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Tesla's $25,000 car means tossing out the 100-year-old assembly line

Automotive / Automotive News /

Tesla Inc. has a plan to fend off cheaper competition from China with a $25,000 electric car. But first it has to overhaul a 100-year-old manufacturing process pioneered by Henry Ford.

The company is moving to what it calls an “unboxed” approach, which is more like building Legos than a traditional production line. Instead of a large, ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Subaru recalls 120K Legacy and Outback vehicles over airbag defect

Automotive / Automotive News /

Subaru is recalling nearly 120,000 vehicles over defective airbags.

The recall covers 118,723 Legacy sedan and Outback crossover models from 2020-2022 with a sensor issue that could prevent the front passenger airbag from deploying during a crash, according to documents the Japanese automaker filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety ...Read more

FORD/TNS

Mustang Sydney: Ford's partnership with actress Sydney Sweeney a fit for both parties

Automotive / Automotive News /

Just call her Mustang Sydney.

Sydney Sweeney, the bombshell 26-year-old actress who is fast becoming one of Hollywood's brightest young stars, has completed her latest collaboration with Ford Motor Co. In partnership with the Dearborn automaker, Sweeney designed a custom Mustang GT, which was given away to a fan as part of a contest that ...Read more

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Baltimore bridge collapse creates shipping headaches at major auto hub

Automotive / Automotive News /

The Maryland bridge collapse that severed access to the Port of Baltimore early Tuesday is expected to cause some shipping delays and logistical headaches for the auto industry.

The Baltimore port handled 847,158 cars and light trucks in 2023 — the 13th consecutive year it led all other U.S. ports in that sector. It's unclear how long the ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Motormouth: Backup camera kaput?

Automotive / Automotive News /

Q: We have 70,000 miles on our GMC Terrain. About a year ago, the backup camera stopped working. Every once in a while, the image would go to a fuzzy black and white background. If there is a simple fix and not too expensive, I would do it.

R.S., Crete, Illinois

A: More than likely the camera is kaput since it acted up prior to failing. ...Read more

Marc Grasso/Boston Herald/TNS

2024 Kia Seltos declares war on the Subcompact SUV category

Automotive / Automotive News /

In 2024, Subcompact SUVs are very high on consumers’ minds and wants lists as they have grown in size, and the need for people movers has declined overall. With more consumers realizing that large vehicle size, with features such as big back seats and third rows, is not as important as everyday driving, interest has perked up for subcompacts. ...Read more

Stellantis cutting white-collar engineering, tech employees

Automotive / Automotive News /

Stellantis NA said Friday that it's making staffing cuts to its engineering, technology and software divisions.

The automaker said the layoffs — totaling 400 white-collar employees — will affect about 2% of workers in those divisions in the United States.

"As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened ...Read more

Lorenzo Marcinno/Maserati/TNS/TNS

Auto review: The 2024 Maserati Grecale Folgore is an electric SUV with torque

Automotive / Automotive News /

You might not know what to expect from the 2024 Maserati Grecale Folgore, its first battery electric SUV, unless you know what its name translates to. Grecale means Greece, Folgore means lighting. Is the 110-year-old Italian automaker secretly trying to tell us something?

Maserati is the top luxury brand in Stellantis’ grab bag of automakers....Read more

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Prices are falling on used EVs. Here's how to get a deal

Automotive / Automotive News /

Henrietta Burroughs was so deeply devoted to her 1991 Dodge Dynasty that she saved its floor mats to honor the car’s two decades of service.

But everything else about its replacement — a bright red 2017 all-electric Chevy Bolt, now adorned with the Dynasty’s old floor mats — is better.

“It’s reliable, it’s practical, it’s ...Read more

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Lincoln's U-turn: Ford luxury brand focuses on digital tech over electrification

Automotive / Automotive News /

PALM SPRINGS, California — While other small, premium brands like Jaguar, Alfa Romeo and Cadillac have rushed towards high-tech, all-electric drivetrains sniffing a historic opportunity to re-define themselves, Lincoln is taking a different road.

Ford’s luxury brand is introducing cutting-edge digital tech — but without the battery ...Read more

Ford Motor Co./Ford Motor Co./TNS

Auto review: Playing in the sandbox with Ford Ranger Raptor Jr.

Automotive / Automotive News /

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — At speed on Ford Performance Racing School’s slippery track, I stabbed the brakes and rotated my 2024 Ranger Raptor into a 90-degree right-hander. The beast skittered through the mud before the 33-inch all-terrain tires gripped like talons — my cue to floor the throttle across the apex before pitching the truck into ...Read more

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Automakers get more time to ramp up EVs under final EPA emissions rules

Automotive / Automotive News /

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday its final automobile tailpipe emissions standards allow additional time for the automotive sector to scale up supply chains for electric vehicles and other alternative fuel powertrains in the latter half of the decade than it would have under a previous proposal.

The change partially shows...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Biden unveils plan to boost EVs, phase out gas-powered cars in US

Automotive / Automotive News /

The nation’s slow transition to electric vehicles got a boost Wednesday when the Biden administration announced it had finalized the strongest-ever pollution standards for cars and light trucks for model years 2027 through 2032.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule would require car manufacturers to increase sales of electric vehicles ...Read more

Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News/TNS

Profit machine: Ford Pro commercial vehicle and tech business sets the automaker apart

Automotive / Automotive News /

ROSEVILLE, Michigan — Ford Pro might just be Ford Motor Co.’s “Ferrari,” and some competitors say they are coming after it.

For years, the commercial vehicles segment was overlooked as less exciting, but connectivity is especially helping to change that picture. Today, Ford Pro is driving margins that are fueling the Blue Oval’s ...Read more

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Stellantis, California reach deal on emissions regulations

Automotive / Automotive News /

Stellantis NV and the California Air Resources Board said Tuesday they have reached a deal to avoid potentially "lengthy litigation" that will require the automaker to further cut greenhouse gas emissions from its cars and install new public chargers in the state.

California officials said Stellantis agreed to save more than 10 million metric ...Read more

The struggling battery factory behind GM's electric vehicle problems

Automotive / Automotive News /

General Motors Co. is racing to fix problems in its electric vehicle business to make good on promises Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra made five years ago. It still has a long way to go.

Fresh off exiting major markets like Europe and India, Barra told GM employees in the spring of 2019 that the company was pivoting its strategy to bet ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Motormouth: Steering strain?

Automotive / Automotive News /

Q: Before power steering was regularly supplied, drivers needed strong arms, especially on heavy trucks, because it was harder to turn the steering wheel as vehicle weight increased and when the vehicle was not moving. So today, drivers are insulated from the fact that, when they are stopped and turn the steering wheel, they are actually...Read more

Friso Gentsch/Volkswagen/Zuma Press/TNS

UAW files for election to organize VW's Tennessee plant

Automotive / Automotive News /

Workers at Volkswagen AG’s Tennessee plant will again try to organize with the United Auto Workers after filing with the National Labor Relations Board to have a union election, the Detroit union said Monday.

This is not the first time the UAW has pursued an organizing drive at the plant. In 2019, VW workers at the plant voted 51.8% against ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

China urges EV makers to buy local chips as US clash deepens

Automotive / Automotive News /

The Chinese government has quietly asked electric-vehicle makers from BYD Co. to Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. to sharply increase their purchases from local auto chipmakers, part of a campaign to reduce reliance on Western imports and boost China’s domestic semiconductor industry.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology asked ...Read more

Stellantis/TNS/TNS

Fiat CEO says new 500e is 'right tool' for big-city drivers. Can this small EV compete?

Automotive / Automotive News /

The little Fiat 500e — Stellantis NV’s first foray into the U.S. electric vehicle market — is by no means a Swiss Army knife of a car, the brand’s CEO Olivier François says.

“It’s really the right tool for the job,” he told The Detroit News this week, “and the job is urban mobility, and making urban mobility as ethical as you ...Read more