Automotiv News

The earnings were hurt by warranty costs of 320 billion won ($231 million) for its Santa Fe crossover engines in the United States.

Newer automatic emergency braking systems prevent about twice the number of crashes that older models do but still fail to stop crashes at high speeds, a challenge for automakers preparing to meet a strict new federal standard for the technology.

Model-year 2024 vehicles with automatic emergency braking avoided 100 percentof forward collisions at 35 mph, a much better performance than 2017 and 2018vehicles, which avoided collisions 51percent of the time at that speed, according to research published Oct. 24 by AAA.

“AAA is very pleased to find that automatic emergency braking systems are getting significantly better, and that’s a great result for drivers and safety of the road,” said Greg Brannon, director of automotive research at AAA.

However, only three out of four test vehicles were able to avoid a collision at 45 mph, and none could avoid a collision at 55 mph.

NHTSA is requiring that all new vehicles be equipped with automatic emergency braking that can meet a high-speed requirement starting in September 2029. Vehicles must avoid a collision automatically with no manual braking for speeds of up to 50 mph. Vehicles must avoid a collision at speeds of up to 62.2 mph when a combination of the automatic emergency brake and the manual brake is engaged.

While AAA tested only full automatic emergency braking without driver intervention, that none of the vehicles could avoid a collision at 55 mph suggests that the industry has a ways to go to meet the new federal standard.

“The new standard doesn’t go into place until 2029, so there’s a lot of work and development and testing and things that will have to happen between now and then,” Brannon said. “The good news is, we’ve got five years to do that.”

Automatic emergency braking has well-documented safety benefits, but the technology must navigate complexity. The government has determined that automatic emergency braking must prevent crashes at certain speeds, but oversensitivity of the system can pose its own danger.

Manufacturers including Honda, General Motors, Mazda, Nissan, Tesla and Volkswagen have faced investigations or recalls related to false activations of the systems, when vehicles brake for nonexistent obstacles. NHTSA has compiled reports of injuries because of these false activations — 93, for example, as a part of the Honda investigation. And automakers and other stakeholders have voiced concerns that stricter standards could create more false positives.

Despite the challenges facing manufacturers that must meet the new standard, the AAA research indicates that in seven years, automakers have been able to double the prevention capabilities of their automatic emergency braking systems.

The automotive industry has been “tuning, refining and making better, and the tweaking of those those algorithms combined with the additional sensors — it seems to be headed in the right direction,” Brannon said.

Penske Automotive Group's artificial intelligence platform to improve customer service and increase service and parts revenue is expanding across the auto retailer's dealerships nationwide.

Sonic Automotive Inc.'s third-quarter net income rises with assist from tax benefit.

Used-vehicle sales giants are among auto retailers assessing and expanding applications of artificial intelligence.

Unifor opened a labor action center in Niagara Region this month to help about 1,000 members find work following layoffs and retooling delays at General Motors Canada’s St. Catharines Propulsion Plant. 

GM is working to restructure its struggling business in China, where its market share has fallen amid heightened competition, particularly from domestic brands selling low-priced EVs.

Tesla said it expects to launch lower-cost models next year. "Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025."

Lithia Motors Inc. by the end of the third quarter reduced expenses by $50 million more than the group's original target for a cost-cutting initiative launched this year, COO Adam Chamberlain said Oct. 23 on the company's Q3 earnings call.

Longo Toyota of Prosper said it was the first such incident, but police reportedly told the man they were having problems with area dealerships.

British automated driving startup Wayve has opened an office in Sunnyvale, Calif., where it will locate a test fleet that's learning how to drive on American roads.

A study says 88 percent of political ads involving EVs are negative. The electric vehicle industry is worried about reputational damage. 

"Every little thing can be celebrated — a good month [or] a troublesome car that finally leaves. Go out and buy some ice cream bars and say, 'Guys that Bronco's out of here, let's take a minute and celebrate.' When an employee goes through training, whether that's just an after-work session put on by a local parts store or they go off to a training center that's out of town — when they come back, celebrate that. When leaders start to learn more about what motivations each of their team members has, they'll know what works. Some are money-motivated, some are time off-motivated, some want public recognition, some want private recognition. Figure out what works best for your individual team members and you'll figure it out. Then find ways to sprinkle that in with the birthday cake and the work anniversaries. I write a little handwritten card — 'Just another year on the team. Love having you here. Can't wait to see what this next year brings for you.' Same with the birthdays. You know, somebody gets engaged or has a baby, find a way to celebrate that. I hate to say it, [but] at funerals. We just had a grandmother of one of our technicians at the downtown Cleveland store die. You send flowers and you make sure that you make an appearance there. Some people will say, 'I didn't think you'd be here; you didn't have to send flowers.' Hey, we're in this together. We're a family. And sometimes that could be overused — you know, you're part of the family. But when you act like that — you celebrate birthdays, you celebrate successes and you mourn the loss together — it brings you together." — Bill Snow, vice president of franchise development and operations at Rad Air Complete Car Care in northeast Ohio, on the "Ratchet + Wrench Radio" podcast.

The VW ID7 electric sedan, similar in size to the discontinued Passat midsize sedan, was supposed to launch in the U.S. in the third quarter, but now it looks like it will likely launch in 2025.

While one firm is betting on AI's use to price dealerships, some industry experts question its ability to overcome subjective elements of dealership valuations.

Rivian has only one plant, yet has racked up more U.S. safety violations initially deemed “serious” than any other automaker since the start of last year. 

Stellantis NV plans to operate a test fleet of electric vehicles powered with solid-state batteries in two years’ time, taking a step toward potential commercialization of a technology that’s aimed at improving EV performance.

The automaker will launch a demonstration fleet of battery-powered Dodge Charger Daytonas using solid-state cells made by Factorial Energy, the Woburn, Massachusetts-based startup told Bloomberg. 

“This is a very critical step for them to test in a real world condition,” Siyu Huang, chief executive officer at Factorial Energy, said. The company aims to start mass production of its battery cells as soon as 2029, she added.

Solid-state batteries replace the liquid electrolyte and the separator, which are both flammable, in a conventional lithium-ion battery with a solid separator made of ceramic, glass or polymers. They promise reduced charging times, longer driving ranges and no fire risk. 

But no automaker has begun sales of EVs with solid state batteries yet and tests remain limited in scope and scale.

Stellantis, an investor in Factorial, previously announced plans to introduce a solid-state battery in 2026, but had not disclosed further details. Mercedes-Benz Group AG is also an investor in Factorial, which has raised $250 million so far, along with Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., Huang said.

The planned road tests of Stellantis vehicles — starting with Dodge but expanding to some of the carmaker’s other key brands — are to be conducted in the U.S., but Factorial didn’t specify where or how many vehicles will be involved.

The startup’s latest battery cell has an energy density of more than 390 watt-hours per kilogram, which would be higher than China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.’s Qilin condensed solid-state battery showcased in 2023. 

Volkswagen AG earlier this year said it had achieved positive results with a prototype vehicle powered by a solid-state battery from partner QuantumScape Corp. Other automakers dabbling independently in solid-state battery technology research include China’s BYD Co. and Nissan Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

A Cox Automotive analysis compares the value of used hybrid, electric and gasoline vehicles with their sticker price.

A recall-related stop-sale in the third quarter flipped BMW brand's 3.1 percent first-half sales increase into a 0.2 percent decline after nine months.

Chinese carmakers have built and commissioned complete manufacturing plants across nine countries, with annual capacity of 1.2 million units as of 2023, a figure set to more than double to 2.7 million in over a dozen countries by 2026, Bloomberg found.