Industry
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Apple in recent years has been poaching staff from the auto industry, including from firms such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles [NYSE:FCAU], Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] and battery supplier A123 Systems. This has all led to speculation the tech giant is developing its own car. The latest out of the rumor mill is that Apple has established a secret lab in Berlin and hired top staff from Germany’s auto industry to help develop a car, whose code name has previously been reported to be Project Titan. Frankfurter Allgemeine, citing an anonymous source, reports that around 15 to 20 staff with...
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Feds seeking forfeiture of luxury cars being exported to ChinaBack in 2012, a couple in Memphis, Tennessee found out the hard way that U.S. Customs and Homeland Security agents, not to mention automakers themselves, are paying close attention to what's leaving American ports. The feds in 2012 seized a dozen BMW X5s being exported by Yifan Kong and his wife...
Andrew Ganz -
Hyperloop firm taps auto industry to develop transport techOne of the companies looking to turn Elon Musk's "Hyperloop" dream into reality wants to tap into the auto industry for experienced engineers. "This is real. This is happening," said Brogan BamBrogan, CTO and co-founder of Hyperloop Technology Inc, in a talk at the 2016 SAE World Congress...
Stephen Edelstein -
Fourth Ferrari theme park might be in U.S.As Ferrari [NYSE:RACE] seeks new avenues of growth to satisfy investors and at the same time maintain the exclusivity of its sports cars, the company—or at least the brand name—continues to crop up in areas not usually associated with cars or motorsports. In past years we’ve seen...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa about to resign--reportFerrari [NYSE:RACE] shareholders are set to convene in Amsterdam on Friday to nominate a new board of directors. It’s being reported that as part of the process, current CEO Amedeo Felisa will step down. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Felisa will stay on as a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Jaguar Land Rover gets in on car-sharing craze with InMotionJaguar Land Rover may not be a brand most would associate with car-sharing, but that's just what the British company says its new InMotion division will be up to. JLR stops short of using the term "car-sharing" in its announcement about InMotion. Rather, the automaker says that it will create an...
Andrew Ganz -
BMW's DriveNow car-sharing program receives a new name in the United States: ReachNow. In other markets, the program is still being called DriveNow but the rebranded ReachNow is ready to roll in the U.S., with the first city on the list being Seattle, Washington. BMW says ReachNow is aimed at consumers in highly urban areas who may struggle to find parking spaces. One of its biggest advantages over other programs like Car2Go (owned by rival Daimler) is that ReachNow users will have the option to have vehicles delivered directly to them when they are requested. Eventually, users will even be...
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GM design chief Ed Welburn to retire July 1General Motors Company [NYSE:GM] today announced that design chief Ed Welburn will retire effective July 1. Welburn, 65, spent 44 years at General Motors. He took over as head of GM design in 2003, then assumed global responsibilities in 2005. Under his leadership, GM built a network of 10 design...
Kirk Bell -
France offers Tesla old nuclear power station as potential site for plantTesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] is planning to expand its manufacturing footprint with new plants located around the globe. The American automaker already has a small plant in the Netherlands where some final assembly of its electric cars destined for Europe take place. However, CEO Elon Musk has...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
PSA Peugeot Citroën outlines three-step plan for US returnPSA Peugeot Citroën’s return to the United States has been making headlines ever since Peugeot pulled out of the market back in 1991. Now, though, we have our first official confirmation that the French automaker is gearing up for a return to the U.S. The confirmation was made by CEO...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Third Ferrari theme park confirmed for ChinaThe third Ferrari [NYSE:RACE] theme park has been confirmed for China. The new park will join existing Ferrari-themed parks in Abu Dhabi (Ferrari World) and Barcelona, Spain (Ferrari Land). A location is yet to be announced, though we can confirm it will be one of the “primary cities" in...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Maserati joins the big leagues with new Manhattan showroomMaserati will join a host of other major makes in the luxury segment by having a North American flagship showroom along Midtown Manhattan's burgeoning automotive row. Maserati's new showroom will be located at 639 Eleventh Avenue (at the intersection of West 47th Street in the Hell's Kitchen...
Andrew Ganz -
When seeing at night becomes difficult, many people blame their own eyes. But car headlights may really be the problem, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which just released its first-ever headlight ratings. Headlights are getting more advanced, with LEDs and other new features going mainstream, and even more advanced technologies cropping up outside the U.S. But right now, the majority of car headlights don't seem to be very good, says the IIHS. It tested 82 lighting systems across 31 vehicles from the 2016 model year, from both mainstream and luxury brands, but...
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Nürburgring speed limits finally liftedFollowing the death of a spectator in a crash that took place during a race held at the Nürburgring early last year, speed limits were introduced at sections of the track. This put an end to the possibility of setting Nürburgring lap records, though thankfully the limits were only on a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
FTC sues VW over "Clean Diesel" advertisingVolkswagen can add one more lawsuit to the growing list resulting from the ongoing diesel scandal. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now suing the embattled German carmaker because of allegedly false claims in years of "Clean Diesel" advertising. VW used the Clean Diesel tagline for years...
Stephen Edelstein -
Federal judge extends deadline for VW's diesel fixA federal judge has pushed back the deadline to April 21 for Volkswagen and regulators in the United States to come to an agreement on a fix for the German automaker's diesel cars. Previously, the deadline was set for March 24 for VW to figure out how it will modify 600,000 cars sold in the U.S...
Andrew Ganz -
TVR to follow Aston Martin with new plant in WalesRevived British sports car marque TVR will follow in the footsteps of Aston Martin by setting up a new plant in Wales. It was only a month ago that Aston Martin confirmed plans to build a plant in Wales for its upcoming SUV. Now TVR has confirmed similar plans. TVR’s plant will be used for...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
VW ends Phaeton production, plans to repurpose Transparent FactoryVolkswagen has finally ceased production of its Phaeton, a full-size luxury sedan first shown at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show and discontinued in the United States midway through the last decade due to poor sales performance. And it wasn't only in the U.S. where the car suffered from slow sales...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The inevitable march toward the driverless car continues. It's still off in the distance, a speck on the horizon, but that speck is getting larger with each flip of your calendar's pages. There are some aspects of the autonomous driving realm that are already a part of the automotive landscape. One of them will become a whole lot more prevalent in the next few years. A group of 20 automakers have banded together to bring autonomous braking systems to all of their vehicles. The plan is to make the tech a standard feature on all new vehicles by September 1, 2022. The list of automakers who are...
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Bosch, Panasonic among potential battery suppliers for production Porsche Mission E: ReportPorsche plans to put its Mission E electric car into production by the end of the decade, but to do that it will need a company to supply batteries for the car. The company is considering two potential candidates and may make a decision soon, reports Bloomberg. Panasonic and Bosch are both...
Stephen Edelstein -
Ford latest to make “mobility provider” transition: VideoAutomakers in general see their future as being mobility providers rather than solely manufacturers of cars and trucks. This change in thinking is in direct response to changing trends like the rising popularity of the sharing economy, where, particularly in congested cities, the traditional...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Ford police cars offer protection against armor-piercing bulletsStopping perpetrators and protecting police officers just became even bigger business at Ford Motor Company [NYSE:F]. The automaker announced today that its Police Interceptor sedan and utility models will both be available with ballistic panels capable of protecting the vehicle's occupants from...
Andrew Ganz -
GM acquires Cruise Automation, moves closer to autonomous drivingGeneral Motors Company [NYSE:GM] announced it has bought San Francisco-based Cruise Automation, a young startup firm that specializes in autonomous vehicle technology. The acquisition, GM says, will help it move forward on its plans for cars that are capable of driving themselves. Cruise was...
Andrew Ganz -
First full-scale Hyperloop could be built in EuropeSince Tesla Motors [NSDQ:TSLA] CEO Elon Musk first proposed the "Hyperloop" concept in 2013, multiple companies have arisen to try to make this futuristic transportation system a reality. But the first commercial Hyperloop may not be in the United States. The Hyperloop debuted with the tagline "San...
Stephen Edelstein