Top Headlines
General Motors to Pay $900 Million Settlement in Ignition Case
BUSINESS September 17, 2015 | 11:53 AM
- GM also agrees to monitoring
- Settlement smaller than Toyota’s over-acceleration issue
- Ignition issue goes back a decade
General Motors Co., the largest automaker in the U.S., has settled criminal charges with the U.S. Justice Department and will be required to pay $900 million and be monitored for four years on its safety practices.
The charges alleged GM failed to correctly handle an ignition-switch issue that is blamed for more than 300 deaths and injuries. The automaker allegedly knew of the issues for a decade and hid evidence of the problem.
Read more »Ford Partners With Alcoa For Vehicle Aluminum
BUSINESS September 16, 2015 | 10:59 AM
- New process makes production faster
- Terms of deal not released
- Partnership will be mutually beneficial
Ford Motor Co., the number two U.S. automaker, has partnered with Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer by volume, to produce parts for the F-150 pickup.
Alcoa has developed the micromill, which allows a coil of aluminum alloy to be produced in 20 minutes instead of the traditional 20 days.
Read more »Tesla to Face Competition from Audi and Porsche
BUSINESS September 15, 2015 | 11:25 AM
- Porsche says its car will be better than Tesla’s
- Vehicles will be available for sale in 2018
- BMW CEO collapses at auto show
German luxury nameplates Audi and Porsche are prepared to compete with Tesla Motor Co. in the electric-car market. The Volkswagen flagship brands are showcasing electric vehicles at the Frankfurt International Motor Show.
Customers have largely stayed away from electric vehicles because of their limited range, the lack of recharging stations and high prices. Analysts, however, say that is about to change.
Read more »Google Hires TrueCar Executive for Autonomous-Car Division
BUSINESS September 14, 2015 | 1:36 PM
- John Krafcik is former Ford, Hyundai executive
- Believes autonomous cars will save millions of lives
- TrueCar has been facing many obstacles recently
Technology giant Google Inc. has hired John Krafcik as CEO of its self-driving car division. He will oversee all aspects of the project, Google said.
Krafcik is president of the online car-shopping company TrueCar, a position he has held for 18 months. A mechanical engineer by trade, he previously worked for Ford for 14 years as a product developer and CEO of Hyundai Motor America for five years.
Read more »FCA Recalls 1.7 Million Ram Trucks
BUSINESS September 10, 2015 | 11:48 AM
- Fiat issues three separate recalls
- Recalls may hamper FCA’s attempts to improve image
- Takata airbags still largest recall
FCA USA LLC, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, has recalled 1.7 million Ram pickups throughout North America in three separate recalls.
Ram was FCA’s best-selling vehicle in 2014.
Read more »AT&T; and ZTE Partner to Provide Mobility Hotspot
BUSINESS September 9, 2015 | 11:01 AM
- Hotspot plugs into vehicle diagnostic port
- AT&T customers can add service to plan
- Report reveals 10 cars with lowest loyalty ratings
U.S. telecommunications provider AT&T Inc. has partnered with Chinese equipment company ZTE Corp. to provide ZTE Mobley, a plug-in vehicle hotspot.
Mobley plugs into a vehicle’s on-board diagnostic port under the dashboard, which recharges the device, and is compatible with model years 1996 and newer. It allows up to five devices to connect to the Internet.
Read more »AutoNation to No Longer Sell Vehicles Under Recall
BUSINESS September 8, 2015 | 10:37 AM
- Company says policy change is the right thing to do
- Procedures in place to deal with recalled trade-in vehicles
- Rival CarMax does not have resources to change policy
America’s largest auto retailer, AutoNation Inc., has changed its policy to no longer sell any vehicle that is under warranty until it is repaired.
The policy is an extension of one already in place not to sell or lease new cars under recall. The extension now includes used cars and wholesaling.
Read more »Uber Raises $1.2 billion to Invest in China
BUSINESS September 7, 2015 | 1:34 PM
- Ride-share provider trying to improve market share
- Uber facing challenges in China
- Uber’s rival raises $3 billion
Car-hailing provider Uber has raised $1.2 billion to invest in its Chinese subsidiary in an effort to increase market share in the company’s fastest-growing market, Chinese news website Sina.com reports.
Investors include Chinese search engine Baidu and insurance companies China Life and China Taiping.
Read more »Volkswagen Expected to Name CFO as Board Chairman
BUSINESS September 3, 2015 | 1:02 PM
- CFO was nominated to take over chairman position
- Some have concerns over lack of transition
- Former chairman ousted in power struggle
Volkswagen’s supervisory board is prepared to nominate chief finance officer Hans Dieter Poetsch to take over the role of board chairman, the company said in a statement.
The recommendation was made by Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which owns the majority of Volkswagen’s common stock and is controlled by the Porsche-Piech family.
Read more »Tesla Model X Customers Can Customize Their $132,000 Vehicle
BUSINESS September 2, 2015 | 2:08 PM
- First deliveries expected this month
- Includes many safety and autonomous-driving features
- Model S sales have yet to peak
Customers on the waiting list for Tesla Motors’ crossover Model X can now begin to customize their vehicles.
Customers on the reserve list for the Signature Model X can select options, colors and whether they want to purchase the $10,000 Ludicrous Speed upgrade which would decrease the time it takes to go from 0-60 miles were hour.
Read more »