News Blog

Ramifications from the UAW's strike against Detroit automakers was always going to reverberate throughout the industry and suppliers are asking for some concessions. But the reason isn’t wholly down to some of the obstacles created by the recent work stoppages and the long term implications are beginning to mount.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced on Wednesday that he’s delaying bans the government had previously made for gasoline-powered vehicles. The scheme was to have the United Kingdom restrict citizens from purchasing new combustion vehicles by 2030. But Sunak has questioned the previous timeline’s viability, opting to push things out to 2035.

This probably isn’t a huge surprise for anyone with at least one foot planted in reality. EV mandates have frequently been accompanied by target dates that are wholly ridiculous. Manufacturers aren’t producing these vehicles in sufficient quantities, the supportive infrastructure isn’t in place, and there's a significant portion of consumers that appear disinterested in buying non-traditional powertrains.

Hyundai’s EVs are some of the most strikingly styled vehicles around, but its N Vision 74 concept car previewed a future with even wilder designs. We’re now learning that the car may make it to production, as a recent patent application suggests the automaker might actually build and sell it.

Polestar recently announced that it would sell smartphones in China, home of its parent company, Geely. Though odd, the move wasn’t a total surprise, given the automaker’s move to electrification and the often tight integration between owners’ phones and their vehicles. We poked fun at the announcement, but Polestar forum users took things a step further with a survey on whether owners would buy the phone should it be offered here.

It’s no secret that Volvo wants to become a completely climate-neutral company, and the automaker has promised to go fully electric by the end of the decade. As part of that transition, Volvo is completely phasing out its iconic diesel powertrains by early next year.

Minivans are undefeated as family haulers, but a recent announcement from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) casts doubt on their ability to protect the precious cargo in their back seats. The crash-testing organization gave all four American minivans below-acceptable ratings in its new moderate front overlap test, which was recently updated with a stronger focus on back-seat protection and safety.

Fuel prices have been climbing this year and continue to do so. However, consumer demand can no longer be blamed as we enter into the autumn months when consumption consistently drops. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that Americans were burning through a million fewer barrels of oil last week than they were the week before.

What isn’t dropping is oil prices and that seems to be making all the difference.

America’s automotive union has committed itself to expanding strikes if leadership feels meaningful progress has not been made by the end of this week. UAW President Shawn Fain has said more factories would be called up to picket if the state of contract negotiations are still deemed lacking on Friday.

While the union hasn’t indicated which (or how many) facilities would be joining the strike, messaging from the UAW has tried to convey to the public that it’s serious about having its demands met and will do whatever it takes to reach its contract goals.

With crash statistics having taken a turn for the worse in recent years, analysts have been pouring over the relevant data to determine why. Though the resulting statistics can tell a lot of different stories, including which U.S. cities tend to boast the best and worst drivers.

Having a visible license plate is a big deal in most places, but the paint and coatings on the plate can wear and become hard to see over time. Here in Maine, it’s a common sight, as the road salt and sand can quickly shave off the more visible parts of a license plate. Colorado receives similar winter weather, and lawmakers in the state want to change the type of plates allowed to be more durable and visible over time.

A revamping of this nation’s best-selling vehicle (well, the half-ton portion of those numbers, anyway) is always worth a few words. The build-and-price tool for the 2024 Ford F-150 is now live, meaning we can poke around in what Ford asserts is a streamlined ordering process in which the number of buildable combinations has been cut by 90 percent compared to last year.

Odometer rollbacks were a thing back in the day when cars had mechanical components tracking mileage instead of advanced computers. Despite the complexity involved in tampering with modern vehicles, one Ohio dealership group is accused of rolling back the mileage on used vehicles and deceiving buyers about the condition of its inventory.

Contract negotiations between Detroit automakers and the UAW resumed over the weekend with union leadership signaling that little progress had been made. Despite Stellantis having matched the 20-percent raises offered by GM and Ford over the weekend, UAW President Shawn Fain has said the overall agreements remain unsatisfactory.

As mentioned in our earlier coverage, the union is seeking a 40 percent raise across the board through 2027 — resulting in roughly $25 an hour (around $52,000 per year) for starting employees. Some of the benefits, many of which had been rolled back as concessions during the 2008 financial crisis, are also sticking points. Fain wants workers to see those benefits restored, claiming the industry can easily afford them.

On what was the 8th anniversary of Hyundai’s N efforts, the Korean brand hauled covers off its 2024 Elantra N sedan. Launched three years ago, the rip-roaring four-door has garnered plenty of attention (some of it from clueless cops) and for this model year earns some meaningful performance upgrades whilst adopting the regular Elantra’s improved styling.

General Motors is gearing up for the release of several new EVs over the next few years, starting with the Chevrolet Equinox EV this fall. Expected to land with a price tag of $30,000, the SUV could be the start of a new wave of affordable electric models, and we’re getting our first official look at the vehicle thanks to InsideEVs’ digging on China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)  site.

Beyond tracking your credit score, Experian tracks trends and data in the automotive industry, including the most popular leased models. While the list is typically dominated by high-volume gas vehicles like the Ford F-150 and Nissan Rogue, the Tesla Model 3 is on a run that made it the first EV to make the top 10 most leased vehicles in the second quarter of 2023.

Pricing on the 2024 Nissan Z appears to have leaked on the requisite web forums and it’s a tad bit steeper than you might have been anticipating. Nissan has made the sport coupe a little more expensive for the coming model year. However, it’s the high-spec Nismo variant that’s really going to stretch your wallet. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a stop-drive notice for plug-in versions of the Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale. Vehicles are alleged to pose a fire risk due to improperly installed battery connections. Stellantis and the NHTSA have warned that this could result in a fire hazard even when the vehicle is parked. 

Automakers can work wonders with over-the-air software (OTA) updates, from increasing EVs’ range to adding new infotainment features and safety tech. Rivian’s recent software update improved its vehicles’ ride quality and ride height settings, showing that OTAs can deliver meaningful hardware updates without a tech ever touching the vehicle. 

After weeks of speculation over whether the UAW and Big Three automakers would come to an agreement, we have our answer: They didn’t. Last night, the Union launched a strike against Ford, GM, and Chrysler/Stellantis, taking almost 13,000 workers off production lines and factory floors across the country.

Whenever the issue of vehicular privacy comes up, the discussion almost immediately pivots to individuals either defending or condemning the status quo. But this often happens without either side of the argument having a firm understanding of how much information is actually being obtained inside today’s automobiles.

While we’ve covered the topic frequently, articles have typically focused on specific issues rather than overall scope. But things are different this time, with the Mozilla Foundation recently issuing a study trying to assess just how far-reaching the automotive industry’s quest for data has become.

In what is surely the final blow to any semblance of work/life balance, Google has added WebEx and Zoom meeting functionality to its Android Auto suite of services.

Listening to pundits and some media outlets, it’d be easy to believe that EVs are nowhere near as popular as their gas-powered counterparts. But, while it’s true that electric vehicles still make up a tiny portion of the overall market, their numbers are growing. The latest data from Experian shows that EV registrations rose 67 percent over 2022’s numbers to an impressive 655,986 vehicles.

Ford, Honda, and BMW have announced plans to create a new “vehicle-to-grid company” that’s aimed at standardizing vehicle charging via a singular platform. The service also seeks to return excess energy to the electrical grid, effectively converting EVs into publicly shared batteries.

The business will be known as ChargeScape and, according to the automakers' press release, seeks to “create a single platform that will seamlessly connect electric utilities, automakers and their interested EV customers to manage energy usage for a broad pool of EVs.” The scheme could be one way of addressing concerns that modern power grids couldn’t endure widespread electric vehicle usage while helping to position the involved companies in an industry that’s being heavily incentivized by the government.

The Nissan Frontier finally got the overhaul it needed in 2022 and has received generally positive reviews despite the fact that it’s not as refined or advanced as its rivals. As it stares down a 2024 model year in which all of its competitors are newer and more attractive, the Frontier is getting a new Hardbody Edition that piles on nostalgia and a few feature upgrades to some trims. Nissan also released pricing, which starts at a reasonable $29,770 before destination and taxes.

Midsize SUVs are many automakers’ bread and butter, so they work hard to keep the family haulers updated to stay competitive with the increasingly crowded field of alternatives. GMC’s midsize utility vehicle is getting an update for 2024, with increased exterior dimensions, updated tech, and a harder-core AT4 model with more off-road capability. 

On Tuesday, the White House voiced its opposition to a Republican bill scheduled to be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives that would prevent California from receiving federal waivers to set standards limiting the sale of gasoline-driven automobiles.

In what’s likely the most obvious move this year other than the Blackhawks taking Connor Bedard in the NHL draft*, Jeep has announced they are applying to the Gladiator nearly all the same updates its close cousin, the Wrangler, earned a few months ago.

The Cadillac CT5 is getting an overhaul for 2025, bringing revised interior and exterior styling, new tech, and more standard safety features. The car’s powertrain remains unchanged, and there’s no word yet on a performance variant, but the updated sports sedan should still be compelling enough to be competitive in the new world of electrification.

Believe it or not, Honda’s been around in the U.S. for decades, and to Celebrate, the automaker opened the American Honda Collection Hall to show some of its most iconic models. The display will be open during regular "Cars and Coffee" events starting in October.

In Detroit, the Truck Wars never sleep. All the players enjoy nothing more than beating each other over the head with power outputs, towing capacity, and what they think is the Next Great Gadget™. For 2024, Ford is re-upping the F-150 with a midcycle refresh – and answering GM and Ram with an innovation of its own.

The feds are telling Wolfsburg to recall about 47,000 Jetta sedans in this country, all from the 2019 and 2020 model years, thanks to an issue in cars with the old-school ignition switch.

One of the autonomous test vehicles operated by Cruise in San Francisco has been attacked by a masked assailant wielding a hammer — signaling that the city’s relationship with AVs has only gotten more complicated.

Pickup trucks have been all the rage for years now, and automakers have reveled in the opportunity to make as much money as possible with new models. Ford can’t make the compact Maverick fast enough to keep pace with demand and rumors have floated for years that Ram would bring its compact 700 pickup north from Mexico. Toyota, whose Tacoma has led its segment for a while now, is hearing from its dealers that it’s time to act with a competing smaller pickup. Automotive News reported that Toyota dealers are pressuring the automaker to retake the compact truck crown it established in the U.S. back in the 1970s.

Large automakers save money by sharing platforms and engineering designs across individual brands, but the practice means that problems affecting one model tend to impact related vehicles. Porsche and Audi recently issued a recall that illustrates that point, as the vehicles share most of their underlying engineering and could have batteries with insufficient sealant.

In its current guise since 2016, the ninth-gen Chevrolet Malibu is no spring chicken; the rumor is an all-new model will arrive in 2025. And after three days and some 700 miles behind the wheel of a 2023 example, your author has a few observations and a strong overall opinion on the very last domestic midsize sedan in production. Let’s hop in and journey east, through the Appalachian Plateau.

Last week, Stellantis slid the United Auto Workers (UAW) a contract proposal that would raise hourly workers' pay by 14.5 percent over the next four years. The deal is roughly on par with the 15 percent initially offered by Ford and 16 percent from General Motors. It likewise said it would provide workers $10,500 in inflation-related bonuses while GM offered $11,000 at GM and Ford said it could swing $12,000. Though Stellantis doesn’t appear to be offering any contract ratification bonuses, whereas others manufacturers said they’d be happy to throw in another $5,500.

Can manufacturers tend to enjoy shrouding their upcoming vehicles in a cloud of ranchland dust or billowing tire smoke – depending on what they’re trying to keep under wraps, of course. Pickup trucks often get the former, which is exactly what was deployed for a brief teaser video for the next F-150 which popped up on Instagram just one day before the entire thing is revealed in Detroit.

We know there are more than a few members of the B&B who look upon the era of small trucks with no small amount of fondness. Nissan Hardbody, Toyota Pickup, Mitsu Mighty Max – they all hold a place in the minds of many.

Nissan seems to be on the cusp of reintroducing something with the Hardbody name, releasing this image just the other day and promising answers next week.

Automakers and companies of all types frequently survey their customers to develop ideas for new products and get feedback on existing items. But while that information is valuable and should be considered when creating new products, some companies seem to bypass the process altogether and end up rolling out something unexpected. Apple did a great job of that with the iPhone, creating a whole world of new products that people didn’t know they needed, but BMW didn’t have the same luck when it made the move to package popular vehicle features in added-cost subscription services. Though it’s not ditching the controversial practice altogether, BMW walked back the heated seat subscription after receiving scathing feedback from customers.

Last month, we reported that Honda and Acura would join Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). The Japanese automakers rely on General Motors’ EV technology for some new models, and the U.S. company committed to Tesla’s standard early on, so it wasn’t a surprising development that Honda would follow suit. Yesterday, the automakers confirmed the reports and put a timeline on the commitment, stating that they would implement the plugs in new EVs starting in 2025. 

China is the world’s largest auto market, with nearly 30 million cars sold there last year, and automakers of all stripes are eager to grab a piece of the action, especially with electric vehicles. Tesla, Ford, General Motors, and most luxury brands offer broad product lines in the country, and that includes Volvo and Polestar, both owned by Chinese auto giant Geely. That relationship with China gives the automakers the ability to offer unique products there, and Polestar’s latest innovation is a great example. It has developed a new smartphone that it plans to sell with its debut SUV in the country, the Polestar 4. 

Electric vehicle platforms and simple powertrain components make it easy for automakers to customize and modify a model’s performance characteristics without re-engineering significant portions of their architecture. That has ushered in a new era of speed, as companies have figured out that slapping more powerful electric motors and upgraded suspension components onto existing models is an excellent way to squeeze more revenue out of each design. Ford did it with the Mustang Mach-E GT, and now The Blue Oval has another beefed-up variant on the way. 

Despite evidence that numerous Formula One teams had broken the sport’s updated financial rules during the 2022 season, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has formally announced that all ten have since operated under the cost cap limitations. 

"The review has been an intensive and thorough process, beginning with a detailed analysis of the documentation submitted by the competitors," stated the FIA. "Additionally, there has been an extensive check of any non-F1 activities undertaken by the teams, which comprised multiple on-site visits to team facilities and careful auditing procedures to assess compliance with the Financial Regulations."

Criticism has not abated, however.

The cause of a recent blip in production for one of the world’s largest automakers has been traced to problems with computer memory. Yes, you read that correctly.

Though Americans love to think we’re the center of the universe, that’s far from the case, especially when we’re talking about cars. The global automotive world is packed with “forbidden fruit” vehicles that automakers sell in other countries but not here. Despite being one of the most visible and popular automakers in the U.S., Japanese auto giant Toyota has a whole universe of vehicles it doesn’t offer to Americans. The iconic Century sedan is one of them, acting as the transport vehicle of choice for Japan’s royals and dignitaries. Now, Toyota’s got an SUV version, but it looks like the larger Century vehicle won’t come here, either. 

The crew at Volkswagen have slung a few improvements at their all-electric ID.4, including a significant power boost and a jump in range. And, oh yeah, they seem to be listening to some of the carping about its infotainment system.

Like everything else in the modern era, vehicles have become another polarizing issue. The populace is split between gasoline-loving Luddites, endlessly bemoaning the current regulatory landscape and smug EV adopters who proselytize battery-powered vehicles with all the zealotry of a religious fanatic.

There’s plenty of overlap between the two groups. However, they tend to diverge in terms of disposable income, political preferences, and even geography. J.D. Power looked into the latter issue, hoping to identify purchasing trends around the United States. It found that, while EV adoption rates were increasing nationwide, there are plenty of places in America that now appear to be shunning electrified automobiles. 

Instead of a radical transformation to EVs, Mercedes’ EQS vehicles have transitioned familiar vehicle styles to electrification. The EQS sedan mirrors the S-Class gas sedan, and so on. The automaker’s latest electric concept takes the same approach, and the near-production CLA EV that recently debuted at the Munich IAA Mobility show will bring electrification to the company’s sleek coupe-sedan body style.

Rumors of the Volkswagen GTI’s death may be overblown. Though the car is losing its manual transmission option next year, it will make the transition to electrification, and we’re now learning that VW may expand the GTI name to other electric models. 

Mercedes-Benz plans to introduce the MMA-based (Mercedes Modular Architecture) Concept CLA Class at the IAA Mobility Show in Germany this weekend. This will preview the brand’s all-new “MB.OS” operating system and the vehicle it's putting on the front line to help draw in a new generation of customers. 

While the majority of Americans have long since decamped in favor of crossovers and SUVs, there remains a dedicated cadre of buyers committed to the family minivan. For 2024, Chrysler is rewarding them with a smattering of updates to its Pacifica.

We’ve been hearing a lot about Hyundai and Kia car thefts, as some older models lack electronic immobilizers, but as it turns out, they’re nowhere near the most frequently stolen cars in America. The Insurance Insititute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) division recently released its list of the most stolen vehicles from model years 2020-2022, and the top models wear Dodge badges.

We’ve been seeing leaks and hearing teases for the updated Tesla Model 3 for a while now, and it finally looks like the automaker has rolled out the long-awaited refresh. The new car is on sale in China now, bringing refined styling, increased range, and a fresh interior.

As the calendar flips into 2024, Nissan is staying the course with just a few tweaks to its midsize Murano crossover, a machine that has been on sale largely unchanged for about the last 10 years.

Ford rules the electric van market in the U.S. with its E-Transit, but Mercedes won’t be far behind. Its eSprinter is launching now, and the automaker announced pricing for the electric workhorse, which starts at around $72,000. Higher-output variant will sell for $75,316.

Despite hearing corporate and government actors praise the merits of electrification for years, a sobering reality appears to be taking hold. Despite boasting exquisite torque delivery and the ability to benefit from at-home charging, the public is beginning to doubt their status as economical and environmentally sound transportation. EV prices haven’t fallen as promised, battery mining turned out to be rather contentious, and the vehicles themselves continue getting heavier — resulting in some record-setting curb weights that are likely serving to undermine roadway health and automotive safety.

While the weight issue may be more pronounced among EVs, it’s hardly limited to them. Just about every modern vehicle outweighs its ancestors by a staggering amount and a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study has claimed that an extra 1,000 pounds increases the chance of crash fatalities between vehicles by 47 percent.

Stellantis has certainly gotten its money’s worth out of the Hellcat engine, but the good times appear to almost be over. We’ve known the Dodge Charger, Challenger, and Chrysler 300 were on borrowed time, taking the range of V8-powered variants with them, and now the automaker has announced that the last of its Hellcat-carrying vehicles is going away: The Ram 1500 TRX is headed for the door after the 2024 model year, though the standard truck will remain on sale. 

In a rare double feature, Hyundai threw the covers off a pair of updates today instead of choosing to drag the news cycle out over a couple of weeks. Even more rare? The rigs in question are both sedans.

New cars come packed with all sorts of advanced tech and safety features, but buyers have gravitated toward certain amenities over others. AutoPacific recently released its 2023 Future Attribute Demand Study (FADS), which rates the 10 most-wanted vehicle features, according to buyers.