Under pressure from the United States government, Ford scrapped its plans to build a $1 billion plant in Mexico that would’ve produced its Focus compact car. But in a move that’s likely to vex the government, the automaker has decided to relocate its production to China in 2019. Ford currently builds the Focus at its factory in Wayne, Michigan, and …
Tesla plans new plant for Model Y crossover
Tesla Inc., which has leveraged a single assembly plant to become one of the world’s highest-valued automakers, has another one coming. The electric-car maker’s factory in Fremont, Calif., is “bursting at the seams” making Model S sedans, Model X crossovers and preparing for the upcoming Model 3 car. Tesla is deciding the location for a plant to build the Model …
Auto sales slip on weak car, fleet demand
U.S. light-vehicle sales slipped 0.5 percent in May, even with higher discounts and strong truck demand, as the auto industry prepared to limp from one key selling season to another. The seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of sales fell to 16.7 million, down from 17.2 million in May 2016, on weaker fleet volume across the industry. A survey of 11 analysts …
GM Committing to Sustainable Natural Rubber
General Motors said it will commit to buying sustainable natural rubber for the 49 million tires it buys annually, an initiative aimed at helping small rubber farmers while protecting company profits by ensuring the material’s long-term availability. The automaker said it is developing a set of purchasing requirements that call for sustainable, harvested rubber and encouraging other automakers to follow …
Audi plans Tesla Y Competitor
Audi will be adding some new electric cars to their lineup in the near future. In the last two years, Audi has revealed two electric car concepts it plans to bring to market: the e-tron quattro and the e-tron Sportback. But the German automaker, which is a subsidiary of Volkswagen, also has a third electric vehicle in the works and …
Audi and Porsche Diesels Might Make US Comeback
“Diesel” has become a dirty word at the Volkswagen Group, where the company’s emissions-cheating scandal has caused its TDI engines to be banished from its U.S. lineup—and cost the company billions in penalties and buybacks. But while the Volkswagen brand is sticking with management’s decision to keep diesel out of the U.S. market, as it pursues a new electrification strategy, …
Google will begin testing autonomous cars with consumers
After almost a decade of research, Google’s autonomous car project is close to becoming a real service as it begins testing its vehicles with consumers in the U.S. Now known as Waymo, the Alphabet self-driving car unit is letting residents in Phoenix sign up to use its vehicles in a self-driving car ride service. It’s a major step toward commercializing …
Mercedes-Benz Owners Can Now Talk to Their Cars Through Google Home
“Alexa, start my car.” Owners of new Mercedes-Benz vehicles can now remotely turn on the engine by issuing the above command. The luxury vehicle maker just launched a new service that allows customers with 2016 and 2017 models to communicate with their cars using Google Home or Amazon Echo. In addition to remotely starting their vehicles, U.S. customers can activate …
Falling used-car prices could hurt new sales
Prices for used cars and trucks could fall 15 to 20 percent as dealerships get more and more off-lease vehicles, creating “a big problem for the new-vehicle segment,” auto analyst John Murphy said Tuesday. A big drop in used-vehicle prices will prompt some consumers to buy used instead of new. That’s one reason new-vehicle sales could start declining in 2018. Dealerships …
Tesla Model 3 prototypes seen hitting the streets
Two weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased the first 6-second video of a newly minted, almost-final version of the $35,000 car, prototypes have begun to appear in the wild. The following images of two Model 3’s were taken outside the company’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. With about 400,000 reservations at $1,000 a piece, this is arguably the most …