Top News:
- Guintoli to make MotoGP return in France with Suzuki – Reuters: The race at Le Mans is on May 21 and Suzuki said the experienced 34-year-old would stand in until Spanish rookie Rins could return. Rins broke his …
- Aston Martin DB11 with 4.0 AMG engine to face V8 Continental GT – Autocar: An Aston Martin DB11 equipped with a twin-turbocharged V8 engine will be launched later this year. Twin-turbocharged V8 option will be added to Aston Martin DB11 range; it’s got a 3982cc V8 engine
- FCA targets millennials in new Jeep Compass ad – Detroitnews: The Jeep “Recalculating” ads launch Thursday
- SolarCity performance points to rockier outlook for rooftop solar – Reuters: Tesla’s SolarCity reported a drop of nearly 40 percent in solar installations for the first quarter on Wednesday, the latest sign of a reversal in fortunes for the once high-flying residential solar industry.
- Tesla assures Model 3 on time as Musk’s cash burn continues – Automotive News: Tesla assured investors its Model 3 sedan is on track to begin production, mitigating concerns that the carmaker is burning through more cash to bring the vehicle to market.
- VW Is Back and Rolling in Cash—And That Could Be a Problem – WSJ: Volkswagen CEO Matthias Müller has brought the company back from an emissions-cheating scandal and returned it to strong profits. But VW also could be losing its incentive-and leverage-to change.
- Facelifted BMW M2 begins testing – Autocar: New performance coupe has been spotted testing showing off new head and tail-light designs; expected in late 2017
- Ferrari Q1 beats expectations, shares rise 3 pct – Reuters: Italian luxury sportscar maker Ferrari reported a better-than-expected 36 percent rise in first-quarter core earnings on Thursday and confirmed its full-year guidance, lifting shares up more than 3 percent.
- Elon Musk’s Desire for S-E-X Leads to Confusion With Model 3 – WSJ: Elon Musk, Tesla Inc.’s CEO, countered a slight misunderstanding in the marketplace about the new car model and its name.
- Elon Musk’s SpaceX to send the first of its 4,425 super-fast internet satellites into space in 2019 – CNBC:
- As Inventor of Subprime Car Loans Exits, Critics Smell a Lemon – Bloomberg: Last summer, however, the 72-year-old billionaire sold Carite Corp., a chain of used-car dealerships that he founded in 2011. In January he stepped…
- UK car sales plummet 20% due to VED rises – Autocar: Demand across the board dropped in April, including for alternatively fuelled vehicles with hybrids hit by tax changes
- Nissan launches British-made home battery to rival Tesla’s Powerwall – Guardian: The cells will be made by the Japanese car-maker Nissan in Sunderland, where its popular Leaf electric car is built, and sold in partnership with the…
- Nissan’s premium brand Infiniti global sales up 12 percent in April – Reuters: Nissan Motor Co’s premium brand Infiniti sold a total of 17,578 vehicles in April, an increase of 12 percent from a year earlier, which pushed the brand’s worldwide sales in the first four months of this year to 84,947 vehicles, up 16 percent, according to a press release seen by .
- BMW Gets Q1 Profit Boost From SUVs and 7-Series Sales – New York Times: FRANKFURT, Germany – German luxury automaker BMW says net earnings rose 31 percent in the first three months of the year as sales increased…
- Hyundai Motor suffers 64 percent slump in April sales amid political tension – sources – Reuters: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor saw its China sales skid 64 percent to 35,009 vehicles in April from a year earlier amid political tension, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told .
- Faurecia, ZF partner to develop ‘cockpit of the future’ for self-driving cars – Reuters: French car parts supplier Faurecia said it signed a partnership agreement with German company ZF to develop interior and safety technologies for self-driving cars, dubbing it the “cockpit of the future”.
- BMW Pleads for Patience as Mercedes Counterattack Gears Up – Bloomberg: BMW AG is pleading for patience as it invests in beating back Mercedes-Benz, promising a deluge of new models and a future of electric robocars.
- BRIEF-GM’s China sales in April down 1.9 pct y/y – Reuters: * China sales in April totalled 272,770 vehicles, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier
- BMW forecasts profit to rise despite slowing US sales – FT: BMW expects profits and sales to rise this year in spite of a US car market that has peaked and expectations of slowing growth in its European…
- Tesla More Than Doubles Revenue, But Widens Losses – Fortune: Electric-car maker Tesla (tsla) on Wednesday reported first-quarter revenue that more than doubled, and while saying the upcoming Model 3 was on…
- Mitsubishi marks centennial with resto-mod 1917 Model A – Detroitnews: Resto-mods have become very popular with classic car owners, especially those who want to enjoy not just looking at their cars, but actually drive…
- Delphi transformed: From Old Detroit to mobility player – Detroitnews: Supplier’s latest move aims to cash in on the next automotive frontier – capturing the Big Data tied to autonomous cars.
- Howes: Slowing auto sales reveals Detroit weakness – Detroitnews: Fourth straight month of declining auto sales batters auto stocks, fueling speculation the party begun in 2009 is over.
- Musk Employs Unusual Marketing Plan for Model 3: ‘Anti-Selling’ – Bloomberg: Two months before the electric-car maker plans to begin production of its first vehicle to sell for near-mass-market prices, the chief executive officer told…
- Why Ford Wants to Put Biometric Sensors in Your Car – Yahoo: As the future of self-driving cars inches closer, automakers are looking for ways to use medical devices to track drivers on the road. That’s why Ford…
- Self-driving cars, QLINE and bikes could leave parking lots empty – Freep: Urban planners learn early that there can never be enough parking. It’s one reason American cities, including Detroit, disfigure themselves with so…
- Elon Musk says he doesn’t know what Apple is doing with cars – CNBC: On Tesla’s quarterly earnings call, Elon Musk said there’s no indication that Apple was looking to enter the autonomous car space.
- Ford breaks ground for Wagner Place Development – Detroitnews:
- Elon Musk predicts Tesla will one day be worth more than Apple – FT: Tesla boss Elon Musk surpassed even his own lofty standards of both hubris and humility on Wednesday, as he looked ahead to a day when the…
- Uber and Waymo Duel at Key Hearing Over Driverless Car Technology – New York Times: At the center of the dispute are allegations by Waymo, the self-driving car unit spun off by Google’s parent company, that Uber was using stolen trade…
- Ford development a shot in the arm for Dearborn – Detroitnews: Dearborn – Hundreds of Ford Motor Co.’s most tech-savvy employees will soon set up shop in new offices here in downtown, two miles west of world…
- Tesla Has An Oracle But Consider Delphi – Bloomberg: David Einhorn says Tesla Inc.’s valuation is a bubble. But then, you hardly need to pay a hedge-fund manager to know that. Tesla’s stock fell slightly in…
- Tesla, Reporting Bigger Loss, Emphasizes Gains in Production and Sales – New York Times: The body of a Tesla Model S in 2011 at the automaker’s factory in Fremont, … Calif., which was once operated jointly by Toyota and General Motors.