the Chrysler conundrum welcome to a Monday edition of the newscast when youpull up Chrysler comm and look under vehicles well it’s pretty slim pickinsyou have the 2017 200 midsize sedan which isn’t built anymore the aging 300full-size sedan and gasoline and hybrid offerings of the new Pacific a minivanthose are just a few reasons why Volkswagens luxury marque outtie with 92months of year-over-year growth outsold Chrysler brand in the first half of 2017in the u. s. one hundred two thousand nine hundred seventy one sales for Audi100 two thousand ninety five for Chrysler so let’s say Chrysler brandsells that many vehicles in the second half you are looking at roughly twohundred four thousand units for all of seventeen a far cry from Chrysler brandspeak sales here in the US 2005 with more than six hundred forty nine thousandsales nearly eight times more than what out he sold that year and informationfrom the automotive news data center and look at the seven chrysler name platesback in oh five the three hundred concorde crossfireyou also had the wagon version of the Pacifica PT Cruiser Sebring and Town andCountry minivan so what’s next for Chrysler brandthere’s Fiat Chrysler beat reporter Larry Valiquette the future the Chryslerbrand is really is really dependent on who you ask and win if you go back tothe 2014 Chrysler five year business plan at this point we should have a halfa dozen Chrysler’s on dealer lots right now they’re not here yet because a lotof those vehicles have those planned vehicles and the refreshes have beeneither killed like the Chrysler 200 and the Chrysler 100 sedans or delayed soright now it’s a wait-and-see program one thing is certain on the Chryslermarketing front the mark announcing today that it is a sponsor of SesameStreet the move includes new original content on Chrysler’s digital platformslook for lots of videos featuring the kid-friendly Pacifica minivan Hyundai isusing the conus subcompact crossover to introduce a new design language for itsCu V’s the heart of the new look is in the models front fascia specifically thenarrow LED daytime running lights mounted high near the hood line followedby another set of headlights below the kkona arrives stateside next yearmeantime spy photos of the 2019 Santa Fe sport that’s also due next yearshow a similar headlight setup and grill but Hyundai designers tell our Davidunder Koffler that despite the updated styling they still aim to give eachnameplate a more distinctive look a Ford Fusion weighs about 3400 pounds but 15of the mid-sized cars discovered at Ohio and Pennsylvania dealerships wereheavier collectively by 400 pounds or about 635 kilos the reason about amillion dollars worth of marijuana the contraband payload was discovered by aservice department employee at a dealership in Ohio’s Portage County theweed was pressed into the car’s spare tire compartment authorities thendiscovered more packages of pot infusions in other dealerships inNortheast Ohio and one in Pennsylvania the Drug Enforcement Agency says thecars were shipped from Mexico back in Aprilhe’s the highest-paid auto CEO in the u. s. he’s hailed as a visionary andtechnology genius but being Elon Musk is not without its pressures check out thisexchange between the Tesla CEO in Kentucky governor Matt Bevin Bevin askedmusk about Tesla’s 50 billion dollar plus market valuation some say it’s toohigh given Tesla’s financial performance doyou feel a concern ever that your intellect in your intellectual curiosityand your ingenuity cannot be matched by those that are trying to commercializeit does that ever affect how you think or decisions that you make musk said youtries to tamp down expectations in fact I’ve on a record several timesis saying that the stock price is higher than we have any right to deserve hesaid the price now more than $300 a share reflects optimism about whereTessa will be in the future then came this personal revelation now the thingthat makes that they’re quite a difficult emotional hardship for me isthat you know those expectations sometimes get out of out of control andI like I hate disappointing people and so I’m like trying real hard to meetthose expectations but that’s a pretty tall order and a lot of times real notreally not fun he spoke at a National Governors Association meeting Saturdayin Providence thanks so much for watching everyone we’ll see you rightback here tomorrow
Fusion vs. Outback thanks so much for stopping by as you know the Ford Fusionsedan will be zapped from the company’s lineup in a few years but the fusionname is expected to live on in a sport wagon that’s being developed tochallenge Subarus hot-selling outback that’s according to sources who spokewith Bloomberg the sedan will be replaced by a high roofed hatchbackbuilt on the same mechanical underpinnings as the current carAutomotive News reported last month that following dealer pressure Ford appearedreceptive to the idea of keeping the fusion named as a post 2021 crossovermeanwhile the Outback is a powerhouse it is Subarus best-selling model with salesup 5. 5 percent this year we’re learning more about Apple’s self-driving car techon Monday the u. s. charged X Apple employee shall lang Jeong with stealinga be trade secrets from the iPhone maker the feds claimed John wanted to work forChinese EB startup X Motors and booked a last-minute flight to China afterdownloading the plan for a circuit board for a self-driving car but the complaintalso provided insight into the resources Apple is pouring into AVS about 5,000employees were authorized to access information about the program John wasalso shown a quote proprietary chip that suggests Apple may be designing its ownchips for self-driving systems X Motors says it is fired John and that he didnot share sensitive Apple data President Donald Trump facing unusually bluntcriticism from within his own party one of the u. s. House’s top lawmakers isurging the President to restart negotiations to stop a costly tradebattle with China after you really Texan Kevin Brady heads the House Waysand Means Committee he’s calling on Trump to meet Chinese counterpart XiJinping and hash out an agreement to settle their trade differences bradywarning that further escalation such as the administration’s latest move to levytariffs on two hundred billion dollars of chinese goods risked a multi-yearfight quote that engulfs more and more of the globe Senate Finance ChairmanOrrin Hatch also criticizing the move saying it appears reckless and is not atargeted approach here are some questions should the police have thepower to disable self-driving cars what if a robo taxi can self-report that it’sbeen in a crash does that violate the occupants privacy and should Ami’s berequired to be accessible to all disabled people including the blindthese are just some of the legal safety and social issues that have to be workedout is companies ready AVS for public use regulators and othershave grappled with such issues at recent meetings for instance law enforcementofficials may want to be able to interact with direct or even control IVsduring emergencies but experts say the same pathways that would allow police tostop a self-driving car could be exploited by hackers or even terroristsfinally today Toyota has teamed with its Hawaiian distributor serve coke Pacificto test a new Honolulu car sharing service called Hui the program allowsusers to look at iota vehicle at the click of a button through a mobile appstarting at about 10 bucks an hour including gasoline and insurancecustomers can reserve and rent models at one of 25 parking stations forround-trip use Toyota joins Daimler’s car to go GM’s maven and others in thecar sharing space that is our time for now have a great day and we’ll see youback here tomorrow you
[Engine Sound]Here are a list of car news for todayLets start with the firstLexus NX recalled for brake issuesSecondGM and Fiat Chryslercut jobs in US and CanadaAnd laying off most of its employeesas consumers turn to SUVs, and pickups carsThirdHonda signs a partnershipwith Google’s Waymo for self-driving carForthAppearance of pictures for some media sourcesfor the new BMW X7FifthRecalls for group ofNissan Maxima carsfor some issues in United Arab EmiratesFinally, SixthAppearance of spy picturesfor the new Mercedes-Benz G-Class
it’s Thursday its first shift I’m Jennifer Fong Jaguar ramps up the ipacestay tuned for that story just after these headlines weeks or months aJustice Department lawyer says it could take that long for regulators to decidewhether to approve a software fix for Fiat Chrysler’s diesel vehicles theremarks coming at a federal court hearing Wednesday in San Francisco inMay the department sued FCA accusing the company of illegally using software tobypass and mission controls in 104,000 diesel vehicles sold since 2014 as CAlawyer Robert gif FRA says the automaker is optimistic regulators will approveFCA’s proposed software update meantime consumer rights activists sayVolkswagen Group’s offer to provide an extended guaranteebut no compensation for European customers with rigged diesel cars isinadequate on Wednesday European Union regulators said they had reached anagreement with VW to provide two years of repairs that are tantamount to aquote extra guarantee under the plan VW will promise to resolve issues thatmight arise up to 24 months after diesel cars have been fixed but still won’tmake financial payouts a VW senior executive in Japan has been arrested onsuspicion of using an illegal stimulant VW says Thomas C Bert a 53 year oldGerman was arrested on Wednesday the company did not elaborate on the druginvolved but Flores reports Siebert admitted using cocaine VW saying in astatement we deeply regret the fact an employee of our company has beenarrested due to his personal affairs the automaker says it’s cooperating with theinvestigation according to his LinkedIn profile Siebert is director of aftersales at Volkswagen Group Japan back in 2015 a high-ranking toyota executiveJulie HAMP was arrested Japan on suspicion of illegallyimporting the controlled painkiller oxycodone now back to SCA the automakeris recalling 297,000 older minivans in North America wiring may short-circuitcausing the driver side airbag to deploy without warning the recall involves 2011and 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan the defect is linked to 13 minor injuries andToyota is using artificial intelligence to push the environmentally friendlyPrius Prime on the Weather Channel app and weather calm Toyota becoming thefirst automaker to deploy Watson adds it’s a cognitive ad format that combinesmachine learning natural language understanding and dialogue tools toengage consumers in one-to-one discussions with Watson ads you couldhave an intelligent two-way conversation with your favorite brands right in anADD Toyota wash the ads today ahead of November’s Los Angeles Auto Show Jaguarrevealed the IPAs crossover conceptthe company is building the electric vehicle with contract manufacturer MagnaSteyr in a chat with our Richard Truitt Magnus tires Carl Friedrich Strakasays Magna engineers have been involved in the IPAs project almost from thestart while Jaguar Land Rover engineers created the vehicle Magna engineersfigured out the best way to build it but one challenge assembling the vehiclesaluminium body requires using several new joining methods including welding ofaluminium getting the vehicle right is crucial for Jaguar one reason theeyepiece puts Jaguar in direct competition with Tesla’s Model X alsothe IPAs will help the company meet its European Union commitment to cut carbondioxide emissions Straka says the first eyepieces are now being built thevehicle will launch this year in Europe and arrive next year in the US speakingof Tesla billionaire investor Ron Barron thinks the electric car makers sharescould reach $600 next year and they could rocket to $1,000 in 2020 Baron whois a major Tesla shareholder making the prediction this week on CNBC’s SquawkBox remember to stay with Auto news. com foryour industry update around the clock we’ll see you back here Friday morning
tax breaks Plan B welcome in on this Tuesday atGarston in Fatah war Beck o Tesla’s Model 3 production delay may be Chevy’sgain some of those holding reservations for the Model 3 didn’t waste timelooking for alternatives after Tesla notified some of them earlier this monththey might not receive their cars until next yearReuters reports it’s not a case of simple impatience those left waitingaround for their model 3 risk losing a $7,500 federal electric vehicle taxcredit the tax credit drops in value and disappears completelyonce Tesla sells 200,000 electric vehicles in the u. s. an analyst forEdmunds predicts that could happen by fall a plan B for some Tesla customersis the Chevrolet Volt priced about the same as the model 3 at about 35 grandand with a similar range of more than 200 miles there are no reportedproduction problems for the bolt in fact sales of brisk kelly blue book reportsday’s supply of bolts fell to 42 in january from a high of 65 last augustchevrolet marketing director steve Majoris has said the brand won’t openlyexploit Tesla’s predicament but said he’s aware the bolt is attracting someof that company’s buyers the stay with Tesla in Europe the Model S sedan hasoutsold the luxury flagships of mercedes-benz BMW and Audi for the firsttime Model S sales in Europe jumped 30 percent last year to 16,000 132 Mercedess-class sales grew 3% to 13,000 359 and BMW 7-series sales fell 13% to 11,000735 a Germany’s premium brands been under pressure to accelerate their evieplans jeido dynamics analyst Philippe Munozadds this note of caution quote this is an alarm for traditional autumnmakers such as Mercedes it says a smaller but smarter brands such as Teslacan beat them at home an update on another of Elon Musk’s ventures the highspeed transport system known as the Hyperloop now as we’ve told you Britishtycoon Richard Branson is backing a project called Virgin hybrid loop onehow the venture is signed a preliminary deal to build one of the two basedtransport systems in India it would ferry passengers from Pune India to anew airport in Mumbai that from Bloomberg well pays to perform just askFCA boss Sergio Marchionne the automaker disclosing that Marshall earned nearly12 million dollars in base compensation and bonus in 2017 that’s not the half ofit he collected shares were thirty five point seven million for the three yearperiod that ended in 2016 the shares part of a performance-based pay programand Ford confirming that it hopes to set up a bank in Germany in the second halfof the year it’s part of for credit strategy to mitigate any risk fromBritain leaving the European Union a few product notes Volkswagen will debut itsID vision concept that next month Geneva Auto Showit’s an all-electric fully autonomous sedan with no steering wheel or visiblecontrols VW says the concept can drive steer and navigate autonomously intraffic the vision is the fourth id concept from VW which plans to introducetwenty full electric models by 2025 meantime Lexus confirming that it willunveil a production version of the UX small crossover in Geneva the UX wasfirst seen as a concept at the 2016 Paris Auto Show and will likely be basedoff the Toyota CHR subcompact crossover and Kia releasing this teaser image ofits second-generation k900 flagship sedan ahead of its world debut laterthis year kia says the car features new tootechnologies to protect occupants and enhanced interior comfort to give thedriver greater confidence at the wheel well we’re not ashamed to Claire ourfinal story today really stinks word from New Zealand is that threeJapanese ships carrying more than 10,000 new and used cars were refused to entryto the island nation little problem they were infested with the scourge known asstink bugs hordes of them well it’s not that they stink up the cars but oncethey get ashore the voracious little buggers chow down on all sorts of cropsresist pesticides and reproduce quickly the CEO of New Zealand’s imported motorvehicle Industry Association told CNN he’s never seen anything this bad infact he had to cut short his vacation to deal with itthat stinks and will he promise to return with fresh news tomorrowtake care
The Ford Focus RS is finally coming to America!I’m Jerry Reynolds, the Car Pro, with your automotive news in sixty seconds. It’s official, Ford is bringing its hot European hatchback to American shores. The US spec version will churn out more than 315 horsepower, thanks to a 2. 3 liter ecoboostengine. It’ll go on sale next spring. And Chevy will offer a 2016 Malibu hybrid, which borrows technology from the “volt”. A revamped sedan will debut in New York next month. and Chevy says the hybrid version will get a combined fuel economy rating of 45 mpgs. And RAM’s unveiled a one-of-a-kind truck concept honoring Texas lawmen. It’s the RAM 1500 “Texas Ranger” edition. The iconic Texas Ranger ‘star’ badge is used throughout its design. RAM hasn’t ruledout a production run. I’m Jerry Reynolds, the Car Pro, hope you have a great week.
Goldin at 50 hi everyone ed garsten in Fatah war backon this Thursday that story in just a moment first here’s what else is makingnews John Cena has filed a motion to dismiss Ford’s lawsuit against him Fordis suing the professional wrestler turned actor for flipping his 2017 GTsupercar it says scene a broke a contract prohibiting his sale for twoyears after initial ownership Cena’s motion says the stipulationagainst reselling the vehicle was not explicitly stated in the final buyer’sagreement coming off its best US sales year subaru is showing no sign ofslowing down as it reaches its 50th anniversary of selling cars in thiscountry but as our Jack Walz worth who covers the Japanese automaker points outit didn’t seem like subaru would hang in after hitting us shores in 1968 when Ifirst came to America they were selling a small micro car called the 360 wasvery utilitarian was really made for the American marketindeed Subaru had a mixed bag of products few of which were successfuluntil the company locked on to what American drivers preferred once theyrealized that consumers really enjoy all the drive wagons that kind of becomessort of like crossovers that’s when I really started cooking because in themid 90s they introduced the Outback as a trim line on the legacy wagon which wasessentially just a raised up legacy wagon but by 95 became its own model andit’s one of a the brand sales release solidified Subaru also connected withconsumers with its 2000 what a wino ad campaign featuring tennis legend MartinaNavratilova and its 2008 love series of spots now enjoying record US sales withvehicles like the Outback Forester Crosstrek and a redesigned ImprezaSubarus sold almost six hundred forty-eight thousand vehicles last yearquite a difference from the almost 81 and it moved in 1977 a positive portentfor its next 50 years overall they’re you know they’re in great shape I thinka lot a lot of bigger brands with and smaller brands would love to be in theirshoes because they have a lot of crossovers that are selling well theyhave a very loyal consumer pace all their retailers seem to be very happy atthe moment and it appears that you know that’s the sales tricks that they haveisn’t gonna end anytime soon back now the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration yesterday we introduced you to knits a deputy administratorHeidi King King facing House members anxious for an update on an agency thatstill without a boss and his proposed budget has been reduced for 2018 memberssuch as New Jersey Democrat Frank pallone say they wonder if nitsa isstretched too thin to fulfill a growing list of responsibilities for ensuringvehicle safety it’s troubling that Nissa does not have the resources people orexpertise it needs to fulfill its mandate it’s also concerning that theadministration clearly does not see this agency as a priority as we’ve yet tohear about a possible nomination for the role of NASA Administrator King says thebudget reflects the resources needs and needs still some lawmakers questionedwhether Nitza has the technical experts to implement rules governing developmentof automated vehicles you say you’ve got the tools but we’re not sure you’ve gotthe resources for the tools or that we’re moving fast enough or we’re doingwhat we need to do the Trump administration has requested 899 milliondollars for Nitsa in fiscal year 2018 down from the 905 million appropriatedby Congress in 2017 the hearing not the first time this week that cars collidedwith politics GM Korea company announced today that it will cease production andclose its guns and plant in May of 2018 and they’re going to move back toDetroit you know any of these things except for the fact that Trump becamepresident president and Donald Trump using GM’s decision to close one of itsfour plants in South Korea to launch fresh criticism of the u. s. South Koreatrade agreement so they’re moving back fromin Detroit they’re moving also you saw Chrysler moving from Mexico to Michiganclarify GM did not say that it plans to move vehicle production to the US fromSouth Korea the automakers saying in a statement that the plant closing stemsfrom a need to restructure its business in South Korea as for Fiat Chrysler it’stransferring production of its next-generation heavy-duty pickups toMichigan for Mexico finally remember that FC a spot that aired during theSuper Bowl no no not that one this one it’s called anti manifesto butafter seeing it the head of fresh water conservation group Trout Unlimited sayshe’s anti anti manifesto in the spot a Jeep Wrangler is shown crossing a creeka disclaimer says the spot was shot on a man-made body of water on private landbut Trout Unlimited CEO Chris Wood says that doesn’t get Jeep off the hook heeven sent this letter to Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionneasking him to pull the spot because no one should drive up the middle of ariver or a stream because it could cause damage and endanger fish it may simplybe a case of a Jeep acting more like a fjordwell we’ve crossed the finish line for today thanks for joining us we’ll seeyou tomorrowyou
thanks for joining us on this Tuesday morning a record year for Ford’sf-series we’ll have that story after these headlines and we’ll start inWashington with an unusual merger of politics self-driving cars and of allthings aviation there’s an effort underway inthe US Senate to secure passage for stalled legislation governingself-driving cars by attaching it to a must-pass a reauthorization of theFederal Aviation Administration safety and consumer advocates are urgingsenators to reject the effort the AV start Act would create a framework forregulating deployment of ABS on public roadways it has strong bipartisansupport but several Democrats are holding up the bill they say that in itscurrent form it gives industry too much leeway to ignore basic safety standardswhen the technology remains unproven absent those objections the bill couldpass by unanimous consent without a vote in a letter to senators more than fivedozen groups say the AV start act deserves to be fully reviewed anddebated and have amendments because it could guide auto safety policy fordecades now a follow-up to yesterday’s lead storyTesla shears dipped as much as four percent Monday this after CEO Elon Muskcalled a British cave Explorer who had criticized him a pedophile the diverhelped rescue 12 Thai children from a flooded cave last week Tesla shares weredown 2. 8% at Monday’s clothes analysts andinvestors tell Reuters they are concerned that musk public comments aredistracting him from the company’s main business producing electric cars Fordhas agreed to pay 299 point 1 million dollars to settle consumers economicloss claims connected to Takata airbag inflator recalls the settlement wasfiled in federal court in my am Monday it reimburses consumers forout-of-pocket expenses and provides free loaners for owners or lessees who arewaiting for their airbags to be fixed the settlement will also increaseoutreach efforts to find consumers whose vehicles still have defective airbagsthat report from Bloomberg to California now a former Apple engineer charged withstealing driverless car secrets for a Chinese startup has pleaded not guiltyin federal court in San Jose we guarantee the best price on all kinds ofaccommodations booking. com and Chinese ride hailing app dd juicing has receiveda five hundred million dollar investment from US Travel firm booking Holdings thenew funds come as Diddy is expanding heavily into several new overseasmarkets where it hopes to challenge uber this year Ford might sell more bigpickups in the US than it ever has nets thanks to a blistering first half pacethrough June the automaker sold more than 450,000 of its f-series line anddespite a declining market and redesigned models from its chief rivalsFord is on pace to sell nine hundred forty-one thousand of the trucks for thefull year that would top its 2004 record of nearly nine hundred forty thousandsales as our Mike Martinez reports Ford benefited in the first half from factorsincluding strong housing starts and the trend of consumers shifting to pickupsand SUVs also helping a range of options for consumers for example Ford hasrolled out features including a 10 speed transmission a raptor performancevariant and later this year a diesel option the f-series has been thecountry’s best-selling pick up since 1977 speaking of the f-series now I’mgonna get an f-150 that’s House Speaker Paul Ryan during arecent interview at an event hosted by theClub of Washington DC upon retirement Ryan says he is getting in f-150 toreplace his Chevy Suburban after a family of woodchucks chewed up thewiring my car was eaten by animals that wraps up today’s newscast we’ll catchyou back here Wednesday morning
it’s great to see you on this Friday morning I’m Jennifer Fong coming upbatteries get a new lease on life but now your morning headlines Mazda hasbecome the latest auto company to condemn the Trump administration’spotential tariffs on imported cars the Japanese manufacturers u. s. unit urgingthe Commerce Department to quote reject the premise that auto imports are athreat to national security Mazda adding a tariff is a tax and it will be paid byAmerican consumers it will significantly increase the cost of every new vehiclesold in America regardless of where it is built meantime the association ofglobal automakers is calling the potential duties the greatest threat tothe US automotive industry at this time that report from Bloomberg also weighingin on tariffs the American International Automobile Dealers Association in itscomments to the Commerce Department the group focuses on the economic impactthat international nameplate dealers have in the u. s. it also details thepotential economic harm 25% tariffs could cause leaders of the EuropeanUnion are signaling their readiness to retaliate should the US escalate a tradewar by adding tariffs on cars and auto parts the leaders releasing a statementearly today saying quote the EU must respond to all actions of a clearprotectionist nature meantime Canada is preparing to impose tariffs on nearly 15billion dollars of US imports in response to US levies on Canadian steeland aluminum which went into effect a month agothe final tariffs list is scheduled to be released later this morning alongwith measures to support the domestic steel sector for months there’s beenspeculation that the Detroit Auto Show will move from its traditional Januarydate to either October or June starting in 2020on July 24th the Detroit Auto Dealers Association will announce its decisionon Thursday the group released a short teaser video it features a rendering ofa reimagined Cobo Center including outdoor test tracks and vehicle displaysshow organizers are hoping to stop a stream of automakers that have announcedthey’re pulling out they also want to modernize the event this as the industryevolves and embraces new forms of mobility General Motors is expanding theprice range of the redesigned 2019 Chevrolet Silverado it’s lowering thestarting price of several entry-level models and increasing pricing on somehigh-end trims for instance the starting price of a 2019 Silverado work truckwill decrease by four hundred dollars to twenty nine thousand seven hundredninety five including shipping while the LTZ will increase by seven hundreddollars to forty four thousand four hundred ninety five the Silverado isexpected to begin arriving in dealerships this fall alongside its GMCSierra’s sibling and in other news GM has cut the time needed to recharge the2019 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid nearly in half by doubling the kilowattcapacity of the cars charging system GM says the new 7. 2 kilowatt chargingsystem reduces the charging time from roughly four point five hours to twopoint three hours with a 240 volt outlet from 711s to charging stations to homeenergy storage units those are some of the places automakers and othercompanies are reusing batteries from hybrid and electric vehicles asbloomberg reports finding ways to give batteries a second life is becoming moreurgentaccording to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance the global stock pile ofevey batteries is forecast to exceed the equivalent of about 3. 4 million packs by2025 that’s compared with about 55,000 this year General Motors BMW and Toyotaare among those trying to create an aftermarket for used batteries and keepthem out of landfills Toyota for example will install retired batteries outside7-eleven stores in Japan next year according to Bloomberg lithium-ion carand bus batteries can collect and discharge electricity for another 7 to10 years after being taken off the roads and stripped from the chassis and thatis our time for today remember you can follow us on Twitter at first underscoreshift enjoy your weekend we’ll catch you back here Monday morning
powerful ponies it is good to see you on this Tuesday June 27th our US auto saleshalftime preview continues today and we wanted to find out which muscle cars areflexing the most so far this year in a light truck thirsty market for theanswer we turn to automotive news senior correspondent Jesse Snider when it comesto sporty cars Americans buy Detroit iron it is perennially Ford MustangChevrolet Camaro Dodge Challenger they control five eighths of the marketagainst 23 other sporty cars and this year Mustangs down a little bitCamaro and challenger are doing pretty well let’s look at the numbers MustangUS sales are off 28% through May but the car still has a 6500 unit lead on theChevrolet Camaro the Dodge Challenger in third place to dodge sister brand Ram itoutsold the Chevy Silverado pickup for a third consecutive month in May and isthreatening to snatch from Chevy the number-two spot behind the Ford f-seriesRam hoping to add more sales with this the limited tungsten edition notableadditions include a suede headliner Ram says that is a truck segment first thepickup also features real wood interior components the limited tungsten arrivesin dealerships in the third quarter meantime spy photographers have caughtthe redesigned RAM 1500 during testing and despite heavy camouflage somefeatures of the truck are evident including an apparent longer wheelbaseand a new tailgate that folds down and splits in the middle to provide closeraccess to the bed the next-gen light duty pickup is slated to be revealed atthe Detroit Auto Show in January turns out General Motors cost to offloadits money-losing Opel brand is more expensive than original estimates GMchief angel’ officer Chuck Stevens sayingMonday that the automaker expects to take a 5. 5 billion dollar non-cashspecial charge for the sale of Opel to French automaker PSA group that’s abillion bucks more than the original 4. 5 billion dollar estimate steven says theincrease is related to additional costs associated with the deal GM is sellingboth German based Opel and British brand Vauxhall for twopoint three billion dollars to PSA as GM exits the European market Opel says thedeal could close by July 31st the German Transport Ministry announced plans todayto set up a new Institute to test vehicle emissions the ministry aiming torestore consumer confidence after the Volkswagen cheating scandal looking toaccelerate development of self-driving cars volvo supplier auto leave and theirsoftware joint ventures annuity are boosting ties with chip maker nvidiavolvo plans to use Nvidia’s drive PX processing platform to help theautomaker meet its goal of putting an autonomous vehicle on the road by 2021specifically the sweden-based and Chinese owned automaker is looking tonvidia x’ expertise in artificial intelligence to develop systems makingit easier for autonomous vehicles to recognize obstacles and potential safetythreats the deal continues the trend of automakers traditional auto parts makersand technology suppliers aligning to boost development of Robo carsself-driving car proponent Tesla is expanding its borrowing capacity as acompany gears up for the start of production of the mass market model 3 inJuly it is the second time in about six months the electric car maker has soughtto raise more capital according to a regulatory filing Tesla increased itscredit agreements by a combined 800 million dollars to three point eight tofive billion dollars if you drove to work today or ran an errand chances areyou saw some boneheaded move by another driver and you probably ask yourselfwhere are all the safe drivers the answer Kansas City Kansasthat’s according to insurance giant all state’s annual America’s best driversreport released today Kansas City Kansas driver averages fourteen point nineyears between collisions Allstate says the national average is 10 years be safeout there everyone we’ll see you back here tomorrow
two huge sellers with an important connection hi everyone it’s good to seeyou I’m Tom Mora back when the joint Toyota Mazda assembly plant opens itsdoors near Huntsville Alabama in 2021 the factory will have capacity to build150,000 mazda crossovers and 150,000 Toyota Corollas that’s right a compactcar in what will likely continue to be a light truck hungry market so why wouldToyota help fun the 1. 6 billion dollar plan to make a car it’s a product thatwe need very much here in North America that’s Toyota North America’s CEO Jimlens Toyota so nearly 300 30,000 Corollas in the US last year second onlyto the Honda Civic in the compact car segment overall the Corolla was thethird best-selling car behind the Civic and first place Toyota Camry midsize carLen says building Corollas in the south will help Toyota about 800 miles to thenorth we’re moving Corollas out of Canada to be able to build more RAVfours indeed Toyota will start producing rav4 compact Cu V’s at the company’sCambridge North assembly plant in Ontario in 2019the rav4 is also built at Toyota’s nearby Woodstock factory in dealers mayneed every single rav4 they can get it was the fourth best selling vehicle inthe US last year trailing only the Ford f-series Chevy Silverado and Ram pickupthe back to the Corolla it is Toyota’s biggest volume product globally meantimeToyota’s plant in Mississippi will continue to make Corollas the factorythere can build roughly 170 thousand vehicles annually for today reporting asecond death in an older pickup truck caused by a defective Takata airbaginflator the automaker confirming in December that a July 2017 crash death ina 2006 Ford Ranger was caused by a faulty Takata inflator ford reported asimilar death in January 2016 the company is urging 2,900 owners ofcertain oh six Rangers in North America to stop driving the trucks until repairscan be made at least 21 deaths worldwide are linked to the Takata inflators thatcan rupture and send deadly metal fragments into the body more productnews Kia is planning a sporty stinger like overhaul of the third-generationforte compact sedan Kia providing a sneak peak of theredesigned 40 sedan ahead of Monday’s planned introduction at the Detroit AutoShow we know auto sales in the US are losing steam but hey enough about uswhat about the world well researchers at IHS market say global light vehiclesales will grow this year but more slowly than they grew in 2017 IHSestimates 2017 global sales at a record ninety four point five million of 2. 4%from 2016looking at it another way every day just shy of 259,000 cars and trucks are soldsomewhere on the planet IHS expects sales for this year toincrease 1. 5% to ninety five point nine million turning to technology news let’sstart with what happens when a self-driving vehicle meets up with apoorly driven vehicle this modified self-driving Ford Fusion needed to betowed away when it was hit by an ordinary box man whose driver ran a redlight in Pittsburgh on Wednesday this according to published reports now fourpeople were injured in the accident the fusion is a test vehicle operated byargo AI an autonomous vehicle start-up backed by Ford Porsche says it’sdeveloping a platform for electric sports cars and supercars that could beused by sister brands Lamborghini and outing the new architecture is calledSPE its parent company Volkswagen Group’s third purpose-built platform forfull V’s last September VW said it plans to roll out more than80 new electrified models by 2025 meanwhile the Volkswagen brand iscreating an e mobility division as it looks to topple Tesla as the leader inmass-market electric cars it plans to produce five core EB models the firstgoing on sale in Europe in 2020 the new unit will be headed by Thomas Albrechtmoving into that role from his position as VW’s production chiefand finally they had a devilishly good time in northern Michigan last night andall the fun will warm some hearts too as we’ve reported bill Marsh Chrysler DodgeJeep Ram in Traverse City decided to auction off its lone Dodge ChallengerSRT demon for charity and customer Ted parrot was the highest bidder offeringfourteen thousand seven hundred dollars to gain the right to buy the demon for abuck under sticker the nearly $15,000 bid will be split among four nonprofitorganizations and that is our time for today thanks so much for watching we’llsee you tomorrowyou
welcome to the newscast I’m Jennifer Fong coming up Chevy’s global marketingboss on the Canadian dream in Moore first here’s what’s topping our newsyeah Chrysler is closing the Detroit Factory where a small group of workershand-built the Dodge Viper the automaker informing the state ofMichigan that the Connor Avenue plant will permanently close on August 31stthe notice lists 87 affected positions the automaker says it expects to be ableto offer all the employees jobs and other facilities this is the lastproduction year for the $90,000 fifth-generation sports car thetwo-seater cannot meet new safety regulations that go into effect onSeptember 1st the Connor Abdo factory has built the Viper since1995 the UAW in its Canadian counterpart unifor have joined forces to urge thegovernments of Canada Mexico and the u. s. to make significant changes to theNorth American Free Trade Agreement the two unions issuing a joint statementTuesday outlining four priorities they want to trust during the renegotiationof the 23 year old trade deal they are the strengthening of labor standards andraising wages balance trade real made in North America rules and a fair share ofbenefits for workers in each country together the two unions represent morethan two hundred forty five thousand Auto Workers in North American assemblyplants in their joint statement the unions say NAFTA has failed in all threecountries they add quote while overall trade volumes and corporate profits areup wages in all three countries have remained largely stagnant too oftenworkers are not compensated fairly for their work in other news USEnvironmental Protection Agency Chief Scott Pruitt says the agency must ensurethat Volkswagen AG’s diesel emissions violationsare not repeated Pruitt telling Reuters that the EPA will treat improperbehavior by automakers quote very aggressively uber tried to calminvestors concerns Tuesday that ongoing scandals were taking a toll on thebusiness the ride hailing company telling investors in a conference callto expect improved bookings narrower losses and a possible settlement withway Moe that could resolve one of the company’s biggest legal hurdles duringthe 15-minute call uber did not release full financial results saying thosewould be ready in the coming weeks that story comes our way from Bloomberg ourdesire is to attract the best talent and the best ideas from everywhere aroundthe globe and Toyota Research Institute is investing a hundred million dollarsto create a venture capital fund for technology startups the automaker saysthe investment arm named Toyota AI ventures will focus on artificialintelligence robotics autonomous driving and data and cloud technologies JimAdler vice president of data and business development at TR I will serveas managing director we’re looking for start-up entrepreneurs that have thevision the grit and integrity to help us answer the questions that we don’t knowthe answers to the new unit will assume responsibility for three existing TR Ifunded ventures Chevrolet’s global chief marketing officer since 2013 Tim Mahoneyhas seen his geographic responsibilities shrinkthat’s because General Motors has been pushing to focus on fewer moreprofitable markets he recently spoke with our affiliate to Advertising Ageabout his role under GM’s new strategy some highlightsMahoney is planning a new campaign in China focused and the idea that anythingis possible but his challenge will be carving out a place for Chevy in amarket where aggressive local brands are getting strongerin Canada meantime Chevy is running its new Canadian dream campaign that playson a theme of opportunity traditionally associated with the American Dream andwhen it comes to an overall slowing auto market Mahoney’s approach is to leaninto more emotional reasons to buy rather than rational reasons such aspricing he says quote you have to start the conversation at a human level and Ithink that also helps you connect with people a little bit better and get youthrough proper time and we thank you for your time todayremember auto news now comes your way this afternoontake care
welcome to Friday mornings newscast just aheaddriving acceptance of driverless cars but we’ll begin with your morning atLyons California in other states would be barred from setting their own rulesgoverning the design and testing of self-driving cars and federal regulatorswould be blocked from demanding pre-market approval for autonomousvehicle technology these are some of the provisions of a House Republicanproposal reviewed by Reuters on Thursday the draft legislation while far frombecoming law still represents a victory for automakers and companies such asGoogle’s way Moe they are trying to persuade Congress and the Trumpadministration to preempt rules under consideration in California New York andother states that could limit deployment of self-driving vehicles the 45 pagedraft package of 14 Bills would designate the National Highway TrafficSafety Administration as the lead agency for regulating self-driving cars Fordhas increased the power and cut the weight of two of its largest name platesthe f-150 pickup and expedition SUV as thanks in part to more efficienttransmissions and lighter aluminum bodies for a rundown of all the changessee Mike Martinez’s story here at Auto news. comvolkswagen is replacing the head of its assembly plant in Chattanooga Tennesseethe automaker announcing that Christian cook who has run the plant since 2014will return to Germany to pursue an unspecified new assignment with thecompany VW naming Antonio Pinto as the new executive VP of Chattanoogaoperations effective August 1st he’s been serving as vice president ofproduction and logistics at Volkswagen of Mexico during cooks tenure the plantunderwent a 900 million dollar expansion to make the seventh seat Atlas crossoverthe plant has also been embroiled in a unionization battle the National LaborRelations Board recently filing in unfair labor practices complaint againstVW AG for allegedly hiking health insurance premiums and changing workinghours for a group of skilled workers who voted for union representation in 2015Japanese airbag supplier Takata is said to be preparing to file forbankruptcy as early as next week this as it works toward a deal for financialbacking from US auto parts maker key safety systems Takata faces billions ofdollars in liabilities stemming from its defective airbag inflaters and after adip in april european new car sales rose seven point seven percent in May nearlyall automakers recording increasesconsumers are more likely to embrace the idea of self-driving vehicles if theyowned cars with driver assist features such as adaptive cruise control that’saccording to preliminary results from a survey by the Alliance of AutomobileManufacturers change is coming rapidly Alliance president Mitch bein wall citedthe findings in prepared testimony this week during the Senate Commercecommittee’s hearing on the testing and deployment of driverless carshe says people who have experienced the technologies safety advantages firsthand have much more favorable attitudes toward robot vehicles than those whohave no such experience and consumer acceptance is vital as more than twodozen tech and auto companies are testing self-driving rides or thesoftware to control them but it remains a big hurdle US Transportation SecretaryElaine Chao recently said at a conference in Detroit that publicconcerns about safety security and privacy will be deterrent to advancingthe technology the autonomous bull TVs you see here today meantime GeneralMotors CEO Mary Barra says she understands the initial worries ofgiving up the wheel to a computer she spoke with reporters during an eventthis week at the Detroit area plant that builds the autonomous Chevrolet boltelectric car I think the best way is to actually get in the vehicle because youcan talk about if and until you experience it and that’s why we thinkputting in ride-sharing fleets is going to be so very very important to get thatexperience I know I went through it by self as you know having permitted fora few decades of going through that but once you’re in the vehicle and you seethe technology understand how it works some of the companies giving access tothe public to its driverless rights include wham-o and Volvo and back tobein wall he told members of the US Senate Commerce Committee that federalleadership and clear rules are vital to the widespread adoption of self-drivingcars we’ll wrap up with a birthday footnotefiat-chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne turns 65 tomorrow thanks for joining uson this edition of first shift enjoy your weekend and we’ll see you back hereon Monday
welcome back on this Thursday trade continues to top the news GermanChancellor Angela Merkel saying today she would back lowering European Uniontariffs on US car imports the comment is in response to an offer from the us toabandon threatened levies on EU built cars in return for concessions Merkelsaying quote when we want to negotiate tariffs on cars for example we need acommon European position and we are still working on it as we told you onfirst shift the US ambassador to Germany on Wednesday told German car bosses thatPresident Donald Trump would cease terror threats if the EU scrapped dutieson u. s. cars imported into the bloc last month Trump threatened to impose a 20%import tariff on all EU assembled cars Merkel says any move to cut tariffs onUS vehicles would require reductions on those imported from other countries toconform with World Trade Organization rules speaking of the WTOnumerous countries are troubled about US efforts to explore additional tariffs onimported vehicles and parts Japan and Russia initiated the discussion at theWTO Council on trade they warned such duties could trigger a spiral of countermeasures and that could result in the collapse of the rules-based multilateraltrading system will stay with retaliatory tariffs China which justdays ago cut levies on all imported automobiles to 15% plans to slap anadditional 25% tariff on US made light vehicles starting Friday that’s if theTrump administration proceeds with plans to implement tariffs on 34 billiondollars worth of Chinese imports however Ford says it is noplans for now to hike prices of imported Ford brand in lincoln models in chinaford’s move makes it the first automaker to address pricing ahead of the plannedtariffs which would affect around thirty four billion dollars of various USimports Renault and Nissan have given themselves two years to decide on apossible merger between the two automakers or find another channel toenhance their partnership that’s according to sources who spoke withBloomberg the companies are in talks about options including establishing aholding company in putting Renault and Nissan under that umbrella theautomakers declined to comment Volvo on Wednesday launched M it’s a new brandthe automaker says will expand its global mobility operations specificallyVolos is M will provide on-demand access to cars and services through an app M isdeveloping proprietary learning technology that asks users about theirspecific needs instead of merely informing them where they can pick up avehicle the program will debut in Sweden and the US in the spring of 2019 and theVW brand plans to start offering car sharing services using full electricvehicles in Germany next year it’s all part of efforts to serve consumers whodon’t want to buy their own vehicles VW saying Wednesday the new car sharingservice will expand to major cities in Europe North America and Asia as earlyas 2020 for breaking news around the clock stay with Auto news. com take goodcare we’ll see you tomorrowyou
Welcome in on the Thursday later. How ride-sharing is helping to revive the rental car biz now your morning headlinesisthe Popular BMW 3-seriesGoing electric. Yes according to a report in the German newspaper Honda lotsIt says the automaker plans to introduce an electric version of its 3 series inseptember in a move designed to fend off Rival TeslaBmWs said to be planning to prevent the vehicle at the Frankfurt auto show in SeptemberBMW declined to commentHonda’s blog says the electrified 3-series will have a range of248 miles and would compete with tesla’s model 3 which goes on sale later this yearWe are here to announce a B11 84 which is the California electric vehicle ownershipCalifornia Assemblyman Phil King in San Francisco, WednesdayAnnouncing a bill that would provide rebates to evey buyers at the time of purchasethereby reducing the sale price right as customers drive off the lots asBloomberg reports the federal tax credit for electric car purchases has an end in sight inCalifornia doesn’t want demand for a zero emission vehicle to meet the same fateThe Bill does not specify the size of the rebatesexecutives from Hyundai and Samsung are among a 50 two-person business delegationJoining South Korean leader moon Jae-in today as he begins a two-day summit with us President Donald trumpTrump is expected to press moon for more balanced trade with the u. s. Ahead of the summit Samsung announcing today that it will open its first u. s. Appliances plant in more than three decades the Factory will be in, South CarolinaUber says it did not know about the alleged theft of proprietary information from Wei mo until Google’s self-drivingventure filed a lawsuit in February in a document, WednesdayThe ride-hailing company refutes Lame-o’s claim that uber conspired with engineer Anthony Levin duskyto download14,000 files and steal trade secretsBefore he left way moe in January 2016anAudiOutfitting the new a8 in special spidey camouflage yesterday in Los Angeles at a star-studded eventMarking the world Premiere of Fireman homecoming the carChauffeuring after Tom Holland down the Red Carpet at the TCL Chinese theatreActors Robert Downey Jr. . And John Favreau arrived Together in a black R8 fighterOuties official eight-eight reveal is slated for July 11th in Barcelonabut the movie offers glimpses of the car including a scene highlighting the Audi AiTraffic Jam Pilot feature the Hill by the way opens worldwide july 7 isThe ride-sharing age giving old-school rental car companies a lifeline according to bloomberg it just mighton MondayWe saw deals made between Google self-driving car unit way mo and adis budget and between Apple and Hertz Global holdingsThe tech Giant’s moves showing that they’re willing to partner withtraditional players instead of driving them out of existence infact the agreements while small in scope pushed up shares of both rental agenciesBloomberg says rental stocks have long been out of favor due to investor concern over the role those companies will play in anIndustry where driverless cars and ride-sharing play a bigger role?Now the new deals offer a little more clarityEspecially about who might actually own or maintain self-driving fleets inway most packed avis Budget will manage way most suite of Autonomous vehicles andRival Apple will lease a small fleet of cars from herd to test self-driving technologyandThat wraps up today’s newscast join us again tomorrow morning for a by-the-numbers report with our judges nighter. Take care
thanks for joining us on this Wednesday edition of first shift later a look atFiat Chrysler’s dealer development program but we’ll begin with your topnews stories Tesla is doing away with its reservation system for the model 3sedan the automaker confirming a story originally published by the websiteelectric under the previous system a customer had to shell out a thousanddollars just to get in line to order a Model 3 then the customer paid anadditional twenty five hundred to confirm the order before Tesla beganbuilding the car now customers can bypass the reservation step and beginconfiguring a car after paying the twenty five hundred dollars afterenduring numerous delays Tesla has scrambled to boost production of the carconsidered critical to attracting mass-market customersDaimler and auto supplier Bosch will deploy self-driving taxis inCalifornia’s Silicon Valley region next year as part of a test program ofvehicles designed for city driving Daimler and Bosch gave few details aboutthe Robo taxi program which they describe as a passenger shuttle serviceand did not reveal which city would host itthey say the vehicles will include a safety driver and a steering wheel theservice will be built atop the artificial intelligence platform NvidiaDrive Pegasus supplied by chip maker Nvidia speaking of Technologydemonstrations in Paris the 5g automotive Association BMW Ford and PSAgroup conducting what they say is Europe’s first live demo of CV 2x directcommunication technology across vehicles from multiple car makers cv 2xtechnology allows for communication between Motor Vehicles and the roadwayinfrastructure to improve safety and traffic efficiency the demo held incooperation with a unit of giant Qualcomm and California basedsoftware firm Suvari and US authorities charged a former Apple employee onMonday with stealing trade secrets he is accused of downloading a blueprintrelated to a self-driving car to a personal laptop before trying to fleethe country for China this according to a criminal complaint filed in federalcourt it says the incident occurred on orabout April 30th according to the complaint the former employee Xiao LiangJung disclosed intentions to work for a Chinese self-driving car start-upauthorities arrested Jang Saturday at an airport in San Jose Californiafiat-chrysler is launching a program that aims to help aspiring dealers joinits US retail network FCA says its dealer market investment program willdevelop and provide financial support to high potential candidates who havelimited funds for example FCA through its relationships with Chrysler capitaland Ally Financial will provide 85 percent of the funds needed to cover adealerships working capital through low-interest loans the potential dealermeantime covers the remaining 15% the effort also looks to match prospectiveretailers with specific markets where they can succeed as we reported earlylast year FCA is adding about 400 dealerships to its US network of around2,500 stores dealers familiar with the plans and an FCA source said theexpansion is meant to increase sales and win back market share now a backwardsidea from Nissan the redesign 2019 Altima gets an improved appearance andthat’s thanks to an unusual idea from the car’s chief engineer TakeshiYamaguchi he says in order to create a more attractive car he turned the enginebackward that allowed designers to bring the hood line down byan inch and in turn changed the equation for the car’s silhouette the reversalalso helped to simplify exhaust output and save money the redesign Altima willhit us showrooms this fall and we’ll end with a quick birthday note PS a NorthAmerica CEO Larry Dominique turns 56 today remember you can turn to auto newsnow this afternoon for more industry news take care
thanks for joining us on this Tuesday morning I’m Jennifer Wong coming upFord’s hunt for old parts but we’ll begin with headlines first up GeneralMotors the automaker is said to have created its own ride hailing platformand quietly built one of the largest charging stations in the US all this inan effort to get its crews self-driving car unit ready to enter the Robo taxibusiness next year sources tell Bloomberg that Cruise has installed 18fast chargers in a parking facility near San Francisco’s Embarcadero that’s thewell trafficked Boulevard along the city’s eastern shoreline where uber andlyft have busy drivers and where GM’s self-driving car unit has been testingits crews anywhere ride hailing app and fleet management system GM has longplanned to start a ride-hailing business using self-driving cars by 2019 howeverit hasn’t said where the service would start or whether it will work with apartner over the weekend Tesla met its goal of producing morethan 5,000 model threes in a week prompting CEO Elon Musk to declare thatTesla had just become a quote real car company well as bloomberg reports evenreal car companies need a breather now and then sources say that after workingaround the clock for weeks on end Tesla is pausing some model 3 production atits Fremont California Factory this week the break will let the company and dobasic upkeep and maintenance most employees will be back to work Thursdaymeantime Reuters is offering a look at how the electric car maker met itsproduction goal workers describe mandatory weekend shifts a tense andshort-tempered musk barking and engineers on the assembly line and Teslapulling workers from other departments to keep pumping out cars one other Teslanote Doug field senior vice president of engineering is stepping down after fiveyears reports emerged in May that the formerApple executive was taking a break from Tesla this is the latest in a string ofexecutive departures at the automaker Ron stack Volkswagen of America’s formersenior vice president of sales has landed at Mitsubishi stack left VW inJanuary after heading US sales for the VW brand for nearly two years MitsubishiMotors North America has named stack vice president of after sales thisfollowing mark Chaffins recent promotion to chief operating officer the companyalso naming veteran IT executive Natalie Milton vice president and chiefinformation officer in other news Frances Renault has launched a mandatoryoffer to buy out the remaining shareholders in Russian automaker AutoVaughan’s ride-hailing company lyft is buying bike share operator motivateparent company of Ford go bike and city bike lift trying to fend off competitionafter ubers April purchase of jump bikes and automakers are rolling out their USsales results for June today stay with our website for continuous coverage itall started with somebody returning a long-lost clock that once adornedDetroit’s old Michigan central train station now that Ford has acquired thelong festering building and announced plans to turn it into office spacerestaurants and residences people are calling the company about returningother items for its spokeswoman Don Booker tells us the company has receivedcalls about returning decorative tiles ticket stubs and even an elevatortransom Booker says lighting fixtures are what’s needed the most but Fordwould also appreciate any ticket window grilles the interior clock and manyother historic hardware used in the station finally you may not have thisguy to kick around with much longer published reports saydoes stopping development work on ASIMO it’s humanoid robot ASIMO has served asa research tool and PR ambassador for Honda since 2000 he can dance delivercoffee take the stairs even ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchangeaccording to one report out of Japan Honda is planning another two-leggedsuccessor to ASIMO and the automaker saying in a statement technologies thatwent into ASIMO are being adopted for use in Honda’s mass production productswill be off tomorrow for the 4th of July holiday here in the US but we’ll see youback here Thursday morning take care
a nearby supply of parts it’s nice to see you on this Wednesday as we told youTuesday General Motors plans to invest heavilyin its US manufacturing operations and create and retain thousands of jobs inthis country turns out the automaker says it has beenmaking it easier for its supplier base to do the samethat’s because GM is continuing to create supplier parks near its usfactories including the automakers fairfax assembly plant in Kansas andSpring Hill assembly plant in Tennessee now GM is not alone for example in 2015Nissan announced plans to add more than 1,000 new supplier jobs and it’sTennessee operations it’s all part of a 160 million dollar supplier park projectautomakers say locating parts maker parks near assembly plans has severalbenefits including reduced transportation costs meanwhile GMyesterday confirming that another supplier has committed to makecomponents for the automakers next gen full-size pickup trucks in Michigan as aresult 100 supplier jobs will move to the u. s. from Mexico now GM and otherautomakers have been sharply criticized by president-elect Donald Trump forbuilding vehicles in Mexico that are imported into the United Statesa few hours after GM’s announcement Trump tweeted quote thank you to GeneralMotors in Walmart for starting the big jobs push back into the US Trumpreferring as well to Walmart’s plan to hire 10,000 US workers in 2017 aspreviously announced by the retailer GM agreeing to pay 1 million dollars toresolve a US Securities and Exchange Commission accounting case related to afaulty ignition switch linked to 124 deaths the SEC saying today the dealwill resolve charges that internal accounting control failures kept GM fromproperly assessing the potential financial impact of the defectiveignition switch specifically the SEC says GM’s internal investigationinvolving the switch was not brought to the attention of its accountants untilNovember 2013 even though other GM personnel knew in the spring of 2012that a safety issue was at hand GM saying in a statement that itconsented to an administrative SCC order without admitting or denying anywrongdoing for some cities one way to ease the flow of vehicles during rushhour reversible highway lanes similar to the ones illustrated in this animationfrom the Georgia Department of Transportation but here’s a question foryou as we move closer to the era of self-driving cars will robot driversknow what to do and say Alain goes west during the morning commute but east inthe evening well Amazon may have an answer yesterday the company won a USpatent for a roadway management system for autonomous vehicles as described inthe patent the system can help a car determine the direction of travel so itknows which lane to enter now a sneak peek at future product we got our handson spy photos of the upcoming Jaguar IPE the crossover is expected to make itsdebut next year the e pace appears smaller than the F pace and is poweredby a four-cylinder engine and will say with product many is giving its JohnCooper Works performance treatment to the second generation MINI Countrymanthe John Cooper Works countryman produces 228 horsepower and 258pound-feet of torque the performance variant reaches us dealerships in Aprila plug-in hybrid countryman is expected to go on sale in June let’s talk oil TIHS market handing out its annual automotive loyalty awards at last week’sAutomotive News World Congress the information provider honoring automakersfor customer retention and conquest efforts during the 2016 model year IHSmarket found that with seventeen point five million new vehicle registrationsduring the 2016 model year 52 point eight percent of customers were turnedto market to purchase another vehicle from the same make they already own thatrepresented a record loyalty rate and an increase of one point three percentagepoints from the previous year here’s IHS market sales and marketing VP steve hasstarts off with a great product and so I think when you look at the winners thatwe have they all have great product so if you don’t have that it’s really hardbut great product alone just doesn’t do it anymore you have to have a greatexperience though that experience tends to revolve around the dealership andwhat you’re doing there from a sales perspective helping out the customercome in GM took home the top prize overall loyalty to manufacturer for thesecond consecutive year and that is our time for today thanks so much forwatching we’ll see you back here on Thursday
thanks for joining us on this Friday morningcoming up driverless benefits for the blind but first your headlines severaldevelopments on the diesel front first luxury brand OD has launched a recallfor up to 850,000 diesel fuel cars in EuropeHowdy’s thing today that it plans to update emissions control software thisin a bid to avoid potential driving bans how D says the service is also beingoffered to Porsche and Volkswagen branded cars using the same six andeight cylinder engines earlier this week Daimler announced similar plans to cutdiesel pollution including investing 255 million dollars to update more than 3million mercedes-benz diesel cars in Europe according to Reuters autoindustry officials and politicians in Germany have agreed on a two point threebillion dollar plan to prevent diesel bans by cleaning up vehicles throughsoftware updates meantime the European Commission is set to be examiningwhether German automakers colluded in systems they use to clean exhaustemissions the German business newspaper handles blond says the collusion probewas triggered by an Audi presentation that was seized in raids at VW howdy isa division of Volkswagen Group spokesman for the EU Volkswagen and Audi alldeclining to comment and in the u. s. Volkswagen will pay the state ofCalifornia an additional one hundred fifty four million dollars in penaltiesstemming from the automakers emission scandal the California Air ResourcesBoard announcing that it had filed a consent decree requiring the additionalpayment as The Associated Press reports this takes VW’s total settlement inCalifornia to 1. 3 billion dollars Ford is shaking up his design team to shortenproduct development cycles and better define the group’s overarching stressgee among the changes Joel pious Kowski director of Ford of Europe design comesto the US as global director of design overseeing cars and crossovers ChrisVenson design director of the Americas has been named global director of designoverseeing trucks suvs and commercial vehicles david Woodhouse director ofLincoln design takes on the additional role of director of global strategicdesign an uncle lienard’s who will replace pius Kowski as director of fordof europe design for more on the changes see oughtta news. comfinally a gala night in Detroit Thursday as the automotive Hall of Fame inductedits latest numbers among those enshrine in this year’s class former GeneralMotors design chief Ed Welburn Jack Roush the CEO of Roush Fenway Racing andchairman of Roush Enterprises in Alberto Bamba say President of breaking giantBrembo the hall also inducting the late August FRU Hoff inventor of thesemi-trailer and founder of the fru-u– Hoff trailer company his granddaughterRuth accepting on his behalfself-driving cars had the potential to transform mobility for the elderly andpeople with disabilities that’s why advocates for the blind for example havejoined automakers and tech companies in lobbying Congress to help spur therollout of driverless cars the intention of this legislation is to increaseself-driving vehicle testing on US highways a US House panel on Wednesdayapproved their first legislation on autonomous vehicles and advocates forthe blind have a special set of concerns as bloomberg reports the advocates wantaccessibility incorporated into car design and states to steer clear of lawsthat would prohibit the blind from one day sitting in the driver’s seat onechallenge today is that policy makers and companies working on fullyautonomous cars assume riders see the road aheadcase in point some states including New York already have laws that requireoperators of automated vehicles to have a driver’s license which requires avision test time companies including Google’s way Moe unit and GM are gettinginput from the blind as they develop robot cars the vehicles though stillmany years away from being widely availableremember your industry news update is available 24/7 atnews. com enjoy your weekend we’ll see you right back here Monday morning
thanks for joining us on this Wednesday morning i’m jennifer bong coming upsubaru gets a little help from its friends but let’s begin with your topnews stories kia may have scored some kudos in lexus attracted eyeballs withSuperbowl ads on Sunday but as Bloomberg says no Auto brand has pulled off apublicity stunt quite like the one Tesla just managed Ilan mas very own cherryred Tesla Roadster was the payload as the Falcon heavy rocket from us SpaceXventure launched for the first time the car floating through space to the shearsof a crowd and David Bowie’s life on Mars this at the end of a 43 minutewebcast that drew millions of viewers their car making the cover of today’sNew York Post with the headline car Trek musk outfitted his roadster with camerasto capture views of the car in orbit behind the wheel was star man clad inthe same spacesuit that astronauts will wear during SpaceX flights to theInternational Space Station a live stream of star man on YouTube drawingmore than 7 million views you can tell it’s real because it looksso fake honestly musk telling a news conference that the whole thing seemssurreal to him musk adding quote crazy things can come true this may bring muskdown to earth alittle Tesla is due to release its fourth-quarter earningsafter the stock market closes today we’ll bring you the results onThursday’s newscast the last of four people charged in connection to the UAWfiat-chrysler corruption scandal pleaded guilty to x’ day to one of five chargesMonica Morgan the widow of former UAW vice president general Holyfieldpleading guilty to one count of subscribing to a false tax returnsentencing is scheduled for June 4th Morgan faces a mansome of 27 months in prison former uber CEO Travis kalanick making his firstpublic comments on allegations that uber stole its self-driving car technologyfrom way mo Callen ik testifying that delays and ubers self-driving cardevelopment led him to hire a star engineer from way mo he said he begannegotiations with Anthony Levin dusky y11 douse key was still working forwhammo on the witness stand Callen ik acknowledged that he was aquote big fan of lovin douse keys lawyers for way mo are expected tofurther question Callen ik today in other news Mazda says its quarterlyprofit more than doubled to 280 million dollars a weaker yen and lower costsoffset weaker sales in North America and Chinese ride-hailing giant diddy juicingis setting up an electric car sharing service with 12 automakers includinglocal partners of Ford it seems subaru can do no wrong in the u. s. the companyis currently riding a streak of 74 monthly year-over-year increases onepotential weakness though is a lack of electrified vehicles but the automakeris diving into that arena this year with the u. s. launch of a plug-in hybrid afull Eevee will be offered in 2021 and as our Hans grime all reports Subaru isrelying on its friends to help bring those vehicles to market subaru has along-standing partnership with Toyota which owns 17% of the smaller car makerin fact Subarus plug-in hybrid will pull largely from the Toyota Prius primesystem meantime subaru has joined a new Eevee venture members include ToyotaMazda and Suzuki while Subaru has an in-house electrification teampartnerships are crucial as the automaker rushes to comply withemissions regulations now to the Philippines in this firstshift freeze-frame and for you car lovers you might want to close your eyesmore than two dozen luxury cars in the country were crushed on Tuesdayaccording to Reuters the smuggled vehicles which include used Lexus BMWand Jaguar models were worth a total of 1. 2 million dollars the demolitionshowcasing the Philippines Presidents crackdown on crime and corruptionfinally a quick birthday to note turning 69 today is auto nation CEO Mike Jacksonthat is our time for today keep it here on our website for breaking news 24/7take careyou
welcome to a Monday edition of first shift hope you enjoyed your weekend 60years of Motorsports in car culture will explain just after your morningheadlines I’m not going to make any further comment about him but I thinkpeople realize what sort of guy is that’s British diver Verne Unsworthspeaking in an Australian television interview he was responding to anow-deleted tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk that belittled the cave Explorer as apedophile would you consider taking legal action against him yes it’s notfinished mosque posting the tweet after Unsworth criticized musk effort to helpin the rescue of a Thai soccer team as a publicity stunt as we’ve reported muskhad offered a quote kid-sized submarine to help rescue the boys and their coachafter they became trapped in a cave in northern Thailanda Thai official said the equipment built by musk rocket company SpaceX wasn’tpractical musk traveled to the site but the team was rescued by Thai divers withaid from an international group of volunteers Hans worth a volunteer whoplayed a key role in organising the rescue said in an interview Friday withCNN that the submarine was a PR stunt he also had this to say in sticky submarinewhere it hurts just had absolutely no chance of workingover the weekend musk fired back in a series of tweets without specificallynaming Unsworth he said he would make a video to prove that the mini-sub couldhave helped in the rescue adding quote sorry pedo guy you really did ask for itthe story comes our way from Bloomberg new this morningdealership software giant cdk global says it has agreed to acquire e lead onethe transaction has been unanimously approved by CDKs Board of Directorsatlanta-based elite1 provides customer relationshipmanagement sir and marketing products cdk global CEOBrian McDonald saying in a statement quote we determined that elite onescenterpiece CRM offering and fully integrated suite of layered applicationsfit well with our diversified product offerings Germany’s motor vehicleauthority has confirmed that it’s conducting a hearing into the emissionstechnology used in three Opel diesel models according to a German newspaperthe authority found reliable evidence that an exhaust gas treatment in somemodels shuts down during driving and finally I have great memories and andnot many sorrows the sorrows are being away from my kids missing the action butthe action I get well for just taking care of myself and enjoying the rest ofmy life ex Minnesota mega dealer Danny hackers kingdom came crashing down in2011 after he was sentenced to ten years in prison for receiving more than eightymillion dollars in loans by forging documents now at age 66 Danny hacker isout of prison I burned up a lot of years missing working too hard for for me tofill my own my own ego coming up this afternoon on Auto news now in anexclusive interview with automotive news reporter Larry Valiquette hackerdiscusses his tumultuous career life behind bars and his plan to ensure otherretailers don’t follow in his footstepstoday marks the 60th anniversary of Autoweek magazine a sibling publicationof automotive news its roots go back to 1958 when it was founded as competitionpress west Raynal editor of auto week who has been with the magazine since1989 says while much has changed in the industry the publication’s philosophyremains the same we’ve been a place where the reader can go and getperspective and insight into Motorsports and culture in cars and we would like tothink that that is been a recurring theme throughout our 60 years today’sanniversary issue highlights those three pillars as for the next 60 years Raynalsays Auto Week is putting a bigger focus on its growing audience of youngerreaders we have tilted the editorial effort a little bit to be more a littlebit more inclusive of them and so like we’re about to publish an issue that wedo every year called 13-under where every story is written and every photois shot by someone 30 or under and Raynal says he’d like to dispel the myththat Millennials aren’t interested in cars the notion that kids don’t likecars I think it is ps4 more from Auto weeks 60th anniversary issue you canvisit the website address on your screen thanks for joining us on first shiftwe’ll catch you back here at Tuesday morning
welcome to a Wednesday morning edition of first shift from Los Angeles I’mJennifer Vaughn and I am Tom Maura Beck it is press preview day number one hereat the LA Auto Show however some automakers got a head starton the competition Tuesday afternoon that’s right let’s getto the unveilings and executivesNissan’s luxury brand infinity unwrapping the redesigned qx50 thenext-gen compact crossover is built on an all-new platform featuring afront-engine front-wheel-drive base layout the qx50 marks the productiondebut of infinities new variable compression turbocharged engine itpromises the power of a six cylinder from a more efficient four-cylinder unithere’s Christian moon a infinities global division vp of marketing andsales response for dealers is outstanding they’re really reallyexcited you know that we’re looking for it you know for a long time we had theprevious generation that we carried for a little too many years and they’re veryexcited they can see that as a big opportunity for their business for theircustomer base and and all together for the future of Infiniti we’re verybullish with the future of Infiniti the future is bright the redesign qx50 isexpected to go on sale early next year Infiniti hopes it will help boost theluxury brands US sales which were up 15% through OctoberSubaru is reentering the big crossover market with the all-wheel-drive ascentthe automaker taking the CUV on an off-road adventure during its debut inLa Tuesday night the three row ascent has room for up to eight people or dogsthat’s right Subaru of America boss Tom Dahl helpinga tail wagging canines out of the vehicle to show its roominess the ascentfeatures more than 72 cubic feet of cargo spaceit comes with an all-new power plant a turbocharged 2. 4 liter boxer engine thatproduces 260 horsepower Dahl says the ascent will play an important role inSubarus lineup unfortunately but what happens before we get buyers when theywere younger but then when they were in their family formation years they had toleave us to go to some larger vehicle well now we have the opportunity to keepthem in a Subaru family all the way through their ownership experience sowe’re very excited about the ascent and what it means to our franchise and brandgoing forward Subaru has been unable to cash in on the hot 3-row crossoversegment since output of the ill-fated Tribeca ended in 2014ascend production will begin at the automakers laughing at Indiana plannedin the second quarter of 2018 the first models are set to arrive at dealershipsby early summer you are looking at the Lincoln Nautilus and it signals the endof the marks MK naming scheme that some customers still haven’t figured outafter more than a decade first to go is the MK X which will become the Nautiluswhen the 2019 model reaches showrooms in the spring the MK X is Lincoln’stop-selling US nameplate the Nautilus will get a new front end and new 8-speedtransmission the brand says it shows the Nautilus name lanten for sailor becauseit fits well with the travel theme evoked by the navigator and ContinentalLincoln plans to recurse in the MKC and MKZ when those vehicles getsignificant updates meantime Lincoln says it will pilotmonth-to-month vehicle subscriptions next year executives say the programlikely will start in a few California cities Lincoln is promisingsignificantly lower prices than similar car subscription services from rivalbrands including Cadillac and Porsche that can cost thousands of dollars theundisclosed fee for the Lincoln service will be all-inclusive covering insurancemaintenance roadside assistance and vehicle pickup and delivery customerscan change vehicles every month the fastest most powerful productionChevrolet Corvette ever is going topless Chevrolet unveiling the 2019 Corvettezr1 convertible it is the first cr1 drop-top since the original 1970 modelyears zr1 hears General Motors global productdevelopment boss Marc Royce this is sort of the ultimate punctuation of the c7model run four four Corvette for performance so you know this is wealways if you look at the history of this the z-c are ones were always thepinnacle of whatever a generation of Corvette that came out and for this onethe convertible we brought back because the the backbone of the c7 is so strongand so so good the convertible is expected to go on sale in the spring of2018 pricing starts at just under 124 thousand bucks to the new generation2018 Jeep Wrangler the last time the vehicle was redesigned 2006 under thehood all of Wranglers engines will now come standard with stop-start technologyinside the cabin there’s an upgraded infotainment system and informationcluster visibility has been improved with larger windows and a new power sky1Touch retractable top allows a driver to retract the Wranglers canvas soft topwith a touch of a button the jl wrangler hits us showrooms in january pricing hasnot been announced it’s going to be a very busy week around here we will ofcourse have much more from the Auto Show floor later today onAuto news now and for breaking news 24/7 stay with our website Auto news. com takecare everyone we’ll see you soon
