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Rivian hosts R2 open house in Normal, its new production home

Automotive / Automotive News /

NORMAL, Illinois — Nearly five years after unveiling its prototype electric pickup truck and SUV for a Normal community looking to restart its idled auto plant, Rivian was back in the town circle Saturday with its second-generation EVs, and the promise of more activity at the now-bustling factory.

The low-key but festive event showcased the ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Few stations and $200 to fill up: Life on California's 'Hydrogen Highway'

Automotive / Automotive News /

As California’s longtime chief climate regulator, Mary Nichols once championed hydrogen fuel cell cars. Just a few years ago, as the state spent tens of millions of dollars on a planned network of fueling stations dubbed “the hydrogen highway,” Nichols was extolling the 300-mile (480-kilometer) range and quick refueling time of her own ...Read more

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Electric, hybrid cars cutting Bay Area's carbon footprint, UC Berkeley researchers say

Automotive / Automotive News /

The Bay Area’s leading role in electric-vehicle adoption is producing a measurable drop in the region’s carbon footprint and contribution to the battle against climate change, new research from University of California-Berkeley suggests.

Last March, the Bay Area became the first U.S. metropolitan area where half of all new vehicle ...Read more

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Auto review: Go used, go Chevy Malibu

Automotive / Automotive News /

NAPLES, Florida — My Chevy Malibu is roomy, techy and easy on the eyes. And, most importantly, it’s a used bargain at under 20 grand.

Let’s go used car reviewing.

I’m a big fan of affordable cars whether new or used, but it’s a tough hoe for consumers these days in a market buffeted by a perfect storm of electric vehicle mandates, ...Read more

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Auto review: Goodnight Kitty: Jaguar's last gasoline-powered sports car

Automotive / Automotive News /

In the Jaguar Land Rover showroom, the 2024 Jaguar F-Type R is an anomaly. It’s a dinosaur, a relic of a fast-fading age of speed, steel, sex and internal combustion engines powered by fossil fuel. And yet, that era is still very much with us despite various governments’ attempts to change it. These beasts won’t go without a final fierce ...Read more

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Auto review: 2024 Lexus GX easily tops the luxury SUV category

Automotive / Automotive News /

Toyota Motor Co.’s upscale brand Lexus has been teasing the auto industry for over a year with the redesign of its GX. That time has finally come and it has been well worth the wait.

In Grasso’s Garage, the 2024 Lexus GX550 Premium+ wrapped in Nightfall Mica, a pristine deep blue with metallic flake that certainly shines as its exterior ...Read more

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The rise of hybrids, EVs and innovative designs bring new life to sedans as they face off against dominant crossovers

Automotive / Automotive News /

Oldsmobile sold a staggering 518,160 Cutlasses in 1979, making it the best-selling car in America. By the early ‘90s, when the Honda Accord and Ford Taurus were battling for passenger car supremacy, each sold around 400,000 units per year. Mid-size cars ruled America’s roads.

Beginning in the late ‘90s, however, Americans changed their ...Read more

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Elon Musk says he's boosting Tesla pay to stop OpenAI from poaching

Automotive / Automotive News /

Elon Musk acknowledged Tesla Inc. is having to make special efforts to retain artificial intelligence specialists, some of whom have left the carmaker in the past year to join his AI venture.

Tesla is increasing compensation for its AI engineering team, contingent on performance milestones, Musk wrote on X, his social media network. In ...Read more

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Ford delays EV launches, will offer full hybrid lineup by 2030

Automotive / Automotive News /

Ford Motor Co. on Thursday said it will delay the launch of new three-row electric vehicles in Ontario, adjust the timing of its next-generation electric truck and will offer hybrid powertrain across its entire internal combustion engine lineup in North America by the end of the decade.

Executives of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker have ...Read more

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Bumpy ride: First-quarter auto sales reflect a shifting market

Automotive / Automotive News /

The auto industry is traveling a bumpy path to recovery since the pandemic as most makers reported first-quarter sales gains with three notable exceptions: General Motors Co., Stellantis NV and Tesla Inc., all of which saw declines.

Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Subaru Corp., Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Volkswagen AG all saw year-over-year...Read more

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Stellantis CEO: EV battery weight must be cut in half in next decade

Automotive / Automotive News /

The weight of electric vehicles batteries should be cut by half over the next decade in order to make the cars more efficient and environmentally friendly, Stellantis NV CEO Carlos Tavares said Wednesday.

"They need a very significant breakthrough in terms of chemistry," he said of EV batteries. "Right now for a decent range, we are using 1,000...Read more

Ford US sales up 6.8% in Q1; hybrids hit a record

Automotive / Automotive News /

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales in the first quarter grew 6.8% year-over-year as the automaker emphasized a portfolio of mixed powertrain options amid less-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.

Even still, EV sales were up 86% in the first three months of the year, representing 4% of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker's mix. It sold 20,223 EVs...Read more

Stellantis sales drop 10% in first quarter

Automotive / Automotive News /

Stellantis NV sales dropped 10% in the first quarter compared to last year, with its Ram and Dodge brands suffering the steepest sales declines.

The transatlantic automaker, which also offers Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat and Alfa Romeo in the United States, sold 332,540 vehicles in the first three months of the year compared to 368,327 a year ago. ...Read more

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Here's why the auto industry got the EV adoption timeline wrong

Automotive / Automotive News /

Pandemic-affected inventories, overzealous emissions goals and high Wall Street valuations for electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. generated a drive for legacy automakers to push a whole lot more EVs in the coming years — a strategy the industry now recognizes was a bit misguided.

Automakers like General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. have cut ...Read more

GM sales drop slightly on fewer fleet deliveries, EV sales down

Automotive / Automotive News /

General Motors Co. saw a 1.5% decline in overall sales year over year in the first quarter as fleet deliveries slipped 23%.

GM's U.S. dealers sold 594,233 new vehicles in the first three months of 2024 compared with 603,208 a year ago. The automaker noted its retail sales, or sales to individual customers, increased 6%. It attributed the sales ...Read more

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Rivian's production dips amid wave of cost-cutting measures

Automotive / Automotive News /

Electric vehicle maker Rivian — which recently paused its plans to build a $5 billion Georgia factory — announced its first quarter manufacturing numbers, which fell short of analysts’ expectations.

The California-based automaker produced 13,980 vehicles during the first three months of 2024, a 49% increase from a year ago but a sharp ...Read more

Americans are buying cheaper cars

Automotive / Automotive News /

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. notched big U.S. sales gains and General Motors Co. grew retail deliveries to start the year as demand for lower-priced models help automakers defy expectations for a broad slowdown.

Toyota said Tuesday that deliveries rose more than 20% in the first quarter, buoyed by the compact Corolla sedan and RAV4 ...Read more

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Tesla: Judge shoots down car maker's defenses in Fremont factory racism lawsuit

Automotive / Automotive News /

A federal court judge has shot down Tesla’s bid to escape a lawsuit by the federal government that alleges widespread racism at the company’s Fremont, California, electric car factory.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Tesla in September, claiming Black workers were subjected to racial harassment that was “frequent, ...Read more

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Autonomous tractors plow path to the future at Caterpillar's secluded Peoria Proving Ground

Automotive / Automotive News /

Grounded in central Illinois throughout its century-long history, heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar has seemingly been smitten by corporate wanderlust of late, moving its headquarters from Peoria, Illinois, to Deerfield, Illinois, to Irving, Texas, over the past seven years.

But Caterpillar remains deeply rooted in the Peoria area with ...Read more

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Tesla has Wall Street worried about how many cars it just sold

Automotive / Automotive News /

Tesla Inc. may be headed for a gloomy milestone as waning demand for electric vehicles and elevated interest rates take a toll on sales.

Analysts rapidly lowered their projections for this week’s deliveries report as the quarter came to a close. Some on Wall Street are even braced for Tesla’s first sales decline since the early days of the ...Read more