- Jeep Sets Big Plans for Smallest Model – Wards: Four-wheel drive and open-top motoring potential will set the new Renegade apart from the competition in the growing B-size CUV segment, officials believe.
- European cars hog imported vehicle sales – Via Google News: European cars accounted for eight in 10 imported vehicles sold during the first half of the year, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and …
- Museum restoring 1918 car produced by US industry pioneer – Via Google News: The Toyota Automobile Museum is restoring dilapidated, 96-year-old car that is probably the oldest Franklin brand …
- Second-generation Hyundai i20 revealed ahead of Paris show debut – Autocar: All-new compact hatchback set to compete with Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa; due on sale in early 2015 for around £10,500The second-generation Hyundai i20, a rival to the ever-popular Ford Fiesta, has been unveiled ahead of its Paris motor show debut in October.
- Freeze! It’s the Honda ad police – Automotive News: An extension of Honda’s U.S.
- BMW, others lead shake-up of once-closed Korean market – Automotive News: Korean automakers may threaten the global dominance of automakers such as Volkswagen and Toyota, but they are fast losing ground at home to foreign brands — especially premium automakers such as BMW and Mercedes.
- Hyundai goes global with store design – Automotive News: Hyundai is rolling out a global dealership design initiative aimed at creating a unified look at its stores worldwide before the end of the decade.
- Supply of new Mercedes GLA will be tight – Automotive News: Mercedes-Benz USA expects its GLA compact crossover to be in short supply when the vehicle debuts in September because of the segment’s growing popularity.
- A slap in the face of Chrysler suppliers? – Automotive News: For five years, Chrysler Group has been slowly building its once-tattered relations with suppliers. Then, in about three minutes last week, CEO Sergio Marchionne called that hard-won trust into question.
- Price gap creates opportunity for GM’s Colorado, Canyon – Automotive News: GM’s contrarian move to re-enter the compact pickup segment this fall with the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon comes at an opportune time, an Automotive News review of more than a decade’s worth of data suggests.
- Racing game realism enhances branding opportunity – Automotive News: A decade ago, automakers were a tough sell when Turn 10 Studios approached them about including their vehicles in the first “Forza Motorsport” game. Now, it’s the automakers that are knocking on Turn 10’s door.
- Acura sees TLX campaign as start of image makeover – Automotive News: Acura’s new TLX sedan takes on the high-wire act of replacing both the TL and TSX in the brand’s lineup. But the ad campaign for it largely plays it safe, with heavy buys on TV, live sports, online video and other digital ad media.
- Oil boom is a bonanza for full-sized pickups – Automotive News: Full-sized pickup sales are rebounding nicely, thanks to the booming oil industry.
- Trouble looms as industry zooms – Via Google News:As U.S. auto sales and output roar back to levels many in the industry feared they would never see again, leading industry economists and forecasters …
- Acura Bets Big on New TLX – Wards: Acura says it has 40,000 sales leads from customers who have requested to be put in touch with a dealer about the car, doubling the next-highest pre-sale draw for the brand, the 20,000 hand-raisers pulled in by the MDX prior to its launch.
- GM must face suit claiming it covered up ignition-switch defect – Reuters: General Motors Co has lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the automaker of concealing critical evidence about a faulty ignition switch linked to the death of a Georgia woman in 2010.
- New 542bhp Range Rover Sport SVR revealed – Autocar: The most powerful Land Rover ever will go on sale for £93,450 following its Pebble Beach debut this weekend.
- Fiat Chrysler: addio del passato – FT: Carmaker is moving on with Chrysler merger. Should shareholders cash out?
- Car Sales in Russia Falling Ever Faster as Ukraine Crisis Hits Confidence – Via Google News: The downturn in Russia’s car market gathered pace in July, with sales sliding 23 percent year-on-year in the latest sign that Russian consumers are …
- Judge Denies GM Motion to Dismiss Ignition Suit – WSJ: A Georgia judge has denied a motion by General Motors to dismiss a wrongful-death case against the auto maker and set a trial date for April 2016.
- VW recalls 189,000 SUVs in North America for potential stalling – Reuters: Volkswagen AG said on Saturday it is recalling 189,490 Tiguan small sport utility vehicles in North America for potential stalling issues.
- Japanese car makers cut parts prices in China after anti-monopoly probe – Reuters: Japan’s Toyota, Honda and Nissan became the latest foreign carmakers to respond to China’s anti-monopoly investigation into the auto industry, as the probe’s impact extends beyond foreign luxury auto brands.
- Honda’s global strategy? Go local. – Washington Post: When financial journalist Jeffrey Rothfeder set out to understand why globalization has failed, he got pulled into the story of Honda, a company that has thrived as a multinational. In more than 60 years in business, Honda has never lost money. Its profit margins are the highest in the industry and its factories among the most productive.
- GM ignition switch fund gets 63 death case claims – Reuters: The lawyer overseeing a General Motors Co fund set up to compensate victims of accidents caused by faulty ignition switches in its cars said he received claims for cases involving 63 deaths.
- State of the Art: Lyft Hopes to Coax Commuters to Leave Their Cars – NY Times: With Lyft Line, a new service first being offered in San Francisco, the company’s founders hope to make ride-sharing part of the workday routine.
- GM ignition switch fund gets 63 death case claims: AP – Reuters: The lawyer overseeing a General Motors Co fund set up to compensate victims of accidents caused by faulty ignition switches in its cars has received claims for 63 deaths cases, the Associated Press reported, citing a spokeswoman for the fund.
- Template set for new Land Rover Defender – Autocar: Land Rover has finalised the design of the replacement for its 66-year-old icon, due to expire in 2015, but don’t expect it to look like the DC100 concept. · Voice Recognition Still a Top Complaint, Study Says – NY Times: A J. D. Power executive said that 32 percent of all infotainment-related complaints were a result of voice-recognition errors.
- GM Targets 269,000 Vehicles in Five New Recalls – thedetroitbureau.com: General Motors has announced another five recalls to wrap up a busy week for the Detroit maker, bringing to 66 the total number of products it has targeted for safety-related problems since the beginning of the year. TheDetroitBureau.com has the latest.
- Conflict Impacts July New-Vehicle Sales in Russia – Wards: Demand usually picks up in conjunction with the Moscow auto show, which opens later this month, but officials aren’t confident that will be the case this year.
- Teen Inventor Aims to End Hot Car Deaths – thedetroitbureau.com: The problem of parents leaving children in hot cars because they forgot they were in the back seat has spurred the development of devices to prevent this tragedy, including a high schooler in New Mexico. However, safety regulators studied several devices and declined to recommend any of them. For more, go to TheDetroitBureau.com.
- GERMANY: BMW smashes more sales records in July – Just-auto: BMW Group vehicle sales set a July record with global volume up 7.6% year on year to 163,959 vehicles. Year-to-date volume was up 7% to a record 1,184,170.
- Toyota Unleashing FT-1 Vision GT Concept for Gran Turismo 6 – thedetroitbureau.com: Toyota delivered a surprise when it revealed the FT-1 Vision GT Concept last January, and while it says it has no production plans, videogamers will soon get the chance to get behind the wheel thanks to the Gran Turismo 6 racing game. Could there be more in store, perhaps even an FT-1 Supra?
- Hyundai Agrees to $17.35 Million Fine from NHTSA – thedetroitbureau.com: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration levied a $17.35 million fine against Hyundai for taking too long to report a brake defect on 43,500 Genesis sedans from 2009-2012. The fine is the first evidence that federal regulators are stepping up enforcement, officials said. To get the details, go to TheDetroitBureau.com.