Sean Szymkowski, Contributor
Articles
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General Motors wants to make it easier to order your Starbucks coffee, find the nearest Shell station, or even reserve a table at the local TGI Fridays. On Tuesday, the automaker announced GM...
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Before BMW builds a prototype it builds a pretertypeFor an automaker to embark on a new car or other project isn't a simple task. Foremost, it costs money, and developing a car isn't exactly inexpensive. So, BMW has a new way of doing things: it builds "pretertypes" before a prototype. Rainer Daude, head of BMW's forward-looking technology office...
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2019 Chevy Corvette ZR1 actually wasn't plannedThe last time the ZR1 badge showed up on a Corvette was with the C6-generation car, but we've long expected it to return with the C7-generation Corvette as well. However, a new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 wasn't always in the cards. GM Authority reported last Friday that the Corvette team originally...
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Lexus LF-1 Limitless crossover concept teased ahead of Detroit debutLexus has something to show us, and it's coming to the Detroit auto show next month. Wearing the LF-1 Limitless name, the concept promises a "striking" new design and the brand believes it will carve a new genre in luxury crossovers. The teaser, published on Tuesday, reveals a sweeping LED...
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Volkswagen reveals MOIA ride-sharing electric van conceptThe Volkswagen Group doesn't simply want to electrify its portfolio of brands and cars for personal ownership, it also wants to provide sustainable transportation in other ways. Its first step? Ridesharing. This week, the automaker's newly minted MOIA mobility unit revealed its first vehicle...
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First 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom to be auctioned for charityAs many brands often do with a particular car wearing VIN 001, Rolls-Royce announced on Monday it will auction off the first production Phantom for charity at the 2018 Naples Winter Wine Festival on January 27. The three-day event founded by the Naples Children & Education Foundation will take...
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Yamaha plans to pit man against machine with its latest self-riding motorcycle concept. And it has an appropriate name: Motobot. The Japanese motorcycle company announced last Tuesday that it will...
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2018 Bentley Continental GT First Edition beckons early adoptersBentley has launched limited-run First Edition models for the Bentayga SUV and the Mulsanne flagship. Now, the latest Continental GT is on deck. The luxury marque revealed the Continental GT First Edition on Wednesday, and it boasts a handful of unique cues to earn its badge. Like more pedestrian...
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Lotus wants to take on Ferrari with new modelsLotus is best known for its track-focused vehicles as of recent, but one day, the brand's new Chinese owner wants it to rival Ferrari and Porsche. So said the chief of Geely, An Cong Hui, whose company in May took a majority stake in Lotus, along with a major stake in Lotus parent company Proton...
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Land Rover mulls 2-door SUV as flagshipLand Rover is busy charting its future path, and aside from a possible S-Class rivaling "Road Rover", the brand is also looking at a 2-door SUV as a flagship vehicle. On Friday, Drive reported that Gerry McGovern, Land Rover's design boss, alluded to such a flagship vehicle during the 2017 Los...
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First 2019 Chevy Corvette ZR1 to be auctioned off for charityIn typical fashion, Chevrolet will auction of the first production 2019 Corvette ZR1 for charity. We'll give you one guess (Rick Hendrick) as to who's most likely to enter the winning bid Nonetheless, ZR1 VIN 001 will benefit a good cause. Chevrolet said Thursday that all proceeds will go to the...
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Intel and Warner Bros deal hints at entertainment future in self-driving carsMarketers, advertisers, and companies in general are itching to implement the next era of entertainment and connectivity. It's coming, and it will likely be broadcast in future self-driving cars. Intel sees the future today, and on Wednesday the tech giant announced a new deal with Warner Bros to...
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For decades, the automotive media has taken automobiles and discussed how they drive, their features, and why one might be a better buy than the other. When the day arrives where a car is ready to do...
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EPA rates 2017 Tesla Model 3 at 310 miles of range, now find oneStep aside, Chevrolet Bolt EV. There's a new king of the (sort of) affordable electric-car segment. Well, maybe the Bolt EV can stay right where it is for two main reasons. First, there are very few Model 3s on the road at this point due to Tesla's problems with "production hell." Second, no early...
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Half of Porsche sales will be electrified cars by 2025The Volkswagen brand grabs a lot of the headlines surrounding VW Group's electrification plans, but Porsche will also help lead the way forward. In fact, Porsche is so confident in its electrified future that it believes half of its total sales will encompass plug-in hybrid and battery-electric...
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Lincoln to launch car subscription program in early 2018Lincoln will board the car subscription bandwagon as it announced on Tuesday at the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show a pilot program that will launch in early 2018. Lincoln will launch the unnamed subscription program in California. It will include access to a car along with insurance, maintenance...
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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing first to join Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy electric race seriesFormula E will gain a supplementary series for the 2018/2019 season with the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy series, a one-make series that will pit 20 Jaguar I-Pace electric crossovers against one another. On Tuesday, we learned of the first team to sign on. None other than Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is...
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2018 Mazda 6 chases a more premium pathThe 2018 Mazda 6 is more than just a typical refresh for the brand's banner mid-size sedan. It represents the next step forward for Mazda as it chases class-above refinement. On Wednesday, Mazda revealed the refreshed sedan at the 2017 Los Angeles auto show, and it brings numerous updates and...
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Nissan wants a bigger piece of the small crossover pie, and it has a new set of wheels to accomplish just that. Or should we say a new pair of Kicks? The Japanese automaker revealed the 2018 Nissan...
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Lamborghini Urus interior leakedNext week, Lamborghini will reveal the Urus, the brand's first sport utility vehicle since the classic LM002, but ahead of the reveal an Instagram user by the name of toysforboysbrasil has posted some photos that show the wild SUV's interior completely uncloaked. The Instagram post shared two...
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Waymo's self-driving car fleet clips 4-million mile mark, set to kick off self-driving taxi serviceFour million miles down, unlimited potential to go. Waymo's fleet of self-driving cars has officially reached the four-million-mile mark in about eight years of total operation. And in the coming months, the company will launch a self-driving taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, for the public to use...
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Mercedes-Benz A-Class interior photo teasers tip plug-in hybrid modelLast week, Mercedes-Benz showed off what to expect from its next-generation compact luxury cars' interiors. Upon closer inspection, the photos also revealed an A-Class plug-in hybrid is forthcoming. Virtuel Car first noticed the small detail and published the images on Tuesday. Looking closely at...
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Nissan launches Autech sub-brand in Japan focusing on craftsmanship, sportinessFollowing Nissan's expansion of the Nismo sub-brand, the company announced its latest sub-division last Friday: Autech. The new sub-brand will combine sporting characteristics with an eye for "premium craftsmanship" and top-quality materials in the company's home market of Japan. We reached out to...
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Mercedes-Benz offers augmented reality app to replace owner's manualsFlipping through numerous pages of text isn't exactly the most difficult way to find the answer to a question about your car. However, it isn't the most advanced way, either. Enter "Ask Mercedes," Mercedes-Benz's new chatbot and augmented reality assistant the German luxury automaker revealed last...
Sean Szymkowski