Trade News

LAS VEGAS -- Computing power delivered by chip supplier Qualcomm will help Volvo to create new revenue streams in an era when cars last longer, the automaker said at the CES technology show here.

Volvo will use Qualcomm’s Digital Cockpit backed by a high-power chip to offer subscription features in its new EX90 full-electric crossover.

“We will see cars that need to last longer and more of the value is driven by software, so we will need to find new business,” Martin Kristensson, Volvo's head of product definition and partner management, said at a media event held with Qualcomm on the sidelines of CES last week.

“Certainly, there is an opportunity for subscriptions for some of features in the vehicle,” he said.

Kristensson described the EX90 as the company’s first “software-defined” vehicle into which new features can be added over time, as well as upgrading software and hardware.

Features that Volvo could monetized over time include audio …

LAS VEGAS — Production of the McLaren 720S, a cornerstone of the British exotic brand's lineup since it arrived in 2017, ceased at the end of 2022, McLaren said. But what happens next is less clear.

Nicolas Brown, McLaren's president of the Americas region, was mum on specifics but said customers have been putting down deposits on another vehicle, which has yet to be shown publicly.

"We have not spoken about this vehicle," Brown told Automotive News on the sidelines of a media event last month. "But customers, of course, they see that, 'OK, well, you can't order a 720 anymore.' They realize that production is ending. So putting two and two together, something is coming. They're anticipating that it will be a refinement of 720. They understand that it's not a next-generation, all-new, ground-up vehicle. They have started to put deposits down with dealers, although we haven't said anything."

In fact, Brown said, the vehicle is "sold ou…

WASHINGTON - The acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told reporters on Monday that the regulatory agency is "working really fast" on the Tesla Autopilot investigation it opened in August 2021.

"We're investing a lot of resources," said NHTSA acting head Ann Carlson in comments to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Washington. She declined to commit to a particular timeframe on when the probe will be resolved. "The resources require a lot of technical expertise, actually some legal novelty and so we're moving as quickly as we can, but we also want to be careful and make sure we have all the information we need."

Carlson, who has been general counsel of the agency since early 2021, became acting administrator of NHTSA in September.

In June, NHTSA upgraded to an engineering analysis its defect probe into 830,000 Teslas with driver assistance system Autopilot and involving crashes with parked emergency vehicles. That step…

A look at sales numbers for December and all of 2022. Some automakers take exception to U.S. Treasury’s direction on EV tax credits. Plus, a conversation about how F&I offices can make sound decisions and reduce risks with data.

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Six settlements were reached with dealerships in New Jersey to resolve allegations of consumer protection violations in fall 2022, according to a statement released by Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state Division of Consumer Affairs. The settlements ranged from $8,000 to $180,000, with the combined settlements totaling more than $260,000.

The allegations levied against the dealerships included failing to honor the advertised price of a used car, failing to disclose the full sale price of a motor vehicle and deceptive advertising. The settlements included monetary penalties, along with agreements from each dealership to comply with state and federal law and to resolve any remaining complaints with consumers.

Cherry Hill Triplex and Mt. Ephraim Chrysler Dodge

These franchise dealerships are managed by Foulke Management Corp. and are located in Cherry Hill, N.J., and Mt. Ephraim, N.J., respectively. Foulke settled in December for $25,000 to resolve…

WASHINGTON -- U.S. traffic deaths fell 0.2 percent in the first nine months of 2022, reversing a sharp rise in the two prior pandemic years when speeding and other unsafe behavior increased, regulators said on Monday.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that 31,785 people died in traffic crashes through Sept. 30 compared with the 31,850 deaths in the same period in 2021. U.S. traffic deaths jumped 10.5 percent in 2021 to 42,915, the largest number killed on American roads in a year since 2005 after rising 7 percent in 2020.

Traffic deaths declined even though overall driving increased 1.6 percent in the first nine months of 2022. The traffic fatality rate through September is still higher than in any pre-pandemic year since 2007. A total 4,766 more people were killed on U.S. roads in the 2022 ninth-month period versus in 2019.

As U.S. roads became less crowded during the pandemic, some motorists perceived police as less likely to…

Used-vehicle retail giant CarMax Inc. and online used-vehicle retailers Carvana Co. and Vroom Inc. will not air advertisements during Super Bowl LVII.

Spokespersons for the three retailers told Automotive News there are currently no plans to air company advertisements during the game, which is scheduled for kickoff at 6:30 p.m. ET Feb. 12.

Fox, the network that will carry the game broadcast, said in September that 95 percent of available commercial time was already sold out. Costs of some select 30-second advertisements reached an estimated $7 million.

Richmond, Va.-based CarMax did not air a commercial during the Super Bowl in 2022, though it has placed such advertisements before. Tempe, Ariz.-based Carvana made its debut as a Super Bowl advertiser in 2022 with a 30-second commercial titled "Oversharing Mom."

Houston-based Vroom has twice aired advertisements during the Super Bowl. The online retailer sparked some controversy in 2021 with a com…

Hyundai and Kia vehicles have become a favorite target of thieves.

The crime spree began last year in Wisconsin, when TikTok and YouTube users posted videos showing how to break into the vehicles, rip off the steering column and bypass the key with a USB cable. Criminals in other states soon joined in, leading to a rash of thefts around the country.

The affected vehicles — mostly from the 2011 through 2021 model years — don't contain electronic immobilizers, which are standard on most new vehicles and prevent the engine from being started without a key fob. The issue has led to dozens of class-action lawsuits and some owners using measures such as anti-theft clubs.

Without an ideal solution from the automakers, Elliot Silk, a service director at Suntrup Automotive Group, of St. Louis, which has one Kia and one Hyundai store among its five dealerships, decided to take matters into his own hands.

Silk, who said he recently had 100 Kia and Hyundai v…

WASHINGTON — Despite news last year of Cruise's robotaxis being investigated by NHTSA and the shuttering of Argo AI, the AV tech startup backed by Ford and Volkswagen, Jeff Farrah remains optimistic about the industry's future.

"Every industry has its growing pains as it grows up, and our industry isn't immune from that and isn't immune from the larger economic climate that's out there," said Farrah, the first executive director of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association, whose members include Aurora, Cruise, Ford, VW and Waymo.

Farrah — a Capitol Hill veteran who has spent time working as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation — joined the association in October. Prior to this role, he was general counsel of the National Venture Capital Association.

"We're still thriving, and we're still making a lot of progress," he told Automotive News. "I think that's why you're seeing so many commercial partnerships poppin…

The "Equitable Electric Mobility Playbook" developed by Enterprise Holdings and the National League of Cities says the following regions are making progress toward electric vehicle equity.

Drive Clean Seattle is a comprehensive strategy for transportation electrification across passenger vehicles, trucks, public transit and maritime transportation. This project has an equity and racial justice focus, and places emphasis on human-centered design and placement of chargers. Drivers and community members were interviewed to understand the equity challenges that would have otherwise been missed in the project implementation.

BlueLA is a station-based car-sharing program that deploys in socially vulnerable communities. The project focused first on disadvantaged communities, defined as areas with most people facing economic, health and environmental burdens. A tiered pricing system, made possible by a grant from the California Air Resources Board, kept the program …

Show organizers say 275 transportation-related companies attended CES. They occupied about 400,000 square feet of event space, about 20 percent of the entire show.

Everything you need to know about CES 2023

From stunning electric concept cars and charging systems designed to speed the transition to electromobility to sensors that move transport closer to full autonomy — innovation in the auto industry-dominated CES.

The model debuts revealed how CES is now as much as an auto show as a technology confab. Monday's issue of Automotive News drives home the magnitude of the importance of the Las Vegas extravaganza to the industry. From cover to cover, we tell the stories of the 2023 show, starting on Page 1 with Pete Bigelow's overview of the opportunities and challenges facing the industry.

The debuts demonstrated how electric vehicle architecture is jumping styling into a science fiction design age. Two Stellantis EV concepts, the Ram 1500 Revolution pickup and the sleek Peugeot Inception, proved that removing an internal combustion engine and automatic transmission frees designers to make vehicles more dynamic and …