- UK: Lexus offers iPad and DVD packs for CT200h – Just-auto: Lexus UK is offering new multimedia entertainment systems for the entry level CT200h hatchback – DVD and iPad systems for rear seat passengers.
- SOUTH KOREA: Kia starts volume production of Soul EV – Just-auto: Kia’s Gwangju facility in Korea has started volume production of its new all-electric Soul EV for export sales. It is the company’s first electric vehicle to be marketed by the company outside Korea.
- Spy Shots: Infiniti ESQ testing in China – CarNewsChina.com: The very first spy shots of the new Infiniti ESQ testing in China. The Infiniti ESQ is a China-only compact SUV based on the Nissan Juke. It comes with a hefty body kit, a redesigned grille, and a luxurious interior. The Infiniti ESQ will be launched on the Chinese car market just before the end […]
- Argentina and Brazil extend auto industry accord until July 2015 – Via Google News: The new pact stipulates a “flex in vehicle trade exchanges of 1.50,” according to both governments, who spoke briefly following a meeting between …
- Tesla could open factory in Europe, Musk says – Automotive News: Tesla will build a factory in Europe once sales of its electric cars reach 160,000 a year in the region, CEO Elon Musk said. Musk also hinted at sharing Tesla’s patents to encourage other carmakers to embrace electric vehicles.
- New UAW boss faces King-size challenge – DetN: Dennis Williams says all the right things as new president of the United Auto Workers. There will be ‘no more concessions,’ a sop to members that also acknowledges the dramatically improved financial health of the hometown automakers, among others. He says there will be no confrontation unless confrontation is necessary, a bid to sound tough and reasonable at the same time.
- Car Culture: Premium auto choices reach the masses – DetN: Reinvigorating a faded premium automotive brand is almost as hard as starting a new one. Just ask Lincoln, Ford’s upscale nameplate, which is taking its first small steps toward putting the shine back on a once lustrous marque.
- Soup it up: Lucra Cars’ motto is street legal … barely – DetN: With a British father and an American mother, and spending most of his childhood in England before coming to the United States for high school, Luke Richards learned to appreciate both the deft handling of small European sports cars and the awesome power of the American V8.
- Government Should Give Driverless Cars a Green Light – Via Google News: States should recognize the legality of driverless cars to enable a future of greatly reduced automobile accidents and congestion, and increased …
- Lawyers: GM seeks bankruptcy shield from Georgia crash lawsuit – DetN: Lawyers for a Georgia family that is trying to reopen a wrongful death lawsuit against General Motors say the company is trying to move the case to federal court so it can use bankruptcy as a shield from the claim.
- Strike Curbing Palladium Supply as Vehicle Demand Surges – Via Google News: Even after miners end the walkout that began in January, Morgan Stanley says output deficits will last through at least 2018 as surging car sales from …
- GM’s Barra promises answers this time when she testifies before Congress – DetN: General Motors CEO Mary Barra will return to Capitol Hill for the next round of hearings on the company’s ignition switch recall. The announcement came the same day that GM’s victims compensation adviser said a planned compensation fund won’t include owners of cars who claim the vehicles are worth less because of the recall.
- Volkswagen starts early testing on production T-Roc SUV – Autocar: New T-Roc SUV starts its development journey ahead of going on sale in 2017; it joins an expanding SUV family from VW. The first early engineering mule for a production version of Volkswagen’s T-Roc SUV has been spotted testing.
- Honda starts YouTube Channel to push message to young drivers – DetN: Honda Motor Co. is starting a new online music channel on Google Inc.’s YouTube, showcasing live events it sponsors with partners including Live Nation Entertainment Inc.
- Infiniti to make Q50 engines in Tennessee — for Europe – Automotive News: Infiniti will launch production of a new Mercedes-designed turbocharged 2-liter engine in Decherd, Tenn., this month, to power a Japanese-made Q50 that will sell only in Europe.
- GM Chief Called Again to Capitol Hill – WSJ: General Motors CEO Mary Barra next week faces questioning from U.S. lawmakers who are expected to challenge an internal probe that cleared her and other top executives of wrongdoing over a troubled safety recall.
- Next Nissan Frontier? Look overseas – Automotive News: Nissan’s Latin American and Southeast Asian marketing companies went public today with the NP300 Navara, their version of the restyled mid-sized pickup. It provides an advance look at Nissan’s future Frontier, expected in the U.S.