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Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Electric-car makers can stop worrying so much about lithium

Automotive / Automotive News /

Lithium’s price slump over the past year has been as dramatic as its climb — and it’s probably not finished yet.

The battery material’s benchmark price in China is now down about 80% from its November 2022 record high. At that time, lithium miners were enjoying soaring profits and carmakers were bemoaning surging costs.

Now, lithium’...Read more

General Motors/General Motors/TNS

Chevy Tahoe/Suburban: More tech, more screen, more engine choices

Automotive / Automotive News /

WARREN, Michigan — For its 12th generation in 2021, the Chevy Suburban (and sister Tahoe) mega-SUV went to the gym. In a complete body makeover, the pickup truck-based twins shed 300 pounds, gained 10 inches of length, an off-road Z71 model, and acres of interior room thanks to a space-saving independent rear suspension.

For their mid-product...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

UAW organizing campaign seeks to double autoworker membership

Automotive / Automotive News /

The United Auto Workers on Wednesday said its new organizing campaign seeks to double its auto industry membership.

The campaign that the union describes as an "unprecedented" effort targets autoworkers at more than a dozen non-union automakers. That would encompass nearly 150,000 non-union autoworkers. The Detroit-based union has 146,000 ...Read more

Lexus/TNS/TNS

Detroit Three fail to make top 10 in new Consumer Reports reliability study

Automotive / Automotive News /

The Detroit Three automakers once again had a subpar performance in the latest Annual Auto Reliability study from Consumer Reports.

Bested by the Asian automakers, not one Detroit Three brand made the top 10 in the study, which was released Wednesday during an online press conference with the Automotive Press Association.

The top five brands ...Read more

GM/Chevrolet/TNS

In reversal, GM considers bringing back hybrid options for North American market

Automotive / Automotive News /

After years of pushing forward on its all-electric path, General Motors Co. is now reviewing whether to bring hybrid vehicle options back to vehicles it sells in the North American market.

The potential strategic reversal would be a dramatic move by GM. The Detroit automaker has championed plans for an all-electric fleet even as such rivals as ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

GM says UAW strike cost $1.1 billion, reinstates full-year guidance

Automotive / Automotive News /

After losing an estimated $1.1 billion in operating profit during the United Auto Workers' 46-day strike, General Motors Co. is reinstating a full-year guidance of $11.7 billion $12.7 billion in operating profit, the company said Wednesday.

GM also announced a $10 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR) program and that it intends to ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Motormouth: Tips to avoid salt corrosion

Automotive / Automotive News /

Q: We live part time on the East Coast, close to the ocean. The exposure to salt air accelerates corrosion. Do you have any suggestions on what we can do to minimize this? Also do you have any suggestions on vehicles that may be more corrosion resistant?

H.S., Chicago

A: Run it through a carwash that offers an undercarriage wash—even if it ...Read more

Tesla/Tesla/TNS

Musk's Cybertruck is already a production nightmare for Tesla

Automotive / Automotive News /

The Cybertruck hasn’t even hit the market yet, and Elon Musk already is lamenting that Tesla Inc. has dug its own grave.

Its stainless steel body may be able to withstand bullets and arrows, but it’s going to be a bear putting the panels together. It will be Tesla’s first high-voltage vehicle, offering the benefit of faster charging, but ...Read more

TNS

Auto review: Hammer down in the Chinese-made, all-electric Mullen GT sportscar

Automotive / Automotive News /

PASADENA, California — The electric Qiantu K50 lives.

In the parking lot of Santa Anita Park horse track. On an autocross course. On a Tuesday afternoon. Like a thoroughbred from a starting gate, I exploded out from under a pop-up tent into a tunnel of pylons. ZOT! I was in top of the first turn in an instant.

Boy, wish I had this kind of ...Read more

HONDA/TNS

Auto review: 2023 Honda Pilot gets the makeover it deserves

Automotive / Automotive News /

While other manufacturers hurry to market with EV SUVs or tiptoe into the hybrid market, Honda continues to be the master of the consumer automobile market. In Grasso’s Garage this week, we test-drive the flagship 2023 Honda Pilot Elite.

Our tester was the fourth-generation 2023 Honda Pilot Elite wrapped in Modern Steel Metallic. The largest ...Read more

Audi AG/Audi AG/TNS

Auto review: Fast fun, no gas: the 2024 Audi SQ8 Sportback e-tron

Automotive / Automotive News /

What a difference a letter makes. Take the Audi Q8 e-tron SUV and put an S in front of it, and all of a sudden, you have a battery-electric SUV that’s far more fun than you’d ever expect. And if that’s a sentence you don’t comprehend, allow me to explain.

Just as BMW has M and Cadillac has V in their model names to denote high-...Read more

Cfoto/DDP via ZUMA Press/TNS

Huawei and Xiaomi are paving the way for an Apple EV

Automotive / Automotive News /

Two of China’s biggest smartphone makers have joined BYD Co. and Tesla Inc. in the increasingly crowded Chinese electric-vehicle market. Their success or failure could serve as a guide for Apple Inc. some day entering the global race.

Huawei Technologies Co. received orders for 80,000 units of its debut Aito M7 SUV in the first 50 days after...Read more

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Illinois Ford dealers win ruling against automaker's EV certification program requiring pricey fast chargers

Automotive / Automotive News /

A group of 26 Illinois Ford dealers won a legal battle last week that could short-circuit the automaker’s national EV certification program, challenging required fast charger installation and training programs costing upward of $1.2 million per dealership to sell and service electric vehicles.

The Illinois Motor Vehicle Review Board ruled in ...Read more

Subaru gives employees wage increases

Automotive / Automotive News /

Another foreign automaker is upping wages after the United Auto Workers won record contracts from the Detroit Three automakers.

Subaru Corp. on Wednesday told employees it will increase wages in January. The increases will happen "at each step of our wage scales — including the largest production increase in company history," Subaru ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Amid troubles, GM's Cruise to focus driverless taxis in one city

Automotive / Automotive News /

General Motors Co.'s autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise LLC, is making some strategy changes amid external and internal reviews of its operations following an October pedestrian accident that led to government and investor scrutiny of the company.

In a statement Wednesday, a Cruise spokesperson confirmed that when the self-driving unit will be ...Read more

8 EV-related companies sign leases in metro Atlanta office campus

Automotive / Automotive News /

Several companies in Georgia’s fast-growing electric vehicle industry recently signed leases to base their office teams in Gwinnett County, including a Korean affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group.

Miami-based real estate firm Banyan Street Capital announced eight EV-related lease signings at Satellite Place, an 820,000-square-foot office campus ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Done deals: UAW confirms ratified contracts with GM, Ford and Stellantis

Automotive / Automotive News /

The United Auto Workers on Monday confirmed that members at General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV have ratified record four-and-a-half-year agreements, securing wage increases, investment commitments and more for 146,000 members.

Hourly workers at Ford, the first to reach a deal with the union, supported the agreement by more ...Read more

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Cruise CEO and co-founder resigns after self-driving cars suspended in California

Automotive / Automotive News /

General Moters' self-driving-car unit, Cruise, is shaking up its leadership after the company lost permits needed to operate in California and paused its operations.

On Sunday, Cruise Chief Executive Kyle Vogt announced he was resigning. Vogt, who co-founded Cruise in 2013, announced his departure on the social media site X, formerly Twitter. ...Read more

Joop Kleuskens/Dreamstime/TNS

Motormouth: Feeling the pressure

Automotive / Automotive News /

Q: I purchased a new set of four Bridgestone Turanza all-season touring tires for my 2014 Mercedes E350, replacing the OEM Continentals. The installer (Costco) then set the tire pressures on all four tires at 42 psi, although the tire pressure information from inside my car said to inflate the fronts to 33 psi and to 35 for the rears at normal ...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

UAW-Ford agreement secures enough votes to ratify

Automotive / Automotive News /

Enough "yes" votes have been cast by United Auto Workers members employed at Ford Motor Co. to ratify a new four-and-a-half-year deal, according to an analysis by The Detroit News, the third and final approval needed to wrap up negotiations with the Detroit Three.

At Ford, more than 68% of votes cast among hourly workers at reporting locals ...Read more