While ICE vehicle's average transaction was $48,247, EV average transactions were 8.5% higher, at $52,345.
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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created a rule last year to help consumers against unfair practices and fees. Known as the Combating Auto Retail Scams (CARS), this was supposed to take effect on July 30th, 2024. Now, lobbyists were able to get this paused indefinitely. This new development of CARS was fought by the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA) and the Texas Automobile Dealers Association. They filed a petition with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and challenged the
This ban on upcharges and shady tactics went from taking effect on July 30th to an infinite delay.
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Car dealers have more cars in stock as of December since the spring of 2021. The metric car dealers use to measure their supplies is "days of inventory". This measures how long it would take to sell a new car at today's sales price. The age-old industry guideline is 60 days on a car lot. According to Cox Automotive, the average dealer has a 71-day supply. When you have an oversupply, prices start to lower. KBB states that the average for new car prices dropped from November 2022 to November
New car prices are on the decrease and factories are cutting shifts.
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Securing American global EV manufacturing leadership, dramatically improving public health and significantly reducing carbon pollution is some of the key goals that ZETA or Zero Emission Transportation Association was formed for. This industry association is focused on creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. In quoting their www.zeta2030.org web site they state the 3 core points. Job Creation - Enacting ambitious, but realistic policies to accelerate transportation electr
What is ZETA you ask?
This is the first industry-backed coalition of 28 businesses and growing covering employees in all US states advocating for a national policy that supports the sale of electric vehicles only starting in 2030 of light, medium and heavy-duty auto's. This group calls for the accelerated transition to EVs.
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Short and sweet, what is not to love about the Superbowl ads. Tell us what you like, as more are released, hopefully we get them all posted here. Seems there is a whole series of Dr. EV-il commercials at the GM Youtube channel. General Motors - YouTube GMC has released a whole series of Declassified videos on new technology. G
Not much more can be said other than another year, another round of fun filled commercials. Here we are posting all the Auto ones to watch, discuss and enjoy.
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Affective January 1st, 2022, Rimac Automobili became two companies, Rimac Group which is a majority shareholder in the Bugatti Rimac with a 55% stake and Porsche owning the remaining 45%. Rimac Technology is a sister company 100% owned by Rimac Group. rimac_technology_video.mp4 Rimac found themselves working with multiple auto companies to engineer, develop, produce and supply high-performa
Rimac Automobili, an EV Hyper Auto builder has become two companies expanding their ability to deliver superior electrification technologies to the auto industry.
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In the summer of 2019 the British Columbia province of Canada shocked the rest of Canada and many countries by stating that all new car and light truck ICE auto sales would be banned beginning January 1st 2040. They then stated that 10% of all new auto sales had to be electric by 2025 and had at the time a $57 million Canadian incentive program to encourage people to buy BEVs. The Canadian province of Quebec then in November 2020 joined the British Columbia province in banning all new
Some would say after your two most populous provinces ban new ice auto sales that it was inevitable for Canada to do this but affective June 29th 2021 Canada's government has banned all new ICE car and light truck sales starting January 1st 2035 onward.
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Magna's eBeam technology announcement today aims to reduce the cost of building a new EV or electrical vehicles platform. The costs associated with a new platform to move to electrification from a traditional ICE is slowing down the ability to get product to market. Magna's eBeam technology is focusing on allowing to keep the existing pickup trucks capabilities while transitioning to electrification. This is the first significant solid beam rear axle change in more than 100 years acco
Magna's eBeam technology brings electrification to todays pickups removing the need to have a separate EV platform.
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Moving road trips to the electric age. — Lightship (lightshiprv.com) Preserving the planet while exploring new corners of the planet is the bold vision of Lightship RVs. Lightship first RV is the L1 travel trailer. The company was launched March 8th, 2023, to the public, by co-founders Ben Parker and Toby Kraus who both worked for Tesla on various projects till the Pandemic. Taking time off to explore the U.S. in an RV, they discovered the opportunity to take the RV industry into the
A new RV trailer is here developed by Lightship RV, is it the answer to preserving EV and ICE towing range?
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Libertine a UK firm was awarded a 2.6 million British pounds or $3,572,543 US dollars to take their free-piston generator concept to commercial production. Per Libertine web site, the IntelliGEN 20-40 kWe Smart Engine platform is for OEM builders of Hybrid buses, trucks and auto's as well as distributed power applications. Quoting their web site: Robust and flexible platform for lab-based combustion development and prototype validation 20-40kWe* two strok
Could a modular engine similar size and shape to a battery module be the answer to hybrid auto's and commercial trucks is the question Libertine of the UK believes they have answered.
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Hyundai, BMW, Stellantis, Kia, General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, and Toyota are eight of the worlds' largest automakers and today are celebrating the successful launch of their purpose-built redefinition of charging as an end-to-end integrated customer charging experience. This purpose-built charging solution delivers on the mission they set forth in February 2024. with 100 sites contracted, over 1000 charging bays, enabling EV road trips coast to coast by th
Eight of the world's largest automakers desire to lead, innovate, create and drive forward has reach fruition.
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October 5th was a major press release for Genesis-Hyundai-Kia as all three auto companies announced that they would begin shipping their EVs at the start of Q4 2024 with NACS ports on their EVs. With NACS ports, Genesis, Hyundai and Kia EVs will gain access to the 12,000 plus North America Tesla Supercharger stations which have over 50,000 charging stations. Genesis, Hyundai, Kia EVs are built on the E-GMP or Electric Global Modular Platform that is an 800V fast charging platfor
What does a company do when so many others have changed their approach to a charging port standard, Join the Party!
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Per Norway's own news and electrek story following up on the local news in Norway, they hit a record 54% electric auto sales market share for 2020. As more and more EV options come to market, gas and diesel sales have crashed. March 2021 gas auto sales were 4.8% of the market with diesel following at 4.7% market share. This is less than half of the market share they had for the same period a year ago. Norway originally set 2025 as a target of electric auto sales only for the whole country
During 2020 Pandemic, auto sales continued in Norway giving electric auto's a 54% market share allowing the country to stay on track to stop all gas and diesel auto sales starting in 2025.
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The Pandemic had at the start made investors fearful that companies would be hurt, and profits and stock payouts would fall if not be stopped right out as companies looked to find ways to save cash as people stayed home due to Covid-19. Yes, some companies did stop many things and some companies even closed due to the global pandemic, yet Auto companies found that having control of a tight inventory actually pushed up record profits and in this their workers have also prospered along with
The days of yearly reviews, raises and maximum auto production might be coming to an end as OEM auto companies find bigger profits in controlling production.
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October 5th, 2020 Hino Trucks, a subsidiary of The Toyota Group Company announced their Project "Z". This was the Company's development plan to offer zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) for class 4 to 8 medium and heavy duty trucks in the North American market with customer demonstrations in 2022 and production starting in 2024. Project Z was a development plan to bring Fuel Cell and BEV to the whole medium and heavy duty product line for customers along side Diesel as the industry st
Project Z is the focus of Hino USA to offer zero emission Class 4 to 8 trucks to the market in the USA by 2024. March 12, 2021 Hino and Cummins announced a deal that will allow Hino to move to zero emissions sooner as they convert to Cummins motors.
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Alpha Motor Corporation or AMC released for reservation the WOLF pickup truck March 11th 2021. The WOLF has the following projected specifications: MSRP $36,000 to $46,000 depending on configuration (does not include $7,500 federal EV tax credit) Battery range of 250 to 275 plus miles with rapid charging, battery heating/cooling for optimum performance Single motor FWD or Dual motor AWD 0 to 60 mph of 6.2 seconds acceleration 1360kg or 3000lbs towin
Alpha Motor Corporation releases for reservations the WOLF two person electric pickup truck. Available in AWD or FWD with with a 3000 lbs towing capacity, zero to sixty miles per hour in 6.2 seconds and a 275 mile range.
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AEHRA is an Italian EV startup that believes they can deliver a vision with a mission to the world. This company was assembled with an introduction of their leadership team in June 2022. AEHRA Vision Synthesize the elegance of Italian design global engineering, and American customer service with the future of EV monobodied manufacturing. AEHRA is intensely-focused on creating a driving experience that is always extraordinary. For business or pleasure, AEHRA is a valued necessity to eve
AEHRA is the latest EV startup from Italy, welcome to the Milan fashion version of EV.
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FedEx has 700 planes and over 180,000 vehicles that range from Semi's to delivery vans. Reducing emissions is not easy especially with daily package volume grew by 99.2% from 2009 to 2019. Yet over this same period FedEx reduced CO2 emissions by 40%. This is not an easy feet. FedEx has focused on a simple three-pronged approach to sustainability: Reduce Replace Revolutionize This simple focus has allowed FedEx to reduce their environmental impact in their fleet,
Electric is the future and FedEx is delivering sustainability by partnering with BrightDrop for all new first-to-last-mile automotive products and ePallets as they electrify delivery of packages.
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FedEx has committed to being Carbon-Neutral by 2040 by going Green Globally with an initial investment of $2 Billion dollars for auto electrification, sustainable energy and carbon sequestration. FedEx has started their corporate march to a greener cleaner planet by pledging $100 million dollars to Yale University in establishing the Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture. In the drive to offset current airline emissions which is a big part of FedEx business, they are heling to suppo
FedEx has committed to being Carbon-Neutral by 2040 by going Green Globally with an initial investment of $2 Billion dollars for auto electrification, sustainable energy and carbon sequestration.
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Just how slippery is the Lightyear 0 EV? Try a confirmed 0.175 coefficient of drag (Cd) for this solar assisted electric car with testing having been done by FKFS wind tunnels in Stuttgart, Germany, under WLTP protocols. I know, I know, how much more aerodynamic is this than others and here is the top 3 cars till today. Lucid Air, Tesla Model S and Mercedes-Benz EQS have all come in at 0.20 to 0.21 meaning the Lightyear 0 is slippery. Even GMs EV1 which only had
Lightyear 0 is starting its initial production run of the world most aerodynamic solar car.
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April 2020 Honda / Acura signed a deal with GM to use the Ultium Platform to produce two SUVs, one for Honda and one for Acura that would target the 2024 model year with an end of 2023 on sale date. Today we give you the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX: Let's dive into how much these two vehicles are the same and yet different. Both are built on the GM Ultium platform and will come off the same assembly line according to Honda. We will present a bullet list here f
Honda and Acura signed on to use the GM Ultium platform and will have their first SUVs out soon, which do you like?
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October 2023 the IRS released this clarification that the Inflation Reduction Act will offer the provision that allows consumers to transfer their credit to the car dealer, instantly reducing the purchase price of new and used EVs at the time of sale. Registration Requirements PDF rp-23-33.pdf This guidance also provides proposed eligibility rules for the previously owned clean vehicles credit. End result is that ELIGIBLE CONSUMERS may transfer the full value of the new or previou
Starting January 1, 2024 Consumers can choose to transfer their new clean vehicle credit of up to $7,500 or used clean vehicle credit of up to $4,000 to the car dealer effectively lowering the vehicles purchase price, will this jump start the EV Revolution of sales?
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Yamaha Motor Co. announced April 12, 2021 their new Hyper-EV motor allowing them to reach the highest output density for the EV class. In the past, Yamaha has been selling their first generation EV motor that had a range of 35 - 200 kW for auto's and mobility applications. Today's new generation of Hyper-EV motors now boasts output up to 350kW (469 hp) @ 800 volts per motor or a total of 1.4MW or 1,877 hp in a four motor AWD configuration. Yamaha is taking EV motor development to a ne
Yamaha opened the books for excepting orders for their new Hyper-EV electric motor with up to 350 kW power output per motor, 1.4 MW total in four motor AWD configuration.
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MOU means that these companies have signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" to explore the participation, involvement and synergy sharing in relation to the business integration through a joint holding company. Back in August 1st, 2024 Nissan and Honda created a Joint Holding Company for the commencement of a strategic partnership focused on intelligence and electrification. This was to start the consideration towards integration of the two companies. Mitsubishi Mo
Is a MOU signed by Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi Motors meaning they are merging to be one auto company? Find out more here.
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April 2024, three companies came together wanting to address an industry opportunity that they saw in the European market and to hopefully take it globally. Renault Group, Volvo Group, and CMA-CGM came together to announce a new EV startup called FLEXIS. Flexis would be a skateboard platform that would allow a last mile delivery solution that would be efficient by using cutting-edge technology to offer a cutting-edge solution focused on offering a comprehensive s
Last mile delivery, service, inner city deliveries, etc. the list is long on how EV startups and legacy OEMs have called and attempted to deliver electric vans, can this EV startup from 2023 beat them all and survive?
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Consumer reports has had individual reports in the past on various specific models of electric vehicles, but they now publish the following report on the current state of EVs and the reliability of what is out there. Consumer-Reports-Insights-for-More-Reliable-Electric-Vehicles-Jan-2022.pdf Per the attached report above, we start looking at the latest overview they have put together: Per an Executive Order
Consumer reports has released their latest reliable electric vehicle report. This report can be taken in many ways, but the data is great info for all auto companies as they make the move to EVs.
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Oshkosh Defense was awarded a 10 year contract by the USPS to create, build and deliver up to 165,000 auto's for postal delivery across the United States of America. These auto's will be made up of traditional internal combustion engine, Hybrid and electrical vehicles. These purpose built, right-hand-drive vehicles will be used for mail and package delivery. A minimum of 50,000 to a maximum of 165,000 auto's over a 10 year time frame was agreed upon contract for a modern AC equipped NGDV or next
February 23rd 2021 the USPS awarded to Oshkosh Defense a contract for delivering up t 165,000 U.S. built vehicles over the next 10 years to modernize the postal delivery fleet. This will be made up of gas powered, Hybrid and electric vehicles with the first auto's set to be delivered in 2023.
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The Korean Herald News outlet is reporting that South Koreas second-largest automaker Kia will start production of their full-size EV9 SUV in the first half of 2023 after Kia's labor union (Korean Metal Workers) and Kia management fame to agreement on production, strategy and future employment security. According to the new source, the Kia EV9 will be produced at the company's Gwangmyeong factory in Gyeonggi Province. The EV9 SUV is expected to officially start taking pre-orders in Ap
Kia, South Korea automaker is slated to start production of the EV9 full size EV after agreement was reached with the Korean Metal Workers Union.
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Cox Automotive group released their Q3 2023 EV sales for the automotive industry in the United States showing that in Q3 EV sales jumped past 300,000 for the first time in the U.S. market. EV sales through September reached just over 873,000 which puts the market on track to surpass 1 million EV sales. This milestone is estimated to be reached some time in November. Q3 EV sales estimates are 313,086 EV sales, a 49.8% increase over the same period last year. This is an increase from the 298,
U.S. EV sales have set another record, but how much growth is it and who is leading among all auto companies?
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Most buyers don't tend to think of resale value until it comes time to sell their vehicle. But which models keep their value and which ones don't? iSeeCars.com recently published a study that looked into more than 4.3 million new and used car sales to determine which models lowest and highest loss in value after a five-year time frame. What vehicles had the lowest depreciation? According to iSeeCars, that would be SUVs and trucks. Taking the number one spot was the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited w
We'll give you a clue: What types of vehicles are flying off dealer lots?
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The COVID-19 pandemic has basically brought most of the world to halt. Orders to stay at home, businesses either having workers to their work from home or closing down, and unemployment skyrocketing is causing the economy to crater. There are efforts to try and jump-start the economy such as $1,200 stimulus checks. But an executive at Ford wants to see a return of a "cash for clunkers" like program. “We think some level of stimulus somewhere on the other side of this would help not only the
Is this a good idea or not?
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Automakers for the most part were hurting in sales during the second quarter. The COVID-19 pandemic and the economy coming to a screeching halt for a brief time caused new car sales to drop by a third according to Automotive News. But there is a slim silver lining to this, full-size pickups have moved into being the best-selling segment of vehicles. According to data from Automotive News, one out of four vehicles sold between April and June was a pickup truck. This helped put them ahead of
The Trucks Are Alright, Everyone Else TBD
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We'll excuse you if you forgot that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and PSA Group have been working towards finalizing their merger considering the state of the world at the moment. But the two are making serious headway as they have announced the new name of the multi-national corporation that will form once the two merge. Meet Stellantis. Don't worry, you're not the only who is thinking "What" or thinking of some clever joke to make fun of this name. We'll let the two explain what this name mean
How much did the two spend on consultants to come up with this name?
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IHS Markit recently published their analysis on how long Americans are holding onto their vehicles. The average according to the firm stands at 11.9 years, the highest amount since they have been tracking this. Also, about one in four vehicles is over sixteen years old. We should note that this data came before COVID-19 started to wreak havoc on the U.S. IHS notes that new cars only made up 6.1 percent of vehicles in operation in 2019, down 0.8 percent when compared to high of 2016. This highlig
Expect the Age to Climb Higher Due to COVID-19
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun testing vehicles that have cameras in place of real mirrors. The request to test such devices goes back to March of 2014 when the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers along with Tesla filed a petition with the NHTSA to get approval to install based rear or side vision cameras and screens in their vehicles. Daimler filed a similar petition in 2015 for their heavy duty trucks. Japan and Europe have already approved the technology.
...New tech to replace old tech...
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Developing autonomous vehicles in sunny, dry locales like Phoenix, Arizona has proven to be difficult due to numerous variables such as traffic and human behavior. But an upcoming study from Michigan State University reveals that autonomous technologies still have a number of hurdles as testing begins in areas with changing conditions. Automotive News had the chance to speak with Hayder Radha, an MSU professor of electrical and computer engineering who oversaw the upcoming study. The findin
A light sprinkle could cause some major headaches for self-driving vehicles
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It is already tough for a number of people to afford a new vehicle as the average transaction price keeps rising. According to Kelly Blue Book, the average transaction price for November rose 2.1 percent to $36,978. This isn't being helped by American automakers deciding to stop producing cars due to changing consumer tastes. This was brought to light last week when General Motors announced that it would be cutting a number of cars including the Chevrolet Cruze. Most automakers and dealers belie
And why that may pose a problem
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Back in June, Ford and Volkswagen signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a new alliance that would focus on commercial vehicles. Since then, the two companies have been in discussions about it and there have been various rumors flying about. Yesterday, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess added some more fuel to the fire. Speaking to reporters outside of the White House, Diess revealed that the German automaker is interested in using Ford's plants in the U.S. to build vehicles. "We might use
This could be an interesting development
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A near-production prototype Bugatti Chiron on special Michelin tires has broken the 300 mph barrier in Germany at the Ehra-Lessien proving ground. Though full specs were not announced, but it is suspected to have 1,578 horsepower, carbon fiber components, taller gearing, lowered suspension, and specialized Michelin tires. The test mule received a clip on rear tail with a more aggressive diffuser. If the car makes it into production, it will hold the record as the fastest production cars. T
...They've gone as fast at they'll go...
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It has not been an easy go for the organizers of the Detroit Auto Show. Last year, they had to cancel the revamped show due to concerns about the growing COVID-19 pandemic. The hope was to launch the indoor-outdoor event that would sprawl various parts of Detroit for 2021. But with COVID-19 still a major issue, organizers this afternoon announced the 2021 version would be canceled. Automotive News reports that a new, outdoor program called Motor Bella will take its place from September 21st
Remember the Detroit Auto Show?
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The Chinese government is considering a proposal to reduce tariffs on U.S.-Built vehicles from the current 40 percent back down to the 15 percent before the trade war broke out between it and the U.S. Sources tell Bloomberg a proposal has been submitted to the cabinet to be reviewed in the coming days. This proposal stems from a trade summit in Buenos Aires where U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a 90-day truce on the trade war earlier this month. After
Could the trade-war be cooling down?
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China has announced today that it would be reducing tariffs on U.S.-built cars and car parts from 40 to 15 percent beginning on January 1st. This reduction will last for three months as the U.S. and China begin hashing out a new trade deal. We first reported the reduction of the tariffs earlier this week. China's Ministry of Finance posted on their website said it hopes the talks between the two can go quickly and remove "all additional tariffs on each other’s goods" that were brought forth
Walking somewhat back from the tariff cliff
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When thinking about making vehicles greener, most people think about how green a vehicle is; they typically think about fuel economy or the shift toward electric propulsion. But there are plenty of other petroleum products in vehicles, the largest being the tires on all 4 corners. Goodyear Tire announced last week that they have developed a demonstration concept tire that is made of 90% sustainable materials, and most importantly, it has already passed all
You could be rolling around on pine sap and recycled soda bottles later this year.
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The President has threatened to slap tariffs on the import of all cars in a year if Mexico does not completely halt the flow of illegal immigration, a near impossible task. This is after he backtracked on his previous threat to completely close the US-Mexico border, a move his own advisers recommended against. Such actions would have massive economic repercussions on both sides of the border, raising prices for many consumer goods. Trump said, "Mexico understands that we're going to clos
...in spite of negotiating no tariffs with them earlier..
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Towards the end of last year, the fate of Faraday Future looked to be bleak. Their main investor, Chinese company Evergrande Health Industry Group filed a complaint with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that claimed Faraday tried to cancel a deal to sell a 45 percent stake to them. Evergrande claimed the company didn't meet various milestones to get the full $2 billion it had agreed to in the summer. But Faraday fought back, saying that Evergrade didn't cough up the cash. This would only signal
Also opens the door for Faraday to find new financing
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Around this time last year, rental car companies found themselves selling off a fair amount of their inventory as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated the travel industry. With travel starting to bounce back, rental car companies now find themselves with a new problem - a shortage of vehicles to rent. Usually, they would turn to automakers and buy up a batch of new cars to shore up inventory. But the on-going semiconductor shortage has automakers cutting back on production, and causing rental compan
We'll Pick You Up (in a used car)
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2018 saw a continuation of near-record sales and large profits for automakers in the U.S., but that appears to be coming to an end. Bloomberg reports various factors are conspiring to end this trend such as increasing interest rates and the average price of a new vehicle hitting record highs. While some may point out that 2018 saw a 0.3 percent increase in vehicle deliveries (17.6 million according to AutoData), analysts point that this is due to the tax cuts brought by President Donald Trump la
The sales party is coming to a close
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The recently announced alliance between Ford and Volkswagen will not bring any benefits to North America at the beginning. Both companies said that the partnership will focus on Africa, Europe, and South America beginning with commercial vans and the next-generation Ranger/Amarok pickup. Down the road, both Ford and Volkswagen said there could be a potential product for the U.S. While Ford is keeping quiet on what that product could be, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess said that a commercial ve
Down the road, that may change
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Ask Peter Welch, the CEO of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) what worries him the most, he'll admit that it is average consumers getting priced out of new cars. He admitted this yesterday at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit. Welch said that the latest figures he has seen - through October of last year - reveal the average retail price of a new car climbing to a new high of $35,366. The average monthly payment is hovering at $538, and interest rates have climbe
Even NADA's CEO is wondering where are the affordable vehicles
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From the strange bedfellows' file; Hyundai and Kia have announced a joint investment of 80 million Euros (about $90 million) into Croatia-based Rimac Automobili. Rimac may be known to most people for the fast Concept One electric supercar - the vehicle which Richard Hammond had a serious crash when filming The Grand Tour. "The companies will work closely together to develop prototypes for an electric version of Hyundai Motor's N brand midship sports concept car and a high-performance fuel ce
...Wait, what?...
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There has been a prevailing thought about the likes of Uber and Lyft that once they switch from human drivers to self-driving vehicles, they would stand to see a significant reduction in overall operating costs. This possibly means consumers could see these services as an alternative to owning a vehicle. But a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) disputes that claim. Researchers Ashley Nunes and Kristen D. Hernandez examined the San Francisco market on the per-mile
...That whole autonomous-vehicle will be our savor to ride-hailing services.... that may not be exactly true...
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The number of automakers teaming up to share and develop new vehicles and technologies is growing in an effort to help reduce costs. A new report from German paper Handelsblatt says that BMW and Daimler are considering such a move. Speaking to sources at both companies, BMW and Daimler are looking into possibly jointly developing their next-generation compact cars (BMW 1-Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class) - as part of a wider cooperation that includes sharing autonomous car tech. Working tog
The next-generation BMW and Mercedes-Benz compacts may be quite similar
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Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. (GAC) made a big splash at the Detroit Auto Show this year with a number of models destined for the U.S. The plan at the time was to begin talking with dealers at the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in March, with sales to follow early next year. But GAC has postponed plans of coming to the U.S. due to the trade war. In a statement issued to Bloomberg, GAC said “the escalation of China-U.S. trade frictions” and distribution “uncertainties” h
...Damn you trade war!...
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According to research issued by AAA, 40 percent of Americans expect driver assist systems with names like ProPilot, Co-Pilot 360, or Autopilot to give the vehicle the ability to drive itself. In a quote to Automotive News, Director of Automotive Engineering and Industry Relations at AAA says "Somewhere in there, you'd think a pilot is involved, but indeed no, human driving is still required." AAA examined 34 vehicle brands to identify the number of driver-assistance names used and foun
Consumers think that with names like Co-Pilot 360, ProPilot, or Autopilot, the car should be able to drive itself.
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Not content with a trade war just with China, Donald Trump has opened a second front in what is slowly turning into a trade world war. Yesterday evening, Trump announced that beginning June 10th a 5% tariff would be slapped on all Mexican products coming into the country. That tariff would increase to 10% by July 1st and then go to its 25% maximum in October. For automakers with razor thin margins, there is absolute certainty that the American consumer will end up paying these tariffs.
... 5%, to 10%, to 25% by October...
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Fiat Chrysler Automobile has abruptly pulled back on their merger offer with Renault after the second day of negotiations came to a close. The Wall Street Journal reports that Renault's partner, Nissan declined to support the deal according to sources. During a vote today on the Renault board, the two Nissan representative abstained, raising concerns for both FCA and Renault that Nissan would back out of the alliance. This, in turn, caused the French Government (major stakeholder in Renault
...That was abrupt...
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Back i n May, the U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation into car imports to determine the impact of car imports. The investigation falls under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 which states "whether imports of automobiles, including SUVs, vans and light trucks, and automotive parts into the United States threaten to impair the national security." This could allow the Trump administration to levy tariffs as high as 25 percent on foreign-built vehicles. Yesterday, th
The tariffs as high as 25% are on hold for the moment.
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The battle to be the first Chinese automaker to make it in the U.S. is heating up. Ford's Chinese partner Zotye has been setting up agreements for about 20 dealerships in the US, The goal is to bring the Zoyte T600 to the US in 2020. Previously Guangzhou Automotive had planned to bring their vehicles to the U.S. in 2019, but Trump's tariffs would delay their arrival. The T600, which looks like a cross between an Audi Q5 and previous generation VW Tiguan, sells between approximately $12,00
Lining up dealers to sell a budget crossover in 2020.
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The tariffs that Trump had threatened to impose on Mexico starting June 10th will not be going on to effect. Trump tweeted out that Mexico had made concessions to deploy their newly formed Nation Guard to their own southern border and that it only took two days for Mexico to bend to Trump's demands. This is false. The truth, according to a report in the New York Times is that Mexico had already agreed to do that back in March 2019 during secret talks between the (at the time) Director of
...the "deal" was made months ago...
- Editor-in-Chief
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A few weeks after Honda announced the closure of its manufacturing plant in Swindon, Sky News is reporting that BMW and Nissan are both looking at moving operations out of the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit. BMW currently produces the Mini-Cooper in Oxford. BMW's Peter Schwarzenbauer has said that the company would "need to consider" moving production out of the UK. In addition to Mini production, some engine production would move to Austria from Birmingham. Likewise Nissan, whic
A no-deal Brexit may kill automotive jobs in the UK.
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If you're currently running with an older GPS system, either built into your car or via an external device, you may need to check if a firmware update is available. Tonight at midnight, the UTC clock used by the satellite navigation system will roll over to 0000000000. That number is a 10-bit "week number" that counts the number of weeks since August 21, 1999, the date of the current GPS "epoch". Most newer GPS devices will know about the coming rollover and will just continue working,
...the UTC clock is about to roll over...
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The Society of Automotive Engineers has announced today that they are joining with Ford, General Motors, and Toyota to form the Automatic Vehicle Safety Consortium (AVSC), a group that will work together to test the deployment and development of Level 4 and Level 5 automated vehicles. The AVSC will provide a safety framework for the advancement of the technology in a safe and responsible manner. The group will use the expertise of its current members to establish a set of guiding principle
...banding together to bring about safer autonomous vehicles...
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Truck owner loyalty is legendary. Buyers typically pick one brand and stick with that brand for as long as they buy trucks. Indeed my own father has owned only one brand of pickup, the Ford F-series, since before I arrived on earth. In 2018, Ford moved more than 900,000 copies of its F-series pickups out of a total segment of 2,944,395. But have rising prices started to crack that loyalty? CarGurus did a survey and found that 70% of truck owners would switch brands if their truck raise
.... 68% of current truck owners believe that current pickups are overpriced.
- Editor-in-Chief
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BMW Group and Daimler AG are combining forces to take on rideshare and mobility services like Uber and Lyft. They will invest a combined 1 billion euro to build a new company with a multiprong approach. The new company will offer five services in a single portfolio. Eventually, they will offer an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge, park, and drive autonomously and interconnect with other forms of transport. The five apps include: Reach Now: Offers a range of op
1B € combined investment
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A Pittsburgh Port Authority Bus became stuck in a sink hole in downtown Pittsburgh this morning. The bus was waiting at a traffic light when the road gave way. There were two people on the bus who were able to get off the bus safely. A Kia Optima was also left with its front wheels hanging into the hole. The incident occurred at about 7:40 a.m. outside the Westin Hotel downtown on the corner of 10th street and Penn Avenue. The hole is about 20 feet deep and 75 feet wide. The bus is sitti
...open up!...
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The Trump Administration and the EPA officials have scrapped all further talks with California and canceled the $929 million in federal funds for a California high-speed rail project. California's Governor has responded that this is in response to California leading a 16 state coalition challenge to President Trump's national emergency to take funds from the defense department and apply it to building a wall from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. California has already filed sui
Federal officials from the EPA have ended negotiations with California.
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If you're the owner of an Android phone and an Android Auto enabled vehicle, this summer there will be a big upgrade coming to the interface of both. The new design will allow you to do more with fewer taps, while also showing more information on the screen at a time. As soon as you start your car, Android Auto will pick up where you left off with your media and automatically show your navigation app of choice. Navigation will show a suggested list of places or the user can say "Hey Googl
...Major UI improvements coming...
- Editor-in-Chief
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Financial Times is reporting that Renault wants to make the marriage to Nissan more official and formally merge. Renault wants to start talks within the next 12 months and include a potential bid for automaker FCA . The combined companies of Nissan, Renault, Fiat, and Chrysler would be a conglomerate that rivals the size of Toyota and Volkswagen. Carlos Ghosn tried to start merger talks prior to his arrest for financial wrongdoing, however, the French government stopped his proposals. Ren
.. Move from alliance to formal merger
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Ford and GM, the U.S.'s top two auto manufacturers are bracing themselves for the worst. They have been running economic modeling to determin the steps they would take given a medium or severe recession in the US and across global markets. General Motors has a stockpile of $18 billion in cash while Ford has $20 billion saved up. GM is relying on deferring non-essential capital expenditures and a shift in production to lower cost vehicles as part of its plan to save costs in the event of a
...Preparing for the worst...
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Jaguar Land Rover has announced a temporary halt in production in November as the threat of disruption from a No-Deal Brexit looms. BMW and Toyota have already announced plans for temporary work stoppages at their UK factories. All four of JLR's UK factories are affected. Although No-Deal Brexit is still not a certainty. Manufacturers like JLR have to plan for the worst. JLR uses 20 million parts a day and needs to have those parts available at just the right time. Toyota will be s
...bracing for a No-Deal Brexit...
- Editor-in-Chief
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The European car market as a whole has been in decline for six consecutive months as of March 2019 with 19 out of 27 markets posting declines. March numbers were down 3.6 percent over the same month in 2018. Looking at the first quarter of 2019 paints an even bleaker picture with only 6 countries recording growth. While overall demand is down, the demand for electric vehicles grows. The sales of EVs exceeded 100,000 units for the first time ever with a total of 125,400 EV and PHEVs sold.
...in a market that continues to decline, EVs are doing well...
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Protean Electric is proud to introduce their latest innovation to the auto world, the Protean 360+. A super-efficient, fully integrated in-wheel motor that brings 922lb-ft of torque or 1250Nm with 107hp or 80kW of power per wheel. This give the mobility solution a total of 428 hp or 320 kW of power with 3,688 lb-ft or 5,000 Nm of torque to move the auto. Urban mobility has never had a better option for ultimate maneuverability with the Protean 360+ delivering the following: Limitles
…An advanced new powertrain for urban transport...
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Revolution most commonly starts in the heart of what is to be disrupted. In this case, oil country is where one of the most revolutionary new motor designs is coming from. The minds at the University of Texas in Dallas, Dr. Babak Fahimi and the Renewable Enery and Vehicular Technology Laboratory brings us this new startup "Linear Labs Inc. A Smart Electric Motor Company" who just completed their funding round to allow them to market and produce their flagship motor, the Hunstable Electric Turbin
...more torque, better power density, and 10 percent further range...
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Premium battery manufacture of Germany, AKASOL has announced that they will open a battery system production plant in Detroit Michigan USA. This dedicated operations in North America will ensure that AKASOL's customers comply with the Buy America Act Regulations and is in response to demand for their high energy battery modules from various OEM manufacturer of Trucks, Buses and auto's. This considerable investment will create over 200 jobs within the next 5 years. State of Michigan awarded
Detroit Michigan has been chosen to ensure that AKASOL's customers comply with Buy America Act regulations, which dictate that they must purchase locally-produced battery systems.
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China is the world's largest EV market with sales of electric auto's reaching 2.61 million up 70% in 2018 over 2017. This constitutes 4% of the total Chinese market today. China is requiring 10% of total sales to be EV in 2019 and raised to 12% for 2020. In comparison, the US saw EV sales jump 81% for 2018 to a total of 360,000 EVs sold out of a total of 17.2 million auto's sold. Yet the US has only 1 million EVs on the road and the auto industry is projected to spend a mind blowing $255 billio
Automakers are planning to bring to market 100's of electric automobiles by 2025 and a german research company may have solved one of the biggest problems surrounding making them profitable.
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Market forecasts of the future is a fragile thing, yet LMC Automotive has a strong reputation as a consulting firm looking at the global markets. The daily announcements of electric-car churn, major production investments, battery supply, etc. is cause for people to want to take a reality check of the projections by various OEM producers to individual government pronouncements. US projection is that fossil fuel light-duty autos will still be 69% or 7 out of 10 autos on the road in 2030. Acc
95% of Auto's sold in 2018 globally were ICE, what should we expect in 2030?
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Congratulations America. It seems we now buy more SUVs and crossovers than sedans according to a new study from IHS Automotive. Through May of 2014, IHS says that SUVs and CUVs account for 36.5 percent of new car registrations, compared to the 35.4 percent of registrations for sedans. This is a reversal from five years ago where sedans stood at 36.3 percent of registrations, compared to the 31.4 percent for SUVs and crossovers. “It’s not that sedans have become unpopular. It’s just that CUVs ha
Not Surprising, SUVs and Crossovers Pass Sedans In Sales
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While Americans are keeping their cars longer (Experian Automotive says the average ownership length is now 7.75 years), there are some models that owners can't wait to get rid off within a year of buying. iSeeCars.com recently compared new car sales against used-car purchases in 2014 to figure out which vehicles were traded-in the fastest. Their analysis showed that on average, around 2.7 percent of all new vehicles are traded in after only a year’s ownership. More surprising was the vehicles
Which Vehicles Get Traded-In the Most After A Year of Ownership?
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J.D. Power has announced the results of their inaugural Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study. The study focused on the experience of owners with a vehicle's technology features such as infotainment and safety during the first 90 days. The good news is the average satisfaction score was 730 out of a possible 1,000 points. But owners aren't impressed with their vehicle's navigation system. It earned the lowest average score of 687 in the study. More than half of the owners surveyed said they neve
Owners like the safety tech, Navigation not so much
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 17, 2013 Former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz has been know to speak his mind. At the Detroit Auto Show this week, Lutz told Autocar that he thinks that the technology in the Chevrolet Volt should have been put into a larger vehicle first. “Frankly, unless that customer is philosophically, religiously or economically affiliated to buying an electric vehicle, then they can’t be convinced. The first two types of buyer will buy
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Small SUVs and crossovers are making huge gains in terms of sales. A key part of this success comes down to a single group of buyers, single women. Data from research company MaritzCX reveals that sales of small SUVs to women rose 34 percent between 2010 and 2015. In the same time, sales of these vehicles to single men only rose 22 percent. Sales of small luxury SUVs saw a large increase of 177 percent to women. Out of the total amount of women buyers, 40 percent are single. “There’s a g
Wondering why Small SUVs and Crossovers are currently some of the big selling models in the U.S.?
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With gas prices making a downward trend, sales of SUVs are making an upward climb. In fact, SUVs, pickups, and crossovers when added together make up half of total volume of sales in April. Now with the increase in SUV sales, prices also went up. Edmunds reports that average transaction prices on SUVs have climbed nine percent when compared to last year. Now when something goes up, something must come down. In this case, it happens to be small cars. Edmunds says that the average timeframe to s
SUV Sales Go Up, Small Cars Go Down
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Automakers have been edge for a few months with talk of a trade war and possibly putting up to a 25 percent tariff on imported new vehicles. They only would be pushed further to the edge as President Donald Trump tweeted last week a 20 percent import tariff on all cars assembled in the European Union. Now, automakers are rebuking the President over this. Reuters reports today that two trade groups, representing nearly every major global automotive brands have issued comments saying the pres
This is a terrible idea. -Automakers to Trump
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William Maley Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com January 13, 2012 2011 was a good year for diesel vehicles. A report done by the from the Diesel Technology Forum says sales of diesel vehicles in 2011 rose 27.4%. The report states the overall growth of diesel vehicles in 2011 was at 10.2%, putting the increase ahead of the curve. Interestingly enough, the group says sales of hybrid vehicles were down 2.2%. The report also states sales of diesel vehicles grow to over 6% of the U.S. market b
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 21, 2013 Last month, Fisker founder and Chairman Henrik Fisker said the company was looking for "potential strategic partners". The search has led the company to China. According to Reuters, Fisker is in talks with certain Chinese automakers. Fisker's focus on China is due to the Chinese government's backing of local manufacturers in their efforts to acquire "green car" technology from abroad, as the government is trying to ramp up d
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Previously, the market for vans was stagnate. Old models paired with poor optimism in the business world made vans appealing as cold liver and onions. But Bloomberg reports that vans are making a comeback. Data from Edmunds shows that van sales by unit have more than double in the past five years, outpacing the pace set by the auto industry overall. More surprising is that in the first quarter, sales of vans climbed another third. If this growth trend continues, its expected that 475,000 vans w
Thanks to increased optimism in business, van sales are climbing
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It is now official, the Detroit Auto Show will not be held in January beginning in 2020. Organizers of the show made the announcement yesterday afternoon and released a teaser video showing what the show may look like in its new date, complete with outdoor test tracks and vehicle displays. The Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA) will be holding a press conference on July 24th announcing the new date. As we have reported previously, DADA was considering moving the show to October not onl
The question is which month
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com July 5, 2012 The Highway Loss Data Institute, part of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), released a study this week looking into crash avoidance technology. The results are a bit surprising. The study looked property damage liability (PDL) claims, meaning drivers who had a accident with another vehicle. The study also limited the number of manufacturers in the study to four; Buick, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. Unsurprisingl
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Despite countless studies and reports that say Gen Y (AKA millienals) aren't interested in cars, a new study released this week says this key group are interested in cars. Deloitte LLP, a financial consulting firm published their Global Automotive Consumer Study which showed that Gen Y is very much interested in getting their own vehicle, despite not having the same love affair as their parents and grandparents. "Well over half (61 percent) of Gen Y consumers in the Deloitte report expect to b
Its Not That Gen Y isn't Interested In Cars, They Just Can't Afford Them Right Now
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The National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS), the folks who bought up the assets of Saab have licensed the Turkish government to use the aged Saab 9-3 as the basis of a new national vehicle. "We bought Saab 9-3’s intellectual property rights, but not its name," said Fikri Isik. Turkish Science, Industry and Technology Minister. "The brand [of the car to be developed] will be a Turkish brand, it will not be Saab. We will develop the technology in Turkey." Isik told the Turkish govern
Coming Soon to Turkey, a Saab 9-3 based vehicle
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The current trend in powertrains is to downsize engine displacement to meet emission standards. Paired with a set of turbochargers, three-cylinder and even two-cylinder engines can produce enough power to move large vehicles. But this trend is coming to an end in Europe. Reuters reports that a number of European automakers are beginning to scrap their small displacement engines for larger displacement ones. With a number of real-world tests showing these engines produce higher CO2 and nitro
The small displacement engine in Europe is going away
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com September 23, 2013 Reuters is reporting that Fiat will be buying General Motor's share of Italian engine manufacturer VM Motori. VM Motori currently supplies engines for the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. "GM's notification to exercise its put option to sell to Fiat its 50 percent interest in VM Motori SpA is in line with the contracts Fiat entered into when it acquired a 50 percent stake in VM in 2010," said Fiat in a statement.
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The past couple years have seen Tesla and dealer groups fighting over Tesla's decision to sell vehicles direct to consumers. Certain states have passed laws which exclude Tesla from doing this, while in other states, Tesla has triumphed. Now the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) has issued a statement on where they stand. In a post, the FTC says it supports companies that decide to go with the direct-to-consumer sales model as it gives consumers a choice of which method to go with - direct or wi
Where Does The Federal Trade Commission Stand On Direct-To-Consumer Sales?
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Yesterday, Consumer Reports announced the results of their annual reliability survey for 2015. Not surprisingly, the top ten was mostly made up of Japanese and Korean automakers, with Lexus and Toyota taking the top two spots. However, Audi led the Europeans by taking the third spot. For the domestics, Buick landed at number seven on the list. The survey reports that a number of automakers are still having troubles with the infotainment system, but also with transmissions. “We’ve see
Consumer Reports Announces 2015 Reliability Survey Results
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January 16th, 2012 - Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com In a statement released on Friday the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), a political action committee formed by General Motors, Chrysler Group, and Ford Motor Company, announced opposition to Japan joining the currently running Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade negotiations. The original members of the TPP formed in 2006 are Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore. From 2008 to 2010, five additional countries, Australia,
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William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com October 9, 2012 The way Tesla sells their vehicles is very different from other automakers. Their seventeen stores are modeled after the Apple Store; most are in malls for anyone to walk in and look at the vehicles. If you want to order a Tesla, you can do an online reservation. This has drawn the ire of dealers and dealer organizations, which have begun legal efforts to make Tesla's factory stores illegal. Their argument: "Tesla's factory-owne
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By William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com January 22, 2013 Last year, we reported on new legislation that wouldn't allow any rental-car company or car dealer to loan/sell any recalled vehicle before the necessary repairs have been made. Currently, only new vehicles cannot be sold unless the necessary repairs have been carried out. At the time, rental-car companies opposed the legislation, but have since agreed with it. Now dealers and smaller rental-car companies are fighting for an
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