- DC Mayor Muriel E. Bowser lays out the welcome mat for self-driving cars – Washington Post: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser on Monday sent a message to companies developing and testing driverless technology: The city is opening its doors to them. Bowser said she is creating a work group and directing it to “proactively prepare the District” for…
- Uber CEO plays it safe in risk-loving Silicon Valley – Washington Post: Yet on Friday, just as journalists were settling into the packed courtroom after days of bruising testimony, Uber announced it was settling the case. The agreement gave Alphabet’s self-driving car business Waymo a stake worth $244 million in the…
- Toyota teases sporty coupe developed with BMW – Automotive News: BMW showed a concept last year previewing its version of the same car, the Concept Z4. The production model will be a convertible badged as the Z4 that replaces the car of the same name that went out of production in 2016. Toyota’s version is expected…
- AI will be ‘billions of times’ smarter than humans and man needs to merge with it, expert says – CNBC: Artificial intelligence could be “billions of times smarter” than humans and people may need to merge with computers to survive, a futurist told CNBC on Tuesday. Ian Pearson, a futurist at Futurizon, said there will need to be a link between AI and a…
- 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed: central feature to celebrate Porsche – Autocar: A Porsche 911 GT2 RS in front of Goodwood House The 70th anniversary of the Porsche 356 to be celebrated by Goodwood sculpture
- Suzuki expects SUVs to drive its European growth – Automotive News: Suzuki expects is vehicle sales to grow in Europe this year, helped by a strong SUV lineup. The company targets sales of 280,000 in 2018 in its European region, which includes Russia and Turkey, CEO Toshihiro Suzuki said. That would be 10,000 more than…
- PSA says new Peugeot, Citroen and Opel vans will set benchmark for segment – Automotive News: PSA Group aims to boost its position in Europe’s lucrative light van sector by launching three new models for its Peugeot, Citroen and Opel/Vauxhall brands. The vans, which will replace the Peugeot Partner, Citroen Berlingo and Opel/Vauxhall Combo,…
- New Mercedes-AMG G63 super-SUV gets 577bhp – Autocar: Latest high-performance off-roader mixes retro styling with sports car pace; it can accelerate more quickly than the Range Rover Sport SVR
- Daimler wins China approval for stake in BAIC’s EV subsidiary – Automotive News: In 2017, its EV deliveries soared 98 percent year on year to 103,199. Daimler and BAIC run a passenger vehicle joint venture in Beijing that produces Mercedes-Benz sedans, crossovers and SUVs. They also operate a commercial vehicle partnership in the…
- Citroen C4 and C4 Cactus to merge into one model – Autocar: Peugeot said the development of the replacement model had already started. Whether the car keeps the ‘Cactus’ name or reverts to simply ‘C4’ depends on the success of the updated C4 Cactus model. “If this car is a strong success, the name Cactus could…
- South Korea government aid to GM Korea dependent on new GM investment: trade minister – Reuters: South Korea’s trade minister said on Tuesday whether or not the government provides financial aid to General Motors Co’s Korea unit, GM Korea, depends on the company’s new investment into its Korea operations. Any support to GM Korea depends on the…
- Self-Driving Cars Will Kill Things You Love (And A Few You Hate) – Bloomberg: The impact could be similar to Japan’s bullet trains, which diverted passengers away from airlines. “Air travel in North America isn’t really good — the airports suck, the airlines are horrible,” said Ali Izadi-Najafabadi, an intelligent mobility…
- Mercedes Maybach S-Class facelift revealed ahead of Geneva show – Autocar: This is the facelifted Mercedes Maybach S-Class Ultra-luxurious saloon gets a bolder look and new two-tone colour combinations to stand out from regular S-Class
- BMW Group achieves best-ever January – Bmw: Sales increased in all major sales regions +++ BMW Group deliveries up 3.8% to 169,538 units +++ BMW sales increase by 3.4% to 148,400 vehicles +++ MINI brand sales climb 7.0% to 20,929 cars +++ BMW 5 Series sedan sales grow by 39.6% +++ BMW Group…
- Toyota hints at 2019 Supra return with new image – Autocar: Toyota has revealed a hazy rear image of a ‘modern racing concept’ to be revealed at the Geneva motor show next month, which it says will signal its “commitment to bringing its most iconic sports car back to the market”. That is thought to be a…
- Expectations are high for electric vehicles in China – CNBC: Electric vehicles appear to be gaining further ground in China’s automobile market, and companies are betting that the trend will continue. An example of that optimism, is Chinese ride-sharing giant Didi Chuxing’s announcement last week that it plans…
- Toyota tries new approach to communicate with financial market – Nikkei: During the event, its first explanatory meeting for large institutional investors, President Akio Toyoda took about an hour to talk about Toyota’s history and its work on advanced technologies, including electric powertrains, autonomous cars and…
- GM to shut South Korean plant, more cuts could follow – Reuters: General Motors Co said it will close one of its four plants in South Korea and incur an $850 million impairment charge as part of a restructuring of its … It is also winding down efforts to sell cars in India and is turning its manufacturing…
- South Korea says deeply regrets GM’s closure of plant – Reuters: The South Korean government said on Tuesday that it deeply regretted General Motors’s decision to shut down one of its plants in the country. … The government expressed deep regret over GM’s unilateral decision to suspend and shut down its Gunsan…
- Maserati Levante GTS due in August with 523bhp Ferrari V8 – Autocar: The Levante will be hot on the heels of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo when a GTS version launches this summer with a Ferrari V8 unit Hot SUV model will rival Porsche Cayenne Turbo, with same output as Quattroporte GTS