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David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

Ford on track to produce 150,000 F-150 Lightnings, lowering customer wait times

Automotive / Automotive News /

Ford Motor Co. is on track to reach its 150,000-unit production goal on the electric F-150 Lightning this year and giving the largest production increase to the XLT trim customers have been waiting for, the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker said Thursday.

Customers wanting the $64,474 Lightning XLT can order one today from a local Ford dealer ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Congress tries to save AM radio as automakers threaten to pull the plug. Chicago listeners may have a lot riding on the outcome

Automotive / Automotive News /

When Ford announced it would stop installing AM radios in its vehicles this spring, it generated so much static among station owners, listeners and legislators that the automaker quickly reversed course.

But with Tesla and a growing number of EV manufacturers banishing the original car radio from their high-tech digital dashboards and into the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Consumer Reports pushes for free automatic crash notification in vehicles

Automotive / Automotive News /

WASHINGTON — Consumer Reports is launching a campaign to pressure automakers to include free technology in vehicles that calls emergency responders in case of a crash.

Most automakers provide this technology in new vehicles, the safety advocate says, but charge $100 per year or more to enable it.

The effort is aimed at General Motors Co., ...Read more

Grigor Atanasov/Dreamstime/TNS

Automakers tell Congress: Don't make us keep AM radio

Automotive / Automotive News /

WASHINGTON — In an era when companies are building driverless cars and 30-inch infotainment screens, the auto industry found itself in Congress on Tuesday fighting over technology that's a little more old school: AM radio.

Bipartisan lawmakers are considering requiring automakers to keep AM radio in all new vehicles as some companies — ...Read more

Siri Wannapat/Dreamstime/TNS

Motormouth: Proper tire pressure

Automotive / Automotive News /

Q: I brought my 2018 Audi A3 to the dealer needing a new tire. I learned when I picked up the car that they filled the tires to 35 psi. The sticker inside the driver’s door recommends 41 psi. I asked the service rep why the discrepancy and he told me the lower pressure will give a smoother ride and less tire wear. So why does Audi recommend 41...Read more

Stellantis/Stellantis/TNS

Stellantis wants to become world's top light-commercial vehicle company

Automotive / Automotive News /

The maker of Ram, Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler vehicles has set its sights on becoming the world's top light-commercial vehicle company, but it's going to face some major obstacles to get there, experts say.

Seeking to double its revenues by 2030 to more than $320 billion (300 billion euro), Stellantis has identified commercial vehicles as one of ...Read more

Joshua Lott/Getty Images North America/TNS

GM to invest $1 billion in Flint operations for next-gen heavy-duty truck production

Automotive / Automotive News /

FLINT, Michigan — General Motors Co. will invest more than $1 billion in two of its plants in Flint to prepare for production of next-generation heavy-duty trucks, the Detroit automaker announced Monday.

Some $788 million will go to Flint Assembly, which assembles the Chevrolet Silverado HD, the GMC Sierra HD Denali and GMC Sierra HD, ...Read more

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images North America/TNS

Strong truck sales lift Ford's May results

Automotive / Automotive News /

Ford Motor Co.'s sales rose 10.7% year-over-year in May, boosted by strong sales of the automaker's flagship F-Series truck line and amid big gains industrywide.

The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker sold 170,933 vehicles in the United States across its Ford and Lincoln brands in May, up from 154,461 in May 2022, according to figures released ...Read more

Marc Grasso/Boston Herald/TNS

Auto review: Silverado ZR2 is in a league of its own

Automotive / Automotive News /

Chevrolet enters Grasso’s Garage this week with its 1500 Silverado, but not just your typical half-ton work truck, the Silverado ZR2.

With a base price just under $70K, the ZR2 boasts a ton of standard features for off-road needs. General Motors, Chevrolet’s parent company, had no choice but to build a monster similar to competing ...Read more

Genesis/TNS

Auto review: Genesis GV60: High-tech gadgets with an extra boost

Automotive / Automotive News /

Genesis has installed an amazing array of cutting-edge technology into its 2023 GV60 Performance crossover, and it should be at the top of this review. But when a carmaker puts a yellow BOOST button on the steering wheel for an acceleration jolt ... well, that’s impossible to resist.

Push the button and prepare for a 10-second throttle thrill...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Tesla price war padded by $1.8 billion windfall from Biden's IRA

Automotive / Automotive News /

Elon Musk is getting more firepower for his electric-vehicle price war thanks to President Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation.

Tesla Inc. and its battery partner are poised to receive about $1.8 billion in production tax credits this year under the Inflation Reduction Act, according to forecasts from researcher Benchmark Mineral ...Read more

Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Self-driving delivery trucks are already on North Texas highways. How safe are they?

Automotive / Automotive News /

For anyone who likes to complain about North Texas drivers, it might sound alarming to know that soon they will be sharing the highways with transport trucks that don’t have a driver at all.

The Metroplex has quietly become the new frontier for the development of autonomous trucking, with several companies from around the world setting up ...Read more

Audi/TNS/TNS

Auto review: A new name highlights notable changes in this revised all-electric Audi

Automotive / Automotive News /

It’s been five years since Audi introduced the E-tron, during which it’s been known as the E-tron SUV, even as other E-tron models debuted. It didn’t make much sense. It’s like naming your dog Dog.

Given that Audi expects to offer more than 20 battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) by 2026, at which point it plans to no longer market vehicles...Read more

Martin Meiners/Volkswagen AG/TNS

Auto review: Quirkbox quirk-off: Kia Niro vs. VW Golf GTI

Automotive / Automotive News /

Amid the sea of SUVs in today's market there are a few rebels. With unusual designs, features, accessible pricing and different personalities, they defy convention.

Call them quirkboxes. Two new entries for the 2023 Quirky Qar Qlub are the plug-in hybrid Kia Niro and manual-transmission Volkswagen Golf GTI.

While aimed at different audiences, ...Read more

JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

'Pony up:' UAW leadership details priorities for Detroit Three contract talks

Automotive / Automotive News /

The United Auto Workers' bargaining strategy for upcoming contract talks with the Detroit automakers came into sharper focus Wednesday as union leaders spelled out their top priorities.

They are: ending tiered wage and benefit structures; reinstating cost-of-living adjustments; and securing stronger job protections. The UAW's top five leaders ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

DMV can't be trusted to prevent crashes by driverless trucks, California legislators say

Automotive / Automotive News /

When Teslas are in self-driving mode, they've been recorded crossing into oncoming traffic and hitting parked cars. But what would happen if an 80,000-pound, 18-wheel driverless truck suddenly went off the rails?

That's an experiment some California legislators aren't ready to run. They argue that the state Department of Motor Vehicles has so ...Read more

Toyota adds $2.1 billion to expand NC battery plant, total now almost $6 billion

Automotive / Automotive News /

Construction is underway at Toyota’s battery plant south of Greensboro, North Carolina, and this week the carmaker announced it’s investing another heavy sum into the future facility.

The company will direct an additional $2.1 billion to support future expansion at the facility, Toyota said in a press statement Wednesday. In 2025, the plant...Read more

Arturs Stiebriņs/Dreamstime/TNS

Federal government to require automatic emergency braking in new vehicles

Automotive / Automotive News /

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to require all new light-duty vehicles to come with automatic emergency braking, officials announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes amid consistently high traffic deaths after a spike in crashes during the pandemic. Leaders at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated the rule,...Read more

Motormouth: How much should this cost?

Automotive / Automotive News /

Q: I have a 2009 Hyundai Azera Limited with about 83,000 miles. Last year, the TPMS warning light started flashing intermittently, but would eventually go off. Early this year, the dashboard started showing the "TPMS System Failure" warning at start, and the TPMS warning light glows permanently. I had it diagnosed a couple of months ago. They ...Read more

Courtesy GM Defense/TNS/TNS

GM Defense, Black Sage Technologies to work together on military vehicles

Automotive / Automotive News /

GM Defense and Black Sage Technologies, a division of High Point Aerotechnologies, said Tuesday they have an agreement to explore developing a Counter Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) solution together for GM Defense military vehicles.

The vehicles will be for global defense and government customers attending this year's Canadian Association of ...Read more