by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 20, 2021
Ford has a thing for retro, er, heritage nameplates, as we’ve seen with the recent revival of both the Ranger and Bronco badges, and a new trademark filing indicates the automaker is giving at least some consideration to bringing back the once popular Thunderbird...
by Larry Printz | Jan 20, 2021
Have you ever wondered why an automaker gave a vehicle a particular name? The name bestowed upon a vehicle can often play a big role in its long-term success. Some names don’t fit the vehicle while others, especially some of those that have been around for some time,...
by Michael Strong | Jan 20, 2021
Federal safety regulators denied a petition by Ford Motor Co., forcing the automaker to recall 3 million vehicles equipped with Takata driver-side airbags that are potentially defective and could rupture and injure the vehicle’s occupants. Ford as well as Mazda Motor...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 20, 2021
Mercedes-Benz is rapidly ramping up its push into the electric vehicle market and its latest offering is meant to take direct aim at Tesla. The new EQA is one of an assortment of new long-range battery-electric vehicles – and the smallest – the German automaker will...
by Joseph Szczesny | Jan 20, 2021
Workers spurred by labor dispute that threatened to close the Stellantis assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario are back on the job – for now – as negotiators take a stab at resolving a contractor issue. “Former AWC Unifor workers are back on the job as Stellantis and...
by Paul A. Eisenstein | Jan 19, 2021
Despite aims of achieving about $6 billion in synergies through the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France’s Group PSA, there are no plans to drop brands or eliminate jobs, Carlos Tavares, the CEO of newly formed Stellantis, declared Tuesday. If anything, the...
by Michael Strong | Jan 19, 2021
General Motors and its autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise are moving into the cloud, specifically the Microsoft cloud, as all three have entered into an agreement designed to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. The trio will join forces to...
by Michael Strong | Jan 19, 2021
Time is money and Americans blew through $88 billion last year while spending an average of 99 hours sitting in traffic. This happened despite the fact that U.S. motorists drove 380 billion miles cumulatively through October 2020, which is a drop of 13.9% — due to the...
by Michael Strong | Jan 18, 2021
Not every merger involving an automaker these days involves a blank-check company. The newly minted tie-up between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A. was finalized over the weekend and the resulting company, Stellantis N.V., is enjoying a warm welcome. At...
by Michael Strong | Jan 18, 2021
The explosion of nascent electric vehicle makers in the last few years has resulted in many of those automakers looking to go public through the use of special purpose acquisition companies with the latest also being the biggest: Lucid Motors. The California-based EV...
by Michael Strong | Jan 16, 2021
Chrysler is dead. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but nevertheless, the merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A. became effective today, resulting in Stellantis N.V. Shares of the newly formed Stellantis begin trading on exchanges in France, Italy and...
by Michael Strong | Jan 15, 2021
Toyota Motor agreed to pay the largest civil penalty ever – $180 million – to settle a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice because the automaker failed to report violations of U.S. emissions regulations for a decade. The Japanese automaker avoided reporting...