Top News:
- Next-gen Prius may be ill-timed, but not ill-fated – Automotive News: While the timing isn’t ideal, dealers, analysts and Toyota itself are all bullish on the prospects for the next-gen Prius. They credit the strength of the Prius brand, its promising looks and what’s shaping up as a solid backup plan.
- Chevy pulls ahead timetable for Bolt EV – Automotive News: General Motors has accelerated development of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle as the automaker tries to have the first mainstream brand with a long-range EV on the market.
- Google to alert drivers to railroad crossings using U.S. data – Reuters: Google will add audio and visual alerts to warn drivers about upcoming railroad crossings on Google’s navigation system, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration announced on Monday.
- GERMANY: Daimler’s Smart adds MirrorLink smartphone connectivity – Just-auto: Daimler’s Smart brand is adding, er, smartphone integration to its 2016 model year line using MirrorLink. Orders open on 3 July and the first vehicles will be delivered in September.
- CHINA: NEVS launches R&D-production joint venture – Just-auto: National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) says it held what it describes as its project launching ceremony for the production as well as R&D joint ventures in Tianjin Binhai Hi-tech zone yesterday (28 June), marking the start of NEVS’ set-up in China.
- Europe Car Industry May Grow as China Costs Rise, VW’s Jahn Says – Bloomberg: Investors including Volkswagen’s unit Skoda Auto AS as well as South Korea’s Nexen Tire Corp. and Hyudai Motor Co. plan to spend more than a…
- CompaniesToyota production slips in May – FT: Holding onto its crown as the world’s biggest carmaker may prove harder this year for Toyota, amid falling global production. Production around the…
- Alfa’s high-power reboot – Automotive News: To revive Alfa Romeo, Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, plans a performance-first approach.
- After ‘chicken tax,’ a flood of foreign trucks? – Automotive News: Two free-trade deals the U.S. is trying to negotiate would roll back the so-called chicken tax. Critics of the tax say it has priced imported trucks out of the market, shielding the Detroit 3’s biggest profit machine from robust foreign competition.
- Leaf to get a big boost in driving range – Automotive News: Nissan Motor Co., fighting falling sales of its Leaf electric vehicle, plans a midcycle update as early as August that aims to deliver a big boost in the EV’s driving range, a person familiar with the project said.
- Ford builds in Silicon Valley — and talent comes – Automotive News: Ford’s Silicon Valley research center is helping the automaker attract employees with different backgrounds and perspectives than it usually gets at its home campus in Michigan.
- Why talk of GM-FCA tie-up just won’t die – Automotive News: Few auto industry pundits seem to be taking Sergio Marchionne’s awkwardly public pursuit of a merger with General Motors very seriously. And yet, there must be some reason why the idea keeps resurfacing.
- Message to NHTSA: Reform first, funding later – Automotive News: In previous congressional hearings on auto safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s shortcomings in major defect cases were largely cast as the result of corporate deception and a lack of agency resources.
- Dodge to build more Hellcat engines – Automotive News: Fiat Chrysler plans to substantially increase production of the popular 707-hp Hellcat engines.
- NYC dealership must provide documents for non-English speakers – Automotive News: As part of a settlement with the New York attorney general’s office, a New York City dealership group must begin providing translations of sales documents to customers who negotiate their vehicle purchases in languages other than English.
- Mini gets serious with the new Clubman – Automotive News: Mini will take a more serious tone in marketing for the new Clubman, which it is aiming at premium compact buyers.