Category Archives: auto news

Lexus RZ Sport Concept at Monterey Car Week

Lexus will promote the latest additions to its lineup at Monterey Car Week 2023 at “The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering ®.” The Lexus RZ Sport Concept  – seen at Tokyo Auto Salon, and the 2024 Lexus LC 500 Inspiration Series. … Continue reading

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Cadillac Escalading the 2025 SUV EV Wars

Cadillac (NYSE:GM) showed today its first-ever all-electric full-size SUV, the 2025 Escalade IQ. It has a Cadillac-estimated 450 miles of range (footnote 1) , Super Cruise driver assistance technology, bi-directional charging capability, different interior and exterior designs, and zero tailpipe emissions. The Power folding third row allows for seven total passengers and folds flat for more storage. The so-called eTrunk compartment under the hood has 12 cubic feet of storage. Pricing starts at ~$130,000 including destination charges. Continue reading

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UAW Publicly Pans Stellantis Contract Proposal

The UAW used social media last night to update members about the contract talks at Stellantis (formerly Fiat-Chrysler or FCA). Shawn Fain led of course with the oft used observation that “Stellantis just made $12.1 billion in net profits in the first half of 2023. What followed was an update that appears to show that little to no progress is being made. The UAW contract expires on Sept. 14, and it covers 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares’ compensation has increased 72% over the last four years, the UAW noted. Continue reading

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Vehicle-to-Home Bidirectional Charging Coming on All GM EVs

General Motors (NYSE:GM) said today that it will expand vehicle-to-home (V2H) bidirectional charging technology across its retail portfolio of Ultium-based electric vehicles by model year 2026. The first vehicles to receive the technology include the previously announced 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST, followed by the 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1, 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV, 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV, 2024 Cadillac LYRIQ and the upcoming Cadillac ESCALADE IQ.

Information on additional availability of V2H technology and specific timing of V2H rollout to individual vehicle models will be provided in future updates. Just bring money. The question is how much? Continue reading

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Kia Hybrid Fire Recalls on Niro and Niro Plug-ins

Fluid may leak into the printed circuit board inside the hydraulic clutch actuator, which can result in an engine compartment fire. More than ~121,000 Kia hybrids are affected. Illumination of the HEV warning light is an indicator.

Kia will instruct dealers to inspect the HCA and replace, if necessary. Kia will also install a new HCA fuse with one of a higher capacity to mitigate the potential risk of fire caused by an electrical short circuit. Kia will reimburse owners for repair expenses already incurred. Continue reading

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UAW Wants 40% Wage Increase in 2023 Contract Negotiations

“Record profits mean record contracts,” Fain said. “Yes, we’re demanding double-digit pay raises. Big Three CEOs saw their pay spike 40% on average over the last four years. We know our members are worth the same and more.” Continue reading

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World Debut of the Acura ZDX at Monterey Car Week

The largish – grotesque to some AutoInformed readers – ZDX is being co-developed with GM using the highly flexible global EV platform powered by Ultium batteries. What fun for brand managers – a common platform for Cadillac and Acura SUVs? Acura eventually will launch additional EV models starting in 2026 based on the company’s own global EV Architecture. Continue reading

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Former Nikola and GM Engineer Joins Volkswagen of American

“Lyndon brings incredible experience to the Volkswagen brand, which will help us achieve our goal of growing our market share across North America in this decade,” said Pablo Di Si, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. “Designing and engineering our vehicles to meet the unique needs of our markets is more critical than ever before. To achieve this, we continue to take proactive steps to strengthen our capabilities and experience within the North American market.” Continue reading

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US Sales Lengthen Bidenomics Growth Streak in July

“At the risk of sounding like a broken record, July continued the trends that we have observed for several months now. As vehicle availability has improved, sales have grown, and the economy remains sufficiently strong to support the market’s activity, despite high transaction prices, rising interest rates and fears of a recession later in the year or in 2024,” said David Oakley, Manager, Americas Sales Forecasts, GlobalData. Continue reading

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First Look – Automobili Pininfarina PURA Vision

Automobili Pininfarina today in the Cambiano part of Turin introduced its PURA Vision design concept of an electric luxury vehicle – e-LUV in marketing babble. The new design concept will inspire the next generation of Automobili Pininfarina’s pure electric luxury vehicles and will make its public debut at Monterey Car Week in August, where it will appear alongside the recently revealed Battista Edizione Nino Farina hyper GT and another new production vehicle. Continue reading

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First Look – 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser

Toyota (NYSE: TM) has finally officially acknowledged that its longest-running nameplate will return to the North American after a three-year hiatus. Moreover,  the off-road vehicle is less expensive with a MSRP in the mid-$50,000 range. (The Lexus LX 600 version of the platform is on sale now in the US at ~$100,000.) Now built off of the less expensive TNGA-F global truck platform, the new Land Cruiser is available with the range-topping i-FORCE MAX hybrid powertrain producing 326 horsepower and 465 lb.-ft. of torque. Continue reading

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EPA Awards Grants to 21 Student Teams on Public Health

“EPA’s P3 program, now in its twentieth year, is an exciting and unique program that recognizes the power of students to translate imagination and science into new solutions that protect human health and the environment,” said Chris Frey, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. Continue reading

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Toyota Posts Strong FY 2024 Q1 Results – $9.2 Billion Net

Sales volume increased in all regions due to productivity improvements inside TMC and with its suppliers. Consolidated vehicle sales Q1 was 2,326,000 units, at 115.5% of consolidated vehicle sales for the same period of the previous fiscal year. Toyota and Lexus vehicle sales was at 2,538,000 thousand units, at 108.4% of such sales for the same period of the previous fiscal year. This coincided with the better supply of  semiconductors, which is still delaying delivery, particularly on new models. Notably, electrified vehicles were 34% of total sales. Continue reading

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New Pattern Bargaining – UAW and Unifor Strike All Makers?

“This year, negotiations are expected to be more contentious, and UAW President Shawn Fain has alluded that things may be done differently this time around which could mean that they negotiate with all three simultaneously – ultimately leading to a strike against all of the Detroit 3 if their demands are not met,” said Taylor Prodin, Analyst, Americas Vehicle Forecasts, GlobalData*. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Recalls 2023 Super Duty Pickups

Ford said, “If the driver and front passenger door module experiences a low power condition and resets while the window is moving, the anti-pinch function may not detect an obstacle near the top edge and may not automatically reverse direction.” Continue reading

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