Top News:
- Trump Revives Auto Efficiency Debate With Pledge to Slash Rules – Bloomberg: President Donald Trump’s pledge to ease environmental regulations hands automakers a second chance to amend the U.S. vehicle efficiency…
- Musk’s Surprising Rapport With Trump Yields 40% Rally for Tesla – Bloomberg: Palo Alto, California-based Tesla’s cars are all produced in the U.S., so Trump’s threats to tax imports could be a boon to the maker of electric vehicles…
- U.K. Auto Investment Slumps as Industry Warns of Brexit Threat – Bloomberg: Auto-industry investment in the U.K. plunged by more than one-third in … Despite the decline, the number of cars made in Britain rose to a 17-year…
- Jaguar Land Rover appoints Wittemann as China sales chief – Automotive News: Jaguar Land Rover has assigned Frank Wittemann, chief of its operations in Latin America, to lead its sales in China, effective Feb. 1. Wittemann will…
- Uber Takes Majority of Ground Transport Market for U.S. Business Travelers – Bloomberg: The ride-hailing startup increased its popularity among business travelers last year while use of rental cars and other traditional ground transportation…
- South Korea’s Kia Motors drafts Trump contingency plan – Reuters: REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji … KS) will begin making cars at Kia’s Mexico plant this year. … Hyundai and Kia together rank fifth in global car sales. Hyundai …
- Lamborghini Used Jet Fighters, Spaceships, and Snakes To Design Its Latest Supercar, The … – Forbes: Mitja Bokert, Lamborghini’s lead designer, plastered his “mood board” with jet fighters, spaceships, and venomous snakes as he created the brand’s…
- BMW i driverless tech to reach wider range from 2021 – Autocar: BMW’s i division has switched its focus from electric drivetrains to autonomous technology Brand senior vice present Hildegard Wortmann said the i division’s autonomous systems will trickle out much in the same why its electric tech has
- Judge denies $80 mln penalty in Wal-Mart truck drivers lawsuit – AP – Reuters: A federal judge refused to order Wal-Mart Stores Inc to pay $80 million in penalties in a lawsuit alleging the retailer failed to pay hundreds of truck drivers in California the minimum compensation for certain tasks, the Associated Press reported.
- UK car output hits 17-year high but investment tumbles – Reuters: British car production reached a 17-year high last year, but the country’s vote to leave the European Union contributed to a roughly 33 percent drop in investment in the sector, a car industry body said on Thursday.
- EPA’s Grundler: VW emissions violations, fines a deterrent to auto industry – Automotive News: The massive fines paid by Volkswagen and criminal indictment of seven company executives have become a “very strong deterrent” to cheating by other automakers, the EPA’s director of transportation and air quality says.
- Factbox: Commercials slated to air during the 2017 Super Bowl – Reuters: The Japanese auto-maker enlisted Minnie Driver to voice its spot touting their Lexus brand’s two new vehicles, Lexus LC 500 and LC 500h.
- EPA official says Volkswagen diesel scandal deterrent to auto industry – Reuters: … One lesson EPA learned from Volkswagen is “we need to avoid being too …
- Tesla Autopilot features edge closer to self-driving in 3 to 6 months – Yahoo: Last year, after Tesla updated the radar, camera, and ultrasonic sensors on its electric cars, CEO Elon Musk said the new hardware’s capabilities would lag behind the cars on the street already. Now, Musk has projected that the “Hardware 2.0” cars may…
- Walmart and Ford Help Car Buyers Steer Clear of Dealerships – Yahoo: Walmart will not be selling any cars or trucks in its stores (although the company’s Sam’s Club affiliates do offer a car-buying service in partnership with…
- Government report backing Tesla no shield to liability – Reuters: Tesla Motors Inc chief executive Elon Musk last week hailed a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report clearing the company’s Autopilot …
- Toyota’s ‘Made in America’ Strategy Isn’t Enough to Shield It From Trump – Bloomberg: Still, Toyota’s production fell about 1 million vehicles short of its sales in the country. Imported models include Japan-built Prius hybrids,…
- Big questions mount as FCA prepares to face Wall Street – Freep: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will report year-end earnings Thursday, but Wall Street will likely be far more focused on the company’s challenges in the…
- Elon Musk says he is serious about tunneling under Los Angeles – CNBC: As with any Musk project – self-driving cars, human colonies on Mars – questions remain over whether laws, or simple scientific realities, could…
- Trump picks unfortunate time to push for new U.S. auto factories – Chicago Tribune: Chevrolet Tahoe sports utility vehicles wait for final inspection before being driven off the production line at the General Motors plant in Arlington,…