Category Archives: auto news

C’est Bien – Corvette Racing off to Le Mans 24 Hour

This year’s Le Mans is the first time in France for the mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, and this year’s race marks Corvette Racing’s return after missing the 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It ended a run of 20 consecutive years at Le Mans that started in 2000. In that time, Corvette claimed eight victories with three different generations of Corvette… all with the engine in the front. Continue reading

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911 Safety Technology – OnStar Expands with RapidDeploy

“This latest milestone in our collaboration with RapidDeploy demonstrates OnStar’s commitment to keeping members and first responders safe during emergencies and supporting new innovations to advance Next Generation 911 initiatives,” said Catherine Bishop, senior manager, OnStar Emergency Services. Continue reading

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Hyundai-Aptiv Startup Motional Expands on West Coast

This move comes as Motional accelerates towards mass commercialization, which includes a landmark agreement with Lyft to launch a multimarket fully driverless service starting in 2023. Motional claims to be one of the world’s key AV players. “We’ve had a presence in Los Angeles for more than five years and are now increasing our investment in California with a new operations facility and road testing in the Los Angeles area, a new San Francisco Bay Area office, and extensive hiring that will more than double the size of our California team,” Motional said in a release. Continue reading

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FAA – Global COVID-19 Testing Required for ALL Entering US

Reaffirming a CDC recommendation, the FAA has just issued Notice Number – NOTC1986 – that stipulates global COVID-19 testing is required for all air passengers entering the country. If you plan to travel internationally, you will need to get tested … Continue reading

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Kia America Dabbles with On-Demand, At-Home Car Shopping

Kia America has announced “Kia@Home” which delivers scheduled test drives of two of vehicles direct to consumers at a convenient location of their choosing in several major cities. It is the latest example of an automaker exploring the boundaries of the traditional franchised dealer network. Continue reading

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US Vehicle Sales Drop in July for Third Month Running

Toyota, General Motors and Hyundai were the three bestselling OEMs, while Ford had the weakest performance compared to last July. Ford remains mired in simi-conductor shortages and long-standing troubled relationships with suppliers. Hyundai re-introduced the Compact Pickup segment in July, with the first units of the Santa Cruz delivered. This segment of course was once dominated by GM and Ford before Toyota and Nissan moved in. Continue reading

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President Biden Targets 50% Electric Vehicle Sales in 2030

The weak points in the plan is allowing for hybrids, and worse plug-in hybrids, which have laughable range running as an EV. However this is a politically needed SOP for most automakers that have been slow to embrace pure EVS. This is industrial policy on a grand scale that proponents argue is needed to survive in the global economy. Less than 4% new vehicles sold in the U.S. during June were electric or plug-in hybrids. This puts the Republicans in a tough spot. Helping Big Business – in effect tax cuts for the rich – is their highly selective policy. But creating middle class jobs while acknowledging Global Warming and setting policy that benefits all of “we the people” is counter to their failed attempts at governing for the selective few. Continue reading

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GM Posts Record Q2 Earnings of $4.1B Amid Delta Doubts

With GM’s evolving view on Automobility it is placing itself squarely in the middle of a global battle royal among other automotive giants such as Toyota, Stellantis and Volkswagen Group, by developing a full EV portfolio that doesn’t depend on “partial solutions” like hybrids and “electrified” ICE vehicles. Continue reading

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Stellantis Posts Record H1 Results. Full-Year Guidance Upped

“While delivering this strong operational performance the Company also made significant progress on strategic matters related to electrification acceleration and software, which are fundamental pillars of our strategy,” claimed Carlos Tavares, CEO. Continue reading

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Super Car First Look – Honda NSX Type S

Honda Motor today released early information on a new limited production NSX Type S, which is scheduled to be officially introduced before the end of August 2021. The new NSX Type S will be the final model of the second-generation NSX. … Continue reading

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Volker Holzmeyer New Head of Porsche Motorsport NA

Porsche Carrera Cup North America is the most recent Porsche racing program here, starting in 2021, reflecting 30 years of Porsche racing. The one-make race series in the United States and Canada (eventually now that baseball has just returned to Toronto) uses the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car and Michelin Pilot Sport Cup N3 racing slick on the road and street race courses on the continent. As with all national Carrera Cups worldwide, Porsche, through Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA), will manage the single-driver per-entry series. Porsche has 21 one-make championships competing in 31 countries on five continents. Continue reading

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Renault Group Boasts €2B Fixed-Cost Cuts Ahead of Plan

“These results are the fruits of our strategic Renaulution plan, focused on profitability. They mark only the first step in our turnaround, which should accelerate with the arrival of the new vehicles in preparation. I would like to thank all our employees for their commitment in achieving these results,” declared Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group. To AutoInformed, it seems premature to have a French victory toast at this point in the ongoing covid and automotive wars. C’est fous. Continue reading

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Daimler Boards Approve Spin Off of Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Truck as Two companies. Shareholder Vote in October

In a high stakes move by the Daimler AG Board of Management and Supervisory Board (ticker symbol DAI) to separate two very different businesses and insulate the parent company from financial threats that Global Warming, connected and autonomous vehicles and automaker upheavals are causing, approved making Mercedes-Benz Cars and Daimler Truck independent companies. Continue reading

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Tesla Model 3 – Europe’s Second Best-Selling Car in June 21. Low Emission Cars at Record Share. Makers Lagging Buyers

Notably, low emissions cars (BEV and PHEV) continued to perform well, recording a new record total market share of 18.5% – up from 8.2% in June 2020. Registrations of BEVs totaled 126,000 units during the month, ahead of the 104,000 registered PHEV units. Yes that’s right pure EVs out sold hybrids, which were at the center automakers plans to fight emissions and global warming. Fiat, Tesla, Skoda, Volkswagen and Ford gained the largest market share in the BEV market while Cupra, Jeep, Volkswagen, Renault and Seat posted the highest market share gains in the PHEV market. Continue reading

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Ford Motor Posts Q2 Revenue $26.8B, Net Income $56M, Earnings $1.1B as Market Share Drops

During April with the semiconductor situation worsening, Ford said it expected to lose about 50% of its planned second-quarter production, which would have resulted in a loss in the period. Ford did better than that using the strong demand from the Biden Administration economic boom to improve revenue and profits through lower incentives and a more expensive and profitable mix of vehicles. These generated company-wide adjusted earnings of $1.1 billion before interest and taxes. Continue reading

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