Trade News

The Federal Communications Commission has declared ringless voicemails, a marketing tool used by some automotive dealers, illegal without the consumer's consent, ending a half-decade debate over whether the technology fell under federal robocall restrictions outlined in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

In its Nov. 21 declaration, the FCC said the phone calls that leave a message on consumers' cellphone voicemails without making the typical ring sound are illegal and the FCC can enforce violations or consumers can file lawsuits in court.

The practice has been used by some auto dealers, among other sectors such as political campaigns, to telemarket to customers and skirt restrictions surrounding automated marketing calls.

However, there has been a surge of court cases in recent years, with dealers paying millions of dollars in settlements. In June, Moss Bros. Auto Group, a Riverside, Calif., dealership group, was ordered to pay $2.5 million in a clas…

When Tesla Inc. moved its headquarters to Texas a year ago, the former head of the powerful California Air Resources Board said Elon Musk lacked gratitude for the role the state played in the carmaker’s rise.

California’s zero-emission vehicle mandate required automakers that didn’t sell enough electric vehicles to buy credits from Musk’s company before it was making any money.

Tesla has grown to where it can now stand on its own two feet, but it still has reasons to be thankful for its former home state. This week’s Semi delivery event is a perfect example: Five years after Musk rode on stage in a prototype during an unveiling event, some of his first production trucks will go to a project CARB supported with $15.4 million in funding.

CARB awarded the grant in September 2018 to an air district in California’s Central Valley that partnered with PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay to transform its manufacturing site in Modesto, Calif. The c…

Lordstown Motors Corp. made first deliveries on its initial batch of 500 electric pickups for commercial fleet customers.

The Lordstown, Ohio, EV startup on Tuesday said it began to move its Endurance pickup after receiving homologation certification from the U.S. government. The Department of Transportation must provide certification a vehicle meets U.S. codes before a manufacturer can begin deliveries.

The company also received certification from the Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board.

Lordstown has struggled to bring the truck to market. But a $170 million investment by the Taipei, Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, the contract manufacturer that makes the Apple iPhone, provided a crucial cash injection.

"The Endurance will provide benefits to customers that use their vehicles for work. It optimizes key attributes of traction and maneuverability ... with our in-wheel hub motors ..…

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk conceived the automaker's breakthrough Model 3 sedan as a people's car, an electric vehicle affordable to the masses. But the EV maker is now giving up market share to rivals undercutting Tesla on price.

With the base Model 3 now starting at nearly $50,000 and the popular Model Y crossover above $65,000, Tesla is losing share to competitors that can deliver under the $50,000 level, S&P Global Mobility said in a report Tuesday.

Those fresh rivals include electric crossovers such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Hyundai Ioniq 5. Smaller hatchbacks with several years on the market, such as the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf, start below $30,000.

"Tesla's position is changing as new, more affordable options arrive, offering equal or better technology and production build," S&P Global said. "Given that consumer choice and consumer interest in EVs are growing, Tesla's ability to retain a dominant market share will be challenged …

A central Florida woman was killed Saturday while participating in a test drive of a 2023 Nissan Rogue from dealership Hill Nissan in Winter Haven, Fla.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said on Twitter that the victim, 76-year-old Jean Worme, was a passenger in the vehicle that was making a left to pull back into the dealership, crossing into the path of a 2007 Nissan Murano, causing the fatal crash at around 5:42 p.m. local time.

The driver, 86-year-old Clifford Worme, suffered minor injuries, and a sales representative sitting in the back seat was uninjured, a sheriff's office release said. The driver of the Murano that Worme collided with was also uninjured.

While Clifford and Jean Worme shared a last name and address, investigators have not determined their relationship at the time of publication.

Hill Nissan did not immediately respond to Automotive News' request for comment.

President Joe Biden asks Congress to force a rail deal over union objections. Toyota beats its production estimates. VW may partner with Foxconn to revive the Scout brand in the U.S. Plus, a look at the Petersen Automotive Museum's new exhibit “Inside Tesla: Supercharging the Electric Revolution.”

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DETROIT — Stellantis is working to ease dealerships into its ambitious electric vehicle rollout, but it has no plans to specify the dollar amounts they'll need to invest as General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have done.

The automaker has partnered with Future Energy, a company that advises dealerships on how to set up charging infrastructure and can train employees on operational changes related to EVs and sales strategies.

"Nearly 70 percent of dealers are in various phases of assessing their individual readiness" with Future Energy, Stellantis said Tuesday. The two companies began working together late last year.

The evaluations are occurring ahead of Stellantis' planned launch of more than 25 EVs in the U.S. by 2030, starting in 2024 with models including the Ram 1500 EV pickup and Jeep Recon, a Wrangler-inspired off-road SUV.

Stellantis is aiming for dealers to have their charging infrastructure installed by the first quarter of 2024, said Phil…

The road is coming to an end for Audi's R8 midengine coupe, including its 5.2-liter V-10 variant — and pretty much all V-10s — as the electric vehicle era unfolds.

So the V-10-powered R8 supercar, which debuted in 2006, is bowing out with the R8 GT, whose production run will be capped at just 333 vehicles globally.

The rear-wheel-drive car packs 602 hp and 413 pound-feet of torque. The transmission is a seven-speed dual-clutch, though the GT gets an altered gear ratio that allows for a higher top speed: 199 mph. It can vroom from 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, Audi says.

New 20-inch, 10-spoke forged wheels cut more than 20 pounds off the R8 GT's curb weight, while carbon brakes eliminated 27.6 pounds more, and the aluminum and carbon front anti-roll bar lobbed off 4.4.

The U.S.-spec curb weight comes in at 3,516 pounds, or 55 pounds less than the standard rwd R8 V-10, Audi says.

An upgraded carbon-fiber aerodynamics kit features a larger fron…

North American vehicle production rose 15 percent in October from a year earlier. VW halts production at a China plant amid a COVID wave. Tesla’s automated driving system is now available to customers previously deemed not safe enough to test it out. Plus, a conversation with the Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella about how the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV tax credits are taking shape.

How do I subscribe?

Can't wait to hear the next episode of "Daily Drive"? Subscribe through a podcast app to receive episodes days in advance. If you don't have a podcast app already, here are some options. 

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“Daily Drive” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

Android

“Daily Drive” is available on the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe to "Daily Drive"

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"Daily D…

Kathy Winter, a senior executive who previously worked in the autonomous vehicle technology divisions of Intel, Motorola and Delphi, will become the new COO at May Mobility.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based developer of autonomous ride-hail vehicles and shuttles said Winter will focus on putting May Mobility's plans for self-driving shuttles and ride-hailing vehicles into action.

Winter, 59, will also develop business strategies and partnerships with other companies to expand May Mobility's global footprint. The venture arms of Toyota and BMW are major May Mobility investors.

The appointment was effective Monday.

May Mobility has operated without a COO since Alisyn Malek left the position in a management reorganization at the start of 2020. Her departure came a week after former CTO Steve Vozar left the company. Both are May Mobility co-founders.

May Mobility's strategy is to fill in the gaps between other forms of transportation with autonomous …

Tesla vehicles are so common along the California coast that EV enthusiasts consider them the new Hondas and Toyotas of the local market. But in large swaths of the American heartland, EVs in general remain rare.

The scarcity of EVs in 22 noncoastal states from Nevada to West Virginia will change as more mainstream models hit the market and charging infrastructure improves, S&P Global said in a November report.

"More acceptance and much broader consumer awareness is resulting in a natural progression of [EV] adoption from the coasts to the heartland," said Tom Libby, an analyst at the S&P Global Mobility division. The data firm chose 22 states to represent the heartland, although definitions of the term vary.

While automakers once restricted EV sales to states with zero-emissions mandates, new EV models are being sold across the nation. And the new models come in a greater variety of body styles to better address consumer taste, the report said.…