Industry

  • Apple store

    Apple is perhaps signaling its future intentions regarding the auto industry with the announcement it is investing $1 billion in a Chinese rival to ride-sharing businesses such as Lyft and Uber. The investment in Didi Chuxing Technology was announced yesterday and comes just a few months after General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] announced it was investing $500 million in Lyft. Didi is the largest ride-sharing service in China and accounts for nearly 90 percent of the country's ride-sharing business, providing as much as 11 million rides per day, the company says. ALSO SEE: Hyerloop One releases...

  • Hyperloop One first full-scale test
    Hyperloop One releases video of first full-scale test

    On Wednesday, one of the companies racing to develop an operational Hyperloop system successfully completed its first full-scale test. The company, Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop Technologies), has now released a video showing the test. The test involved a metal sled being accelerated down a...

  • 2018 MItsubishi Outlander PHEV
    Nissan to buy 34 percent of Mitsubishi in $2.17 billion deal

    Nissan has entered an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in fellow Japanese automaker Mitsubishi. Under the agreement, which is still subject to shareholder approval, Nissan will pay ¥237 billion (approximately $2.17 billion) for 34 percent of Mitsubishi. ALSO SEE: Fuji Heavy Industries...

  • Subaru Corporation headquarters in Tokyo, Japan
    Fuji Heavy Industries changing name to Subaru Corporation

    Subaru parent company Fuji Heavy Industries plans to change its name to Subaru Corporation in an effort to bolster the image and recognition of its automotive brand. In addition to building Subaru cars, Fuji Heavy Industries also builds airplanes, helicopters and commercial vehicles. READ: Nissan...

  • Hyperloop One test site in Nevada
    First full-scale Hyperloop test is a success

    Progress surrounding development of the Hyperloop high-speed transport system originally proposed by Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] CEO Elon Musk took a major step forward today with a full-scale test taking place outside Las Vegas, Nevada. Doing the testing was Hyperloop One (formerly Hyperloop...

  • Sergio Marchionne
    Autonomous cars 5 years out, says Sergio Marchionne

    The outspoken CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] said in an interview that fully autonomous cars are about five years away from legal road use, not a couple of decades as others have suggested. Sergio Marchionne, whose company is now working directly with Google to develop a self-driving...

  • Saab 9-3-based development mules for Turkish national car project

    Turkey is working on a national car, one powered by an extended-range electric drivetrain. The development is led by Turkey’s Scientific and Technical Research Council (TÜBİTAK), and the country’s Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Isik is so (over)confident of the project he’s out boasting that it will be better than a Tesla. CHECK OUT: What happens when you put gas into a diesel tank? “Our car will be better and safer than Tesla’s car,” Isik told Hurriyet Daily News. “While they need to establish charging stations, we will...

  • BMW ReachNow
    13,000 sign up for BMW's ReachNow mobility service in first month

    More than 13,000 people in the Seattle area have signed up to be a part of BMW's new car- and ride-sharing service in the United States. ReachNow is what BMW bills a "premium car sharing" service positioned as an alternative to the likes of ZipCar and Car2Go. “The rapid adoption of ReachNow...

  • Fiat Chrysler Automobiles turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine
    Report: FCA plans turbo 4-cylinder with almost 300 horsepower

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] may be about to launch a new turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine delivering close to 300 horsepower. The company already has such an engine, officially rated at 276 hp, that’s set to debut in the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia. However, the more...

  • Quality control at Porsche
    Porsche provides inside look at its quality control

    Porsche makes some of the world's most advanced and complex vehicles, but the automaker has long prioritized quality over quantity. To illustrate that, the Stuttgart-based automaker has detailed a few elements about its production process. Porsche says it actually decentralizes quality control and...

  • 2016 Tesla Model S
    Tesla targets 90,000 cars this year, 500,000 as early as 2018

    Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] has said multiple times it plans to produce 500,000 electric cars per year by 2020, but now the company believes it may hit that goal a little earlier. In its latest shareholder letter, Tesla said it plans to move the 500,000-unit goal up to 2018. And in a conference call...

  • General Motors' Dan Ammann (center) with Lyft's John Zimmer (right) and Logan Green (left)
    GM and Lyft on-demand autonomous taxi service could start next year

    General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] has been spending up big in preparation for the arrival of fully autonomous cars. First it invested $500 million in ride-sharing business Lyft, and just a few months later it paid $1 billion to acquire autonomous car technology firm Cruise Automation. The end goal...

  • Wolfgang Hatz

    Another senior executive placed on suspension following the revelation of the Volkswagen Group’s diesel emissions cheating has stepped down. Porsche confirmed its R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz has resigned due to the ongoing internal investigations at the VW Group and his resulting prolonged leave of absence. Hatz, who was also in charge of engine development at the VW Group, was placed on suspension along with nine other senior executives last October while several investigations into the diesel emissions scandal were conducted. Caught up in the scandal is Porsche’s Cayenne Diesel...

  • 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
    FCA to build autonomous Chrysler Pacificas for Google

    Google and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] have confirmed a partnership in the area of autonomous cars. As part of the partnership, Google’s autonomous car technology, which includes various sensors and complex software systems, will be fully integrated in about 100 Chrysler Pacifica...

  • Sergio Marchionne
    Sergio Marchionne named Ferrari CEO

    Ferrari [NYSE:RACE] has named current Chairman Sergio Marchionne as its new CEO. Marchionne takes over from Amedeo Felisa, who is retiring after 26 years at the company and eight years in the top role. The 69-year-old will still play a role in guiding Ferrari, however, as he is to continue to serve...

  • 2018 MItsubishi Outlander PHEV
    Mitsubishi clears U.S. models from fuel economy scandal

    Mitsubishi says the cars, trucks and SUVs it has sold in the United States are not affected by the fuel economy scandal that has rocked its home office in Japan. In a release issued to members of the media, Mitsubishi Motors North America indicated that its American research and development wing...

  • New Audi R8 LMS race car wins 2015 ADAC Zurich Nürburgring 24 Hours
    Report: Russian billionaire acquires rights to Nürburgring

    The speed limits that have dogged the Nürburgring for the last 12 months are now a thing of the past, but there’s already new drama surrounding the famous German racetrack. It’s being reported that Russian billionaire Viktor Kharitonin has acquired 99 percent of the rights to the...

  • Google's autonomous Lexus RX450h
    Google, carmakers, ride-sharing services team up to expedite autonomous cars

    The list is a who's who of autonomous driving: Google, Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F], Volvo, Uber, and General Motors Company-backed [NYSE:GM] Lyft have all banded together to create a coalition designed to speed up the process by which autonomous cars will become a road-going reality. The quintet of...

  • Geely logo and Volvo logo

    Chinese automaker Geely may be about to introduce a new mainstream brand selling cars developed with Volvo. Since acquiring the Swedish automaker from Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F] in 2010, Geely has set about transforming it into a luxury marque. That leaves room for Geely to compete in mainstream segments. Geely currently has a number of brands in its home market including a namesake brand, and last year its combined sales totaled over half a million vehicles. However, while Geely’s existing brands are targeted at the Chinese market, the automaker is reportedly planning a new brand with...

  • 2015 Volkswagen Golf TDI SE
    VW reaches deal with U.S. regulators over diesel scandal

    Volkswagen in a San Francisco court yesterday reached a deal with regulators in the United States over its diesel emissions scandal that affects more than half a million customers locally and around 11 million worldwide. The deal, only an “agreement in principle” currently, will be...

  • Mitsubishi eK
    Mitsubishi raided after it admits to overstating fuel economy

    Mitsubishi falsified fuel economy information on a pair of small cars it builds for its home market, the automaker said this week. While the Japanese automaker isn't the first company to incorrectly self-report fuel economy for some of its products, what makes this situation unique is that a number...

  • Volkswagen TDI 'clean diesel' television ad screencap
    VW may buy back diesels, offer $5,000 to owners

    According to a report from Reuters, Volkswagen and United States regulators have reached an agreement on the "Dieselgate" issue that has plagued the company for months. The deal could involve buying back up to 500,000 diesel cars in the U.S. The official announcement is expected tomorrow, the day...

  • Alfa Romeo Giulia job one
    Alfa Romeo Giulia production gets underway in Italy

    The 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia is finally in production. The first examples rolled off the line yesterday at a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU] plant in Piedimonte San Germano, Italy. The first car off the line was a dark gray example of the base Giulia. Production of Giulia sedans for the United...

  • 2015 Nissan Leaf, Denver, Colorado, Mar 2016  [photo: owner Andrew Ganz]
    Dutch look to ban gas, diesel car sales by 2025

    The parliament of the Netherlands has passed a motion which would require that all new cars sold by 2025 will have to be electrified in some way, rather than fueled solely by gasoline or diesel. The Dutch government hasn't yet banned gas and diesel-powered cars, however, and the motion does allow...

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